Now that I've sold my 1st book on Amazon....

[mowsie dreamer]

.....I need help on shipping.

Ok, Amazon experts. What is the cheapest way to ship, what kind of packaging do you use, do I need to get a confirmation of receipt, etc? I know they give you a credit to your account for shipping.

I am going to the post office on my lunch hour today to send the book.

 

[Cora]

You need to ship via media mail, I never used the receipt request. I used the padded mailers. Go buy them at Staples or a store like it, much cheaper than the post office. Make sure you put the packing slip portion in the mailer.

Good luck...all the books I have shipped were received very quickly.

Cora

 

[mowsie dreamer]

Thanks, Cora

 

[gemanda]

I've also sold several books on Amazon as well as things on eBay...

One recommendation I have is to invest 40 cents and get delivery confirmation. Yeah, it's 40 cents, but it's already come in handy for me. A buyer disputed that they received the item and wanted a refund...I had the confirmation from USPS that it had been delivered to her address. As soon as I sent her that confirmation as an email attachment, she shut up rather quickly!!!

 

[GoldenPrincess]

Germanda,

I agree about the deliver confirmation. NOTHING leaves my office without it! It's well worth the extra .40 (.50 for media mail).

 

[Humpbacks1962]

In order to get delivery confirmation, you have to ship the package priority. A book can get very heavy for that and the shipping allowance they give you may not cover it.

I always ship book or media rate. I ship it straight out of the PO. I do not use boxes, I wrap the book in two layers of that brown mailing paper, and tape the edges and corners with the thick, mailing tape. There were times when I sent smaller books in just a yellow manila envelope. I have never had an item reported lost.

I shipped my first book in a box, with peanuts and all... Paid over $5.00 in shipping alone, and I made only about $12.00. You don't want to spend the money you made on shipping!

Wanda

 

[GoldenPrincess]

Delivery confirmation is available for media mail as well at a cost of .50. I sell full time on eBay and use delivery confirmation for all my packages--Priority and Media Mail. The only thing it's not available on is First Class. Check out the USPS site http://www.usps.gov. You'll find all the information you need there.

Humpbacks--you're very fortunate that you haven't had a package reported as not delivered. I had a slew of them right before I started using delivery confirmation about a year ago. NOTHING has been reported missing since!

 

[Tracy00]

Whenever I sell a book on Ebay I make my own mailer by cutting up a cardboard box that would have otherwise been headed for the recycling bin. I put the book in a plastic bag or ziplock bag first (so it doesn't get wet), then I "wrap" the cardboard around the book. I tape it up with shipping tape, address it and send it on it's way. I usually set the shipping fee ahead of time so people that are bidding on my stuff know what they will pay ahead of time. I usually send book via Media Mail. If it's not too much more I send it First Class or Priority. On my Ebay auction page I state, that insurance is optional at $1.10 extra (up to $50.00 insurance for the $1.10) and that I am not responsible for any package once I pay for shipping at the post office and leave it in their hands. Out of my most recent 18 completed Ebay auctions, only 2 people opted for the insurance and I have never had a complaint.

Tracy

 

[Humpbacks1962]

Princess,

Thanks for the clarification, I thought you had to ship the package via first class. I'll keep that in mind.

And yes, with all that could happen, I would not want to test my luck. What I once had was someone who seemed to put the book in their shopping cart, I got the message telling me that the item was sold (not the one telling me to ship), and held it for a week. When I e-mailed him to inquire, he provided his shiping information and encouraged me to send it... I confirmed that he had not paid for the item, so reminded him to do so before I shipped.

So, watch out, there's some tricks available even in Amazon!

Wanda

 

[mowsie dreamer]

Thanks to everyone for their replies. The information helped me a lot!

I have now sold my 2nd book, and I only listed them this weekend! This may turn out to be a nice source of Disney funds.
Especially since I have loads of books just sitting around the house. An added benefit is that my house may be less cluttered!

 

[C.Ann]

Was just browsing and saw the above comments. Been thinking of trying to sell some items on e-bay or some such place to earn money for my next Disney trip as this last one - was there from 9/9 to 9/22 - was a complete bust due to weather, terrorist attacks, etc. I was under the assumption that if you sell something the BUYER pays the shipping & handling. Is that correct or no? Any info and tips would be appreciated. I REALLY want to go back to DW again and the sooner I can make the money to do so the sooner I can experience the "magic" again..

