Shipping Boxes

I was placing an order for shipping supplies yesterday and I thought it might be useful to show the USPS free shipping supplies that I use most often. I started out mainly using the flat rate supplies but now have branched out and added a few others as favorites. So without further ado.

The box on the left is called the shoe box and as its name implies is perfect for shoes. I use it all the time for that but for many other items as well. The box next to it on the right measures 7 x 7 x 6 and is the perfect size for most mugs.

Next is the Tyvek mailer. They are pretty indestructible. I like them for added strength when sending something in a polymailer especially overseas. If it's going priority I'll throw it in the Tyvek mailer. I could use a box to provide the extra strength but that adds weight. 

I use the next two a lot. They are similar in size to a medium flat rate box but cheaper if your item is light than paying the medium flat rate price. 

Lastly I use this large box quite a bit. As it's name implies it is a nice large box. It is a little bigger than the Large Flat Rate and almost always cheaper depending again on the weight of your item. You can always compare when you do your shipping. 

I never realized how many boxes were available free and how much I would use them once I figured out when they worked best. I usually offer my customer Parcel Select, Priority or Priority Express. On their end Parcel Select is usually the best deal and what they usually choose. On my end with my shipping discount Priority is usually a little cheaper or just a little more expensive. So the customer gets a free upgrade and I get to use free boxes! 

Do you use the free shipping boxes USPS offers? Let me know if you have a favorite that I've left out. And Happy Easter. I hope the Easter Bunny left you something good. 

BOLO Tiny Toon Adventures Buster Bunny

I went to a church rummage sale today. There wasn't much except really good bakery but I picked up this Buster Bunny plush new in its original box. I didn't know the toy but it was only a dollar so I picked it up. When I got home I researched and found out that the plush from this cartoon are pretty collectable. The cartoon is pretty funny as well. Here is a link to the completeds on ebay. Have you seen Tiny Toons?

                 

I'm really interested in the conversation that has been going on over at Scavenger Life regarding Search Engine Keywords in your ebay store. I have edited all of mine and have noticed an increase in traffic and have quickly sold several items, some that have been listed 3 yrs, when I added them as search engine keywords. A caller also inquired about this topic on Ebay Radio recently. Griff had no idea what she was talking about and said he would find out about it. Have you been reading along about this topic? What are your thoughts?

Screen Recording Global Shipping Program Amendment to my Last Video

1000 Listings!

I just listed my 1000th item. Took me so long to get from 900 to 1000. It looks so weird!

Happy Friday the 13th!

Sales have been slooowww the last few weeks. Not inspiring me to post much. I've got a document where I save little ideas for blog posts that aren't really a whole post on their own so I thought I'd put together a few of those and cobble together a post.

First is sort of a shipping tip that I came up with the other day for using the free Priority boxes that the USPS provides. I sold a set of pictures a while back. There were six of them and they were to go Priority. Well there was no way all six would fit in the biggest Priority box I have so I thought I'd have to go down to my basement to see if I had a regular box that I could use. I have a friend who brings me a lot of boxes from his work place. Then suddenly I had a vision!!! Why couldn't I use several Priority boxes and tape them together? It worked like a charm. I put two well protected pictures in each Priority box and then very securely taped them all to each other to create one big box! The boxes themselves added an additional layer of protection between the pictures. This method could be used for all sorts of things that are in multiples as long as you make sure the boxes are very securely taped together. I used Scotch shipping/strapping tape which is one of my new loves. It has extra strong fibers in it so that it doesn't break. I purchased a six pack of the rolls like the one on the left below and they fit into a standard size dispenser. You can also buy it already in a disposable dispenser as on the right below. I love this stuff for packages that feel heavy for their size where you are afraid they might split open at the tape. Like a box of books.


     


Another tip that I discovered recently.

I've always used rubber eraser to clean prices off the bottoms of shoes when written in ink or marker. Recently though I realized that an eraser also works well for cleaning black marks off of the rest of the rubber areas on shoes. The toes, heels, sides etc. And for an especially hard to remove price I found that a fine grit sandpaper finally faded the price enough where you had to look really close to see it. I love discovering these cheap tips whether on my own or from reading other blogs. You can save lots of money not buying little specialty products that do the same thing. The erasers I use are just cheap 4/dollar erasers. Nothing fancy!

