Rob & Melissa Stephenson from Flea Market Flipper talk about seven things you should know before you start shipping.
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7 Things You Need To Know Before You Start Shipping
Rob: What's up, pro flippers? On today's episode, we are chatting about seven things you need to know before you ship your first item that you sold on eBay.
Rob: All right guys, today we are talking about everything shipping.
Melissa: We're gonna dive into seven things that to be aware of before you ship your first item through eBay. So let's dive right in. So.
Rob: Let's do it. This is one of those things that hangs up a lot of people is shipping. Yeah. So hopefully this will ease your mind and give you a kind of a checklist of what to do and what not to do when you're getting ready to ship out that item.
Melissa: I would think this, shipping is probably one of the biggest hurdles that we see people face of getting started on eBay, because it's just an unknown, like a little bit. So, and then once you do it you're like, oh, that wasn't that bad. So, let's dive in.
Rob: Let's do it.
Melissa: So the first one is get insurance on your items.
If they're over the hundred dollar mark, the $50 mark, depending on the carrier that you are using. And always get insurance.
Rob: So FedEx, UPS and USPS, you have to be careful on USPS some of their, it depends if you're priority or not priority, you get $50-$100. It's a $50 threshold that they already include insurance on those items.
Now, FedEx and UPS, typically it's a hundred dollars. The first a hundred dollars for that item, if you sell an item and it's underneath that a hundred dollars. You don't, that insurance is included, but if you sell something that's $200, $300, $400, $500 or more, you have to pay extra. There's a spot on there that you can click for extra insurance, to insure the amount that you sold the item for.
Melissa: And it's only a couple extra dollars. It's totally, and it's totally worth it.
Rob: Absolutely. So this is one of those things that you definitely need to do if something gets lost, gets damaged if you do not have the extra insurance on it, you're out. You're responsible for taking the refund from the buyer who bought that from you, and you're responsible for giving them back their money.
And then you get the damaged item and you're just you.
Melissa: And you get $100. You'll get a hundred dollars.
Rob: A hundred dollars and you're out of luck. So, this is very important for us because we sell items upwards of $7,000, $10,000. And when we're selling some of these items, you have to have that extra insurance just because it's just like anything nowadays, guys, if you are driving a car, you have automobile insurance.
If you own a house, if you're renting a house, you have renter's insurance, or you have homeowner's insurance, all these things are here to protect you. This is the same way. This is protecting anything that happens to that item once it leaves your house and goes to the buyer, you want to have that protection, that extra sealing of protection if something does happen. Yeah.
Melissa: It's funny because we don't do all like the extra, I guess we do some extra insurance, but on like gadgets and stuff of the house and all the extra, but we do it, we, I guess we do do it now. So, anyways, just, just.
Rob: Well no, our phones, we have definitely have insurance on our phones.
Melissa: We didn't used to do the extra stuff.
Rob: It typically is stuff that is worth, worth more, more money. Yeah. You don't want to self-insure. Yeah. If your iPhone breaks and it's a thousand dollar iPhone, you don't want to go out that money, so you might pay that extra $5 or $7 a month, to insure it.
If, if it does break, you pay the deductible. It's still way, way less than what you have to go out and pay for that. Yeah. Insurance works the same way with the shipping companies other than there's no deductible. Yeah. When you pay for the insurance, that's it. You just have to jump through their hoop hoops to prove it.
Melissa: And sometimes it is some hoops to jump through but.
Rob: Jump through it. You prove it, and you've already paid the amount for it. They give you the full amount back. There's no deductibles on the insurance for shipping companies.
Melissa: And even if you don't think the item can get damaged in shipping, you still should get insurance if it's worth over a hundred dollars because they lose items all the time.
And this was something that we did our ourselves, it was a $500 item, a Sleep Number bed, $500 or $600 that we sold it for. And we're like, this can't get damaged. Like it's a Sleep Number bed that folds up nice and whatever. It's in a box. It can't like it physically cannot get broken. That was our reason.
It has foam, it has like, it cannot foam, foam and padding. It cannot break it's foam and padding and they lost it and we only got a hundred dollars from it. That's it. So we're like, we're not making that mistake again.
