Shipping Supplies For Your eBay Auction Business

Home
>
Online Auction
>
Shipping Supplies For Your eBay Auction Business

Shipping Supplies For Your eBay Auction Business

Auction supplies are clearly an expense and major consideration for an eBay auction business. Of course, the most critical supply is the item you are selling, but mailing supplies are necessary for every auction and their cost and supply must be figured into your overhead. If they are not, you might get a nasty surprise when you sit down to figure out your eBay profits at the end of the week.

The most basic supply is, of course, a box. Obviously packing begins with a box ? but not just any old box. A shipping-type box is necessary because if you use a shoe box or some other flimsy box, you can be certain your package will be a disaster! Your customer will be quite peeved when her item arrives in pieces!

You will become a box-fanatic, like the rest of us. When you swoop into a store or home, with joy in your voice, the proprietor will foolishly assume that it is the merchandise you are exclaiming over! We're just like the kids on Christmas day ? dump the toy on the floor and play with the box! In other words, drooling over boxes is an occupational hazard.

Be aware that lots of merchants have boxes that you can have for free. You might become a scavenger at stores like WalMart, Linens & Things or Bed, Bath and Beyond. They have hundreds of boxes every week, and will often give them away to anyone who wants them.

If you are shipping really fragile items, two boxes are safest. The outer box should be a couple of inches larger than the inner one, to allow extra padding.

Padding for your packages: do you always need padding? Well ... yes and no. I have sent a few tough books without padding. But sending grandma's dishes unprotected is a recipe for disaster!

What kind of padding do you use?

* Newspaper is my padding of choice, because it is cheap and readily available. However, be careful because the ink can rub off on some objects and detract from their beauty. Wrap these kinds of items in plastic. Some auction users buy shredders and use the strips of paper as packaging.

* I hate those plastic peanuts, personally, but lots of people swear by them. They are an environmental disaster and the static electricity is terrible. Electronics manufacturers say to never pack computer and other kinds of equipment with peanuts, just because of the electric problem. Electrocuting your customers isn't good business :-)

* The post office recommends popcorn (without butter and salt, of course ? is that to keep us from eating it?) I like popcorn for packing, but you might not want to use it to go on safari because little critters might like it, too.

* Cut up cardboard can be very effective as packing material, but it is mighty tough to chop up.

* Padded envelopes are a popular choice, because they are so simple ? just insert the whatever and mail. But, of course, they aren't cheap. Whenever you receive anything in one of these envelopes, save them! (Are you thinking about all the envelopes you've thrown away?)

* Bubble wrap is the preferred favorite. It cushions objects so well (and it's such fun to pop the bubbles!) Of course, it costs more than the the other materials, so always look for bargains on this valuable product and save every scrap you get.

And (big surprise) the best place to get bubble wrap, as well as other supplies, is on eBay. Today, for instance, I find 700 feet of 12" wrap for $34.50.

By contrast, only 25 feet of 12 bubble wrap at Staples is $4.98 That means that 700 feet at Staples would cost $139.44. Whew ... quite a saving.

Other necessary auction supplies include mailing tape, regular tape, scissors, labels and an easily legible marker.

I wrap everything in plastic bags, just for safety's sake, so you might want some of those handy, too. One of my packages arrived damp and with the corner shredded (wonder where that box had been?) But, since I had wrapped the books and tapes in plastic, they were unharmed and the buyer was so appreciative.

Another precaution you might consider is to include an extra label inside the package, just in case. You don't want your inventory sitting around one of those dead mail offices.

Auction supplies are like everything else in our eBay business that raises overhead: we must use wisdom and judgment so we can keep those expenses at bare minimum.

Sydney Johnston, the AUCTION QUEEN, was one of the original sellers on eBay and has been selling on eBay since the winter of 1996. She is the originator and teacher of the famous Auction Genius Course, a powerful 16 hour multi media seminar on the Internet that teaches her students how to sell on ebay.

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Obama has lunch with 4 presidents (AP)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama hailed a rare Oval Office gathering of all U.S. presidents as an extraordinary event on Wednesday as the current occupant, President George W. Bush, reminded his predecessors and successor that the office "transcends the individual."

