Packaging - supplies, shipping, clamshell…

If you’re like me, you probably hate packing and shipping the things you sell on eBay.

Don’t get me wrong, I love selling on eBay. I just don’t like the shipping part. I find it monotonous to hunt for boxes, wrap the items, drive back and forth from the post office, and all the other steps involved in shipping.

Then there’s the waiting for the buyer to receive the item. Has it arrived yet? Did it get damaged in shipping?

It took me a lot of trial and error to figure them out, but the following 7 steps will help make your job easier when it comes to shipping, as well as get rid of the stress of waiting for the item to be delivered to the buyer.

1. Professional Wrapping

When you wrap your item(s), wrap it professionally in nice, clean tissue paper. If breakable, be sure the item is wrapped with bubble wrap as well. Include a business card with your website information, name, address, or a printed statement showing the item(s) name, item(s) number, price paid, and a small hand-written note thanking the buyer for their purchase.

2. Insurance

Insurance is usually a good idea but in general, it should be an optional feature, with the decision left to the buyer. Remember two important things about insurance. First, insurance is VERY inexpensive. Therefore, in your description, you should state how much insurance would cost and recommend it. Second, you should also state in the description that if insurance is not purchased, you are not responsible for lost or damaged items.

3. Weighing

In order to provide accurate details and help in determining shipping costs, you need to know exact weights. The best option, which will save you many unnecessary trips to the post office, is to purchase a inexpensive quality scale for weighing your packages.

4. Postage

Instead of always running out of stamps or having to run to the post office to ship a smaller item, fill out the information located at stamps.com where you can print stamps directly from your home computer.

5. Post Office Freebies

If you use the Priority Mail option through your post office, they will provide all your supplies for free. This includes boxes, labels, and tape. Best of all, they deliver all these supplies directly to your door. Get them at your local post office or go to USPS.com request mailing supplies.

6. Ship-To Locations

Be sure to consider where you will ship to carefully. You will have buyers from around the world but you can limit where you will ship. Some people prefer to ship to the US, Canada, and European countries while others ship anywhere. The option is completely yours but keep in mind that there are some differences in how you wrap the package, the currency exchanges, and communication barriers between you and the buyer.

7. Delivery Confirmation

Unfortunately, some buyers will try to say they paid for an item but never received the auction item(s). When shipping, you should consider using delivery confirmation. This service is generally inexpensive and can end up saving you a ton, especially if the item(s) is higher priced.

Do yourself a favor and put these tips into action - you’ll save yourself both time and hassles. Use the time you save to get more listings up, and watch your eBay income grow.

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John Lenaghan offers success tips for eBay and other online auctions at the Online Auction Advisor website. Visit www.online-auction-advisor.com for more ways to improve your buying and selling on eBay.

I seriously love this company. I have ordered everything from cheap address labels to magnets to postcards and I am sure a few more things too. Over the holiday weekend, I ordered myself some new business cards. I have added two blogs since last year (which was the last time I got cards), so I definitely needed to update my cards. I keep having to hand write the new blogs on there and that looks tacky. I think I put the order in on Saturday. Being a holiday weekend, I did not expect to hear ..

Source: magnets

What many people think of a small business, they have these visions of an independent entrepreneur who is crafting a finely made product, happily working away doing something fulfilling with their life. REALITY CHECK!

Operating a small business takes a certain level of discipline and understanding. This is because it small business is like a child in that your decisions can either help it grow and blossom or destroy it. Let’s consider just a few of the positions in a small business that need filled usually by the owner.

1. Building maintenance coordinator. If you rent or lease space, the task of scheduling maintenance and repairers not only for the business equipment but many times the building infrastructure falls to you. Such mundane tasks as making certain the windows are washed and sidewalk cleaned regularly also are your responsibility

2. Advertising executive. Your small business may make the best product on the planet but there will be no sales unless consumers hear about it. How do you plan on getting your message out? If you hire an ad agency in their work is ineffective your business suffers. This means you need to understand your market and how to reach them.

3. Human Resources. Plan on having any employees? Be prepared to deal with developing an employee handbook, Worker’s Compensation, absenteeism, along with hiring and firing. Oh and if you get read of an employee without proper documentation and justification, be prepared to have your unemployment insurance account charged to pay for the employee UI benefits.

4. Insurance expert. How much it will kind of insurance you need? Although you can get help with this from a business insurance agent, remember the agent is in the business of selling insurance. You need to be able to understand the risks your business faces and what should be insured against.

These are just a few of the hats a small-business owner needs to wear. Running a small business is exhilarating, exhausting and very demanding. The rewards however, are much more than simply money in the bank.

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Abigail Franks writes on a variety of subjects which include business topics and small business start-up for more small business info visit http://www.4envelopes.info/ and http://www.smallbiz-marketplace.com/