Rob: No matter what it is, is it's over that a hundred dollars, pay the extra for insurance.
It's totally worth it.
Melissa: Oh, the next one goes along with insurance because in order you've. For you to get the insurance, you have to package the item properly. So make sure your item is packaged properly. And this might throw a couple people off a little bit because they were like, okay, well what exactly is that?
And it really goes by weight of the item and the item that you're selling to know, like, to make sure that it is properly packaged, and I mean, you do a pretty good job packaging your stuff.
Rob: It boils down to really two to three inches of padding around the whole item, to be safe bubbles. Yeah. I mean, bubbles, if you wrap something up with bubbles and making sure that if it does drop that those bubbles are there to secure it, that's the biggest thing.
Melissa: So you like to put bubbles around yours?
Rob: The number one thing that I use in our packaging items, no matter the size of it, is bubble bubble wrap. And I use the larger bubbles because they're thicker than the actual smaller bubble. So it gives it more padding. One thing that you can think about, anything that you're shipping, if you wouldn't be comfortable with holding it at four or five foot high and dropping it, and you think that it would break at that, it's not packaged right.
You have to have two to three inches of packaging. And knowing that there's somebody who could handle it from FedEx or UPS or USPS and they might just throw it in the back of the truck. It has to be able to withstand a drop of that. So you want to have two to three inches of padding around the whole thing.
Melissa: Yeah. And a lot of people do use peanuts, and you can use peanuts as a filler, but you still have to make sure that there's no more, that you can't just throw in a heavy item in a box with peanuts and pray that it gets there safely. Yeah. So.
Rob: Peanuts wiggle around. So a heavy item will shift to one side through transit and it could possibly break because the peanuts will not protect it. So if you are using peanuts as a filler, you still have to use that bubble wrap in there to make sure that the item is totally encompassed with the bubble, bubble wrap and then put the peanuts in as the filler.
You can do that. But it's one of those things that it definitely depends on the size and the weight of the item when you're doing that.
Melissa: That's an interesting thought about like if you think you can drop it and it won't break, then that's a good, a good test, huh? Absolutely. I maybe don't do it, but that, I mean, they do drop that stuff all the time.
Rob: All the time. Yeah.
If you're not gonna do it, it, somebody will do it. So that's one of those things that you really have to think about. Then making sure it's totally protected.
Melissa: And you do, you almost put bubbles in everything, but you have the, or not bubbles, peanuts, but you do bubbles, peanuts, and then sometimes foam.
So depending on the item, then we'll also put in styrofoam, thick foam, depending on the item, the weight, how heavy it is and whatnot. So.
Rob: And if you're reusing something or you are, that's the next one. No, well, I was talking about if you're using something for padding, make sure contact either you can go on the website of FedEx, UPS and find out what are items, guidelines.
Yeah, the guidelines for using a padding. Because some people I know, they might have an extra, like a blanket or exactly a blanket or a couch that they threw away, and they use the styrofoam out of the, or the, the foam, the dense foam out of one of the cushions or something like that. You might have some stuff laying around in the shop, in the garage, in the house that you could use for it, but just make sure it is because the other thing that you don't want to happen, that goes hand in hand with packaging properly and insurance, if you do package it.
And the carrier does the research on it and finds out that you use this type of packaging and they say, sorry, that wasn't covered. You do not wanna do that. So that's why typically almost everything that we do, I use the bubble wrap. I make sure it's totally enclosed in bubble wrap. And then I'll either use a sheet styrofoam or I'll use peanuts, or I'll use something else if I have to, to fill the voids.
But the one thing that it is, is with that bubble wrap, and we buy that from U-Haul. We buy the rolls of that that we're able to use.
Melissa: Yeah. And if you're doing stuff like clothes and stuff, you don't have to, I mean, ob you know, obviously, you know, you're not really, you don't need to put peanuts and bubbles and all that stuff in there.
