Julie in CA Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I ordinarily only do the regular shipping and that's fine, but I was trying to sell my ds's used college textbooks from last semester, and figured it would be a good idea to offer expedited shipping. Then at the post office they told me that the only option for shipping that quickly was Priority mail, which ended up being $14.99 for the book I was sending. :confused: Um, clearly I made the wrong choice, because I sold the book for, like, $25, and I spent $14.99 on shipping with only a $6.99 shipping credit. Yikes! So, how do you send books for expedited shipping? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jejily Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Ouch. I don't sell at Amazon, but I have through half.com and eBay, and I have to say -- $6.99 isn't enough to mail a heavy textbook via Priority Mail, which is what most customers assume you'll use if they've paid for expedited shipping. You'd still lose money on the deal (and, so, may need to price your textbooks accordingly), but I suggest you use a flat-rate box next time, available for free from the post office, which would be plenty large enough for a textbook. No matter the weight or destination zip code, the mailing fee is the same (around $8.20, I believe). So, losing $1.20 on shipping would sure beat losing $8 on shipping. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KS_ Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I ordinarily only do the regular shipping and that's fine, but I was trying to sell my ds's used college textbooks from last semester, and figured it would be a good idea to offer expedited shipping. Then at the post office they told me that the only option for shipping that quickly was Priority mail, which ended up being $14.99 for the book I was sending. :confused: Um, clearly I made the wrong choice, because I sold the book for, like, $25, and I spent $14.99 on shipping with only a $6.99 shipping credit. Yikes! So, how do you send books for expedited shipping? I only offer expedited shipping on items I know are light enough to not be very expensive (so the $6.99 credit will be enough). I've never offered it on any larger or heavy books because I don't think there is an inexpensive, fast shipping option for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Always only the standard shipping, and then I use media rate. If the buyer wants it faster, they'd have to pay for it. You probably could have gotten a better deal using a flat rate box ($8 and change) - for future reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KS_ Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Do they even offer that option if one buys from a private seller? I always received mine via media mail. The seller can specify when they list the book whether or not they want to offer the expedited shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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