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mamaslearning
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| Posted: Sept 17 2011 at 8:12pm | IP Logged
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So, we are in need of money (isn't everybody), but I cannot get a part-time job (hubby already has a second job). I was thinking of selling some books, but I'm clueless on how to do the shipping. Will I have to go to the post office and get each batch weighed? What if I sell them in different arrangements than what I get shipping prices for?
Thanks for your help! I'm not looking at starting a business, I just need to cover some upcoming larger than expected expenses.
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Lara
DD 11, DS 8, DS 6, DS 4
St. Francis de Sales Homeschool
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Kathryn
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| Posted: Sept 17 2011 at 8:37pm | IP Logged
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Hi Lara,
My in-laws gave my husband (their son) a kitchen scale one year for Christmas (odd as he doesn't remember asking for one  ). Nonetheless, I've put it to use for weighing my post office packages here at the house. So, that's a pretty cheap way of weighing your package and then you can print shipping labels on-line. I have a paypal account and print mine directly from there but I believe you could even print them from the usps.gov site. Once you have the weight, you can check usps.gov to determine the shipping cost depending on whether you're shipping priority mail, first class shipping (up to 13 oz.) or media mail (the cheapest route for books, magazines and the like). Not sure if you use the usps site to print labels if would pay via debit/credit card every time or set up an account with a certain amount of $$. Either way, there are ways to do it all at home and then have the mail carrier pick up so you don't have to take all the kids out for a post office trip which can be time consuming.
Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Kathryn
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Pilgrim
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| Posted: Sept 19 2011 at 9:24am | IP Logged
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I'm pretty sure there is no free way of printing postage except with a Paypal account. The USPS site doesn't do shipping labels(unless something has changed that I don't know of ), you have to use a service like Stamps.com or Endicia to print postage from home, which charge a monthly fee. Again, the other alternative that is free is a Paypal account, you can receive payments for the items you're selling and then purchase and print your postage right through Paypal's website for free.
Now one thing that makes shipping easier is a scale, be it a kitchen scale or a postage sacle, as you can do all the figuring out of weights and therefore shipping costs right there at home. Even if you don't use Paypal, etc. you can figure out how much shipping is going to cost by weighing the package, and then calculating the postage rate here. Then just package it up and take all packages to the Post office to buy the postage for them.
You can get a cheap postage scale on ebay or Amazon BTW.
Hope this is even a little helpful, my brain feels like it hasn't really gotten going for the day, and I'm not sure I wrote this in a very easily understandable fashion. 
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JennGM
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| Posted: Sept 19 2011 at 9:30am | IP Logged
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Well, this is how I sell my books.
I go to Bookfinder.com, type in the title/author of the book and see what the going price is. The settings allow you to see the price with or without postage. I pick the lowest price and usually price my book around that or just under.
If it's one standard sized book, I roll in $2.50-$3.00 into the purchase price. I package everything up and stand in line and mail. With media mail you cannot use the automated postage machine.
Mainly it's a guesstimate -- I have had some big packages and that required extra money for postage, but usually I like to set a price that is postpaid. I prefer buying books like that...I know what I'm paying straight off.
Most used book sites charge $3-4 per book for shipping and handling. That's high, so I adjust.
I'm no pro...I save shipping envelopes from what I receive, but I have had to buy new ones. The books need to be wrapped well, as the post office is rough on packages.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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MicheleQ
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| Posted: Sept 19 2011 at 12:14pm | IP Logged
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Pilgrim wrote:
| I'm pretty sure there is no free way of printing postage except with a Paypal account. The USPS site doesn't do shipping labels |
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Actually they do, it's called Click-N-Ship® but it's only for Express and Priority mail. Media mail you have to do through a PayPal account.
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Michele Quigley
wife to my prince charming and mom of 10 in Lancaster County, PA USA
http://michelequigley.com
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Topic: Selling Items? How to?
