Questions about packaging/shipping textbooks.

yellowaznboy

yellowaznboy

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How do you usually package and ship textbooks? I recently sold some books on half.com and need to ship these out. Two of the books are hardcover and the other is paperback.

Any help for a newbie?
 
I'd go with Media Mail in a nice box. Media Mail is really treated like crap, so the extra protection of a box is a good idea. Personally, I'd wrap the books in bubble wrap, then pad them with crumpled up newspaper inside a box. But that may be overkill.

You should be able to scrounge for a box to recycle. I generally just reuse the boxes from stuff I buy online.
 
It's also a good idea to make the box fit the book at tightly as possible, after wrapping the book in bubble wrap of course, that way the book can't shake around inside the box and get dinged up or anything.
 
[quote name='apokalipze2']Don't do media mail. It's slow as hell and not worth it unless your a penny pincher:cry: . Stick to first class and priority[/QUOTE]

Tell that to half.com who only pays around $2.30 for something shipped media and $3.90 for something shipped priority. You can't even ship a small book for that price.
 
Heh, I didn't know that. All I ship are games and light items. So yeah stick to media mail if it's going to cost you a lot more to ship first class or priority
 
I have a new problem. A buyer has contacted me about cancelling the order because she thinks she might have ordered the wrong book. I already have the book boxed and ready to ship. Am I obligated to refund her money? Should I?

Edit: She emailed me back saying it's the right book and to send it. Thanks for the help everyone.
 
[quote name='yellowaznboy']I have a new problem. A buyer has contacted me about cancelling the order because she thinks she might have ordered the wrong book. I already have the book boxed and ready to ship. Am I obligated to refund her money? Should I?[/QUOTE]

Are you obligated? No. All sales are final on half.com and this is clearly stated in the help section.

Should you? Why not. You are out of absolutely zero fees if you cancel the sale. It's up to you.
 
Umm... I sold many many textbooks thru eBay and I always shipped thru priority because as a student, I know how important it is to get the book within 3 days rather than a week or even more if its coast to coast. People are willing to pay the extra $$ if they know they'll get the book fast with priority mail. I often ship paperback books in the flat rate envelopes (most paperback books, even paperback textbooks, will fit nicely) and I've never received any complaint from buyer with my method. For hardcover books I usually just use the flat rate box and charge $10 for shipping since most other sellers charge just about that amount anyway, so you're not overcharging. I really hated one seller that charged me $8 but sent the book via media mail, it was the slowest POS ever and delayed my reading for 2 weeks. So please don't ship only via media mail, you'll get complaints. Offer various shipping methods like media mail, parcel post and priority and let the seller pay the shipping amount they want.
 
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