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What adhesive do you recommend for eBay shipping labels?
Label materials with a permanent adhesive will ensure your shipping labels remain adhered to mailers. We recommend Aggressive White Matte for shipping labels that will be applied to corrugated cardboard.
What are the standard eBay Shipping label sizes and formats?
- 8.5” x 11” full sheet: let’s you print one label per page.
- Two pages per sheet (5.5” x 8.5” each): one label for outbound shipping, the other for return or reuse.
- 4" x 6" thermal label: to be used on roll or fanfold label printers.
i recently started selling on ebay and wondering what other sellers do about printing labels and shipping packages on a small scale. i don't have a printer so normally what i do is i go to office depot, pay 12 cents per black and white label, attach the label, leave the package at office depot since USPS picks up at there and i'm in and out in about 5 minutes. this has been great so far and helps keep costs down and saves me some time by not having to go somewhere else to drop the package off. however since i don't have a printer i also have to drive, waste gas, etc... going to office depot. my friend was telling me how he has an HP subscription that sends him ink when he's running low and that might be something to consider. however the issue for me is that there are some days where i'm printing 1-3 labels in one day and then a week or two go by before another sale. i feel like it would cost me more in shipping and handling costs than if i just continue to go to office depot. since i'm not printing alot i feel like the cost to buy a printer then ink costs would be much higher than going to office depot. this month i have sold 11 items which is 11 labels, but this coming month i might sell 1-5 items.
My advice would be to either buy a cheap printer, or limit your shipping trips to two or even 1 day per week.
You can get a basic all-in-one at Best Buy or Walmart for ~$25. The cost of a black and white ink cartridge is $20 or so, less if you buy reconditioned ones. But you're probably not going to need a new one more than once a year. That's about how often I replace mine and I do more volume than you. Technically it would take 200+ labels for the printer to pay for itself, but you've also gotta factor in your gas and time.
Or, make it clear in your auction listings that you only ship on Wednesday and Saturday, for example, and then save up all your labels and only go and print and ship them on those days. That would save some time and gas.
But honestly, my advice is to just get a printer. If you're going to devote any kind of time to selling on ebay, you should invest in a scale and printer.
You want to reduce your printing and transportation cost.
For printing, last week eBay announced a new feature through eBay labels for sellers just like you. When you print shipping labels on eBay, now you have the option to download a QR code that can be scanned to produce a label at the post office for free. But you'll need to go to the post office instead of office depot.