A quick story…
Before we jump into our “how to ship large items on eBay” summary, a quick story…
As you might already know, I make most of my money on eBay by selling items on consignment. When I moved from California to Colorado I was leaving behind the forty-plus clients that I’d been selling for on consignment. One client still sends me her high-end clothing still ships me her items and another client who owns four laundromats sends me pictures of his commercial laundry machine parts he wants to sell, gives me their weight and dimensions, I list them on eBay and email him a prepaid shipping label when they sell.
Overall I’m lucky I could keep any of my clients, but the rest of my consignment clients primarily had larger items that were not very high priced so shipping those to me didn’t make sense.
The Breakdown:
After living in Colorado for a year I was making about one fourth (about $1,750) of my monthly goal which is $7,000 a month (profit). My average profit per item is about $15 so to make $7,000 I need to sell 467 items per month which means I need to list at least 467 items a month.
After hiring a Marketing Expert I’ve been able to grow my client base in Colorado. I now have two part time college students working for me totaling about ten hours a week combined. On average, they’re listing four items an hour which is about forty listings a week.
I’m also spending about ten hours a week listing. (I’m spending most of my time marketing and shipping.) So between me and the college students we’re listing 336 items per month. At $15 profit per item that’s $5,040 per month. I either need another employee working fifteen hours per week (the extra five hours to account for the added payroll), or I need to increase my average profit per item.
So why am I saying all of this? Because learning how to ship large items on eBay has helped me up the average value of my items and therefore decrease the amount of items I have to sell.
Why do you want to learn how to ship large items on eBay?
If you’re here and you have a large item that needs to be shipped go ahead and skip to the next section… But if you need to be convinced as to why to sell large items on eBay, this is it.
If you are already selling on eBay I’m guessing that you’d had people ask you to sell items too big or expensive to ship through normal carriers.
About five years ago, my client with the Laundromats asked me if I could sell a couple of vending machines for him. It wasn’t something that he could bring to my house, so I told him if he could send me all the pictures of the machine from every angel, give me the model number, age, all the details, get it onto a pallet and strap it securely to the pallet, I could list it for him and when it sells have the freight company pick it up directly from him to deliver to the buyer.
I sold the vending machines for about $750 each, earning about $210 from each. Later, I sold a Floor Buffing machine for him that also had to be freighted. It sold for $850, and my commission was $217.
Then I was asked to sell a smoothie machine that I sold for $2,500. My commission was $440.
Sounds simple, right? The best part is I didn’t even touch the items…
Well it is if you know what to do to avoid major headaches and potentially lose thousands of dollars.
The “Rules of the Road” for shipping large items on eBay:
I’m going to give you some rules to live by when selling freighted items:
- How to avoid getting stuck with the freight both directions when a sale goes south.
- Package/Paletize your item in a way that keeps it safe and satisfies the freight companies’ requirements
- When to have it professionally crated.
- How to make it economical enough for the buyer to pay the freight.
- Determine if an item is worth freighting. If not, sell it locally.
- How to find high priced equipment to sell.
1. Always have the buyer pay the Logistics company directly for freight:
The first lesson I learned (the hard way) was to always have the buyer pay the freight company directly.
When selling an item that you are sending via regular shipping (like with Fedex Ground or USPS mail) the buyer pays you the total amount through Paypal usually or with eBay Managed Payments (which eBay rolled out October 2018 to a small percentage of sellers). If the buyer chooses to return their item and says the item was not as described, the seller is responsible for shipping both ways. In other words, the seller is required to reimburse the buyer for return shipping and the original shipping paid by the buyer upon return of the item.
On items with regular Fedex ground or USPS shipping I actually offer free returns where I pay return shipping if the buyers chooses to return the item for any reason. This prevents buyers from claiming an item is not as described just to get free return shipping. The amount I lose in return shipping is offset by the fact that I have achieved Top Rated Seller Status and because of that, for items where I offer free returns eBay gives those items a Top Rated Plus badge and eBay refunds me ten percent of my final value fee for all of those items, helping to offset the losses I incur by paying return shipping on returns.
If you specify No Returns Accepted on an item (which eBay does allow you to do), the buyer could still open a case with eBay citing that the item was not as described and eBay could decide in the buyers favor.
If you charge a buyer for the freight and pay for the freight yourself it is more streamlined for the buyer and might help your item sell faster.
But if the buyer wants to return the item (even if you have specified no returns accepted on that item) the buyer could open a case with eBay claiming your item was not as described.
While eBay investigates the claim the money the buyer paid you is frozen (including what they paid you for freight).
I’ve sold items where freight is anywhere from $250 to $1,600 so the stakes are high.
I learned my lesson when a buyer bought a commercial freezer from me. I had charged her through eBay for the freezer and the $650 for the freight, and I paid the Logistics company myself.
When the freezer arrived, she refused the shipment because she claimed that there was a bent piece of stainless steel at the top of the freezer. Because I would have been charged freight both ways (and would have had to refund the buyer for the freight they had paid me for), I agreed to give them a partial refund on the freezer that amounted to more than 50% of the purchase price. They refused to take any less.
