She Thrifts

Thrift. Flip. Repeat.

A Bloggy Friend Thank You!

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A few weeks ago Margaret @ Live Like No One Else posted about how she saved some money by checking prices on both walmart.com and in the store.  Which is great advice!

My oldest turns 7 today (!!!).  We had a party for him last weekend, and he ended up with some serious birthday money.  He and my husband wandered the Wal-Mart Lego aisle, and decided he would use all of his money on one big Star Wars Lego set he’s been wanting that comes with a whopping $90 price tag!  I’m w-a-y too cheap to buy a gift like that (even for my own kid), which I guess is why he had to buy it for himself.  Anyway, I had this niggling memory of her blog post of finding a cheaper price online vs. the store.  I looked up the Lego set on my phone, and whaddya know, the online price was $75!  Still a lot, but a decent discount.  I found a couple employees talking together, and they both agreed that they couldn’t price match their own website (which I think is kind of crazy, but whatever), so we ended up ordering the SW lego set online, and he was able to get a second smaller superhero Lego set as well for his $90.

Ordering it online was a win/win/win for me.  Lower price, delivered to our home, and I get all of the packaging materials to reuse in the future (like my free gift with purchase!)  I’m not the only one who can get as excited about the packaging of my orders as I am about the actual items I receive, am I?

Also, as you’re shopping online don’t forget to make your purchases via Swagbucks to earn some additional points.  I love getting rewarded for things I would be doing anyway.  I got a couple hundred points from the purchase, just one more bonus in this whole scenario.
 
So, thank you, Margaret, for the tip.  It worked out great for us!

Risk vs. Reward ~ when contacting eBay buyers

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Preface:  In no way do I think I’ve got everything figured out when it comes to eBay (ha! I wish), nor do I think there is only one right way to do most things.  But, this is an aspect of my business that I’ve figured out works well for me, and I am puzzled when other sellers react with strong opinions against it.


It’s one small simple thing, but I think it benefits me in many ways:  I e-mail each and every one of my buyers after I have shipped their item to let them know it’s on the way.  

The message usually looks like this:

Just wanted to let you know that I dropped your package off at the Post Office this morning.  Thanks!

Some sellers will be quick to say it is not a good idea because we are then open to be rated on communication, where if no communication has passed between buyer and seller it is (theoretically) an automatic 5-star rating.  This is where risk vs. reward comes in.  Do I risk getting less than 5 stars on “communication”?  Sure.  But what are the possible rewards?  Here are a few off the top of my head:

1)  Buyer knows the item has been shipped.

2) The speed in which I have shipped their item is emphasized (next day or when possible same day ~ sooo many of my feedbacks say some variation of “super fast shipping!”)

3) I have opened a door of communication between us.  AND – I think it’s a good thing!  Hopefully I have given the impression of a friendly seller who is willing to take a moment to follow up on their purchase.  And if/when an eventual problem does arise I am hopeful that the buyer will contact me first responding to this e-mail vs opening a case or taking another avenue.

4) I have received SO MANY cool stories back about why buyers buy what they buy.  And I wouldn’t have heard any of them without sending the “your item has shipped” e-mail.  

5) The e-mails from the great buyers help me keep the rare bad buyer in perspective (they don’t come along often, but they can sour the whole experience when they do, can’t they?!)

6) I don’t buy items off eBay very often (I know, shame on me), but when I do I am ALWAYS left with the option of rating the seller on communication even when no communication has passed between us.  So, I’m not convinced that the “automatic” 5-star rating actually works the way we think it does.

Sure, sending the e-mails at the end of each day takes a couple minutes.  But to me the rewards far outweigh any time invested or potential risks. 

Quick Tip ~ Maximizing Padded Flat Rate Envelopes

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Hopefully everyone already has a stack of the padded flat rate envelopes amongst their shipping supplies.  (If you don’t, take a minute and order some HERE.  They’re sooo handy!)  As the name implies, anything you can get into this envelope ships for one flat rate, up to 70 pounds, as long as you have not altered the envelope.  Last year I wrote a post about Capri Sun boxes fitting perfectly into the padded flat rate envelopes (you can read that post HERE).  That was a great discovery, and I have shipped a bunch of items that way.  More recently I have been buying most of my supplies to keep up with shipping demands, and I bought several different sizes of small boxes.  (Is it just me, or is it always the small boxes you can’t get enough of?)  

 
One day I was prepping a heavy-ish item that needed to be shipped in a box and thought I should try to see if I could get it into a padded flat rate envelope.  And whaddya know?  Another perfect fit!  The box is 9x6x3.  I buy them from Amazon, and they end up costing about a quarter each. (I haven’t done any shopping around, so it’s possible they could be found cheaper elsewhere.)  I’ve gone through several orders of these boxes – they can be a lifesaver!

UPDATE:  An (affiliate) link to the boxes I have bought in the past can be found below.  As I type, the price for 25 boxes is over $12. The last time I bought some (in March) the price was under $7, so it might be worth waiting a beat to see if the price drops back down. 

A clever shipping tip

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I didn’t come up with this one on my own, but I’ve been using it and I like it, so I thought I would pass it on.  Earlier this month Lorraine @ We are: clamco blogged about flat rate shipping envelopes, and how when she receives packages shipped in them, they are often rather beat up.  Someone commented that when they ship items in a flat rate mailer they always put the item in a polymailer first.  

