Postage

[mom31257]

How do you figure what postage is going to cost you and where do you find the boxes and stuff to ship it in? I'm going to be going through all my books and listing stuff in a few weeks. What is the best way to do this? How much do the shipping materials actually cost?

Thanks for any help!

[coffeefreak]

I've been buying and selling curriculum for several years, so I think I've just gotten good at guessing :) Media mail will generally cost $5 or less depending on the size of the box. We have a lot of boxes because we save every smallish box for this very reason. I've also gone to Walmart and purchased padded envelopes to send one book. I'll stick a piece of cardboard in the envelope to keep it from bending in shipping.
HTH!
Dorinda

[Liz Mc in SC]

You can use a shipping calculator -- estimate your weight or use a kitchen scale. You'll need to add in for delivery confirmation.

http://postcalc.usps.gov/

But if your buyer pays with PayPal then print your postage thru them, the delivery confirmation is much cheaper.

[Janet in Toronto]

When I was selling a lot of books (when we lived in the US), I watched CVS and Walgreens and OfficeMax for sales on padded envelopes, and stocked up. I also bought shipping tape when it went on sale, and saved every box and shipping envelope that came into the house.

The USPS has lots of info on shipping rates. Your best bet for shipping books is Media Mail with Delivery Confirmation. That way you get the cheapest rates and proof that you've mailed the item.

[mom31257]

Thanks for the advice. I want to make sure I don't cut myself short on prices that include shipping.

[homeschool_mom]

I bought an inexpensive postal scale that goes up to ten pounds. I’ve never sold that many pounds at one time, so it works well for me.

I also save any padded envelopes or boxes that I receive to reuse. I have also got some boxes from the grocery store and a craft store. I let them know ahead of time what size boxes I was looking for, so they wouldn’t recycle them.

I just wanted to mention that it’s important to make sure that the books are in a padded envelope (or box) and if they are in a regular flat envelope, make sure to put the book in a plastic bag AND tape the corners. I have received poorly packaged books-either wet or very damaged because the corners ripped open.

I don’t like to sell things prepaid, because then if someone buys more than one book, the postage goes down quite a bit. I’m pasting the media mail chart below. It’s only $2.23 for the first pound and increases just a little for each additional pound. So if someone bought 6 books totalling less than two pounds, the postage would only be $2.58. If I added $2.58 for each book, they’d be paying nearly $14 in extra postage.

Weight
Not Over (pounds)
Single-
Piece
1
$2.23
2
2.58
3
2.93
4
3.28
5
3.63

[elegantlion]

Here's a tip I got from paperback swap, wrap your books in plastic wrap, then put them in the envelope or box. I do that with all of my books to avoid them getting wet.

[homeschooltoone]

Here's a tip I got from paperback swap, wrap your books in plastic wrap, then put them in the envelope or box. I do that with all of my books to avoid them getting wet.
:iagree: I do that too.

[ciyates]

Thanks for that tip!

[OneRoomSchoolHouse]

Rates just went up. Here is the new media mail rate chart:


Weight Not Over (Pounds)Price 1$2.38 2$2.77 3$3.16 4$3.55 5$3.94

[hsmom3tn]

If your package is 6 ounces or less, first class parcel is cheaper - and much faster!
4 oz. - $1.92
5 oz. - $2.09
6 oz. - $2.26
** these prices include the 19¢ fee for paypal's delivery confirmation.
You can use First Class parcel for up to 13 oz., and sometimes it's worth it to pay a little extra to get it there faster. For each additional ounce, just add 17¢.

I'm on paperback swap, and have mailed out a lot of books in the past year. I don't use the plastic wrap, but I use Ziploc bags. I buy the Ziplocs and bubble mailers in bulk at Sam's.

[chontaveal]

These tips are great! Thanks. You can also go to walmart early early (6am or earlier) when they are restocking and get good boxes of all sizes.

[hsmom3tn]

I have been buying the bubble mailers in bulk at Sam's. If you're going to be mailing out a lot of books, this is much cheaper. I also reuse boxes from packages that are delivered to me.

If you use paypal for shipping, it automatically charges 19¢ for delivery confirmation. Here are the media mail prices:

1 pound - $2.57
2 pounds - $2.96
3 pounds - $3.35
4 pounds - $3.74
5 pounds - $4.13
6 pounds - $4.52
7 pounds - $4.91
...add 39¢ for each additional pound

[Hebrews3:13]

Yeah I found out the rates went up the hard way this week! :glare: So I cheated myself pretty well on ppd. I hadn't looked recently. Bummer.

