Advice re posting and packaging

[cazzimazzi]

Hi ! I've had a clear out of my kids clothes and want to put some stuff on ebay. I'm a bit confused as to what to charge for postage and packaging though. It's mostly t shirts and trousers and i'm going to sell max 4 items in a bundle. Any advice or tips ??

You need to weigh it with packaging, and then you can go on the Royal Mail website to calculate the postage, don't forget to add a little to cover your packaging costs.

RM also works on size of the item - i.e. if the final bundle is less than A4 size and thinner than an inch it woud go large letter, otherwise you will need to quote packet size.

Have you got any kitchen scales?

If you are going to use royal mail (which I do) then you can go onto their website and look up and print off their postage rates - but you have to know what things weigh.

It costs £2.20 to send a packet of up to 750g. But single items and smaller items might fit in a flattish A4 enevelope and go as a large letter for £1.10 or even 69p.

A large letter is A4 or small and not thucker than 2.5cm.

In the crazy world of royal mail, it is sometimes cheaper to send things separately than bundled together. I had a suit to send. It would have been £6.50 sent a one bundle. But I posted the jacket for £2.20 and the trousers for £2.20. (With the buyer's knowledge and agreement.)

I often use padded envelopes but it is much much cheaper to use rolls of bubble wrap and brown paper (£1 each in Asda, eg). Make sure everything is well-wrapped with tape, and I always put my return address on the back and inside on a little 'compliments slip' thingy.

x-post!

And that should be thicker than 2.5cm!

Thanks peoples! My sister recently sold something, underestimated the postage and ended up out of pocket !!

It's easy to do, Cazz, if something only sells for a pound or two.

I made a profit of 24p on my son's really nice school coat. That was definitely my 'lesson learned' eye-opener.

Great advice from Linerunner, - I have one to add, buy a roll of Tescos heavy duty refuse sacks/ rubble sacks - they are great for sending clothes in, paticularly. I often get 2 or 3 parcels done out of one sack and some parcel tape.

waterproof, durable and much cheaper than buying a pack of proper postage bags.

Oh and I usually turn them inside out prior to wrapping so it's just plain black -looks much nicer.

And according to the eBay Community Boards (some really humourless sorts over there, be warned ) you should avoid grey plastic bags because for some reasons they make clothes smell of cigarette smoke!

Also, don't be afraid of posting 2nd class, especially if can can post same or next day from a post office. I have a number of comments about 'superfast delivery' on my feedback, and I only post 2nd class. Most 2nd class arrives within 2 days, it seems.

Also, if I'm posting on the way to work on a Monday morning, I mark as dispatched at 8am before I leave the house, not when I stagger back in at the end of the day.

if you can post sorry!

most single item childrens clothes will cost 2.20 second class, t shirts leggings etc which can be squashed flat large letter, only a coat for under five would weigh more than 750g

add 30p for bag so charge £2.50, use litchen scales to weigh a bag will only weigh 25g at most

return address label on back of bag or inside

do not offer first class unless you post everyday as if i pay frst class I expect you to post next day so I get it day after it would be very annoying to pay for first class sunday night then you post on wednesday/thursday

if people win 2 or more lots combine postage but it is still cost plus 30p
not like one seller bought 6 items so stillwanted to charge £10 for a bag that would cost 3.50 at most

Bum, have just bought a whole load of grey plastic bags from amazon for £4 (50+) and was going to recommend but not if they will make things smell of smoke

I second the thick garden rubbish sacks though as they make a great "jiffy" bag for collect plus.

Also look at collect plus as a jiffy bag there is £3.99 to send, also if you are thinking you will get a small amount for something then remember you will have to pay 5% on the postage if via paypal which is worth adding into the cost of your postage plus the materials. I know people say that you shouldn't but if you sell something for 99p then £2.05 for second class recorded you will pay 10% (9/10p) to ebay then another 10p to paypal for the postage (not including the fee for the product being posted) so you are already down to approx 70p on an item, but you could make the postage £2.20 which covers the 10p for paypal and other postage costs.

Just don't over load on the postage as people don't mind paying an extra 10% of what RM charge but do really hate piss takers. I have just refunded someone (before asking) as I had overestimated the postage by £1.50 by mistake which only came to my attention at the post office.

And I do recommend recorded delivery.

PoohBear, just put another layer around the clothes. I got a job lot of the smell-free 'luxury' brown tissue paper off ebay and it works out at a few pence a sheet. Or you could recycle 'nice' carrier bags or lightweight paper.

I'm thinking about ordering a job lot of cheap jiffy bags as well. They are so convenient when I've got masses to pack on a Sunday night or Monday morning and I've been on the Chardonnay .

Good idea, the grey bags are a bit of a problem as the stickers I have don't stick on them! I quite often keep all paper from any shopping I do so do try to wrap where possible. Actually the new Royal Mail fees have made it easier for sellers as you don't have to do so much weight calculation which is a bit of a time saver, but I will do that in future with the wrapping. Will have a look now!

I always stick the address stickers down (front and back) and then get some sellotape lashed on over the stickers ...

I think I'm a tad paranoid about the whole 'lost in the post' thing. And I have my return address inside and outside as well!