To do:  Take pride in yourself as a seller, Gather good supplies, Think like an architect, Shake & shimmy (the box, not you), S.W.A.K

The worst: you hunted, you pecked, you may have even sniped a bit…but SUCCESS!  That delightful item is now yours!  Bought and paid for and on its way to your home.  And then it arrives…broken.  Yes, you have recourse and yes, you can file your insurance claim with the carrier…but the item - the gem - is lost for good.  And you’re sad.

The best: your hard-fought item arrives in one piece, nicely protected, and you get to run round saying what a great deal you got on eBay.  You add the seller to your “favorites” and you are thrilled to buy again and again.  This is a seller who cares.  And you’re so very happy!

(Insert blurb here about why I’m qualified to write this tome)

After spending 20+ years in Retail, I have learned a few lessons about customer service.  I’ve worked at Williams-Sonoma, Target, Best Buy, Pottery Barn, Dayton’s, Carson Pirie Scott, and more - in retail store roles and in corporate positions.  And I know that, yes, the customer still IS king, or queen!  No matter if you’re a big corporate box or a little eBay shop, the retailer or the up-chain supplier, an internet business or a bricks store…the end goal is a happy customer.

As most of us know, at the end of the game it only matters if the customer is left standing, hands held high, shouting at the TOP OF HIS LUNGS about how great an experience he had!   He’ll crow, he’ll provide positive feedback, he’ll tell his friends, and most importantly: he’ll return and buy again.   One more customer we don’t need to find.  If the experience was mediocre we can expect only silence…and little or no feedback about what didn’t work for this customer.  If the experience was awful, know that we’ll hear about it and particularly in the eBay arena there’s a good chance that, even if his situation is rectified, the end result won’t be great for us as sellers.

(Now get on with it)

So let’s talk about one way to make the buyer’s experience great: packaging their eBay loot for safe shipment.

Take pride in yourself as a seller

This is a simple one, easy & cheap to execute, and it just takes a bit of creative thinking.  Not creative?  I bet you know someone who is - ask for their help, offer a tasty beverage in return, and put your melded minds to work.  Think about: who are you and what do you stand for?  Is this a business?  What’s your business name?  What do you sell?  I don’t necessarily mean what 'stuff' do you plop on eBay and hope to ship out of your basement…but what is the essence or the feeling of what you sell? 

About 5 years ago, we started our business on a whim: we kept seeing all these cute vintage, shabby, antique, linen, retro, funky, etc. things out there that we KNEW people would want.  We knew it!  We just had to figure out a way to bring it to them.  Particularly, because we knew that not everyone would be willing to hunt through every dirty, nasty, dank place in which we found our treasures.  Not everyone had the interest or time to restore linens to their bygone luster.  Not everyone knew how to get that sticky goo off of there.  But we did.  We knew that if we made it clean, crisp, and pretty these things would go.  And they did.  We just started our eBay sales recently, but we knew that if we put the same care & attention into our listings, our photos, and our packaging, we’d get good results.  And we have.

So, we sell pretty things.  Pretty Things Shop.  It’s our business name, our philosophy, and what we’re all about.  Giving it a good branding spin, we landed on a 'logo' of sorts - a cute, copyright-free image recolored with our favorite PINK (try something from Dover).  We use this image on everything we can to reinforce our brand.  We wrap things carefully, first with white tissue and a Pretty Things sticker…like a gift, really…before cushioning it with bubble or shred.  We use our little logo on our eBay ME page, on our address labels, and as we get smarter we’ll also use it on our invoices & customized templates.

We consider our little finds to be treasures and we use that philosophy to make us better eBayers and better shippers.

