Need help with working out how to ship a large item

[Austeyr]

I just sold a reproduction ‘Nam flak jacket via eBay but the thing is huge and stuffing it into a cardboard box like I would normal items doesn’t seem like a very smart idea.
How the heck do I post this thing safely?!

 

[Lyndication]

Wrap it in tonnes of bubble wrap then put it in one of those thick parcel bags clothes get delivered in.

 

[Tommikka]

Fold it and / or roll it

Pull out inserts if applicable first, stack them and fold/roll around them

Wrap in bubble wrap, brown paper etc

If you have sizeable plastic packet envelopes then use them, if not then cut open a black bin bag or two and wrap with that

Finish with an abundance of tape, ideally brown parcel tape but sellotape will do 

Check the final dimensions and weigh it

You probably have an awkwardly shaped large parcel that gets in the way of your scales display, two solutions are:

1) put an object on top of the scales, reset to zero and then balance your parcel on top

2) alternatively, put your parcel directly on the scales, reset to zero and take off your parcel - the scales should then show a negative value indicating the weight 

 

[Tackle]

Forget all that, i shipped something similar to the Lebanon, & back then size was going to hit me just as hard on the price as weight.

So in folded it up as small as it would comfortably go, then put it in to a vacuum bag, kind you put winter jumpers & quilts etc in, when the air was sucked out it was less than half its original size, I then stuck the whole thing in to one of those HD mailing bags, making sure it was a snug fit so that if the vacuum bag leaked, the whole thing wouldn't blow up like a liferaft in the airfreighters cargo hold

 

[Austeyr]

Forget all that, i shipped something similar to the Lebanon, & back then size was going to hit me just as hard on the price as weight.

So in folded it up as small as it would comfortably go, then put it in to a vacuum bag, kind you put winter jumpers & quilts etc in, when the air was sucked out it was less than half its original size, I then stuck the whole thing in to one of those HD mailing bags, making sure it was a snug fit so that if the vacuum bag leaked, the whole thing wouldn't blow up like a liferaft in the airfreighters cargo hold

I ended up sticking it into a vacuum bag, then just wrapped that bag in a bin bag and taped the fuck out of it Ebay wants me to use their prepaid evri though which is annoying, prefer to do my own shipping stuff

 

[Lyndication]

You can set it to not use Evri when you make the listing btw. 

I set mine to Royal Mail only. Evri has lost too many packages for my liking.

 

[Austeyr]

You can set it to not use Evri when you make the listing btw. 

I set mine to Royal Mail only. Evri has lost too many packages for my liking.

First time selling on ebay so didn't know that haha. Made sure to change my other listings to RM now

 

[Tackle]

I'm actually veering towards inpost lockers now, even royal mail are guilty of leaving "signed for" stuff on doorsteps without even knocking, resulting in at least 2 losses, one of which ended up costing me about £70 lost .

Obviously for rifs PF48 is the only legitimate service, & so far ive found them more professional than bog standard RM.

 

[MSSNAFU]

Parcelforce and Royal Mail are rejoining -  "From 11th August 2025, Parcelforce Worldwide and Royal Mail will move to a new single delivery network."

 

[Cooperman26]

I’m a Postman.

 

[Tommikka]

On eBay you have two core options, 'simple delivery' and 'custom postage'

’Simple’ is all managed by eBay, you set an appropriate size/weight range then pack and label it or use a QR code to drop off - the buyer chooses the carrier 

‘Custom’ is the classic, you put up your choosen carriers/methods and set the postage price to be charged.  Then you buy the right postage for the method/size/weight and post it 

[SIZE=11pt]I've only enabled ‘simple’ (the default option) a couple of times, and it looks like the buyer pays a set price per option, which is either the ‘right’ amount or could be "overcharging" due to less options.[/SIZE]

In a couple of cases buyers should have had a saving from combined postage but paid for both (that may have been them buying and paying then buying and paying)

For 'simple' you can wash you hands of it once dropped off.

I still prefer "custom" with which I specify the postage options, and I can offer as "free postage/seller pays".

My preferred methods are Royal Mail 2nd class for letter or large letter, and Evri for bigger / heavier things.  (Perhaps RM small parcel)

These also have the convenience that the garage near me has a Post Office counter which takes both RM & Evri

Yodel can be taken by the corner shop, and is cheaper than the equivalent Evri, plus has longer opening hours than the post office counter.  (But they don’t like weekend drop offs as they don’t get picked up until Monday)

For expensive & fragile I'll consider what is most appropriate.

Currently if I am not giving RM  I will list the postage option as  "other courier", then I can decide as appropriate 

I have been stung a couple of times when using Evri that a NI buyer ends up costing a fortune, but Yodel stays at the standard price.

By choosing "other courier" I can then pick pretty much any carrier based on the item and the address.

I use online generated postage, therefore even if the service used is not fully tracked it does have a reference number and confirms the delivery, complete with ensuring that the delivery is flagged on the listing.

 

[ButcherBill]

Was that yours???

 

[Austeyr]

Was that yours???

The one on Ebay with the same username as I have on here?

 

[ButcherBill]

I never saw a user name tbh, but did check out a vn flak vest.

Actually, I've just checked... must have been on another site coz there's no flak vest in my fleabay search.

 

[Austeyr]

I never saw a user name tbh, but did check out a vn flak vest.

Actually, I've just checked... must have been on another site coz there's no flak vest in my fleabay search.

I had it listed on here too before it sold on ebay, think you liked it so probably where you're thinking of

 

[ButcherBill]

Maybe, I did see one... guess it was yours lol.