Thread: Buy it now vs Auctions ( Ie High shipping charges)

I just checked with my local Post Office and ya'll are correct on the $6.80 shipping for priority shipping, my mistake. You can use the same box and ship it First class for around $3.50 with no insurance. and its almost as fast as Priority shipping (Maybe a day late or two) depending on where you are shipping it too. For some reason I thought it was cheaper. Comes from having CRS.

Well shipping costs when you live outside of the US is really going to make you not want to shop. Looked at a razor the other day. $200, and Global Shipping was and $61 on top of that. Nope not for me. I would have paid the price but not the after shipping price. Canada is relatively inexpensive to ship to from the US but oddly enough not quite as cheap as from the UK and even stranger, not anywhere near as fast as shipping from Japan. I think the guys in Australia have the short end of the stick though, as it costs quite a bit to ship there from almost everywhere, and it is always slow going.

Originally Posted by THORandODIN

You can use the same box and ship it First class for around $3.50 with no insurance. and its almost as fast as Priority shipping (Maybe a day late or two) depending on where you are shipping it too.

No, you can not use the same box - the box is free to you from the post office, but it can only be used with priority mail. Just like 'free shipping', it isn't free to the party that is offering it - just absorbed in the overall cost they charge you that includes it.

If you want to use first class mail you need to use your own packaging. But yes, it is usually almost as fast as priority, sometimes slightly slower, sometimes slightly faster.

I use the small flat rate box to ship items. When I buy items I like to receive them in the small box also. What gets me is the $6.80 for shipping then getting it in a padded envelope. For me as a seller the small flat rate box is the way to go. Its insured for my protection not the buyer. Its fast and trackable.

A good thing to do with the flat rate small is bridge those inner flaps inside with packing tape. You lose a touch of space inside but it stiffens the box quite a bit.

Shipping priority comes with tracking and insurance and those are always nice to have to prove if you either received something or someone else received your package. Especially true when dealing with buyers and sellers on eBay. Not everyone is honest. Better safe than sorry. The box is a plus for added protection.

Small flat rate insured box is $6.10 even with the Ebay shipping discount

I insure everything over $50 for my protection as the seller. It's to easy for the buyer to say it never showed up, I would be out my money and the item and the crooked buyer would have both

Originally Posted by gugi

No, you can not use the same box - the box is free to you from the post office, but it can only be used with priority mail. Just like 'free shipping', it isn't free to the party that is offering it - just absorbed in the overall cost they charge you that includes it.

If you want to use first class mail you need to use your own packaging. But yes, it is usually almost as fast as priority, sometimes slightly slower, sometimes slightly faster.

I would digress as my USPS Postal Office tells me that the Provided Priority boxes can be reused. HOWEVER ALL Priority Markings Must Be Covered.

Something that I do find humorous is how many of my FleaBay purchases once they are unwrapped are packaged with the Free Priority Boxes that are cut or folded to the sellers shipping needs.

If it is something I really don't want damaged I will put their box in another non uspstop box like a Russian nesting doll.

I only ever ship stuff Priority Mail. Especially the occasional item I sell on Ebay. First Class usually works out, but I've had some scares, when an item I sent took way too long to get to its destination.

$7-$8 for Priority Mail shipping is reasonable, as far as I'm concerned.

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