Get a clue about shipping & handling.  This can be a sore subject out there, but I think we can agree that eBay buyers will always feel comfortable paying to have their purchases appropriately packaged and shipped.  They key word being appropriately.  Gouging is a bad idea and won’t win you any fans.  But I don’t think any eBay buyer has complained about an item being 'over-protected' or 'over-packaged' if you’ve done what’s necessary to ensure a safe delivery.  Our business deals with a lot of collectors, unique vintage finds, fragile or otherwise irreplaceable items.  We created a little cheat sheet that says, if it’s a padded envelope we charge $xx, if it’s a box with packaging we charge $yy, and if it’s a super fragile, irreplaceable item that we think is going to fetch big bucks, we charge $zz to make sure we can deliver on that promise.  We’re fair and consistent.  If you paid $xx in handling for your last dish towel, you’ll pay $xx again this time.  Again, take some pride.  Even if you’re shipping off a pair of well-worn pants that you’ve sold as used, why not take the time to fold them up, get the cat hair off, and maybe throw a piece of tissue around it?  Nothing fancy, but at least the customer knows their money is appreciated!

A note - do your buyers a favor: get a scale.  Offer an actual shipping price or a calculator.  If you’re remotely serious enough about eBay to be reading this guide, get yourself an accurate, 10-15lb scale.  We got a 5lb-er and have regretted it a few times.  Even if you’re not that serious, get a bathroom scale that can do double duty - and weigh your stuff!  Round up over the next pound if you can’t be 100% sure.  Even if you use the range of 1-2lb, 4-5lb, etc. options on the calculator, your buyer doesn’t need to guess or wonder.  They’ll never feel jilted.  And if you overshoot slightly, you can throw them a complimentary upgrade to a priority shipping service - they’ll be thrilled to see their products sooner, and you’ll get a great feedback.  But most importantly, the buyer can see exactly what they’re paying up front. 

And if things are fragile, always always ALWAYS offer optional insurance.  It’s a no brainer.

Gather good supplies

Tempting as it may be to keep reusing boxes or to get creative with the postal service’s 'free box, flat rate shipping' box (which, btw, they’re catching on - some of the new boxes are printed on the inside too), these techniques lead to weak boxes and a kind of cheesy image.  Reusing is great, but only to a point - the moment a box starts to show wear, punctures, or crushed corners, it's time to recycle them properly.  If they're covered with shipping stickers, wrap them in kraft paper instead of scribbling out the info or peeling off the labels.  Make things easier for your carrier and keep all the layers of the box intact.

But, think like a business for one sec - why not buy plain boxes in bulk for a ton less money than the meglo-officemart?  Why not buy all your supplies that way?  I learned quickly that it was more effective for me to spend my time buying inventory, creating auctions, and shipping products than it was to run about looking for supplies from all sorts of odd places. 

Now we use Uline for pretty much all our shipping materials.  You may have another supplier located closer to you geographically, but I wholeheartedly recommend Uline for cost & service.  Even if you compare prices, shop around, or use a fellow eBay provider this gathering process will save you a ton of time & sanity.  Yes, this is a bit of upfront cost (but as you can see, it’s not at all bad) and some creative storage, but I’ve found that it’s well worth it.

prettythingsshop buys:

• boxes - These come flat packed, in qtys as low as 10-25 boxes per size, and store easily standing inside another assembled box, about $.50-.80 each INCLUDING freight.  We recently bought 135 boxes for $110 and the nice UPS people brought them right to the door.  (I was paying $1.35+tax per at the meglo-officemart near the mall; saves me time, my customers handling costs)
• bubble wrap - There are so many types and kinds, but we’ve found the 12” wide, small bubble is the most versatile for our needs)
• peanuts - We like anti-static & recycled where possible.  Uline has a big 20 cu. ft. size that can be delivered or picked up, or a 7 cu. ft. size that can be UPS’ed
• tape - The best prices start at 36 rolls - $1.69 a roll for 3M!
• tissue - These come in bulk packs, but we’re upgrading to a big roll & cutter next time.  Cheaper by the inch and we can conserve by only using as much as we need per package.

We also have some things we’ve found over time at weird locations like garage sales, thrift stores, whatever.  If it’s clean & usable, we use it!  For instance, we’ve acquired Avery labels and then use our word processing software’s label tool to make our address and other labels.  Cheap, print on demand, and voila!   A nice finishing touch.

And lastly...think green!  We recycle our magazines by shredding them in our average everyday paper shredder and use that for fill in packages that don’t have a great breakage fear factor.  If it’s super delicate stuff, use recycled or recyclable peanuts!

