Click N Ship

Have you ordered something online from Ebay, Etsy, or Amazon and noticed the professional looking mailing label? I’m here to tell you that those labels are not just for big companies, they’re for you and me too. I am set up on PayPal to receive payments for my online shop, and I have a debit card for my PayPal account too. It’s awesome, my business profits and expenses are all contained in one account. When I login to PayPal, there is a print label button next to the invoice line of the payment received. I didn’t click that button for several months because it seemed like a big deal, and I didn’t think I had time to look into it. I kick myself for thinking that now, but it’s all good because I have used it for years now and it’s awesome.

Not only does it look professional, printing a USPS mail label saves time, saves money, and I think it does one more unintentional thing. Let me explain. When I made daily trips to the Post Office, I paid $.75 for delivery confirmation. And I never had a delivery confirmed package lost so I’m convinced it’s worth the investment. The Postal Carrier has to scan the barcode at every location to track it’s journey. So this means these packages can’t just be thrown into big carts to be sorted later, they have to be hand-processed and accounted for. It’s better than insurance to me and a lot cheaper. When you print your own shipping label, delivery confirmation costs $.18. I don’t know why there’s a cost difference, maybe because the Postal Clerk didn’t have to take time to type in all the information, but at any rate it’s a good thing and worth every penny.

Another benefit of printing your own shipping labels is that it forces you to double check the shipping address. I compare the address given through Etsy against the address through PayPal. If they’re different then I confirm with the buyer before I ship. It’s one little step that can save you from a headache and dissatisfied customer. The label looks nice, it’s cheaper for me, it saves me gas and time in going to the Post Office, and it allows me to keep more organized records. When you print your label, the other half of the paper has instructions and a copy of the recipient’s information with the delivery confirmation number. It’s so much better than the hand-processed slip I use to tear off of the confirmation tags. The only thing to be aware of when using the printed label is that you’re not suppose to put tape over the barcode. This can prevent the carrier’s scanner from scanning it. No big deal though, it’s not even an inconvenience.

If you’re still not convinced, just track your mileage and time going to the Post Office compared to the cost of a black ink cartridge a ream of paper, and the 15 seconds it takes to print. I have a drop-off box next to my office building and down the road from my house so it’s very convenient to drop these off daily, but you can also schedule the PO to pick up packages from your doorstep (see website for details). I hope you’re running out of excuses for why not to print your own labels.