eBay

viper_collectibles · ‎10-28-2022

Hello eBay community,

I'm still a new seller with much to learn and was hoping to get some advice from the veterans of this group.

What is the best way to ship t-shirts?

I ask because I was under the impression that if I used polymailers, this would reduce the shipping cost to the buyer. I am in the process of creating my first t-shirt listing and when I had to fill out the package dimensions (the mailer is 44cmx30xm and I entered 3cm for the last field assuming this was a safe guess with the t-shirt inside), the options that came up for shipping were just as pricey as if I used a cardboard mailer (currently Canada Post Expedited Parcel with a range of $15.84-29.54C for domestic shipping).

Am I doing something wrong? Should I just stick to cardboard mailers? If I were a buyer and I paid that price range and received my item in a polymailer I would be a little irked to be honest.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

ericsells75 · ‎10-28-2022

2cm is the max. Your over by 1cm with the 3

marnotom! · ‎10-28-2022

@viper_collectibles wrote:
Am I doing something wrong? Should I just stick to cardboard mailers? If I were a buyer and I paid that price range and received my item in a polymailer I would be a little irked to be honest.

Have you checked out your competition for any clues as to what they're using? Sometimes sellers will state this information in the item description. From a quick search for tees, the least expensive shipping I could see was from the States and it wasn't much cheaper than the low end of Expedited for a Canadian domestic shipment.

flipistics · ‎10-28-2022

For something like that in Canada, there's really no cost difference between a box and a polymailer. There might be a difference in the States if the slight weight difference puts it in another class. I've received clothing from major retailers that have come in a polymailer, so I'm not sure that's a big deal. Heck, the last time we bought lightbulbs Amazon sent THEM in a bubble mailer (and they arrived just fine)!

If you can squeeze it down to under 2cm and less than 500g (and keep it that thin), you can send it out oversized lettermail in Canada at a significant savings.

BTW, the video games and many of the movies and magazines you have listed can be sent oversized lettermail in a bubble envelope or stayflat (for the magazines) just fine. There's no tracking, but honestly it doesn't seem to be much of an issue in Canada. I think that would make a huge difference for you.

ilikehockeyjerseys · ‎10-28-2022

You could ship a t-shirt lettermail in a poly bag or a bubble mailer. You would need to ensure the shirt is below 500g. You also would need to pack the t-shirt in a way that keeps it under 2 CM. Folding the shirts, and then pressing them into large ziplock bags is one way to do this. You can find Canada Post's lettermail rates and restrictions on their website.

There is no calculator for lettermail. Given that a shirt will weigh between 300-500 grams, you should probably charge somewhere from 5-7 for shipping. You won't be able to offer combined shipping. Also keep in mind that lettermail does not have tracking.

In terms of parcel shipping within Canada, I would suggest charging a flat rate of $19.99 with free combined shipping up to how many shirts you can typically fit into a small flat rate box. Size small flat rate boxes are $18.49. Unless you are a high-volume shipper, your Canada-wide shipping rates will not be much lower than that. It will simplify things for you and it will cost the buyer roughly the same amount. Depending on how many sales you expect to make a week, if you have the cash flow, I would keep a few on hand at all times. That way, you can package them at home and drop them into a regular mail box. It saves a lot of time.

(A tip with flat rate boxes though, in addition to writing the address in the space Canada Post provides, always include a printed address label with their address on the box just above where you write the address on. The paper Canada Post uses for you to write the address is bad and can lead to lost or delayed packages.)

reallynicestamps · ‎10-29-2022

Think about CustomerSatisfaction.

A men's tee that is just a slogan tee should be fine in a poly mailer, but it may help to use a thin stiffener and a bit of Magic Tape to hold it in place while shipping. But poly mailers are very tough, waterproof, and almost weightless.

Now if it were a fashion tee (usually aimed at women, but there are some aimed at men) you would add to the polymailer some white tissue and a pretty sticker, in addition to the stiffener. And perhaps an inner bag.

The poly mailer is still fine, but you could also skip the stiffener and go for a box.

Your tees can't go LetterMail because they are going to be more than 2cm thick, and probably over 500 gr. You will be using Calculated Shipping and - this is probably important- listing on dotCA not on dot COM (where you have to use Flat Rate Shipping from a Foreign Location).

Here is the Canada Post rate card. Bookmark it.

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/information/app/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

Play with this a bit. I use 90210 for US locations but Disney World and the White House are also useful, whichever is farthest from you when choosing Flat Rates.

Customers LOOOOOOOVE free shipping.

Shipping is NEVER free.

Those sellers who use Free Shipping as a marketing tool are combining their shipping cost with the price of the product.

Which is cheaper ; A $25 shirt with $15 shipping? A $20 shirt with $20 shipping? A $40 shirt with Free Shipping? How about a $30 shirt with $10 shipping?

Any of those can be done with Flat Rate Shipping, whether the Flat Rate is $20 or $0.00.

We get discounts on shipping when we buy labels through eBay. This also requires a Solutions for Small Business account which you can get here.

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/business/small-business.page?

Unfortunately, there is no discount on Flat Rate Shipping Boxes, although they can be bought in bulk from Canada Post online.

viper_collectibles · ‎10-29-2022

Hey, thank you so much! Certainly going to look into this!

viper_collectibles · ‎10-29-2022

Ah thank you for clearing this up for me!

viper_collectibles · ‎10-29-2022

I did but honestly, I just have dug a little deeper. Thank you for your help btw🙂

viper_collectibles · ‎10-29-2022

Ah man, thank you so much for taking the time to answer this. A lot of these details are new to me, especially the use of flat rate boxes. I really appreciate the help 🙂