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Let’s talk about eBay. You might have heard of it. Minus some unsavory cyberstalking that eBay executives recently engaged in, the company provides one of the great eCommerce platforms of our time. The amount of transactions that take place every day on eBay is enormous. In fact, retailers sold $22 billion worth of goods in the 4th quarter of 2019 alone. Despite all of this, we’re often surprised at how many of these retailers aren’t maximizing their shipping process! The more packages you send, the more important it is to save the most money on each shipment. If you’re an eBay seller, this guide will serve as a nice cheat sheet to help you save the most money on your shipments.
The Various eBay Shipping Options Available to You
- USPS, UPS, & FedEx – Due to its gigantic user base, eBay offers the ability to ship with discounted rates for all three major carriers directly on their own platform. The rates you’ll receive are, but certain services might be limited, especially when it comes to international shipments.
- Global Shipping Program (or GSP, for short) – eBay offers their own international shipping program known as GSP. In essence, they consolidate all of their international shipments through USPS, and then send them to one huge center in Kentucky. From there, the shipments get dispersed to their destination countries. If you’re selling on eBay, the GSP is easy to opt into. However, you should note that you can only ship to a select number of countries within the GSP, so it’s not a “one size fits all” approach.
- Connecting the shipping software of your choice – In addition to offering postage directly from the three major carriers, eBay allows users to integrate shipping software with their online storefronts. The best shipping software you can choose from doesn’t just give you the deepest discounts to ship at the best prices. It also doesn’t come with any restrictions for international destinations, like eBay’s own GSP program does. That way, you can reach your customers anywhere in the world and save the most money doing it!
Why You’ll Save the Most Money by Connecting to Free USPS Shipping Software
By far the best way to save money with eBay shipping is to integrate your storefront with shipping software that allows you to buy discounted postage online. In case you haven’t heard of it, shipping software offers you the ability to buy and print postage from your own home or office. The best shipping software options out there allow you to access the deepest level of USPS discounts, known as Commercial Pricing. The US Postal Service usually only reserves this level of savings for huge commercial shippers sending 50,000+ packages per year. However, shipping software companies pass along these savings to all of their users—although some are free, and some aren’t. Either way, when you integrate your eBay store with the software of your choice, you’ll be able to buy labels for your unshipped orders super easily, and at the lowest possible prices.
In addition to the discounts, some shipping software options offer special international services that you won’t find anywhere else. One such example is Pirate Ship’s international service Simple Export Rate. To speak frankly, the prices you get with Simple Export Rate will be significantly cheaper than eBay’s Global Shipping Program. Plus, you won’t be limited in terms of the countries you can ship items to. As you can see in this video, opting in for Simple Export Rate on Pirate Ship could make your international eBay sales explode.
In case you’d like to do more research, here are a few of the most popular shipping software options around:
Don’t Get Lost in the eBay Shuffle… Use Shipping Software
Lastly, access to quality customer support is something to keep in mind when choosing how to ship your items. eBay is a huge publicly traded company, with millions upon millions of buyers and sellers making up the community. As a result, shippers have a tendency to “disappear into the crowd” over there. It’s not anything to hold against eBay as a whole…the company is just a bit too big to look after the little guys at this point. So, they typically won’t go out of their way to help you save the most money on your eBay shipments. Also, in our experience, you’ll be lucky if you reach anyone on the customer support team in a timely fashion.
An added benefit of integrating with shipping software is the access to top-tier customer support. Shipping is a time-sensitive industry, and when you’ve got issues that need to be taken care of, receiving quick and efficient customer support makes all the difference. The quality of support you’ll receive obviously depends on the shipping software you choose; some companies are certainly better than others. Either way, it’s better than getting lost in the eBay shuffle.
Looking for the right shipping software for you?
To explore the cheapest, easiest options, check out our guide:
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