~Shipping Hints We Learned With Blood-Sweat-Tears~

A few shipping tips, we learned the hard way.
We use USPS Click-n-Ship in conjunction with PayPal and okay. IMPORTANT!!!! There are issues here! Pack and weigh your goodies. Print out the postage, making sure you write on each slip, what it's for!!!! There is nothing on your postage sheet, except the buyer's name, ship to address and the FREE Delivery Confirmation numbers. If you blindly print out your postage, you'll have no idea what postage belongs to what item! GRRRR! AND ... make sure your post office SCANS the labels. We drop off most everything at our Post Office's loading dock. We go inside for Globals and maybe a few single items that Click-n-Ship refuses to print for one reason or another. As we all know, waiting in line can be a drag. I thought I found the answer to this when a gas station-mini mart around the corner became an "official" United States Post Office extension. They had the cutest little window, right next to the Crispy Cream display. Best of all there were NO LINES! Praise the Lord and pass the peas! Right??? Don't be fooled! They do not scan the packages!!!!!! The "main" branch mosies over to this sheep-in-wolf's-clothing place, picks up the boxes for the day and then puts them right into the big USPS truck, with NO scanning process. None, nada, goose eggs! What does this mean to you, you might ask yourself? Plenty! Take my word for it. I learned the hard way. I shipped a $170 dress to Canada, Global Priority, customs forms filled out, paid the $18 shipping, yada yada. Imagine what happened when the customer didn't receive the package and I entered the tracking numbers on the USPS web site. I got a "No information available at this time. Check back later" message. WWHHAAAAAAT? It had been weeks. I ran like a crazed person to the main branch and was told, "Oh, the packages from the satellite branch aren't scanned." WWHHAAAAAT? Not only that, BUT, those cute little machines they have in the Post Office lobby, just begging you to Click-n-Ship right there? Well hold onto your hats, these packages are not scanned either!!!! SO, be VERY careful here. I ended up refunding the Canadian customer her $170, plus the shipping AND had no dress to show for it! The short end of the stick no one wants to be on.
We use USPS Prioirty for just about everthing we sell. The boxes AND suppliesare FREE and can be ordered on-line at their web site. In five minutes, you register as a user with your own password, saving your default address information and your mail carrier delivers it to your door within about 10 days. Keyword: FREE! Order responsibly, but enough to give you a bit extra. They run out of their more popular sizes, suit sizes and #7 cubes. Buying boxes is quite expensive. Do not resort to scrounging for them. A few years ago, I bought something or another on okay. When it was delivered, my mail carrier left it in my garage (the door was open). Imagine my surprise when I happened to notice it a few weeks later. A dingy, dirty, crushed shoe box, held together with duct tape! The USPSred, white and blue Priority tape gees in handy, but I haven't been able to get my hands on any for some time. Order their stickers if you have to. Look for a Janitor or Cleaning Supply wholesaler in your area for buying boxes of wide clear tape. Rising oil prices, made it expensive, but do not skimp here. Flimsy tape sticks to everything other than the box and will easily tear. I buy tissue paper in 50 lb. boxes. Enough to give you a hernia, but we use plenty, so our customers receive their items wrapped and bundled like a new born babe. You'll need brown craft paper to cover the boxes for your Global shipments, because many things just won't fit in their small Global box. Do NOT buy it by the single sheet or in a small roll at your grocery store. I go to Home Depot and for about $9 bucks, get another hernia inducing roll of "Painter's Paper," which I guess is for protecting floors or windows from splatters. It works great. It's a heavier weight product and the price makes it very attractive. Oh, invest in a lint brush too. Selling vintage items is exciting, but not when you find a stray hair or fuzzies in the bottom of a purse. Toss the toothpicks, gum wrappers and matchbooksfrom the Swingers Club.
Pay Pal still hasn't figured out how to capitalize the proper letters in the buyer's name or address, which is a major annoyance. Hit the "edit address" button and fix it youself, if you're anal, like we are.
PayPal Seller's protection is another whole long story. Thankfully, we haven't had to worry about it too much. BUT, if a buyer is outside the USA AND using PayPal, they'd better have a Confirmed address or you'll be sucking wind if the shipment goes astray. The most secure method is to send it Registered, for an additonal cost of $7.90. Last time I was at the Post Office, the one gal happened to mention that theft is begeing a real problem in Spain, Italy, most of South America and Asia. So be careful "out there."
Hope this has helped! Best of luck!