Selling on eBay & Calculating Shipping

[BeachBaby]

Do you all take your stuff to the post office ahead of time to figure out how much shipping will be for the buyer? I have a ton of stuff I want to list, but *really* don't want to have to schlep it all to the PO.

Any way around this??

Thanks!

[kfcboston]

I can't be bothered with that either. I just guestimate. I obviously eat any losses, and if I guess waaaaay over, then I refund the excess.

HTH!

[Momof3Labs]

Oh, my, Katie, big news!!! Congrats on your double news!!

[kfcboston]

Thanks, Lori. :) It's early yet, but I had to share. Eeeeek!

[JacksMommy]

I have a scale at home and usually weigh things on that and then either use the option where people can put in their zip code to calculate the price, or plug the numbers into the USPS website and put in the furthest zip code to give me a good idea. If you are selling clothes, you can usually put $4.00 of shipping for one item since you can then send it priority mail without much problem. Sometimes my estimates have been off (even with the scale) but usually it's been in my favor, if anything.

HTH,
Laurel
Working Mama to Jack, 6/4/02
EDD #2 12/24/02

[starrynight]

I bought a postage scale and weight it at home after I pack it up before I list the auction and then I add a ship calculator to the auction listing. It works out easy for me and the buyer knows ahead of time exactly how much it will cost.

I use the www.usps.com website to calculate postage for non ebay stuff :).

Today I bought something off ebay the seller guessed on shipping but it ended up being much less after she went to the PO. She refunded me the difference which was nice but I had to pay a paypal fee to receive it, had it been done the way I did it, I wouldn't have overpaid in the first place kwim? It was really nice of her though, very few people do that.

[jubilee]

I've used a kitchen scale before to estimate weight for shipping- and it's been off. Even a few ounces matter because that can put you into the next weight class. I've also used my digital weight scale, and it's been off too. So, now I go to the post office to weigh each thing... luckily my PO has a scale in the lobby that is open 24 hrs a day, so I go on the weekend without the kids. Then I go to the USPS.com to calculate shipping costs, or fedex.com if it is a heavier item. Oh, and I've miscalculated because of packing supplies too. If I just weigh the item, and not the box, peanuts, newspaper filler, etc- then that can bite you too. But, I've seen shipping scales for around $30 that go up to 10 pounds- I'd like to get one for home and that will save a big hassle.