Update:  Here is the recording from the Oct 26 Holiday Shipping Best Practices for eBay Sellers webinar:

The holiday season is the busiest shipping period of the year. Are you prepared with the latest money and time-saving tools and techniques to keep your eBay business running efficiently and your customers satisfied? Join Mark Le Vine from BubbleFAST and Eric Nash from Stamps.com as they discuss packing and shipping tips to make your holiday season headache free!

What:   Free webinar to discuss holiday shipping best practices for eBay sellers

When:  Wednesday, October 26 at 11:00 a.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. ET

Where:  Sign-up at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/134775158

This webinar is sponsored by:  Stamps.com, Outright, eBay Radio, Page Mage, and Terapeak.

Stamps.com has released the Holiday Shipping Survival Guide for E-commerce Retailers! The FREE, downloadable guide provides online sellers with best practices and industry data to optimize their shipping and increase sales during the 2011 holiday season.

Even for the most seasoned online sellers, the holiday rush during the fourth quarter can present obstacles to efficient shipping. eMarketer™ projects that this year’s fourth quarter will increase 13.5% and produce a record-breaking $59.7 billion in online sales. That’s why we’ve created a comprehensive guide with the information online sellers need to maximize their shipping process, meet the needs of their customers, and drive more revenue.

The Holiday Shipping Survival Guide for E-commerce Retailers features:

• Eight Tips on Holiday Shipping
• Seven Free Shipping Promotions
• Using SCAN Forms to Improve Customer Communication
• Eleven Ways to Improve Packaging
• Important Industry Tips, Stats and Dates

Download the free guide today! It’ll help you wrap up a successful holiday season.

Example of Priority Mail Rate Guide

As your most cost-effective mail carrier, the USPS® offers special pricing for Priority Mail shipping including regular Priority Mail, Priority Mail Flat Rate and the new Priority Mail Regional Rate boxes. Determining which type of Priority Mail box to use can be complicated because the price varies greatly depending on the weight and destination of the package as well as type of box.

Are you getting confused? If so, you’re not alone. Many shippers are finding it difficult to compare Priority Mail rates and to find factual information that helps to simplify matters, until now.

FREE! Download the Priority Mail Rate Guide

Introducing the Stamps.com Priority Mail Rate Guide
To simplify everything for shippers, Stamps.com created a downloadable Priority Mail Rate Guide. It provides pricing for each Priority Mail box type, and within an easy-to-use table are Priority Mail boxes listed in order from lowest price to highest price. There are many benefits to using the guide, including:

• Find the cheapest Priority Mail rate — The greatest benefit of the guide is that it can be used to identify the most cost-effective option for Priority Mail. The guide does all the work for you! Sending a 4 lb. package of clothes from Los Angeles to Florida?  By using the guide, you can identify the cheapest option and save up to $5.25, as shown in the following table:

• Avoid the myths about Priority Mail — The guide helps to identify facts about Priority Mail. For example, many shippers think Priority Mail Flat Rate is always the cheapest option based on TV commercials featuring the tagline “If it fits, it ships.” Using the chart will show that regular Priority Mail or Regional Rates are often much cheaper options.

PRIORITY MAIL TIP: For a 1 lb. package, regular Priority Mail beats out all other options except the Priority Mail Small Flat Rate box, which is very limited in size.

• Find low-cost Priority Mail Regional Rates for nationwide shipping — Many shippers also think that Regional Rate boxes are only for local shipments in the same region because “Regional” appears in the name. Using the guide will show that Regional Rate boxes are cost-effective for nationwide shipments too.

PRIORITY MAIL TIP: Excluding the Small Flat Rate Box, Regional Rate Box A is the lowest cost option for ALL zones for packages weighing between 2 lbs. and 15 lbs.

• Find the best Priority Mail Flat Rate for heavy packages — If you are shipping heavy packages, there is no cheaper option than Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes. Using the guide demonstrates this as well.

PRIORITY MAIL TIP: Shipping packages that weigh 20 lbs. or more? Use Priority Mail Flat Rate. You pay the same low flat rate cost whether it weighs 1 lb. or 70 lbs. and cost efficiencies start at 20 lbs.