Think like an architect

Now that you’ve got your supplies, and hopefully a nice place to work (kitchen island is my office of choice), think about how we KNOW the boxes are treated in the shipping system.  They’re kicked, dropped, squooshed, stacked, toppled, and the like.  If we approach this as an architectural masterpiece (much as you approach packing your grocery bag at the Jewel), we’ve got the keys to protecting the item inside said box.

Boxes are produced with pretty sophisticated mechanical design to ensure corners don’t crush, can hold certain amounts of weight inside and from external pressure (like the driver trainee sitting atop your priceless statuette, for instance), and to ensure the glue holds together.  Work WITH the box, structurally, philosophically, and otherwise to make sure the end result is solid.

• assemble - this sounds simple, and it is, but assemble the box properly.  start with the bottom, which likely has some printing on it (usually the supplier and the box’s certification regarding weight limitations, etc).  the printing should land on the outside of the box.  using that process as a guide, you’ll be closing the box top the same way.  probably short ends in first, then close the long sides over top.  if you don’t assemble the box properly, you’ll compromise the structural integrity and risk crushing.  no sense starting there!

• stack - if the items you’re shipping can stack inside of each other (with protection in between, of course), they’ll provide their own architectural reinforcement.

• stuff - open objects with fragile edges, say a cup, need to be filled up with packing material to give the edges support.  this is also important with odd hangy-off items like cup handles, the crest of a conch shell, etc.  cram tissue paper inside those voids, crumple and wrap paper around the protrusions, and bubble those edges before wrapping the entire piece.

• combine & wrap - two items clunking against each other in a box, no matter how well packaged individually - is not a good thing.  combine them together into a 'package' with protection in between and bubble wrap this package.  fragile edges should have two layers of bubble, on top of whatever packing lies beneath.

• double check that you have the RIGHT SIZED BOX - now that it’s all wrapped and protected, is the box you chose big enough?  remember, you want the package(s) to fit safely inside the box with enough room around and between to be cushioned by your fill of choice.

• float - fill the box with peanuts or shred (whichever best supports the item), and place the 'package' inside.  peanuts are best for heavier or more fragile items as they are less likely to settle or crush.  paper shred or crumpled heavy kraft paper (lots of shippers use this technique) works well for lighter objects or less fragile items that still need support in the box.  there should be a layer of fill across the bottom of the box before you start, and a layer on top before you close the box.  check to make sure the package never touches the inside edges of the box.  jam a ton of fill into corners, around edges of the package, etc.  when the box is sealed, there should be NO MOVEMENT inside the box.  seriously.  we mean this.
• close & seal - align the edges of the box; don't let them get all crazy.  again, this is about architecture.  so keep the corners tight & square.  put enough tape on there to ensure that you have even more good support for your box's structure.  lastly, sounds simple, but run your hand over the tape to ensure the adhesive sticks all the way to the edges and corners.

Shake & shimmy

Now honestly, do this.  Actually, you can shimmy too - better real life experiment!   Play some music if you like!  But, shake it up a bit and make sure that you don’t hear or feel:

• pieces of the items hitting each other (remember, two ceramic pieces clunking together this early in the game is not a good thing; the carrier can do that for you later)
• the items hitting or pressing against the edge of the box - you can be sure that the box that the carrier stacks atop this one will be twice its weight and size.  each edge will be tested for what it will support and you don’t want that edge to be the one with the delicate shell right beneath it.  you can see where this is going.
• the fill moving around - the idea of fill is to FILL the voids in the box.  if it’s settling or moving around, the purpose is lost.  stuff and over stuff so that you have a nice firm, solid feeling box when you’re done.

S.W.A.K.

Now make sure you’ve got everything labeled correctly (right buyer, right product...right?!), and off you go to send your little package of love off into the world.

While you can’t see into the future (crystal ball bought on eBay not as well packaged?), you can do everything in your power to ensure a good customer experience.  This is but one piece of the puzzle, but one that’s easy to get right.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.  I hope this guide helps!  Thanks for reading!!

the girls of Pretty Things

prettythingsshop