Lastly you all probably already know about this since it started a few years ago (cause you all are way more hip than me!) but I just read an article about it recently (an oldish article). So apparently the company Urban Outfitters has a line of clothes Urban Renewal where they take used clothing and sell it as is or just use the existing piece to create a new garment by refashioning it. I think it's good that big companies are thinking outside the box. In further reading I also read some negative opinions about the company which unfortunately I can't find again or I would add a link. Did you know about this trend already? What are your thoughts on the concept? Do you think it's wrong for big companies like Urban Outfitters, Restoration Hardware, Anthropolgie and others to cash in on the fads in clothing and furniture for that vintage, beat up look? Or are they creating the fad and we are cashing in on it? I guess it's really not a new concept. Shabby chic was the same thing in home decor. Just way more pastels. If nothing else these websites are great places to look at trends and mine some good keywords. Pinterest is a gold mine of ideas on how to create the same items yourself if you don't have $1000 to spend on a coffee table.

photos from pixabay

Warning for Fellow Bonanza Sellers

I had a sale today on Bonanza. It was a repair manual that I had listed for $10.99 with free Media Mail shipping. Well the shipping page said the buyer had chosen free Priority Express shipping. Sure enough that is what the listing said I was offering. I took care of that problem but then I thought I'd better check some of my other Bonanza listings. Sure enough, other listings that I have set to offer free shipping were saying I was offering free shipping on all shipping options, not just one. I've heard other people say that they had items on Bonanza that were not supposed to offer free shipping at all but somehow during the process of importing the items from ebay things are getting changed. I was going to delete all my Bonanza items and do the import from ebay anew to see if that helped but I could not find a way to delete everything in bulk without a Pro account. I'd have to delete each item one by one. Over 900 items. The only thing I could do is put my Bonanza store on vacation. Below I took a screen shot showing what Bonanza said I was offering. Yikes. I'm going to contact Bonanza about the issue and won't be taking my store off of vacation until it's resolved. Has anyone else had this happen? Please check your listings on Bonanza if you do have a store there.

Sales This Week

Sales were slower this week than the previous couple of weeks. I had a couple of higher dollar sales (not shown below) but not many. I think I'll focus the post this week on 'interesting' sales instead. These items all cost very little but most brought in $19.99. They also all were pretty easy storage and shipping and just things I find I'm attracted to when out thrifting even though I know they aren't going to bring in big bucks.

Packers Brett Favre Jersey. I live in Wisconsin so I come across lots of Packer apparel. Even though this is a Brett Favre Jersey who isn't with the Packers anymore and kind of unpopular it sold for $19.99 plus shipping. I paid $3 for it. If you live in a sports town don't bypass those vintagy shirts even if they are no longer relevant. I've sold quite a few old Packers things.

Tapestry Pillow Top. I just listed this yesterday and it sold same day. I paid a buck and sold it for $14.99. I have a few more with different scenes to list. I'm starting to get into looking at the fabrics when in the thrifts. I featured one in my last post that is a fun piece.

Vintage Pantyhose. I pick these up whenever I come across them. They can take a long time to sell but take up little space and always have cool graphics or pictures on the front. Paid $1 and sold for $19.99 free shipping.

Vintage Peanuts Pillow Case. Cool pillow case. Paid 50 cents. Sold for $19.99 plus shipping. I always look at the pillow cases if they are priced under a dollar and pick up vintage characters.

3000 piece puzzle. Paid $3 and sold for $19.99. It should be worth more as it's hard to find but it's opened and I couldn't guarantee the pieces were all there. It's the Garden of Eden. I don't buy puzzles anymore unless they are sealed.

Vintage Tupperware Measuring Spoons. Cost .25. Sold for $19.99 plus shipping. I always pick these up if they are in decent shape. Easy to store and ship and pretty popular. Same for the Vintage Tupperware Measuring Cups.

Vintage Paper Punch. I was going to keep this for myself until I saw that I could get $19.99 for it. Decided I don't need it. Paid 50 cents.