Ebay shipping ? (for sellers)

[GoldieSaysMeep]

For those who sell fragile things on Ebay, how do you ship them?

I have a bunch of snowglobes I want to sell and some of them are pretty rare so if they break, I can’t replace them for my buyers. I don’t have the original boxes w/ the original packing materials so I’m not really sure how to package them and keep the small parts safe.

Does postal insurance work smoothly in the event of a break? Somehow, I doubt that.

Oh, and I tried listing them once on Craigslist and no response in my area except for a few people who wanted to haggle or ask if they could have them for like $10. Yet these same ones go for 50-100 bucks on Ebay. I’ve made $260 on Ebay in the last week and a half selling old books and dvds so I think Ebay is the way to go.

 

[a1tinkfans]

First, I'd be sure to have a very clear ad that says that Shipping Ins is REQUIRED for your auction due to nature of items being sold.

That being said, it is up to you to package properly. Thats means that you need to be really careful with protecting it reasonably! You should use LOTS of bubble wrap and then BOX it and fill empty spaces with newspaper or the like. You can us USPS BUT they are awful unless you have original receipts for items....So, I think you should check out UPS instead...I think the ins is included, so be sure it is enough to cover the item. Personally, I would take a quick few PIX of your packaging before you ship out to "show" what you did, just in case. Ebay says hat buyers are covered, BUT I have no experience that is positive to realate in that regard.
Good Luck!!!

 

[nunzia]

First, I'd be sure to have a very clear ad that says that Shipping Ins is REQUIRED for your auction due to nature of items being sold.

That being said, it is up to you to package properly. Thats means that you need to be really careful with protecting it reasonably! You should use LOTS of bubble wrap and then BOX it and fill empty spaces with newspaper or the like. You can us USPS BUT they are awful unless you have original receipts for items....So, I think you should check out UPS instead...I think the ins is included, so be sure it is enough to cover the item. Personally, I would take a quick few PIX of your packaging before you ship out to "show" what you did, just in case. Ebay says hat buyers are covered, BUT I have no experience that is positive to realate in that regard.
Good Luck!!!

You can no longer require shipping insurance..one of Ebay's new 'enhancements'. You, the seller, are required to make sure the item gets to the buyer. So..you should think about insuring it yourself.
Wrap the thing in many different layers of different materials, then put it in a box that fits the item. Now, wrap the box with many different layers and materials and put it in another box. I think the outer box has to have several inches of clearance around the inner box. I used to sell hand made sculptures and this is what I found when trying to claim insurance on broken items. You also have to double box to be properly packing. Be sure you charge enough shipping. Go to USPS website and see how much your now huge box will cost (you very well may be considered 'large' box if your dimensions are now more than 12" square.) I always put in a far away distance zip code to figure out cost. Explain all this in your listing to explain your shipping costs. If the item does break you will be held responsible for refunding the buyer and if you take our insurance you will have to deal with USPS.
I speak from experience..(which is why I usually sell flat non breakable things )

 

[Darcy03231]

I ship antique glass and china and have shipped worldwide.

I wrap in lots of bubble wrap & peanuts and double box everything. In over ten years I've only had one item arrive broken.

 

[GoldieSaysMeep]

My biggest concern is small parts. Like I have this one figurine that is mostly pretty solid...ceramic but solid. But it has a teeny, tiny barely attached Tink at the top of the castle. One bad bump and I could see Tink snapping off.

Any tips on how to wrap those tiny protruding parts?

Good idea about double boxing. I used to sell on Ebay 5 or6 years ago and only had two things break. Both were tiny, protruding parts.