How do you weigh your ebay items to calculate postage?

[CuttedUpPear]

I have loads of stuff to sell, from jigsaws to tea sets and clothing.
I can't even start til I know what they will cost to post.

What is your top tip?

I have a set of kitchen scales accurate to 2g. For anything bigger I use a suitcase weighing spring balance thing where you suspend the item from a hook and hold it up.

I weigh the item with the intended packaging, but don't actually package it until I am about to send it. If I am close to one of the price boundary lines I will charge the next rate up to account for sellotape, address labels, paperwork etc.

Double check the current parcel sizes on the Royal Mail website and try to minimise cost. Compare with courier rates for anything over 1kg Small Parcel.

Everything that Purple said. Don't forget to allow for the 10 per cent postage fee that eBay takes off now. If you are way over the postage charge you can always refund the buyer or ask them if they'd like it refunded to an eBay charity.

linkie to Royal Mail price finder here it also gives the new dimensions for small/medium parcels.

my top tip is if you have a franking machine at work and are able to use it (reimburse the postage of course) then do as its loads cheaper. A 2nd clas s small packet for example if £2.60 but only £2.25 though the franker

Thanks for the tips.
The only thing I have to measure weight with is an old pair of Salter shop scales in imperial!

Hmm - decent digital scales would be a good investment! For example, Argos have a value set for £6.99, but you would be better with a pair with a bigger surface area. They would probably pay for themselves quite soon - nowadays if you underestimate postage the next price band can be £2 or £3 more.

If I have a large item (like a large box) to weigh I put a mixing bowl on the scales, turn it to zero and then place the item on top of the bowl then weigh it. I have cheap digital scales from Tesco about £9 I think.

Does anyone find that postal rates vary from Post Office to Post Office? I am sure the one in our town is a shareholder and puts the price up to maximum yet if I do the one in a nearby village it is always much cheaper.

I only sell my surplus clothes and for virtually all of them they are £3.70 second class signed for. I charge this for simplicity and if they are more absorb the loss and if they are less refund. Most shoes are £4.10 this way. TBH I just can't be bothered with the weighing of every item and as I got over £300 for my last batch of sold items and only paid out £3 more than I'd worked out was right for postage this way suits me fine.

I find some cashiers are more intent on keeping to the letter of the law than others. And some make bad visual judgements on packages without measuring. The interpretation of whether packages are large letter or not varies a lot. I have had cashiers squeezing air out my package to make it go through the slot. Alternatively, some have held my package vertically in the slot in front of me and if it doesn't immediately fall through without any help at all refuse to let it go as Large Letter. If I have anything remotely close to size boundaries I ask how much it will be before committing - a couple of times I have said "Are you sure - I thought that would go as x rate" and they have measured and agreed. I have also asked for my parcel back a couple of times and repackaged later.

I boycotted my local Post Office for parcels for a couple of years as they still had analogue scales. I ended up paying more for a couple of parcels where I know the cashier was erring on the side of caution. At least they can't argue with digital readouts...

Jamnan
Funny you should say that about different post offices. I have been thinking that too. One near my son's school is really good and my local one seems to take every opportunity to go up to the next price. A parcel this week which went through the large letter slot very easily was somehow too "tall" even though it was a soft plastic bag. Of course that meant I was down on P&P. I get the feeling they quite enjoy telling people bad news! Might try and get to the other one more often now.