Every now and then, I’ll sell things on eBay to make a little extra cash. I’ve been an eBay member for a number of years now and for most of those years I resisted purchasing a postal scale. I’d base my shipping charges around what seemed to be the going rate and let it stand at that; when it was time to send stuff out, I’d go to the post office, stand in line, and do it there. Every once in a while, when an international bidder approached me to ask about my shipping rate, I’d have to take time out of my schedule and go to the post office to have the item weighed.
This was a little bit annoying, but I didn’t want to pay for a postage scale. When USPS recently began offering discounts for postage purchased through its website, though, I changed my mind. Let me explain the rationale behind this decision.
The discounts USPS offers through its website are not enormous. For instance, you’ll save about $.50 off priority postage on a 2-pound package. When you purchase postage this way, you’ll need a postal scale to weigh the item and you’ll need a way to print out the postage label. If you don’t already have these things, you’ll have to make a small investment. Personally, I’ve purchased an Ultraship 55 Lb. Electronic Digital Scale, and it’s been serving me well so far.
If you mail packages with any frequency, the investment is probably a smart one. Not only will you receive a discount on any package you mail, but you’ll also save the time you’d spend standing in line in the post office (man, I have to tell you, I really hate standing in line - I’d rather be working on this blog or doing nearly anything else). If this doesn’t sound like a very cheap thing to do, well, consider the value of your time. Is it $5 per hour? $10 per hour? Time does have value, and time spent waiting in line is time wasted.
You can avoid any sort of wait whatsoever by asking your mail carrier to come to your home and pick up the package you want to mail. This service is free, and you can make a request via this convenient online form. You can tell your carrier to look in the mailbox, by the back door, by the front door - of it you’re going to be at home, you can hand over the package personally. This is really a very useful service. If you’re finding yourself wasting all kinds of time and resources going to and from the post office, buying postage online is the way to go!
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