Tag Archives: Ebay

(Un)Breakables

I’m almost afraid to blog about this, afraid I’ll jinx myself.

Here goes.

Today’s blog is about shipping. Lately, I’ve been seeing several photos on Facebook from brokenhearted buyers. They’ve taken the chance, bought a piece of glass or pottery from a stranger somewhere out there, possibly hundreds of miles away, and what do they get? A broken vase, broken jard, broken pot. Whatever they bought in good faith, whatever beautiful item they were looking forward to adding to their collection—broken. Why? Because someone didn’t take the time to do their job properly. Or maybe they just don’t understand how much packaging is required to properly protect breakable items. I hope most sellers fall into the latter instead of the former. That being said, here’s how I do it. It’s worked so far. To my knowledge, no buyer of mine has ever received a broken item. (Knocks on wood, shakes Nicaraguan maracas, rubs Garfield’s head.)

I really like the folks at my local post office, and I really like my letter carrier. They are professionals who do a great job. However, not all postal workers are professional. I’ve received messages from buyers asking to please take extra care in packaging their items and they share stories of previous experiences that were not good. I had one man begging me to double box because my item was the third he had bought and he really wanted it to get to him unbroken. I did, he got it, he’s a happy camper. Happy buyer=great feedback=more buyers=happy seller—me.

To me, bubble wrap is crucial. I use the small bubble, and wrap my breakable with the wrap running in one direction and then wrap in the other direction. Wrap until the item cannot be felt under the wrap. Tape the ends.  If you can feel the item, pull some more bubble wrap off that roll and wrap it some more. Yes, shipping materials are expensive, but what’s your selling reputation worth? Do you really want to be that seller who’s being blasted on social media with photos of a broken vase, jard, ped, etc.? I don’t. I sold a large figurine and when it was wrapped, it looked like a brisket. If your attitude is, so what, it was insured, stop reading now and go back to playing Candy Crush. This is no place for you.

After your item is safely cocooned in bubble wrap, it’s time to find a box. This box should be large enough to accommodate the bubble wrapped item and at least an inch of packing peanuts on each side. If you have more than one item, there should be enough room to place bubble wrap between your items. And the type of box is important also. The best ones have a crush rating on the bottom, such as 32 pounds/square inch. They can take the impact of being dropped, kicked, and/or possibly stepped on.

You’ve got your item in the box, now it’s time to tape it. Tape in one direction and then the other. Square boxes will have a “t”, rectangular boxes will have an “h”, tape them twice on the width.

I use internet shipping labels, so it’s time to get into eBay and print my label and put it on my box. I tape around the edges of my label. It could come off. Can’t be too careful.

Finally, wrap all packages with the same care, whether they’re high dollar or dollar store. Wrap them with the same care whether they’re traveling 50 miles or 500. You owe it to your buyer. They’ve put their trust in you. Earn it.

Feel free to share your packaging tips here. Got any extra peanuts?

Pin This To Your Face

Have you seen the Wal-Mart commeercial with the young girl telling Dad “we can pin, post, tweet, snap, tag, text & share”? Yeah, sometimes I feel about as confused as her dad looks. But these are things we baby boomers need to learn about. In my case, I need to learn how to use these avenues because I have an eBay store, oohshinycollectibles (shameless promotion #1). I’ve been selling on eBay for 2 years now, and boy, has it been a learning experience. Here are my products, how do I get people to see them? We’ve all mastered email, but email seems to be going the way of the dinosaur, get with it people! So I have a Facebook page dedicated to OohShiny Collectibles (shameless promo #2), a Pinterest page appropriately named  oohshinycollectilbes (SP #3), the aforementioned eBay store (SP #4 or SP #1 x 2) and this blog that I’ve been neglecting because, well, who has time to sit down and type up a blog? Oh yeah, stop rescuing so many Farm Heroes and you might be able to squeeze a little blogging in. Priorities. I’ve been mulling over some things I’d like to write about, things I’ve learned in the past 2 years of my OohShiny (shameless promo #5) experiences. Hopefully, you’ll start reading more blogs from me. Feel free to comment. Learning together is fun.

http://stores.ebay.com/oohshinycollectibles

Shameless promotion #6!

 

 

 

Let’s Do Launch!

I have a business called OohShinyCollectibles. I’ve been selling my products on ebay for 2 months now, and it’s been quite an experience. Fortunately, it’s all been positive so far. And today, I’ve decided to reach out further. It’s time to let my 500 closest facebook friends in on my business, so to speak. On the facebook page, we will discuss our favorite vintage/retro items. I mainly collect/sell glass, pottery, books, and magazines, but I’m open to whatever you’d like to share. Since the first of the year, I’ve been learning a lot, and I’m sure many of you have things I can learn as well.

If you’re seeing this on facebook, thanks for liking my page. Stop by anytime:)

So let’s do this–let’s talk about our OohShinyCollectibles!

Daily Quote: Silver Screen: Women of Steel

“Oh, Sammy’s so confused he don’t know whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt.”

Why yes, I do love chick flicks, my favorite being Steel Magnolias. And yes, I’ve been pretty confused of late. Sell on ebay they said, it’s fun they said. I thought they said it was easy, but now that I mull it over, nope, nobody said it would be easy (is that another movie quote? can’t remember).

Are you confused yet? Sorry, I’m having an ooh shiny moment (see first post). I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I’ve been selling my shiny objects on ebay for 2 or 3 weeks. And much like Sammy, I’ve been confused. Very confused.

When I started selling, I wasn’t sure where to start. Being a “just do it” type, I grab something and go with it. I’ll sell this vase. What to do first. Weigh it? Okay, it weighs 1 pound 8 ounces, but wait, I need the packaged weight.  Here’s a nice box. So I lovingly lay OohShiny vase to rest in its box, wrapped in bubble wrap, surrounded by packing peanuts, all cozy comfy ready to ship to the buyer halfway across the US, who’s anxiously awaiting the wonderful treasure I’ve found. Okay, it weighs 2 pounds all packaged up in the box. Great, let’s list it. Oopsie—no picture. Take it out of the package, strew packing all over the office, you get the picture. Before I can take the pictures, the packing materials must be cleaned up and put back in the box for later. I then take the pictures, load the pictures, now let’s list it. Wait–how much is it worth? Is anyone else selling a vase like mine? Woa, how are they selling it so cheaply?

Eventually, I do get my items listed. Now where’s my watch?