Ivy Hartman: Now I personally have prohibited myself from selling things on eBay because I find that the task on logistics of figuring out the shipping and the mailing to be a little too daunting. Well, here at SBTV.com we brought you an expert with over 30 years of experience. Mark Taylor is RedRoller Chief Logistics Officer now and the only author of two books about Computerized Shipping Systems. And he is here with us today to talk about some of the top mistakes some of us EBayers out there are doing when it comes to shipping those products.
Mark Taylor: eBay, it’s really easy to ship packages, but there are some common mistakes that eBayers make. When I was at eBay live I was surprised I did something called the shipping where I would ask them to challenge me to come up with a cheaper way to ship their packages.
And I mean it just surprised me that six out of 10 of them were overpaying for their shipping. They won’t choose the best way to ship their package. For example, let’s say this is a 14 pound box.
Ivy Hartman: Okay.
Mark Taylor: Most eBayers would choose this one that’s like Parcel Post because I think that that’s the best cheapest way to send something through the post office. Yeah, the post office has another service where the flat rate box. You can put as much weight as you want into this box and it goes for a flat rate of eight dollars and ninety five cents which is a fraction of what it cost to send parcel of post half of the price.
Ivy Hartman: That’s good to know. Now another thing that you talk about is putting it on a shipping diet, so in case you’re not able to fit all of your things into a flat rate box or flat rate envelope.
Mark Taylor: Exactly, most eBayers don’t realize that an ounce can make a big difference. This package here, one pound is four dollars and sixty cents. One pound, one ounce is seven dollars and fifty cents.
Ivy Hartman: Well, that jumps up almost three dollars.
Mark Taylor: Sixty percent more, so if you could just take a little bit of the packing material and make it in an ounce lighter. You can save sixty percent. The other mistake that they make is that they don’t compare multiple carriers. They take the same thing for seven dollars and fifty cents and compare it to DHL for example then it’s six dollars to send it through DHL. So by choosing the right carrier for whatever it is service that you want. You’re going to be able to save the most money.
Ivy Hartman: And you recommend that some eBayers go out and find out those rates online or there are one stop shopping places like RedRoller.com where they can find out all those different prices. The other thing you mentioned was that one ounce cut off. So I would like to know okay, what is the rate and where are those cut offs? You know so that I know when to put my package on a diet. This is really going to pay off for me and those are also on serious websites.
Mark Taylor: Yes, I mean the thing that you want to do is you want to make sure that you have an accurate scale. One of the little tips that I have is that five quarters weighs exactly one ounce. So you can tell if your scales are correct. And you know I had this scale over here which I could even tell if this is one ounce over so that’s why I’ve got this digital scale, and you can see that five quarters is exactly one ounce.
So you put this package on the scale and you can’t really tell is that one pound or is that two pounds.
Ivy Hartman: So the difference has been a digital scale versus an analog?
Mark Taylor: Exactly.
Ivy Hartman: That can really make a difference. Yeah, that’s a lot easier and that’s taking some time.
Mark Taylor: Yeah, it saves time, easier you don’t have to make the decision or worst you don’t have to face the charge back because if you send it out and you say that it’s one pound, and you’re going to get a bill a week later and then it’s going to charge you the extra, yeah.
Ivy Hartman: What about size when it comes to size, let’s say size matters?
Mark Taylor: Yeah, I’m glad that you asked. You see that box right there?
Ivy Hartman: This big one.
Mark Taylor: That big box. Let’s say you packed it that box versus the box on the bottom.
Ivy Hartman: Okay. Wow! There’s not a whole lot of difference. In size but it looks like the bottom ones are little deeper than the top one.
Mark Taylor: Well, they weigh exactly the same. The one on the bottom is a little bit bigger and size matters because it’s not only the weight, but it’s the measurements of the box. It make a difference when you’re shipping, so in this case you’re going to pay 20% more to send it in the bigger box even though it’s the exact same weight going to the exact same place.
Ivy Hartman: That’s give the nails, so we can and all. And all I’ve got.
Mark Taylor: Send it in a smaller box, but the key is to measure your boxes, so that you know what the dimensions are. If it’s over one cubic foot for the post office. It’s going to go in the dimensional way. Three cubic feet if you’re sending it with any of the other carriers.
Ivy Hartman: Gosh it’s just a fountain of indefinite knowledge when it comes to this sub-topic you need to know, but you don’t have the time and the resources to know all these information. And you talk about paying retail be you know costing you a lot more money.
Mark Taylor: Yes, the thing that most people don’t realize is that the carriers have two sets of blocks. They have what they call retail rates and they have daily rates.
Ivy Hartman: Oh my goodness, really?
Mark Taylor: Yeah, do you know why God created small business people? Somebody’s going to pay retail.
Ivy Hartman: Okay, a sucker, so what’s the difference between—
Mark Taylor: 30%.
Ivy Hartman: So how can you know that you’re cutting to ask for the daily rate versus a retail rate?
Mark Taylor: Yeah, just about all you have to do is ask form in order to get it. You just sign up for an account with the carriers.
Ivy Hartman: Okay.
Mark Taylor: And go on a daily rates versus if you are paying with the credit card to go on to the carrier store you’re paying retail rates.
Ivy Hartman: I definitely knew that when you go in person it’s going to cost you more, and then some of those carriers are you know private small business owners and some are franchisee.
Mark Taylor: Exactly.
Ivy Hartman: And it’s going to be a little bit more.
Mark Taylor: Exactly, but four times more. So I mean it’s a lot more money to pay for that convenience. Now if you have to do it you have to it, but if you’re concern about nickels and dimes you’re talking big box here.
Ivy Hartman: Great information for EBayers out there. Make sure that you’re packing you’re majoring your box and packing it appropriately using the right service provider, weighing those packages. Make sure that you know you can figure some little money if you can just cut out an ounce or put that package on a diet.
Another great thing is you want to make sure that you’re well stocked. So you can go to any office supply, online store or go to any of the carriers and a lot of their materials are free.
Mark Taylor: Exactly. The carriers will send you free boxes like the post office will send their priority mail boxes free. The other carriers will send the pockets and boxes if you’re using their express services, but you know what I do? Every time I received a box.
Ivy Hartman: Yeah.
Mark Taylor: I save the box, recycled, reduced, reused. Help the environment. There’s no reason why you have to use new boxes, new peanuts, new bubble wrap. Save all that stuff of yours and the business you know that you’re going to ship once or twice a week. Just stock it some place and reuse it.
Ivy Hartman: Perfect, well now I feel a little less daunted I guess by selling something on EBay. Thanks for that information, Mark.
Mark Taylor: You’re welcome. You can look for more information on Mark right here at SBTV.com through our blogs or articles for our member. Mark also has authored new books.
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