Brilliant!  How had I never thought to do this?  

I’ve used this method a couple times now, and I think it has multiple benefits. 

#1) It gives your item extra protection as it goes through the mail, and

#2) if you have a bulky item, once it is in a polymailer it is more compact and it slides more easily into the flat rate mailer, which

 #3) probably also looks better to the buyer on the other end.  

A win/win/win!

Quick Tip: Maximizing Flat Rate Shipping

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I like to offer free shipping, but there are times when it can take a huge bite out of the profit margin.  If an item is too heavy to be shipped first class, whenever I can I will use Flat Rate Priority envelopes.  They work especially well for flat-ish items.  Things that are bigger or more square can pose a bit of a challenge.

I recently discovered that a Capri Sun box can sometimes be the answer.
The box fits perfectly into a padded flat rate envelope.



In fact, I tape one flap of the envelope down on the box and then stretch the other flap over to meet it and tape it down as well, to make sure it is enclosed in the space allowed.  It is a perfect fit.


Ta-da!



I’ve successfully shipped a number of packages this way,
including toys, fragile(ish) plush, shoes, and misc household items.


I had a stockpile of the boxes after my oldest son’s birthday party a few months back, but I’ve gone through almost all of them now.  It may be time to buy some more.

If you’ve got a shipping tip – please share!

Quick Tip: Calling the USPS

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I had a GREAT sale at the end of last week that I was really looking forward to sharing.  But.  It’s taken a bad turn.  The good news is that the buyer seems really nice, the bad news is that I will eventually be refunding his money.  But more about that in a few days. 

I needed to get additional info on the package in question.  The uploaded tracking information wasn’t cutting it.  But, have you ever tried to get a live person on the phone when calling the USPS 1-800 number?  It is a time-suck-nightmare.  Unless you know a trick, which I figured out accidentally a couple months ago.

Their system is all voice automation.  The menu will give you several options and you are supposed to choose one.  And, take it from me, you can jump through their hoops and spend the better part of your morning getting nowhere.  Or, you can ignore everything the voice automation system is asking, and just repeat “more options customer service more options customer service more options customer service” until the system has no idea what to do with you and dumps you over to a customer service rep.  It’s what I tried out of exhausted desperation a couple months ago, and I was surprised when it worked.  I tried it again this morning and had a live person on the line in less than a minute.  Ta-da!  Sometimes it’s the smallest victories that are the sweetest.

Quick Tip: Seuss or Suess? Spelling Counts!

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I listed a couple lots of Dr. Seuss books this week.  Always good sellers!  Neither have sold yet, but both immediately had multiple watchers.  When doing a little research into what book lots have sold for recently (to help determine my own asking price) I noticed one listing included both Seuss and Suess.  Which gave me pause.  Uhhhhhhh – which is right?  Have I been spelling it right?  

Out of curiosity I looked up Seuss on eBay.  It came back with 33,157 listings.

I then looked up Suess.  2536 listings.  2536 listings that include an incorrect spelling!  

Granted, some, like the listing I found, probably include both spellings.  But most?  I’d guess not.  And looking at the completeds I could see that a bunch with incorrect spellings have sold. 

The good news is, I did have it spelled correctly in all of my listings.  In addition to book lots, I often buy and sell Kohl’s plush based on Dr. Seuss characters.  But what will be even better is when I include both spellings, so I can get even more eyes landing on my listings.  I am going to update all of my listings tonight.

I know I’ve mentioned dual spellings in past posts.  Some others I always make sure to include are:

Tweety ~ Tweetie

Bam Bam ~ Bamm Bamm

Sulley ~ Sully

Does anyone have any others to add to the list?

Quick Tip: Flip That Box Inside Out

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Does everyone already do this?  Most of the items I ship are via First Class mail, and most of those go in polymailers.  But sometimes your package needs a little extra protection, and ya just gotta have a box.  
I’ve had a few friends save boxes for me in the past, but that’s trickled off . . .  and I’ve had to become more inventive in my box-finding.  One place I can often find a box is in my kitchen.
I usually “flatten” my boxes when storing them, so the ends are already open.  In addition to the ends, there is usually one seam along one side that keeps the box together.  I open the box along that seam, flip the box inside out, and then tape it back together. 
I took this picture a couple weeks ago — I believe that I was mailing out plastic cookie cutters.  I don’t think that they would have gotten damaged if I had just wrapped them and put them in a polymailer, but it is nice to give them just a little added protection (and I believe the buyers appreciate the extra effort too).
No more tacky looking Ritz box, 
now it just looks brown.

In this case, I went ahead and just slipped the box into a polymailer.  More than once I have had buyers favorably mention how well-packaged an item was when leaving their feedback.
Do you ever request free samples online?  Before I started eBaying I would get alerts from blogs I followed on FB, and would order samples all the time.  Now I am rarely on FB, so my free samples are few and far between.  But, when I do get them, I am just as excited about the free small box as I am the sample!
Looks good, eh?
It works well for the more sturdily made boxes as well.
In this box I was shipping an expensive-ish watch (one of the items I sold for my husband’s friend).  Doesn’t the box below look much nicer and more professional than the box above?

Hope this helps!