You can put it in a nice poly mailer. Yeah. In a mailer thing and it's fine. Like you don't have to worry about that breaking obviously. Or break those. Yeah. If anything they're, you just want it to get there so it's more, we're talking kind of more of the stuff that could possibly break. Yeah. So, because that's the more, the kind of stuff that we do, so. Absolutely.
Number three is, be careful reusing boxes because you don't, this also falls under the insurance and the item getting there properly is we are all about recycling. We save all of our boxes that we get, but if they at all look like they got a little damaged or they have like what compromised the box wall, we do not reuse them.
So, because if your item does get damaged and your box was not, in good shape, you might not get the insurance money. So.
Rob: We live in an Amazon world right now, so you probably,
Melissa: we collect, we get a lot of, a lot of things delivered.
Rob: We do. So that's one of those things that you probably are in the same boat and you can save some of those boxes and reuse them.
But if they are compromised, if you can see they're smushed in a corner, that might not make it for another shipment. Don't use that. Definitely use a box that has still good life in it. You don't want to reuse a box that might not make it. And, I mean that's, it's gonna come down to your own judgment of that box if you tape it up.
There's different wall sizes of boxes, so you can see there's a single wall, there's a double wall that's a little bit thicker. You can look at boxes and see, and a double wall, typically.
Melissa: There's, yeah, there's a certain weight that it has to be a double wall box in order for you to, I don't know the off the top of my head, but like if, the item is a certain weight, if you don't have a double walled box then, or double corrugated, or is that the same thing?
Rob: I think it's the, the same.
Melissa: Okay. Then you won't get, you might not be covered with insurance, so.
Rob: So typically you need the thicker box if you're shipping heavier stuff, so, yeah. On a lot of our boxes that we, we need specialty sizes. We'll buy from U-Haul. U-Haul has on their website that they are the weight that it'll, it'll hold exactly the weight that it'll hold.
And they say they are, qualified to ship with FedEx, UPS. They are qualified for shipping boxes as well. So you definitely, if you're buying boxes other than recycling, you definitely wanna make sure that they are holding up to the standards of whatever that you're shipping weight-wise.
Melissa: Yeah. Yeah. It's the weight-wise really that they, that they hold. So, and if we're using boxes, and I would also add it's probably not the best idea to send stuff in the like if maybe you have the box of the item. Some people like to just put a label on that or actual box. Yeah. It's better to put it inside of another box.
Rob: Always safer. Absolutely.
Melissa: And, and people do ask us too all the time. It's like, you know, but it, can I use an Amazon box? This is eBay, or can I? You totally can. If it's in good shape, like it's just a brown box. It might have a label on it. We reuse, we'd get supplements. We reuse those boxes. I actually, with our shipping coupon, get those stickers that sit off from eBay that say, you know, recycled box. I can't remember the wording that they used, but we'll put it up here. It's a just a, like a little sticker that says, you know, thanks for helping us recycle or something. So, or you reusing the box and people understand that. So, yeah. I like to put those on there.
Rob: And typically what we're talking about, boxes that are wore out that might not have it if they're for heavier items. Yeah. Guys, a small item typically that doesn't weigh a lot, a pound, two pound, something like that. Yeah. You can really reuse any box for something that is not that much. Because it, like I said, it doesn't have to withstand a lot of, if, if you drop it, like I said, four or five foot from the top and it's not gonna damage and you're confident of that.
You can totally still reuse that box, but stuff that you're getting into 20, 30, 40 pounds that might have a lot more damage or, might have a lot more. It has to withstand another shipment from you, to, anywhere in the country. It has to be able to do that. So you have to think about that as your, your items that you're shipping weigh more.
Melissa: Yep. All right. Next one.
Rob: Four!
Melissa: Off the packaging a little bit, but kind of more using your eBay account is don't ship to a different location other than what the buyer's, address is in their eBay account. So.
Rob: This is huge.
So yeah, people will sell something all the time. You'll have the buyer reach out and say, hey, that's an address that I used to live at.
It's not correct. Can you ship it to this address? The answer is no, you cannot. If you wanna be protected under eBay, then you absolutely have to ship it to the address that eBay gives you to ship it to. This is one of those things. You have a couple different options. If somebody does reach out after they buy it, you can tell them, listen, if you do need it shipped to that address, I can refund you.