[KinderSafari]

I charge a little more for my books (like 50 cents or $1 more than typical), but $2 or $3 for shipping (free if over $10 in purchases). People seemed to like the deals on shipping. The most I've paid so far in shipping was $4.77 on a $40 purchase on a box of books. Usually it's $2.77 so the $2 or $3 covers most of it and the people are fine with the price of the books because shipping is so cheap.

[westcoastmom]

Yeah I found out the rates went up the hard way this week! :glare: So I cheated myself pretty well on ppd. I hadn't looked recently. Bummer.

What did the cheapest media mail price used to be?

[happyholly]

thanks for the information.

[kdurfee]

Will a digital kitchen scale do or must I purchase something more advanced?

[MBH]

Your digital kitchen scale should work just fine.

My kitchen scale is not digital and it works for me.

Here is how I tested it's accuracy:

I weighed the book with the box and it's wrappings using my kitchen scale.

Then I took the package to the post office and had them weigh the pacakge so that I could see if my kitchen scale was accurate and it was.

From then on, I weigh the packages on my kitchen scale and print the shipping label using one of the three methods below:

1) Shipping Assistant on U.S. Postal Services Website:
http://www.usps.com/shippingassistant/ (http://www.usps.com/shippingassistant/)

2) Using Click-N-Ship on U.S. Postal Services Website:
https://sss-web.usps.com/cns/landing.do (https://sss-web.usps.com/cns/landing.do)

3) Paypal website:
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_ship-now

All of the above methods automatically charge you 19 cents for Track and Confirm.

To find out how much shipping is without commitment to buy postage, visit:

http://www.usps.com/tools/calculatepostage/welcome.htm?from=home_header&page=calculatepostage

As everyone else has suggested, always save your boxes, envelopes, and plastic bubble wraps. I wrap my books in plastic grocery bags or other plastic wraps so that they don't get wet.

I hope this helps.

[MBH]

Also, in my ads I do not use the word "Postage Paid" or "PPD" because postage rates go up and vary based on zip codes.

[MBH]

I save cereal boxes for lighter and smaller books and manipulatives.

[happyholly]

If shipping media mail make sure you put the address inside of the plastic as as well cause sometimes the postal service check to make sure it media, then they lose the outside wrapper or tear the address then it either does not reach it's destination or is delayed getting there by which time the buyer has asked for a refund.
Trust me, I learned the hard way. Cost me dollars I could not afford to lose and had relief from postal service on the matter.
Theresa

[Dina in Oklahoma]

Hello ~

Thanks for asking this question!

Dina :001_smile:

[houseofrabbits]

You will want to get a reasonable scale so that you can determine the weight of the item(s) in a box with packing material or envelope. I save all of my small boxes and padded envelopes and ask friends to do the same for me. I have had to purchase padded envelopes and even purchasing them at places like WalMart are approximately $1 each which can be significant cost on a low-priced item. I list most of my items with their individual shipping cost included in the price and then take off $2 per item on combined shipping.

If you download USPS Shipping Assistant (free!) your can print your mailing labels at home and include delivery confirmation. This way your delivery confirmation only costs 19 cents as opposed to 80 cents at the post office (and you don't have to fill out another form!). I sell lots of books for friends so 100 packages later it really adds up and I can keep my prices competitive.

You will also want to invest in good quality clear packing tape!

When shipping an envelope (including bubble envelope) I always wrap the the envelope in a "cross" lengthwise and sideways because those envelopes often are torn in shipping and you don't want the contents to fall out.

I also will place the materials inside a grocery bag and tape that bag up with a handwritten piece of paper taped to the bag in the even of an outer packaging failure.

One last thing to keep in mind is that while most people are honest, some are not. All of my orders under $15 do not require insurance, but all orders $15 and over MUST have insurance. I've lost sales over this but I don't care because it protects my buyer and myself. Paypal doesn't necessarily cover you unless you can provide certain proofs of mailing so read through their policies, keep all of your postal receipts and correspondence between you and your buyer.

More than you wanted to know, I'm sure, but I hope you find it helpful.

Lis