eBay

hold.your.own.media · ‎09-08-2022

Good afternoon all,

I've been selling for a few years, and have only ever taken my items in to the post office once a week to have physically shipped. Naturally, this takes a bit of time, and is certainly not the most efficient. Part of it was because I've had awful printers, weak/small ink cartidges, and hate the expense of that all. Anyways, I now have a newborn, and every minute I spend away from home I feel a bit guilty. SO... I'm entertaining getting some form of dedicated printer (Pitney Bowes still?) for this side-gig. Note that I usually have between 10 to 20 shipments a week, so not crazy volume at this point. What is everyone's preferred method for shipping the following:

-Over sized letters to Canada under 100g (just apply $1.94 stamps, I imagine)

-Over sized letters/bubble mailers to Canada over 100g, but under 200g (what do you use for label print options?)

-All US packages (since now we cannot send non-paper items as over sized letters)

Thanks!

ilikehockeyjerseys · ‎09-08-2022

You need a scale to weigh packages. If you're only sending small bubble mailers, a standard kitchen scale is fine. Lettermail is is charged in increments of 100g up to a limit of 500g. The cost is 1.94/3.19/4.44/5.09/5.47.

Canada Post has a rule where you can use 2 p-stamps for the $1.94, even know it is technically 10 cents short. It is in their thick rule book. So you should use p-stamps instead of the $1.94 stamps. You can also get them at Costco for 5 percent off. Which means you can send an oversized package for about $1.75.

You can buy small denomination stamps to make up the difference between the other prices. Not every post office carries them, but Canada Post's website does.

That enables you to get everything done at home, so that you can drop your packages into a Canada Post street box rather than having to wait in line.

As far as labels for parcel shipping go, unless you are doing high volume, I wouldn't purchase a dedicated label printer. Instead, I would either purchase a laser printer, or a mega tank printer. That way, your cost per page will be low, but you also will have more functional use for a printer in your day to day life. You can either purchase shipping label pouches from somewhere like Staples website for a few cents a pouch, or use regular tape. Shipping label pouches would be less of a headache. You can print labels either through eBay's platform, or with Canada Post's website. eBay is a bit more intuitive, but Canada Post's website might be a bit cheaper.

If you are sending out larger packages, you will need a larger scale. This might cost $50.

Lastly, Canada Post offers pickup for $3.50. I believe this is meant to be for parcels, but I can't imagine they would turn down your lettermail. Although, I don't know for sure. You have to register an account with their small business website and book your pickup that way. Registering is quick and easy.

Good luck.

flipistics · ‎09-09-2022

What is everyone's preferred method for shipping the following:

-Over sized letters to Canada under 100g (just apply $1.94 stamps, I imagine)
-Over sized letters/bubble mailers to Canada over 100g, but under 200g (what do you use for label print options?)
-All US packages (since now we cannot send non-paper items as over sized letters)

Thanks!

I have a small business account with Canada Post. I'm also fortunate to live only about 5 mins away from my post office even though I'm in a rural area, so going every day isn't a big issue for me.

For parcels, I use a Dymo 4XL to print the labels.

For lettermail, I use postal indicia which I print on a laser printer. I use 2x4 inch address labels, 1 x 2 5/8 for the return address label, and 1x2 for the postal indicia mark. This means I never have to stock stamps and alway pay the exact amount, plus get full accounting for the shipping in my Canada Post account which makes bookkeeping very, very easy. I does mean I have to drop them off at the post office though.

I'm not currently shipping to the States.

Hope that helps someone eventually!

dinomitesales · ‎09-09-2022

Lettermail under 100 g = 2 Permanent (P) stamps

Lettermail 100-200 g = 2 P stamps + $1.30 + $0.05

And for parcels I highly recommend looking into getting a thermal label printer. Small, compact, and you don't need to worry about buying ink or taping paper labels onto your package. You don't need anything fancy - just search "Thermal Label Printer" on Amazon and you can find decent third-party ones for $100-150 (just make sure it can print 4x6" labels). The labels themselves are pretty cheap too.