How to properly pack and ship your Ebay products
Learning to pack and ship your merchandise is generally the very
last step in the ebay product sales process to be considered.
Packing and shipping can actually be a learned skill because you
must do it right the first time and since your ebay product is
being shipped to paying customers, you will only have one chance
to make it work and get that product out to your customer in
good condition.
If you have the right supplies then the skill of packing and
shipping your ebay products can be easily mastered. Here are
some points of interest to keep in mind to help you pack and
ship your ebay products safely.
1. Your ebay products should be packed very snug and tight
within your boxes to avoid being shifted around and broken
during shipping. On the other hand, do not overdo it with too
much tightness because that also could result in damaged a ebay
product.
2. Remember that shipping costs could eat you up if you do not
'think' as light as possible when it comes to packaging your
ebay product. Choose the most lightweight of materials that you
can gather. You do not want to have all of your ebay product
profits destroyed by high shipping costs due to packaging.
3. If your ebay product is considered fragile then the best
method of packing this item is to package it inside of a box and
then pack that box inside of another. It's the 'box within a
box' type method and as you can probably imagine, this heavily
reduces the chances of damage to your ebay products.
4. To help protect ebay products that are flat items then try to
use cardboard stuffers or padded envelopes. These little packing
gems can provide you with that extra peace of mind knowing that
your customers will receive their ebay products without any
damage.
5. You may not have considered this before but it is important
not over-tape your ebay product boxes. I know that sealing your
boxes up extra tight and with lots of tape prior to shipping may
seem like a great idea but there are cases where the customer
has to aggressively wrestle to open up a packaged item and
because of that they actually damage the product in the process.
Once your ebay product is ready to be shipped out to the
customer then the next thing to do is to go to the nearest
shipping carrier's office or authorized shipping center of your
choice. Most people have their preference of shipping companies
and some just like to stick with the United States Postal
Service because it is fairly cheap. Ultimately, it is up to you
to determine which service you want to use to ship out your ebay
products.
Stay organized with your outgoing ebay products by retaining
copies of all of your shipping insurance forms, your package
receipts, the ebay product tracking numbers, etc. Not only might
you need these documents for personal reasons in the future but
they will definitely come in handy in the short run should the
package gets lost or the delivery of your ebay product is beyond
the promised delivery time. If you have a customer that is very
upset because the ebay product that they ordered from you is
lost or a no-show then you will need to have the appropriate
receipt and documentation to prove it.
Ok, so your ebay product is en route to your customer so what's
next? Well most ebay sellers just sit back and do nothing after
the sale is made and the item is shipped but I suggest that you
take your commitment to your ebay customers one step further. To
really stand out and show your customer that you are just as
concerned about their ebay products getting shipped to them
properly as they are; simply use email to communicate with them
every step of the way.
In other words you should send them several courtesy emails
along the way. For starters, you can email your customer to let
them know that their ebay products have been shipped.
The next email should be to let your ebay customer know that
their merchandise is actually 'en route' on the shipping truck.
This information can be easily found by utilizing the shipping
company's online tracking service.
If you really want to stay in constant contact with your
customer and show them that you really care about their ebay
products getting to them safely then you can also send a third
email letting them know when their item is actually on the truck
in their local town and en route to their house or business.
And last but not least, send them an email once you know that
their ebay product has been delivered. As stated above, you can
find this information out by the tracking features provided by
most major shipping outlets.