Download the Priority Mail Rate Guide for personal use and easy referencing now. Stamps.com believes that shipping should be simple, so be sure to take advantage of Priority Mail Rate Comparison Guide!

Bryan “Mr. Bigfoot” Goodman lives in Boston, MA and has been selling on eBay since 1998.  He shares his knowledge about ecommerce, social media and selling online as a co-host of RRBRadio.com, a weekly online radio show specializing in ecommerce tips and tricks for sellers.  Bryan is a frequent participant at Ebay and ecommerce events throughout the country.

Stamps.com recently asked Bryan some questions on how the software has helped his shipping program:

Tell us about yourself and your business?
My name is Bryan Goodman and you can find me on eBay as “Mr. Bigfoot”. You can see my eBay store by going to BiggestShoes.com. My site sells shoes, large men’s clothing and a variety of other items — both big and small.

How has Stamps.com helped your shipping program for your ecommerce store?
Stamps.com provided me the ability to print First Class Mail International labels for my overseas orders.  Also, the software integrated so well with my eBay store that it helped streamline the shipping process and therefore saved me a lot of time.  

How do you get your data from eBay into the Stamps.com software?
My previous shipping method required me to copy & paste the delivery address from eBay into my postage platform.  Once I shipped the product, I then had to again copy & paste the delivery confirmation tracking number back into My eBay account so the buyer could see the number. 

With Stamps.com, this process is completely automated allowing me to focus on other, more important tasks (like selling).  The software automatically imports the delivery address and also posts-back the delivery confirmation number to “My eBay” account.  Since I ship a lot of First Class Mail International packages and delivery confirmation is not available for that mail class, Stamps.com will post the Customs Form number which is perfect for me.

Check out Bryan’s site at BiggestShoes.com or follow him on Twitter @misterbigfoot

Example of SCAN Form

When mailing multiple packages at the same time, many shippers like for U.S. Postal Service employees to scan the  barcode on each package to create an “acceptance” event of their shipment.  This “acceptance” scan will show the recipient of the package that their shipment is on its way and the package has entered the USPS mailstream. 

However, if your package only contains Delivery Confirmation, it’s possible that the USPS employee might only scan the item once the package is being delivered to its destination and not when the package is dropped at off at the Post Office.   To help shippers show the package has been sent, the USPS suggests including a SCAN Form at the time of mailing.   

What is a SCAN Form?
The SCAN Form, which stands for Shipment Confirmation Acceptance Notice, is a piece of paper that contains a master barcode that includes all the packages associated in a shipment.  The SCAN Form saves the USPS employee time by allowing them to scan only one barcode (the SCAN Form) to enter all of the associated packages into the USPS’s Track & Confirm database rather than scanning each package individually. Once scanned, both you and the package recipient can see the date the package entered mailstream.

SCAN Form Restrictions
The U.S. Postal Service has placed some restrictions on SCAN Forms:

• SCAN Forms are only available for shipping labels purchased with online postage.
• Every item associated with a form must be printed and mailed on the same date and from the same ZIP code.
• An item can’t appear on more than one SCAN Form.
• You have to buy electronic Delivery Confirmation or electronic Signature Confirmation in order to use a SCAN Form.

Thankfully, SCAN Forms are easy to use. Stamps.com’s software guides you through the process of creating one as you’re preparing your outgoing packages. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you become more familiar with SCAN Forms:

SCAN Form Tip #1
Don’t print a SCAN Form until you’ve finished printing shipping labels for the day. Stamps.com recommends completing this process before 5 p.m., after which the software will submit your package information to USPS. If this information is sent without a SCAN Form, you won’t be able to include them on it and it will take longer for a postal employee to accept your packages into the system.

SCAN Form Tip #2
If the SCAN Form button is disabled in your Stamps.com software, it means you have selected a package that can’t be sent with a SCAN Form. A common reason this may happen if you have not added electronic Delivery Confirmation or electronic Signature Confirmation to that item.

SCAN Form Tip #3
If you remove a package from a set of parcels on a SCAN Form, USPS will not allow you to use the SCAN Form.  The carrier will need to scan each package individually.

SCAN Form Tip #4
Online package tracking of your parcels sent may not be updated until the following day, depending on when you submit your SCAN Form and packages to a USPS employee.

Click here for more information on SCAN Forms.