I'll re-list the item. You can buy it and change at checkout. You can change the address that you want it to or go in if you have moved you need to go in and update your, your eBay account to show that that's your new address. So either one of those is acceptable, but I would not ship it to somebody who asks you to ship it to a different location.
Yeah. Even if they say, hey, this is for my brother. He lives over here. Can you ship it to him? No. If you want it shipped to him, we can refund you and you can buy it and put his address in there. We have to ship it to the address that eBay gives us to ship it to. Very, very important.
Melissa: But if they do message you beforehand, you could say, this is how you do it.
I can ship it to there. Yes, but you have to change your address in eBay before I can do that. So.
Rob: Just be very clear. Whatever email, I mean, whatever address eBay gives me at checkout, when you when you buy this item, that's where it's gonna get shipped to. I can't ship it to any other address. So, and the whole reason behind this is eBay will not protect you. If you have a shipping label and you create it for somebody and they ship it to their brother, it gets there and they say, yeah, he didn't receive it or any of that.
Hey, eBay's, like you didn't ship it to the right place. We are not, we are not backing you. You're not protected under eBay seller protection. So yeah, you have to make sure that you do this the right way. Make sure that you are not shipping to any other address than what eBay gives you to ship it to.
Melissa: Yep. That was a good one. Alright, where are we at?
Rob: Number five!
Melissa: Creating your label. So we're all about saving money here, so creating your label through eBay or Pirate Ship is very comparable to, you can kind of go back and forth and see. They're the definitely the cheapest way to create your label.
Do not go to the other websites and try to create a label. I mean, it's just more expensive. You can, but it's just more expensive. Yeah. Like it's a lot cheaper to go through eBay. Especially in the middle size items that we sell. They're definitely a lot cheaper.
Rob: We are absolutely about saving money and this is the best way to save money on shipping, is being able to create through eBay.
You might ask how eBay gets good discounts. eBay's span of users is huge. Therefore, when
Melissa: their account is big.
Rob: Yeah. When they're coming to FedEx or UPS, they say, hey, this is how many users we have, and you have the potential of having this much business using your facility to ship our boxes or using your, your, company to ship our boxes.
Then they give them a discount. Now we've had discounts as much as 70% and 80% off of the shipping label by going through eBay to create that label. That's how eBay's able to give you good deals is because they're such a big company. So absolutely Pirate Ship. Similar, they get similar rates, but you can check 'them and compare them both through eBay's, when you sell the item through their format of going in and creating the label.
Or you can go into Pirate Ship and check them with the address and go that route as well, but, always create your label through eBay or Pirate Ship to get that huge discount on shipping.
Melissa: Yeah. And a bonus little thing with that is don't when you are creating your label, if you're trying to get it cheaper, don't try to underestimate your size.
Good point. And weight of the box, because you will get overage charges that are even more than what it would've been before. So.
Rob: Absolutely. And I learned that the hard way. Back in the day when I used to ship stuff, you'd take off an inch and be like, ha, it's saving $10. Let's take off two inches. Oh, it's saving me $20.
And you would think
Melissa: It tacks on a lot more at the end.
Rob: And then you'd think, yeah. Well that, I mean, they're just taking my word for what it is. No, no. They, they calculate all this stuff so when that box goes into their hub, they absolutely have a computer that weighs that measures it and does all that stuff.
So you absolutely will get billed more money than it would've originally cost by, just by being honest with what the calculations were.
Melissa: So, and it's not a bad practice to go in and check your every once in a while check your account and see if they bill you for anything. Because sometimes they do bill you when it's not called for too.
Absolutely. So, you know, just having a good eye on that. It's good. Absolutely. So, the next one is number six, ship your stuff on time. So.
Rob: Huge, huge when you're building your business. You want to do it on time. Most of our shipments right now are larger shipments. A lot freight, but even the stuff that we don't do freight, we do a five day handling time.
eBay does not like that. People typically don't like that because of Amazon has made everything what I can get it that day, same day next, next day. So you want to make sure whatever handling time you put on that item, get it shipped out in that, in that timeframe. So eBay will look at your account and be like, all right, they're doing stuff the right way.