If they had paid the Logistics company separately from paying me the purchase price for the freezer, they would have had skin in the game and would have been motivated to work things out with me fairly. They may have notified me of their concern, and I would have offered them a partial refund that was fair to both of us. They likely would have agreed rather than being out the freight both ways themselves.
I sell three or four items a month that have to be freighted, and on every one of those items I have the buyer pay the freight company directly.
I have a statement in my listing letting buyers know that the buyer can choose the Logistics company of their choice and that they will pay for freight directly. I then list the dimensions (when palletized) and weight and whether the pick up location is at a residence or commercial address and if they have a forklift or loading dock because they will need this information in order to get a freight quote. I also state that I’d be happy to get them a freight quote if they provide me with the shipping address, whether it’s residential or commercial and if commercial, if they have a loading dock (or forklift on site). I also state that if they do not have a Logistics company I can refer them to one.
Over ninety percent of my buyers do request a freight quote. Once they purchase it, most of them do go with my Logistics company. (My guy is the most responsive and the most reasonable, and if they don’t take my word for it, they usually come to that realization after getting other quotes.) I will share his contact information with you as well. He even replied to me with a quote on Superbowl Sunday.
Buyers will sometimes tell you, “I’ll buy it if I can pay you for the freight and you take care of the freight so I don’t have to open an account with the freight company”. As much as you want that sale, just reiterate to them that they have to pay the freight company directly.
The Logistics company also may ask you to just pay them and collect from the buyer so that they don’t have to open a new account with the buyer, but don’t give in. This rule to live by will save you a lot of grief.
2. How to safely palletize your item:
It is imperative that you palletize your item in a way that it makes it safely to your buyer. That sounds so obvious, right? Well, I guess it is, but I’m going to tell you how to do that.
When you ship large items, it will be transferred from truck to truck so it’s going to be moved around and shoved in against the other items.
So you need to make sure that nothing extends past the pallet on any side. That way when another pallet is banged up against yours it only hits your pallet and not your item itself.
Last week I sold a massage chair for $4,100. The freight was $775. I, of course, had the buyer pay my freight guy directly.
Usually when I sell freighted items, I’m doing it for a company, and it’s being palletized by them (as part of our agreement) and picked up directly from them.
But I had a person in my business networking group whose brother in law had a Medical Breakthrough Massage chair that I could see would sell for over $4,000. Participating in a local business networking group is how I get about thirty percent of my referrals. I’ll talk about that in another blog post on how to get consignment clients! His brother in law had the massage chair in his home. I told him if he could get the chair to me, I would sell it and take care of palletizing it so it could be freighted to the buyer.
I went on Facebook Marketplace and searched for free pallets and found multiple listings close to my home. I had the consignor put the massage chair on the pallet in my garage.
The massage chair was sixty inches long by thirty inches wide. The pallet was thirty six inches wide by forty four inches long. So I needed to get another pallet and I cut it down with a circular saw (yes, I was feeling pretty cool and I didn’t even cut off any fingers). I screwed that twenty two inch piece of pallet to the other pallet, creating a sixty six inch long pallet so that the pallet extended past the massage chair in every direction to protect it.
The next step is to securely strap the item to the pallet. I used the orange straps you see in the picture to strap it down. The massage chair weighs almost 400 lbs so the straps need to hold it securely as it is moved with pallet jacks from truck to truck and as it is bouncing around on the truck. Make sure the straps are secured to something on the item that is strong enough to withstand the pressure of the full weight of the item being pulled against it.
I then packed all the extra pieces, armrests, etc in bubble wrap protect them from getting scratched as things got jarred and jiggled during transfers and the truck ride. Once those items were wrapped, I shrink wrapped them to the chair. By the way, I was able to buy this bolt of shrinkwrap at Wal-Mart. Then I added cardboard to the front and back just for added protection and shrink wrapped that as well.
Although I’ve sold thousands of dollars worth of commercial equipment, this was the first I’d palletized myself so when the truck arrived for pick up, I was nervous. The gentleman walked around the pallet, checked the straps and said, “I’ve got to tell you..” I was thinking he might say, “get a professional to pack this”, but instead he said, “This is the first residential pick up I’ve had where I didn’t have to have them repack the item. You’ve secured it properly, the pallet extends past every portion of it. It’s a little unconventional, but you’ve got everything covered.” I told him he made my week!
3) When to have it professionally crated
There are some large, heavy items that are also delicate (and valuable enough) that it is worth having it professionally crated. When it came to selling my husband’s Modified Wheelchair Segway, the way it sat on two wheels and weighed over 150 pounds, I knew it would be safest in a crate. Plus, I was selling it for $9,000.
I found a local company who picked it up, built a crate for it, and freighted it to my buyer in Arkansas for under $1,000. I did all the research and found the crate and freight company first so I could give the eBayer a quote before he bought it. And of course I had him pay that company directly.
Although I have the buyers pay for the freight, I do try to work with the price of the item to help them with the cost of the freight.
4)How to make it economical enough for the buyer to pay the freight.
When your item exceeds the size and/or weight limit to ship, they have to be freighted.
