When I first started selling online, I used to visit the post office every time I had a package to mail. It’s pretty embarrassing, I know. I thought I was being all cutting-edge by using the 24-hour self-service machine whenever I didn’t have international mail, and when I did… I was in-line at the post office for unreasonable amounts of time.
Luckily (which is one way to look at it, I suppose), I wasn’t selling as often, so I only had to visit the post office a couple of times a week. But when I DID start selling more, the daily visits on my way home from work (which sometimes took as long as an HOUR) started to get ridiculous. Finally, I decided to try to figure out PayPal shipping for my domestic packages. I was soooooo glad I did.
Of course, that still left trips to the post office for international packages. That is, until Etsy started to offer shipping label options. (If you are hesitating on whether or not to use Etsy shipping labels, I implore you to give them a chance. They are SUCH a time-saver!)
Now, I never have to step FOOT in a post office. Which is a ginormous relief this time of the year, when the lines tend to be eight THOUSAND miles long, and everyone in them has taken an extra dose of cranky for the day.
But you ask, what about my non-business related shipping? That package that needs to be sent to cousin Bob in Alaska, or that wedding present for Aunt Susie? That’s easy too! As long as you have a postage scale (I picked up a cheap one from Amazon), and a home printer, you’re good to go! Simply head over to paypal.com/shipnow, and type in the name and address you wish to send your package to. Print, and tape the label to your package – and you’re done! If the package is small enough, you can slip it inside your mailbox for your carrier to pick up, or, if it is over-sized, you get to experience the joy of simply dropping off your package at the post office, passing by those long lines of miserable people who don’t know any better.
One more dreaded holiday problem > SOLVED.
Megan's Beaded Blog 