Hacks 1917 Industrial.. Strength Tips and Tools [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Hack 31 Save Money on Shipping

Save the seller time, get your item sooner, and
cough up less money for shipping.

I hate being ripped off, and one of the
most common rip-offs on eBay is inflated shipping charges. The
problem is that most sellers who overcharge for shipping
don't even know they're doing it.

Sellers want to cover all their costs, so it's the
buyer who ends up footing the bill for packing materials, shipping
charges, insurance, and the bagel the seller ate while waiting in
line at the post office. But even those who charge only for shipping
charges may still be charging their buyers too much, simply because
they don't know a cheaper or more efficient shipping
method.

The problem is that most sellers don't care how much
they spend on shipping because, in theory anyway, the buyer is the
one paying for it.

If you don't know what method of shipping a seller is using, just ask. You have a right to know what you're paying for, and many sellers will be willing to use a cheaper (or faster) shipping option if you request it.

3.13.1 A Little Knowledge Can Be Dangerous

Fortunately, every buyer has access to the same tools
sellers
use to estimate shipping costs. The first thing to do when quoted a
shipping charge that seems a tad high is to look it up for yourself.

The three largest couriers in the U.S. are FedEx (www.fedex.com), UPS (www.ups.com), and the
United States Postal Service
(www.usps.com), and all three
have online shipping-cost
calculators. (Most couriers in other countries have similar services;
see [Hack #30].)

Typically, all you need for a shipping-cost quote are the origin and
destination zip codes and the weight of the package.^[8] The origin zip code can be found in the
seller's address, usually included with any payment
instructions; if not, just ask. The destination zip code is simply
your zip code, which you already know (hopefully). If you
don't know the weight of the item, just take a
guess. Make sure to include extras like insurance and residential
delivery surcharges when choosing your shipping options.

^[8] Some shippers ask for the package dimensions, but these rarely
affect the price quoted. If in doubt, just make an educated
guess.

Armed with the actual cost to ship your item, possibly from several
different couriers, you now have two options (assuming your quote is
better than the seller's). Either you can contact
the seller and request a different shipping method, or better yet,
you can offer to take care of shipping yourself.

3.13.2 Excuse Me While I Take Over

People are creatures of habit, and as such require a bit of careful
persuasion before they'll change their routine. This
is especially true of sellers, who won't want to
spend any extra money or time on you or your package. If you want to
save money to ship your package, you have to make it worth the
seller's while to play by your rules.

As described in [Hack #68], the fastest
and cheapest way to ship a package is almost always to use a prepaid
shipping label. Using the same technique, you can create a shipping
label addressed to yourself, and then email the label to the seller.

Before asking the seller to ship with your prepaid label, make sure there's a drop-off location nearby. Type the seller's zip code into your courier's online location finder to find the closest drop-off box or counter. Most often, there will be one within a mile or two; if not, you may have to scrap your plan. Note that you can often schedule a pickup if there's no drop-off location close to the seller, but this often comes at substantial extra cost.

Before you snap into
action, ask the seller if she would be willing to ship your way. Here
are a couple of examples of such a request:

"Would you be willing to use a prepaid shipping
label I send you? All you'd have to do is affix the
label to the package and drop it off. I'd save
money, and you wouldn't have to wait in line at the
post office. If this sounds OK, just email me the weight and
dimensions of the package."

"I have a shipping alternative that should save you
time and save me money. All I need from you are the weight and
dimensions of the package, and I'll do the rest.
Simply affix the prepaid label I send you, and drop off the package
at a local courier counter. Let me know if that's
all right with you, and I'll get
started."

Diplomacy tip: don't make demands. You're asking the seller a favor, so be polite and encouraging, and make sure to let her know that she can refuse without any ill will. If the seller feels she has a choice in the matter, she'll be more likely to agree.

More often than not, the seller will agree, happy to save time by not
having to put together a label and stand in line at the courier
counter. (For sellers who refuse, you may still be able to give them
your courier account number, or at least request a cheaper shipping
method.)

The next step is to prepare the label, a simple procedure outlined in
[Hack #68]. But instead of printing the
label on your own printer, you'll need to create a
file that can be emailed to the seller. PDF files are perfect for
this; see Turn Shipping Labels into PDF Files
for details.

Turn Shipping Labels into PDF Files

The Portable Document Format
(PDF), created by Adobe Systems, allows for the exchange of documents
without losing formatting, and is ideal for creating shipping labels
that can be emailed. Anyone can view a PDF file with the free Adobe
Acrobat Reader software, available at www.adobe.com; odds are you already have it
installed on your system.

A PDF file can be created from any application, including your web
browser (where you'll likely create your labels).
Simply print as you normally would (File Print . . . ),
but instead of printing to your printer, print to a PDF printer
driver.

On any modern Mac, you can create a PDF file from your
browser's Print dialog. But on any other platform,
you'll need a PDF printer driver such as the full
version of Adobe Acrobat (not the reader), a commercial product
available at www.adobe.com.

Windows users can also create PDF files using the free Ghostscript
software:

Start by installing Ghostscript (www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/) and GSview
(www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gsview/).

Install a free PostScript printer driver (www.adobe.com/products/printerdrivers) and
make sure it's set to "print to
file." Go to Control Panel Printers
right-click the Postscript driver Properties
Ports click FILE:, and click OK.

Create your label (see [Hack #68]), and
print it to your PostScript printer driver. Choose a filename (such
as label.prn) when prompted.

Start GSView and open the .prn file you just
created. Go to File Convert, select the
pdfwrite device, choose a resolution of 600, and
click OK. Choose a filename (such as label.pdf)
when prompted.

Alternatives to Acrobat and Ghostscript include Create Adobe PDF
Online (cpdf.adobe.com), a
subscription-based service; JawsPDF (www.jawspdf.com); and PDFMail (www.pdfmail.com). All of these have free
trials.

Once you've created the PDF file with your
shipping
label, simply email it as an attachment to the seller. Include
instructions in your email for obtaining the latest version of the
Adobe Acrobat Reader from www.adobe.com if they don't
have it already. Make sure to specify one or two nearby drop-off
locations, obtained from your courier's online
location finder, as described earlier in this hack. Better yet, send
a link to the courier's web site so the seller can
see the map and any nearby alternatives.

If all goes well, the seller will print out the label, tape it to the
package, and drop off the package as instructed.
You'll be able to track the package from the
courier's web site, and the seller will be out of
the loop.