Shipping Question

Posted by: @sock_monkey

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Hey, everyone. I was wondering if anyone had any experience shipping a large/heavy quantity of books. I've recently decided to put my matching numbered set of the Dune series from Centipede up for sale on eBay, but I'm stuck on how to ship the darn thing. All together when packed, the books weigh something like 42 pounds. I'm wondering if I should try to ship as one package (each book individually packed in its own box within the larger shipping box, though there is no room for cushion between the boxes sitting side by side or two sides of the interior boxes and the exterior box) or ship them as two separate packages of three books each. 

I don't want to risk them getting damaged so two packages seems the way to go. However, while I have never had a bad experience selling on eBay, I'm worried about scams/issues if sent as two packages.

Any thoughts?

There's no cheaper way to ship books than Media mail, and there is a progressive discount with more weight, so dividing it up into two different boxes would cost more than one heavier box.

That said, I would never consider shipping a matching set of Centipede DUNE books via Media Mail. I know it will cost substantively more, but were it me I would go with Priority shipping for that kind of value. It ensures a much more rapid delivery so that the books aren't bouncing around in the mail system for a week, week-and-a-half, making them more prone to damage and loss/misplacement. A matching set will net, what, five or six grand? To me, it seems a small price to pay $100 for shipping to make sure a $6000 box isn't lost or damaged. Remember, if the box is lost, eBay rules in the buyer's favor; if it's damaged and you have to refund them, you'll get your books back but then are left with unsellable damaged books. You'll have to pay the $80 difference of the $20 Media Mail since a $100 shipping fee will turn buyers off, but it would give me tremendous peace of mind as a seller.

I just sold a $750 book (and the buyer didn't send any funds for shipping even though I thought I was clear on the cost), and after some hand-wringing I sent it Media Mail instead of Priority, and I was tracking that worrisome delivery to an absurd degree. And that was just for $750...I couldn't have slept if it was $6000.

Food for thought.

I think you might be right in priority versus media mail, though priority can get incredibly expensive depending on the destination. I am leaning toward shipping the set as two separate packages, though. It'll be even more money, but a package close to 50 pounds make me nervous of it holding up against the battering it'll surely take in transit. 

Mulling it over has me wishing I'd cut bait on the set after Book 3.

I would ship them together. I think you can safely ship them priority, and should summon up your master packing skills. I would use an oversized box, use layer of smooth covering (like a gift wrap), then use layers of bubble wrap, probably tightly pack them in a box within the box, and then use a good amount of packing peanuts or similar to keep stuff from shifting. 

For what it's worth, I've always been a nervous wreck selling and packaging. I almost always use priority even though I "lose" some of my profit. It just makes me feel better. 

I have sold a few books in the 600 to 700 dollar range, I tend to over pack and protect the books hopefully beyond the kind of handling I suspect they may receive at times. When I do sell one in that range I will insure the package to the cost and require signature confirmation upon receipt. I to get nervous until it’s in the buyers hand and constantly check the shipping. But all in all I’ve never had an issue so far with the PO or a buyer. 
knock on wood.

 I should add I use media mail unless the buyer asks for alternate shipping UPS, FedEx etc.

when I insure them It’s usually from about 250 and up also. 

Okay, after much reflection, I wound up shipping the books as two separate shipments. I just couldn't get around the idea that a 50 pound shipment of books would get demolished even more during its travels through the postal system. I wound up wrapping each book in multiple layers of bubble wrap, securing it in its own box, then packing three books into a larger shipping box with a ton of packing peanuts. Each of the two larger boxes had its own tracking, signature confirmation, and insurance. 

I offered free shipping on the listing, and per Ron's recommendation, I strongly considered sending the books via priority mail. However, the cost for priority mail is determined not only by size and weight of package, but also distance. Since the books were being shipped across the continental US, priority would have been in the neighborhood of $300 total, which I just couldn't swallow. So I opted for media mail. 

Good news is I just received word the books arrived safely! While I didn't take everyone's suggestions, thank you all for the advice. I appreciate it.

I found that shipping UPS was usually cheaper than USPS Priority (and got there faster too) when I've shipped out my cutting boards.

I buy the labels through PayPal which gets me a pretty significant discount compared to retail pricing too.

Although, worth mentioning, when I buy the labels through my wife's PayPal account, I never have any issues, but every time I've bought the labels through my account, I get a second charge later. I need to figure out why because it's super frustrating.

ETA: so I just checked on the last four labels I bought (which all got added charges after the fact.) In PayPal, I put the exact shipping weight in pounds and ounces, and UPS charged me extra to round up. For example, one package was 5lbs 13oz and they charged me an extra $10 (almost double the original price paid) because the packaged weight 6lbs (allegedly.) Three ounces .... 

I'm getting a better scale.  Also, I've decided to raise my cutting board prices to include shipping.