I’ve long advocated using Paypal shipping labels at paypal.com/shipnow as a way to cheaply ship light-weight items (up to 13 oz). It’s useful for shipping gift cards, as well as reselling small items and just everyday living as well. The Paypal system allows us to buy labels for anything, even not items paid through Paypal and even items you’re sending to friends and family. And we always got the special Paypal-eBay discount that eBay offers their sellers.
eBay has now changed the discount and applies it only to eBay power sellers who sell 300+ items per month or who have Top Rated Plus status on eBay.
Under the new rules, the cheapest shipping label (3 oz or less) is $2.60, which is just about the same as the $2.54 you’ll pay at the physical post office. Going back a couple of years, the cost to ship 3 oz via Paypal was just $1.69, and more recently it was $1.93.
Oddly, Paypal is charging the minimum $2.60 rate for packages up to 8 oz – the price only starts increasing when you hit 9 oz. In that sense, Paypal/eBay ends up cheaper than the post office, although it may just be a glitch that will be fixed.
I’ll still be using the Paypal system for printing out First Class Parcel labels since you can’t do that online at USPS.com – they only let you print priority and other more expensive labels, not the cheapest First Class Parcel labels – but it is getting more expensive.
HT: Slickdeals
So you cannot ship packages via UPS using eBay labels for non-eBay items?
I think you can. I’ve done it before.
How did you do it?
paypal.com/shipnow
Thanks but I wasn’t asking about PayPal shipping, I already know how to do that.
This is the same commercial bulk price available to Amazon sellers as well as Stamps.com. As previously noted they are still cheaper than the regular postal rates.
Amazon sellers get a negotiated rate that is basically what it was before for many Priority Mail packages. First Class Package is the same for everybody now (unless you have real high volume). Paypal/Ebay could not get that same deal. Check out http://www.ecommercebytes.com for the full skinny on that controversy.
Keep in mind that envelopes that aren’t too thick can ship with stamps ($.93 for 3 ounces). Those stamps can sometimes be had at a discount, but certainly there are drawbacks. The rule is 3/4 of an inch and no free tracking.
Yes, the discount PayPal offered was not the “PayPal discount,” rather it was the commercial rate. That’s still what’s happening going forward, it’s just those rates (commercial and retail) changed.
Cheaper then printing labels at USPS.com???
They offer an online discount and if it isnt a glitch I will use that.
Paypal was and is still the cheaper way to ship first class mail. It used to be that USPS.com was the same price for Priority Mail, but with the new changes, USPS.com now charges the retail rate, so you’re better off using paypal to ship priority packages too.
You can’t print First Class Parcel labels at usps.com
Actually, this is due to the rate increases by USPS. Paypal still follows the commercial base pricing as it had before. stamps.com has a pretty good summary of the changes. http://blog.stamps.com/2015/10/22/usps-announces-postage-rate-increase-starts-january-17-2016/ Changes to note for first class packages, the minimum is now $2.60 up to 8 oz, and mail up to 16oz is now accepted. Also as a strategy USPS is phasing out their publicly available volume discounts (the commercial plus rate), so any volume discounts are negotiated individually with just one published rate for the public.
Great info, thanks. I had not been aware that we can do up to 16 oz now, that’s good to know.
Just to make it confusing, the limit is 15.999 ounces and is only available through commercial accounts (Paypal, Amazon, Stamps, but not Click n Ship)