You totally wanna do that. That's why I, I'm, yeah. I always do five days on all of our listings just because a lot of them are freight shipping. It takes a little bit longer for a fulfillment of that, and people understand that because it's not coming. They're not expecting of, of in the next day.
Exactly. USPS or FedEx, they're not expecting something to go out really quick. So, just always, yeah, be on time with what you are telling people to expect, because eBay also gives people a calculation of, hey, if you buy this today, it's, it's estimated at this day of delivery due to your handling time that you have on it.
So make sure that you're doing it in a timely manner and if you're really trying to build your business in the beginning and you're not smell selling huge items. Do it the same day, do it the next day. Make sure that your handling time is 24, 48 hours, something like that. So you can build that really quick.
Melissa: But if you do too many shipments late, they, eBay will ding your account. You won't be up as the top rated seller. Yeah. And then they won't show your items as much. So you want to definitely make sure whatever you say you're gonna do, you do it, and ship it out on time. Absolutely. So, and the last one, last one.
Don't have FedEx or UPS package your shipment. Now there's I guess two sides of that. They totally could, but if you're trying to save money, you're trying to make money in this business, yeah, they will charge you a lot more than if you package it yourself. So, and that's where the packaging probably is intimidating.
Yeah. So people like go, well, I can just bring it there. They'll do it, and then I know it's covered, which, yes. But if you can just learn how to package it, it saves you so much on shipping labels. Yeah.
Rob: We actually had a student that jumped in and was saying, hey, this is so easy. If you don't wanna package something, just take it to the local FedEx and they'll package it for you and it's not gonna cost you anything.
They started doing that and we're like, yeah, we, we package everything. That's what we do. And then lo and behold, they got a bill from FedEx for all the packaging that they had them do, and it is a lot. If you have a larger item packaged by FedEx or UPS, it's a lot. You're probably talking $50-$100 on having them package that item.
Versus you just doing it yourself. We're out to make money. We're not out to spend money on that.
Melissa: We're out to save time too. But that is totally worth learning. It's, it's def yeah. It's worth getting over that absolutely hump of not knowing how to ship something, because, it saves you a lot of money.
Rob: Absolutely. And one of our friends just sold a picture, sold it for $50 and he is like, hey, I'm gonna take it down and have it shipped. And then he got the estimate just for packaging the picture. And it was $50 to package. He's like, wait a minute. He, he, he's giving away a picture for free. Sold it, and given away for free.
So anyways, that's one of those things that you totally can do it, like Melissa said. But, for us, we really hone in on mastering the packaging of what you're doing. You wanna learn how to really package package well, package to the guidelines. So you can, if anything is damaged, you're covered under insurance.
That's one of those things that you're gonna save money in the long run once you learn the skillset and you get good at it and do it. We can package anything now. And we can do it very timely. Like, I can throw something in a box and do it yeah. In a couple minutes. If it's just going in a box, you know, it's, it just takes longer to make a video about it.
It does, it takes longer to set up the camera, get it in a good, you know, frame to do it. That's what takes us longer. But to actually just package something up, like I'm packaging up a little cooktop or, yeah, small marine cooktop today and
Melissa: oh, that's what you sold?
Rob: Literally would take me less than five minutes to do it.
But I'm gonna also do a video on it, so I gotta set it up, get the light right, do all that kind of stuff. So it's gonna take me a little bit longer, but once you get the hang of doing it, I mean, you can do it in your sleep and you'll get better and better at it. So definitely learn the skills to do it and then yeah, you'll save a ton of money in the long run.
Melissa: Yeah.
So that was seven of them. So let us know in the comments below or DM us on Instagram, what are some other ones that maybe you, that we didn't mention that you can help save on shipping or something to get passed on shipping. We'd love to hear. Yeah. Your your favorite takeaways.
Rob: Absolutely.
Guys, if you wanna learn some more tips and tricks about this business, check out this next video.