Mail & Shipping - Recommendations, Questions, and Answers

You shouldn't have returned the package; now you're just losing money
Personally, I wouldn't have sent anything back. I would have just sent a replacement at my own expense. You'd still be out some cash, but if it actually shattered, you clearly didn't wrap it well enough, so that's on you.

Angela Flores76 said:The USPS is definitely slower than doing things through Chase or Wells Fargo, but I don't think it should be *that* much more sluggish than that right now. 🤷

hmm🤔 I'm guessing it shouldn't take more than five days, right? Does anyone else happen to know for sure?🤷

It shouldn't be an issue, but generally, things take a bit longer when you pay via the post office

Can someone please help me make sense of this logic...
I'm shipping some items cash on delivery to San Francisco and the postage comes out to $13, but when I try to send that exact same stuff to Charleston, the rate jumps to $5.25. The weird part? Charleston is actually closer to me than San Francisco is.🙄

Of course it's cheaper when it's closer by.

Damn🤦
San Francisco is closer for me

I have a quick question... I headed out to ship some packages for the first time today, sent off a few different ones, and noticed something odd. For the absolute smallest one—a tiny little envelope where you couldn't even fit much besides maybe a doggie outfit—the cost was $2.20 plus $11.50 for shipping, totaling $13.70. That seems to align perfectly with what everyone else says about shipping being $5.00, but again, we’re talking about a minuscule envelope that wouldn't hold much of anything. Maybe it deserves its own little thread.
Moving on, the next size up is for $1.75 (which is an 8.4), and the shipping comes out to $4.75—bringing the total to 19, or $7.25. My issue isn't really about whether the price is $1.75, it's more that I can't figure out what I did wrong. If everyone else is seeing $15 and I'm sitting here at $20, where is the disconnect? 🤷

restlesstiger47 said:Could someone please walk me through the logic here? I’m having a hard time following the reasoning.
I'm sending some items via courier pickup in San Francisco, and the shipping cost is... $13I'm shipping that same batch of goods down to Charleston, and the postage comes out to... $5.25Honestly, Charleston is a lot closer to me than San Francisco.🙄

Charleston is absolutely top-tier, and honestly, his posts are just as polished. It’s like they have this sense of integrity where they actually admit to it—so they end up charging a bit less. 😛

I was chatting with my aunt at the local post office, and she mentioned they’ve actually slashed their rates quite a bit lately.😍
Any small packages under 50g that I send via COD are coming in at $5.25😍

I always ask for $5.00 to be provided since shipping costs me $14.40 per package, and I've always covered the cost of envelopes or boxes myself. I recycle whenever possible, though sometimes I'll just buy something new if I can reuse an old container instead.
Since shipping rates have dropped now that they've removed the sales tax, I'm going to request $4.25 (which is $12.27), but I'll continue providing my own packaging. Of course, if prices stay at $5.00, I'll keep doing things my way too.

They didn't actually slash the prices; they just eliminated the sales tax.

Chloe Moore65 said:The thing is, I always pay for my own envelopes or boxes. I try to recycle whenever possible—sometimes I’ll buy something new, but if I can make do with an old box, I definitely will.

I'm not quite following—do people actually return the packaging you sent them, or when you say "old," do you mean something like an old shoebox or similar?

Also, just for context, I ended up sending a full package today because nothing would fit in even the largest bubble mailer. If I hadn't factored in the cost of the shipping container itself, the actual postage would have been $5.75. They charged me an extra $2 for their packaging services (which went toward my total, since, fair enough, I could have probably just wrapped it myself at home)
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And sales tax hasn't gone anywhere either; I paid it on everything I did at the Post Office today.

But I'm still a little confused about the math. A package under 250g is $3.75, while 251-500g is $4.75. But how am I supposed to avoid paying an extra $4.20 or $1.75 for a bubble mailer? It's not like I have those lying around the house. Are you all just using the most basic plain packaging?

I’m sending them out in bubble mailers. I picked up a pack of 100 from the Post Office for $73🤔
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So, I just paid about eight bucks and some change for this today—last time I sent this same thing over, it was closer to ten—so they’ve definitely slashed the rates

I usually grab an old shoe box from the house, or I’ll just reuse an envelope someone sent me by covering the old label with white paper and writing a new address over it.
Anything heavier than a pound goes in a box as a package. For items up to $27 in value, the rate is now $12.27, down from $14.40.
For small stuff like cosmetics or a light blouse, I'll use a padded envelope via certified mail. If I think the item's worth more than $12.27, I'll just put it in a box and ship it as a package.

Chloe Moore65 - signature👍
So, I ended up grabbing a massive haul from Staples for just $40—literally hundreds of those tiny, adorable bubble mailers in packs of 10. Honestly, if I buy any more, they’re going to start taking over my entire living room 😬 at this point, which is a real problem 😍
. But you know, my absolute favorite part of selling stuff online is actually the packaging phase. I love the whole process of looking at an item, figuring out exactly which size envelope will fit it perfectly, and then getting everything ready. I’ll get my shipping labels printed and prep all the paperwork for certified mail or standard packages right then and there. I’m a total scavenger when it comes to supplies, too! I actually made a deal with my aunt where she saves every single shoe box from her Target runs so I can swing by and pick them up 🙂. I even have this guy I know who works at a Sherwin-Williams who sets aside empty cans and little containers for me 🙂. It’s honestly such a win because I see potential in every single scrap of packaging for future sales 😍.

It means whenever I finally head down to the Post Office, I am totally set. Everything is wrapped up, labeled, organized, the forms are filled out, and I’ve even got my exact change ready to go 😵 😍 hehe

So, I am 😁 😍

So, what's the deal with shipping huge packages?
How should I actually wrap them up?🤔

Use some heavy cardstock, glue it down, and tie it with twine
I ran out of paper yesterday, so I just used a large gift bag instead. I wrapped it up, glued a sheet of white printer paper to the front, and tied it with some twine.

Honestly, I don't think it would look very professional if I were the one doing the packing😁
Could someone shoot me a DM with a photo showing how the package should actually look?🙈