Tired of making trips to the Post Office? Would you like to streamline your shipping process? After shipping thousands of packages across the world, I’ve written a step by step guide to help you start shipping from home.
The most efficient way to ship packages is to ship from home by printing online postage. It saves time by reducing trips to the post office. It saves money because online shipping vendors offer discounted rates. You can leave your packages out for your USPS carrier, schedule a USPS pick up, or drop off. You will need to be able to weigh and pack your items at home which requires a scale and packing materials. PayPal offers shipping through ShipStation, but I recommend shipping through Pirate Ship. It is free, offers great discounts, and has very responsive customer service.
Before we talk about packing, it helps to understand the differences in Flat Rate, Regional Rate, and Calculated Weight pricing.
Flat Rate
- Offered by United States Post Office (USPS) – set rate no matter where you are shipping from or to in the US.
- Must use Flat Rate boxes free from USPS.
- Small Flat Rate Box: Holds up to 6 Border Maker Cartridges.
- Padded Flat Rate Mailer: Border Punches, Multiple Punches.
- Medium Flat Rate: Best for heavier shipments going far from you but not always cheaper than UPS discounts. If using Pirate Ship, this rate may not be cheaper unless you consider the free box.
- Large Flat Rate: Has never been the cheapest option. I don’t ever use these.
Regional Rates
- These rates were discontinued in 2022. If you have leftover boxes, use them as regular priority boxes by weight and dimension.
Calculated Weight
- Pricing is based on size and weight of the package along with distance to the destination.
- Can use USPS free Priority boxes or your own packaging, either mailers or boxes.
- All packages shipped using an online service will include tracking. This is not true at the USPS retail counter.
- All USPS and UPS packages now include insurance, including First Class, now known as Ground Advantage. Ground Advantage is a new rate for 2023 by USPS. It covers everything from a few ounces to many pounds. It now includes insurance on those packages. Compare the delivery times in Pirate Ship, often times the Ground Advantage only saves a few cents but is a slower delivery.
- UPS now offers a UPS Ground Saver option that is often the cheapest. You drop off to UPS, but in the end, they are dropping the package to the USPS for final delivery. This will add at least one day to the delivery. Again, compare delivery times in Pirate Ship as some of these rates end up very similar but delivery times vary. I don’t choose UPS Ground Saver unless it’s truly a saver as I’d rather my package not change carriers mid route. When all rates are pretty equal, consider what drop off is most convenient. With USPS, I can leave my packages out for my carrier or schedule a pick up for free. However, UPS is easier when filing an insurance claim. If they are already at your house for a delivery, they will take your packages for free. Scheduling a UPS pick up does have a fee.
Quoting Shipping
If you are selling online, you’ll need to know how much shipping to charge your customer. You can quote using the USPS Shipping Calculator or the RATES tab on Pirate Ship by entering their zip code and yours. On USPS, it will give you the RETAIL amount of USPS shipping. Pirate Ship will show their discounted shipping rate. There is no quote function in PayPal. Both PayPal/ ShipStation and Pirate Ship offer discounted shipping rates.
Weighing Packages
This is the scale I use from Amazon. I like it because the readout extends away from the scale. This feature is a must if you want to read your weight while the package is still sitting on the scale. I previously used this one, but I had to maneuver to hit the HOLD button then move the box to see the weight then REMEMBER the weight to enter it. The remembering part didn’t always go very well. Trust me the extra $5 is worth it.
Padded Mailers
I use padded mailers of several sizes, mostly to ship under 1lb of weight. For shipping small items like one Border Maker Cartridge, I use the #0. The #5 fits 10×12″ or smaller items like stickers and embellishments. I use the #7 to ship 12×12″ paper, using a sheet of cardboard if needed for rigidity. The mailer is wide enough to hold several paper packs and long enough to fold over and offer extra padding. The Boxery is my go-to Amazon shop for all my padded mailers. They provide consistent service and shipping is always faster than advertised.
Boxes
The size of the box matters for your final shipping rate so it’s ideal to have the smallest box possible to fit your items. When shipping several paper packs with a weight over 1lb, I use vinyl record boxes. They adjust for two different depths. I ship enough to justify the quantity of 100 for a box rate of 70 cents each. If you don’t need that many, there are other options like this one, that will cost you more per each.
This box is perfect for an album along with some extra paper and punches.
These 13x13x5″ boxes are deeper – a bit tight for an album but you can fit one. The 15×15 gives you plenty of room.
Aviditi 15156 Flat Corrugated Cardboard Box 15″ L x 15″ W x 6″ H, Kraft, for Shipping, Packing and Moving (Pack of 25)
Packing Supplies and Labels
Packing tape is a necessity. Get a heavy duty option like Scotch Heavy Duty. Before you tape, you’ll need to fill up the extra space in the box to keep the items from shifting and the box getting crushed. I reuse all the air pillows and bubble wrap I get from all my shipments, but you can also use plastic grocery sacks or newspaper. Be sure you tape both ends of your box, even though the USPS free boxes have adhesive closures. Sometimes that adhesive doesn’t stick, and the box end opens…contents will get lost in transit.
Now that your box is packed, you’ll need a shipping label. You can use regular printer paper to print the label, cut it own, then tape it on. If needed, print the labels at 75% so they can fit on the smaller mailers and boxes easily. I use these labels from Amazon to save the cutting and taping.
If you print much and have an HP printer, I highly recommend the HP Instant Ink program. I save so much annually by using this program, and best of all, I never run out of ink!
To print your shipping labels, PayPal can now integrate with PirateShip. You can find the how-to in PirateShip. Or, you can copy / paste the address from the PayPal payment into PirateShip. If you didn’t integrate the two programs, copy the tracking and enter it into PayPal so the tracking is saved with the payment information.
Summary
- Buy a scale and packing supplies. Order free boxes from USPS.
- Create a Pirate Ship account.
- Pack up items.
- Use the box weight / dimensions/ buyer’s address to create a shipping label in Pirate Ship.
- Print label, tape on box, and either drop off or give to your carrier.
All of the links above are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning if you click through to buy your supplies, they’ll give me some pennies to help buy mine!
Excellent info! I don’t ship CM stuff but I do ship other stuff all the time. I wish I had this info during pandemic but it’s definitely going to help! Thank you Tessa ❤️
Awesome, I didn’t know about the vinyl boxes to ship!! Thanks…all spot on info.