ecandle
There's hope for you yet Russell
This is not a how to ship tip sheet , there is plenty of good solid info on how to package up your shipment here on AK. One or more of these tips however may accompany your great packaging very well.
Now I know there may not be anything revolutionary here and much of this can be found elsewhere or should be common sense however let me make a few suggestions when shipping out electronic items. This process has saved my tail on many occasion and I unfortunately have learned this process the hard way. If you already do these things now disregard , if you are new to Ebay or the like let me make these simple easy to do suggestions to save you pain.
First I might add that in my opinion the power of today's electronic age transaction is now on the side of the Buyer ( if you care about your feed back and or Reputation ). You have an opportunity to display your power as a seller by doing a great job in closing the deal and by giving the buyer proper service by sending a clear message that you have your act together.
Here is a ten step process in delivering Prompt , Complete Communications and IMAGES.
1-Take as may good quality pictures of your items as you can ( AS THEY ARE BEING WRAPPED AND PACKAGED ) . Even sequential images of items being wrapped and placed in the box. It gives the buyer a comfort level that you are a pro , that you care about now their items and that you are probably not interested in shipping them bricks. Digital images are basically free and they are your friend.
2-Double box
3-Insure , even if they don't want to pay for it , build this into your costs.
4-Pay for signature at drop off , again even if they don't want to pay for it , build this into your costs.
5-Don't get in a hurry , take your time and do it right , don't take any shortcuts on packaging or packaging materials used or it will come back to haunt you.
6-Send your images of your packaging and handling job to your buyer ahead of time , thanking them again for the purchase, acknowledging that you have received their payment and that you will be in touch within 24 hours with a tracking number for shipment. Ask them to review your attachment of the images in the mean time , slideshow or what ever method you choose to clearly display the shipping and handing care and procedure you took .
If your item is an auction item in theory you can have your item prepackaged and images sent to them at the time of invoice as described. You can even put the images in your listing description or offer to send them to interested buyers via email during the auction if you want to bring in more money from your sale and lower your risk. TRY AND GET WRITTEN ACKNOWLEDGMENT , "Wow what a great job with packaging , cant wait to get the item " , try and get this from the buyer before you ship.
7-Send your package to the buyers address listed on the buyers Paypal acct , ( NO Exceptions) if the buyer asks other wise they need to add the new address to their acct . and prove it has been added in writing before you ship the item out. If this is not an Ebay or Paypal deal tipple check and get it in writing from the buyer where the package is to be sent , if at all possible suggest the item be shipped to the buyers work address with signature. Do not ever set up a pure drop off shipment to a Residence or otherwise.
8-When you are getting ready to send the Tracking number to the buyer , add the buyers email address and yours to the shippers tracker system on line , it will send emails in regards to the progress of the shipment. It is also important at this time to warn the buyer , to refuse and do not accept a damaged box , if they do they do so at their own risk, they have pictures of how the box was delivered on your end to the shipper.
9-Keep all communications electronic using Ebay and Paypal servers , try and stay away from private email when it come to critical details. If this is not an Ebay or Paypal deal, keep good records of all communications and try to keep the details in written electronic format.
10-Take a deep breath and wait however I try and track the package and send the buyer an email when I see it was signed for " hey looks like you got your package .. every thing ok ?
Hope this helps even 1 person getting into this mess.
Now I know there may not be anything revolutionary here and much of this can be found elsewhere or should be common sense however let me make a few suggestions when shipping out electronic items. This process has saved my tail on many occasion and I unfortunately have learned this process the hard way. If you already do these things now disregard , if you are new to Ebay or the like let me make these simple easy to do suggestions to save you pain.
First I might add that in my opinion the power of today's electronic age transaction is now on the side of the Buyer ( if you care about your feed back and or Reputation ). You have an opportunity to display your power as a seller by doing a great job in closing the deal and by giving the buyer proper service by sending a clear message that you have your act together.
Here is a ten step process in delivering Prompt , Complete Communications and IMAGES.
1-Take as may good quality pictures of your items as you can ( AS THEY ARE BEING WRAPPED AND PACKAGED ) . Even sequential images of items being wrapped and placed in the box. It gives the buyer a comfort level that you are a pro , that you care about now their items and that you are probably not interested in shipping them bricks. Digital images are basically free and they are your friend.
2-Double box
3-Insure , even if they don't want to pay for it , build this into your costs.
4-Pay for signature at drop off , again even if they don't want to pay for it , build this into your costs.
5-Don't get in a hurry , take your time and do it right , don't take any shortcuts on packaging or packaging materials used or it will come back to haunt you.
6-Send your images of your packaging and handling job to your buyer ahead of time , thanking them again for the purchase, acknowledging that you have received their payment and that you will be in touch within 24 hours with a tracking number for shipment. Ask them to review your attachment of the images in the mean time , slideshow or what ever method you choose to clearly display the shipping and handing care and procedure you took .
If your item is an auction item in theory you can have your item prepackaged and images sent to them at the time of invoice as described. You can even put the images in your listing description or offer to send them to interested buyers via email during the auction if you want to bring in more money from your sale and lower your risk. TRY AND GET WRITTEN ACKNOWLEDGMENT , "Wow what a great job with packaging , cant wait to get the item " , try and get this from the buyer before you ship.
7-Send your package to the buyers address listed on the buyers Paypal acct , ( NO Exceptions) if the buyer asks other wise they need to add the new address to their acct . and prove it has been added in writing before you ship the item out. If this is not an Ebay or Paypal deal tipple check and get it in writing from the buyer where the package is to be sent , if at all possible suggest the item be shipped to the buyers work address with signature. Do not ever set up a pure drop off shipment to a Residence or otherwise.
8-When you are getting ready to send the Tracking number to the buyer , add the buyers email address and yours to the shippers tracker system on line , it will send emails in regards to the progress of the shipment. It is also important at this time to warn the buyer , to refuse and do not accept a damaged box , if they do they do so at their own risk, they have pictures of how the box was delivered on your end to the shipper.
9-Keep all communications electronic using Ebay and Paypal servers , try and stay away from private email when it come to critical details. If this is not an Ebay or Paypal deal, keep good records of all communications and try to keep the details in written electronic format.
10-Take a deep breath and wait however I try and track the package and send the buyer an email when I see it was signed for " hey looks like you got your package .. every thing ok ?
Hope this helps even 1 person getting into this mess.
