Still loving Half.com

[disneysteve]

Yesterday, I got a book that I ordered for doing a survey. I listed it on Half.com when I got home from work at 8pm. I got an e-mail at 1pm today that it had sold for $18.99. What's that? 17 hours. I'll get it ready to ship tonite and send it out in the morning. After fees, I'll net just over $16.00 for a book that cost me nothing. Sounds good to me.

[poundwise]

Nice going. That's definitely a nice way to work it.

[gamecock43]

Steve- I just started listing on half.com yesterday and have had 2 sales! But the site requests you to build shipping costs into the price of the books...shipping each book through parcel post today was almost $7.00 each. When half.com suggests a book is currently selling for $2 or $3- how are the sellers recouping their shipping costs? I have about 10 books I'd love to unload and make a dollar or two profit from (that's $10-20!), but cant understand why half.com wants me to list a book for $2 and then it will cost me $5 to ship it.

[gamecock43]

wait. make that 16 books all suggested I sell for under $3 a piece. How to get rid of them without losing money?

[disneysteve]

You shouldn't be shipping by Parcel Post but by Media Mail.

Here's how it worked for the book I just sold:

Sale price: $18.99
Shipping reimbursement: $2.64
Commission: $2.85
Net payment: $18.78

Media Mail shipping with confirmation will be $2.76, so I'll net $16.02 in the end on an $18.99 sale.

Let's say I sold the same book for $3.00:

Sale: $3.00
Shipping: $2.64
Commission: $.45
Net payment: $5.19
Actual shipping: $2.76
Final net: $2.43

[gamecock43]

ok thanks. I am not familiar with media mail but wouldn't you know! just had another sale. I will ask the post office about it tomorrow when I go in. Do I need special shipping boxes?

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by gamecock43

ok thanks. I am not familiar with media mail but wouldn't you know! just had another sale. I will ask the post office about it tomorrow when I go in. Do I need special shipping boxes?

Media mail is simple. No special supplies needed. Just put the book in an envelope, print your postage and off it goes. Media mail is for books and magazines and is very cheap.

[Cassandra]

Before I ship any books, I weigh the item and then go to usps.com and calculate how much it would cost to ship it Media Mail vs. Parcel vs. Priority, etc. You will need the zip code of where it is being sent to get an estimate of how much it costs but if you want to know about how much shipping will be before listing the item you can pick a random zip code far away.

You can also see how much it would cost to add delivery confirmation or insurance.

[cptacek]

Oh and for Media Mail, if the book is over 13 oz, you need to take it to the post office. Also, you can just wrap them in paper and use packing tape if you don't have envelopes. The Post Office will stamp it media mail.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by cptacek

Oh and for Media Mail, if the book is over 13 oz, you need to take it to the post office.

That is not true. I print all of my postage at home through PayPal and the mailman picks up the packages with the rest of the mail from my office. I never take anything to the post office. Actually, the only thing I usually take is international shipments because I'm never sure that I'm doing them correctly.

[poundwise]

USPS: The 13-ounce mail rule

As you can see, if you are printing postage through an approved service, then there is no issue. However, if you are mailing the item using affixed stamps, then you must take anything more than 13 ounces to a Post Office counter.

This is not specific to media mail.

[disneysteve]

Thanks for clearing that up, poundwise. My advice to everyone is to print your postage at home. It is free and easy.

[poundwise]

A separate comment on Media Mail. It is for CDs, DVDs, videotapes, software, and the like as well as books. LINK

Also, for light items, such as a single DVD and case or a small paperback, it is actually less expensive to use First Class Mail as opposed to Media Mail. For larger or heavier items, or groups of items, Media Mail is consistently the least expensive method.

Lastly, when you sell through third-parties such as Amazon or half.com, there is typically an option that allows the buyer to request expedited shipping. In such a case, you receive more funds for postage from the buyer/service and then ship via First Class or Priority Mail instead of Media Mail.

[gamecock43]

I was able to use media mail!
I am wondering why the post office has such drastically separate charges between media mail and parcel post. The same item going to the same place is $2.50 through media mail, or $6.00 through parcel post? Why such a big discrepency when there is no change of service?

[waijai]

Ouch...i offered expedited shipping on a book and ended up spending $8.90 for priority mail, when the reimbursment was only $5.something. I am now not offering expedited shipping. I should have thrown the book into a Priority Mail flat rate box.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by waijai

Ouch...i offered expedited shipping on a book and ended up spending $8.90 for priority mail, when the reimbursment was only $5.something. I am now not offering expedited shipping. I should have thrown the book into a Priority Mail flat rate box.

A flat rate box is $9.80 so that wouldn't have helped. A flat rate envelope is $4.80 so that might have worked if the book fit.

I ship all books Media Mail. It never occurred to me to send them any other way. The only exception is when I sell collectible books on ebay but then the buyer is paying the full cost for Prioirity Shipping and insurance.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Originally Posted by gamecock43

I was able to use media mail!
I am wondering why the post office has such drastically separate charges between media mail and parcel post. The same item going to the same place is $2.50 through media mail, or $6.00 through parcel post? Why such a big discrepency when there is no change of service?

I don't know why that came to be, but I've always been fond of it. I think of it as our country saying that what is in books is so important to us that we want to facilitate them being passed from person to person across the country. That is probably a little romantic of me.

We used to buy and sell quite a few books when my kid was homeschooled. We made use of media rate mail. It used to be called book rate, but was expanded to include more modern ways of recording. Unbound material is not included in media rate. So, notebook style binders of material can't be sent that way, nor packages of of printed notecards, flashcards, or even spiral wirebound material, says my post office clerk.

[cptacek]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Thanks for clearing that up, poundwise. My advice to everyone is to print your postage at home. It is free and easy.

Yes, thanks, poundwise!

[gamecock43]

I just sold another book on half.com! That's 6 books in 4 days! Only 13 left to go! I will love the look of my clean neat bookshelves once I get moved into my new home in 2 weeks!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by gamecock43

I just sold another book on half.com! That's 6 books in 4 days!

That's great! I've really been shocked by how quickly things can move on half.com.