| Originally Posted by Goh /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi all, now that I've accumulated 50 posts, I'm looking to sell my HD595s on the for-sale forums. This will be my first time ever selling an item online, so I would appreciate it if someone could walk me through what a good transaction should be like. Here are some questions I would like answered: 1. Should the buyer pay first before the seller ships the item? 2. What personal info should NOT be given out by either the buyer or the seller? 3. What do I need to do once I get to the Post Office? Print a shipping label? Weigh the item? Calculate shipping charge? 4. What type of shipping service should I use? 5. Do I have to pay extra for tracking info? 6. Does signature-required shipping cost more? That is all for now. Thanks a bunch! |
| Originally Posted by Azure /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1. Definitely, unless the seller has 0 feedback. You can still have the buyer pay first, but don't be offended if the buyer asks you to ship first if you have 0 feedback. 2. Anything that isn't necessary. All that should really be communicated between each other should be names, addresses, and PayPal addresses (Assuming payment will be done via PayPal). 3. First, package the item up well and make sure that it is safe for shipping. If you're not using a designated shipping box (if you're just using a regular ol' box) clearly mark "To" address in large print (and mark the "From" address in smaller print). If you're going with USPS you have two options. You can either go in person or schedule a free pick-up. I'm assuming that you're going to go to the actual post office. Come in with money and your package. There should be a table or something in there with a bunch of slips and stuff (Insurance forms, delivery confirmation forms, customs forms, etc.). If you want delivery confirmation (USPS doesn't do tracking; delivery confirmation isn't the closest thing to it and it really cheap) grab the green delivery confirmation slip. The slip will have a tracking number on it and room for address and stamp. Fill out the address (not really necessary unless you have a lot of packages). Once you get to a window just hand the package over to the employee and the delivery confirmation slip. The employee should weigh/measure your package for you and calculate postage. He or she will ask you how you would like to ship the item (Priority Mail is a good one to choose). The employee will ask if anything is flammable, fragile, perishable, liquid, etc. Eventually you'll pay for it. The employee will put the postage on the package along with sticky part of the delivery confirmation slip. You keep the receipt and the other half of the delivery confirmation slip. And voila! You just shipped a package. You can also ship a package from home or print postage from home using the USPS website. You create an account online (free) and just enter the details of the shipment (sender's and recipient's addresses, package dimensions and weight, etc.). You pay via credit card online and then you'll be given directed to a pdf document that has your shipping label on it and your paid postage. You can just print this off, cut it where indicated, and tape it onto your box. You can either drop this box off at a designated USPS drop-off box, or you can schedule a free pick-up (A USPS man will come to your home to pick up your package). It should be noted that delivery confirmation is FREE when you choose to buy postage online. 4. USPS Priority Mail is good. Cheap and fast, but does not offered detailed tracking (usually not a problem). 5. Yes, you have to purchase the delivery confirmation (which is NOT tracking, but the closest you'll get to it) slip (very cheap). 6. I think it does. USPS is FINE. Everybody seems to have their own opinions about each of the major courier services, and if you listened to everybody you'd be forced to hand deliver everything because there's enough bad experiences out there to make every courier look bad. Trust me, USPS is fine. If you're concerned about your package just buy some insurance on it. |