Obama names special watchdog for federal spending (AP)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama said Wednesday that reforming massive government entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare would be "a central part" of his effort to control federal spending.

Burris says he expects to be seated in Senate soon (AP)

AP - Roland Burris said Wednesday he should be able to join the Senate "very shortly," after talking to newly supportive Democratic leaders and working on lingering legal obstacles.

2009 budget deficit is estimated at $1.2 trillion (AP)

AP - The federal budget deficit will nearly triple to an unprecedented $1.2 trillion for the 2009 budget year, according to grim new Congressional Budget Office figures.

Israel orders brief halt, then Gaza fight resumes (AP)

AP - Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rockets resumed after a brief pause Wednesday to allow food and fuel to reach Palestinian civilians in Gaza, where an Israeli warplane dropped leaflets urging some residents to flee because of imminent attacks.

Heavy rain causing flooding across South (AP)

AP - Heavy rain across the South on Wednesday caused flooding, school and road closures and a landslide that destroyed a home in North Carolina.

Mississippi has highest teen birth rate, CDC says (AP)

AP - Mississippi now has the nation's highest teen birth rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title, a new federal report says.

Jay-Z to play concert on eve of Obama inauguration (AP)

AP - Jay-Z isn't performing at President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, but he is planning to make a big splash on the eve of the event.

German polar bear Flocke gets zoo company (AP)

AP - Nuremberg's celebrity polar bear cub, Flocke, has a new friend: a Russian bear.

Giambi rejoins Oakland (AP)

AP - Jason Giambi is returning to his professional baseball roots with the Oakland Athletics.

Israel, Hamas briefly hold fire to allow Gaza aid (Reuters)

Reuters - Hundreds of embattled Palestinians ventured outside to shop for food on Wednesday during a three-hour Gaza truce, a first step toward an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire under discussion by Israel and Hamas.

Budget deficit to hit $1.2 trillon (Reuters)

Reuters - The U.S. budget deficit will swell to a record $1.186 trillion in fiscal 2009, congressional forecasters said on Wednesday, presenting President-elect Barack Obama with a daunting economic challenge.

Senate Democrats seen moving to seat Burris (Reuters)

Reuters - In an abrupt switch, Senate Democratic leaders began talks on Wednesday about swearing in former Illinois attorney general Roland Burris, nominated by embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the Senate.

Salmonella outbreak sickens 388 across U.S.: CDC (Reuters)

Reuters - An outbreak of salmonella food poisoning has made 388 people sick across 42 states, sending 18 percent of them to the hospital, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday.

Private job losses mount, ominous for payrolls (Reuters)

Reuters - Job losses and plans to lay off workers hammered the struggling U.S. economy in the final month of 2008, according to private reports that could foreshadow surprisingly grim labor market data from the government on Friday.

Gates says Afghan surge may cost $5.5 billion in FY09 (Reuters)

Reuters - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has told Congress that a planned buildup of U.S. forces in Afghanistan could add $5.5 billion to U.S. war costs in the current federal fiscal year, officials said on Wednesday.

U.S. says Madoff sent diamonds in violation of bail (Reuters)

Reuters - One of the packages accused swindler Bernard Madoff sent in violation of a court order contained about 13 watches, a diamond necklace and other valuables worth more than $1 million, prosecutors said in court papers released on Wednesday.

Russian gas flow halted through Ukraine to Europe (Reuters)

Reuters - Russia shut down all gas flows to Europe through Ukraine on Wednesday and told Kiev it would restore supplies only after it had agreed to pay full market prices.

Israel approves tougher war on Hamas despite ceasefire moves (AFP)

AFP - Top Israeli ministers on Wednesday approved an even tougher war on Hamas despite warming to a new ceasefire initiative and briefly silencing its guns to let Gaza City residents hunt for food and fuel.

Kremlin lays down terms as gas crisis engulfs Europe (AFP)

AFP - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday laid down terms for a resumption of Russian gas shipments via Ukraine to Europe as tens of thousands of Europeans suffered heating cuts amid freezing weather.

Shipping Supplies For Your eBay Auction Business

Online Auction Online Auction