Is there a way to use the UPS store to pack your items and still turn a profit?

[dumpsterdiver]

I hate packing. Its my real hang up. I think I'm excellent at buying and pretty good at listing. But I hate with a passion shipping. I would be willing to lose a few bucks to increase listing and shipping. I know you can drop something off at the ups store and they will pack it and ship. What I don't know is does this cost a fortune. Finding/buying boxes and packing supplies gets expensive/time consuming.

 

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[DeepseekerADS]

I would be concerned about this, having it in someone else's hands when trying to please a customer.

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

The nice part is when they pack it you never have to worry about shipping insurance issues. They take full responsibility and no inquiries etc.

The problem, as you guessed is the price. Figure at least 5x what it'd cost to ship on its own, at least. If you have a high profit margin you can do this, but typically you can kiss any profit goodbye!

 

[vwayne1]

It's not cheap. I would figure it like this. Find out how much they average per package. Make sure that amount is no more than about 5-10% of your net profit. I don't like packing either but when profit really counted, and I wasn't working anyway, I bit the bullet, dumpster dived for packing materials, and set up a little assembly line with all materials handy. Made it cheaper and easier.

 

[JonG]

I use USPS Flat Rate boxes and bought a small paper shredder for packing material. Shred newspapers and junk mail as I need packing material. Pack, print labels online, request pickup when you print the label, and let the Postal Carrier pick it up from the front porch.

 

[fishwhacker]

It is only worth it for larger dollar sales or sales with very high profit margins. I personally use them for items over $5000 or items that are especially fragile and irreplaceable. Packing can be a pain but I enjoy it, knowing I've sent out an item that is extremely secure and on par with my standards and far beyond the packing I would get most places is satisfying. You can ask your usps store for free packing materials (left over bubble wrap/Styrofoam board), and can get free boxes up to large flat rate through USPS. I would personally advise just setting up a packing station in your house, reusing boxes etc. It saves money and you know its done right.

 

[clovis97]

We've started to rely more and more on the USPS provided priority boxes. In my opinion, finding boxes is half the battle.

Set up an USPS account and order the boxes you think you'll need, and they get shipped to your door at no charge.

 

[Iron Patch]

Surely you don't have that much packing, but I agree, especially for larger items it sucks. I still would never consider anyone else doing it because I know when I do it everything is right.

 

[NHBandit]

We've started to rely more and more on the USPS provided priority boxes. In my opinion, finding boxes is half the battle.

Set up an USPS account and order the boxes you think you'll need, and they get shipped to your door at no charge.

This is what I do as well. You know exactly what to charge for shipping without screwing around weighing stuff. Comes with decent tracking now. You can get all the boxes & labels you want for free. I also get Priority Mail shipping tape from the local PO but you can't order that online. I'm not sure if they are supposed to give it out but I live in a very small town with ONE person working at the post office & she's a really nice woman who also does a little selling on Ebay.

 

[dumpsterdiver]

Thanks for the help. Its not that I have that much but some weeks it can really sneak up on you. Especially when each item is unique. I like the idea of using it for high dollar items. I guess I've been selling a lot of glass and cookie jars and things that are challenging to pack. Certainly never sold a $5000 item yet. I had received somethings pack by a ups store and they were really packed well. So I know at least someone else out there is doing it. I just reached the point where I know my time would be better spent buying and listing.