 

[Tracy00]

Hi C.Ann!

You can set up the shipping/handling fees anyway that you choose. You just have to say how it is in the Ebay auction page. If you want the buyer to pay for the shipping you check a box that says that. You can also type it in your item description. You can either say, "Buyer pays actual shipping costs" or you can say something like "Buyer to pay shipping and handling costs of $4.50." The $4.50 is just an example. I used to say that the buyer pays the actual shipping, but then I was tired of making trips back and forth to the post office after someone bought an item just to find out what the shipping cost would be. There is something on the postal service web site that you can use to find the cost of a package, but I find that it is easier to just pick a price up front - that way the person bidding knows how much to figure into the price for shipping. I personally am more likely to bid on an item if the shipping cost is already stated.

There is also an area where you can say what type of payments you are willing to receive, personal check, money order, credit cards, PayPal, etc.

You will find that once you have success selling on Ebay it is quite addicting. It makes you want to start searching the house for stuff to sell! Just this week alone I have made over $200.00. Unfortunately I can't save it for WDW $ as I have to pay the Officemax.com bill for my new office chair, new floor mat and new IRIS cart for all my scrapbooking goodies! Oh well, I have a whole pile of Ebay stuff just waiting to be listed! Now that $ IS gonna go for next May's visit to the World!

Tracy

 

[Humpbacks1962]

Ebay proved to be a Pandora's box to me. Amazon is definitely more reliable!
If I post anything else on ebay, I'll say I do not want people with low or even a single negative feedback bidding. To some, it is a game. Then it takes several weeks to get your partial fees back if a bad bidder does not pay.

Selling on ebay can be fun. The problem is collecting the money from deadbeats. When you finally do, you deal with payment methods. Paypal is easy, you can get instant credit. Billpoint takes time to send the money to your bank. I had someone buy an item in Germany who wanted to wire the money to my bank. I provided the information, then he played smart and left out the shipping fee. It has taken over two weks to get the payment in full.. It is a drag. A lot of people play dumb and only send a portion of the total cost.

Amazon is definitely much, much better. THEY handle everything, you just ship! They are a one-step transaction. You don't need to deal with money orders or checks. They sell, if there's a problem with the buyer's credit card, they tell you not to ship yet, when the problem clears they send you a message and tell you to ship, they deposit the money in your account, it is soooo easy!! No hassles at all.

Wanda

 

[Luv2Roam]

My sister has been selling her music CD's on www.half.com . So I started selling my books on there too.
I am getting much more for them on half.com than a garage sale or a used book store.
The way half.com works on mailing is they tell you how much it will cost to ship the book media mail. (Usually $1.78 - $2.28.) And it seems they even pad that alittle. I also send mine w/confirmation @ 50 cents extra. (Esp now when the mail is still sluggish.)
Sometimes I come out 10 cents ahead, some 10 cents in the hole. No big deal either way, certainly.
When you have a book (item) sell. You pay the postage up front. And they deduct their commission fee. When they pay you (2ce a month) they add on the mailing fee to the sale price.
I have been very happy with half.com. I plan on selling some of my videos that way now too!
To add on to what humpbacks says about Amazon, half.com works probably the same as far as payment. They collect the payment, not me. I just list and ship. They send an e-mail asking me to confirm the sale. I just click the link, confirm and ship.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

You guys have inspired me. I just made a round of all the bookcases in the house and came up with about 50 books. I could have easily had 100's of books, but our family seems to be a little rough with our reading material....I can't see shipping out things with huge pizza stains all over the pages.

If I make any money at all off of this I'll really owe everybody here a huge Thank You.

 

[gemanda]

I think you'll be amazed what you make, Toby'sFriend. Between selling books on Amazon and selling some clothes that are in great condition on eBay, we've made about $200 in the last 2 months. FH was amazed!!!

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I've sold 2 books in 1 day!
I think I've made enough to pay for 1 lunch at WDW!

I just bought a digital camera on Ebay for $11 -- got in on the last 30 seconds of a Dutch auction at the lowet price. Now I can take pictures to list all of my **junk** ON ebay.
Hopefully I'll make at least $11