What are the size and weight limits for Fedex Ground/Home Delivery?
The Maximum size is 108 inches in length and 165 inches in length and girth.
Weight guidelines: Individual packages can weigh up to 150 lbs for Fedex Ground which has to be shipped to a commercial address. The weight limit for shipping to a residential address is 70 pounds.
There are some things you can do to make it cost as little as possible to freight. First, work with the best logistics company. They are working with the same freight carriers as other logistics companies, but their rates vary. After freighting tens of thousands of dollars worth of items on eBay, I have found the best, most responsive, helpful and reasonable logistics company. Send me a message if you’d like my contact’s information. A logistics company will help you find the best carrier, work with any issues with those carriers and explain anything that could impact the safe transport of your item.
One factor that makes it a lot more expensive to freight your items is if it is picked up (or dropped off) at a residential address. And if it is in the garage (or needs to be brought into the garage) that is considered inside delivery or pick up which adds more to the cost.
Recently I was selling a couple of used Soap Vending machine (for my Laundromat owner). He is located in California which increases the chances it will be traveling a long way and as fate seems to have it, when an item is heavy and big it seems to go to the other side of the U.S. All the eBayers asking about it were indeed on the East Coast. I’ve given freight quotes to over ten potential buyers in the last few months. Because the machine sells for about $400 and freight has been around $400 to $600 as well, every time I give a quote the buyer is no longer interested.
My client is the one who came up with the idea of him getting help to load it into his truck and bringing it to the Roadrunner Transport facility in his city. By having the pick up at a commercial address with a loading dock and using (through our logistics company) Roadrunner we brought the cost of freight down by more than $100.
The other thing that pushed this sale over the edge is that we had two of these machines and both could fit on the same pallet. Shipping one machine was $359, and shipping two (both packed onto one pallet) was only $6 more. Also, I offered the buyer an additional discount on the machines.
#5 How to determine if an item is not worth enough to ship because it’s so big and heavy
This is another lesson I learned from experience. Some items are just not worth the cost to ship them.
I listed a sectional couch on eBay and priced it at $800. Over a period of several months I had numerous requests for freight quotes to various parts of the Country (of course I was in California at the time so that didn’t help having it all the way on the West Coast). The couch didn’t fit on conventional pallets and actually required movers rather than freight and quotes were over $2,000. While the couch listing had thousands of views and several inquiries it never sold.
Usually when it comes to furniture I do not list it on eBay because the freight is going to cost more than the item is worth. And that is the general rule. You need to look at how much it will cost the buyer including freight and consider whether that will be worth it for them. If not, I list those items on Facebook Marketplace since there is no shipping involved. I mostly refer people with furniture to consignment stores.
If you are wondering how you will know how much it will cost to freight an item, remember that you are going to have a logistics company you can consult with. Again, if you want a referral, I’ve go the BEST one. You can tell him something you are thinking of selling and ask him how much it would cost to freight it to the East Coast or West Coast just to get an idea until you become more familiar.
#6 How to find high priced equipment to sell
Now that I’ve hopefully taken the mystery out of how to ship large items on eBay, I’m going to tell you how to get those gems to sell.
You can sell them on consignment like I do ninety percent of the time or you can buy and resell them.
If you want to buy and resell, a great source for buying equipment is https://www.govdeals.com/. You can search by location and category. You are responsible for pick up and make sure that you check the condition on the description because sometimes they are sold with the condition unknown. Make sure you do your research and ask any questions before bidding on the item since it will be an investment to pick up and store these larger items in addition to what you pay for them.
To sell items on consignment which is what I have been describing in this article, you need to develop relationships. How do you make those connections?
One thing you have over other eBay sellers is your location. Selling on eBay on consignment is not ubiquitous yet. So chances are, you are the only one for miles who sells on eBay on consignment. Now you just need to connect to your local community so they know you sell on eBay. You’d be amazed at how many people can either refer themselves or someone they know to an eBay seller.
If you read my article titled 3 Things I Love About Running an eBay Business, you’ll remember me mentioning that we sold for an electronics recycler for a year who kept us busy full time. When we stopped selling for them we had to rebuild our client base so I joined a local networking group to meet other local business owners. The group I joined, BNI (Business Network International) has chapters throughout the U.S. and Internationally. It is similar to the local Chamber of Commerce, but at the BNI meetings each person gives a thirty second infomercial about what they do and what would be a good referral so the whole group will learn what you do. My advice is to join a BNI group in your area (you can find a chapter near you by going to BNI.com) and to ask for referrals for items you would like to sell. You give a different infomercial every week, and you can be specific. I also would attend monthly Chamber of Commerce mixers.
The massage chair I sold was a referral from someone in the BNI group I joined in Colorado. I also sold a 1974 Scotty Hi-Lander for a person in my BNI group. It had been in his backyard for over ten years. But it turns out there is a freight company that specializes in transporting trailers. That camper is officially the largest thing I’ve sold and freighted. Again, of course I had the buyer pay the transport company directly.
I hope this helps you increase your bottom line by opening up the world of selling larger items.
Happy Selling!