Defunkd

[jimmyj]

Well folks, as you may know Defunkd is Canadian based. Toronto in fact, so yes, I apologize for Mayor Rob Ford and Justin Bieber.

I have always shipped through Canada Post during my 15 year online career. Ugh, 15 years?!

Anywhoot - I've recently discovered a service that will allow me to print U.S. postage, then they cross the border and mail from the U.S. This means I'll get better rates, tracking perks, and it will travel faster! And on top of that - I can set my location to be U.S. - which will automatically increase my sales as I'm well aware many eBayers shop within the U.S. only.

So as much as I'd love to support Canada Post - they've always put me at a disadvantage while continually increasing postage (even after they recorded a record profit year and the recession first hit.)

Having said that - what's your advice with printing postage from PayPal - how do you guys do it? Stickers? Label makers? What's the best deal on these? Any hints and tips as to using USPS would be much appreciated. I've heard there's one rate boxes that you can cram anything into, etc.

Please let me know what's in your U.S. shipping arsenal...any tips or tricks, money saving stuff, etc.

Appreciate it!

[mrs_stout]

No need to apologize for Mayor Ford. I've paid good money for less entertainment



1. I used PayPal printable labels, which are basically labels 2-to-a-sheet. (Example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/300-Self-Adhesi ... 4acf83193b). If you don't print the "receipt", you can get 2 labels per sheet.

2. Printing through PayPal makes life easier on eBay in that the tracking number is automatically attached to the purchase, both in eBay and in your PayPal account (hence, no need for the receipt)

3. Shipping t-shirts via USPS will save you tons of $ vs. shipping from Canada since you will not only be able to ship them out via USPS First-Class mail (typical t-shirt is 9 oz, & shipping cost is less than $3), BUT you will also obtain a tracking number if you print via PayPal, which is a feature not available at USPS online or at the actual Post Office.

4. You can also use PayPal to print first-class trackable labels for your non-ebay sales (i.e., here on defunkd) via this link: http://tinyurl.com/1stclassPP

5. Yes, we have flat-rate priority mail envelopes & boxes (tagline: "If it fits, its ships.") If you can get them delivered to a US address close to you, you can order FREE supplies here: http://tinyurl.com/freemailsupplies. Priority Mail also comes tracking and $50 or $100 of included insurance.

6. If you can get your hands on the supplies, make sure you order (free) the flat-rate padded envelopes. They are made of poly with a bubble lining and allow a lot of flexibility for stuffing that the envelopes do not. I ship all my winters sweaters & some ski jackets in these and the cost is $5.35 through ebay or $5.70 otherwise.

7. Distance & post costs: 1st class the same cost whether going next door or to Hawaii. same for Priority flat-rates: distance doesn't matter as long as it's in the US. HOWEVER, it DOES matter with non-flat rate packages. If the mailing address is relatively close, sometimes it's cheaper to ship 3 pounds non-flat rate than it would be to ship in a medium flat-rate box. A recent example was a Starter Jacket I sold. It cost me $5+ to ship non-flat rate; a medium flat-rate box would have cost me $8+.

8. There are different shaped flat-rate boxes (some are square, some are rectangular). If you were shipping a lot of 30 t-shirts, they wouldn't fit in the regular large flat-rate boxes, but they WOULD fit in the flat-rate game board box, which ships for the same price as the large flat-rate boxes.

Hope this has been a good primer!

[mrs_stout]

And you're right, many eBay shoppers only shop within the US, for various reasons, myself included, depending on what I'm looking for.

For me, it's so I can weed out listings from China. If I need to replace a USB cable, the glut of listings originating from China is ridiculous. Yeah, I can buy it for a $1 with free shipping, but it may or may not get here, and if it does, it'll take 30 days. And if it doesn't work and I want to return it, it will cost me $20 to ship it back.

[jimmyj]

Yeah, some people just don't want the chance of duty charges, don't trust foreign postal systems because they've had one bad experience. Some are just jerks!

Thanks SM!

[blancobros]

Those flat rate padded envelopes are great. I use them for just about everything I ship.
The post office has trouble keeping them in stock from time to time. At some point last year, they were back ordered for over a month.

To avoid this, I try to keep any extra box on hand. I'll place an order and max out the quantity allowed. Then the very next day, I'll place another order.

[mrs_stout]

Those flat rate padded envelopes are great. I use them for just about everything I ship.
The post office has trouble keeping them in stock from time to time. At some point last year, they were back ordered for over a month.

To avoid this, I try to keep any extra box on hand. I'll place an order and max out the quantity allowed. Then the very next day, I'll place another order.

What he said.

[CRAZYBUBBA]

What service? Does it work for sending registered documents to the US as well?