Buying a specialized label printer is easily the best decision I’ve made so far as an eBay seller.
Let me explain why.
When I first started selling items on eBay, I knew I wouldn’t want to waste time standing in line at the post office to send my packages. So I printed out each of my labels on standard 8.5″ x 11″ paper, cut off the bottom half of the sheet (which serves as a receipt of sorts), and taped them to each package.
This process works fine, and you actually save a few cents on each shipment made online (it seems to be about 5 cents per item for me). Plus everything just seems to work best when you go through eBay anyway–the buyer is notified right away, it includes tracking info automatically, and the item stays accounted for in the system.
However, taping down all of those paper labels suuuuuuuuuuuucks. If you’re in a rush to get out of the door, be prepared to spend at least an extra few minutes per package to get the labels attached (which can turn into a half-hour+). Plus you just get sick of taping and taping and taping and taping!
It became clear to me fairly quickly that I’d be a lot happier if I could just print out sticky labels, peel them off, and slap them on each package. 1-2-3 and you’re done. No cutting, no awkward placement, no tape whatsoever.
So I went to my favorite online resource for other shipping and logistics materials–eBay itself. I actually buy all of my shipping supplies through other eBay suppliers (bubble mailers, sticky labels, a weight scale, and the printer). It’s nice to support other sellers out there in the community, and they usually have the best prices anyway.
The clear choice in label printers is the Zebra LP2844 Thermal Printer (or LP2844-Z). It uses rolls of 4″ x 6″ labels (which you can also buy online or get free from UPS if you have a special account–more on that in a later post), and prints them out instantly.
I found one online (seller refurbished, with labels) for about $70 total. It was fairly easy to set up, but I did have a few issues with it…which I’ll outline now.
First, it’s for Windows users only. This stung a little bit when I finally made this realization (AFTER buying it). I use a Macbook Pro for all of my day-to-day work and internet activity, and I love it. Unfortunately, there are no existing Mac drivers for Zebra printers, but I happened to have an old desktop PC that rarely gets used. I’ve since converted it into a dedicated print station.
YOU CAN still use the Zebra printer through a Mac, but you need to run and print through Windows. One way to do this is through Bootcamp (which comes ready in most newer Macs and loads Windows as a partition of your hard drive). It’s like having two computers in one. Another option is to download a software package called Parallels Desktop. This allows you to install any version of Windows onto your Mac and run it SIMULTANEOUSLY, as either its own “Windows window” or full-screen to switch back and forth from. You can also share files, copy/paste between the two, etc. It’s pretty amazing, but you still need to own and install a copy of Windows to use it.
Second, the set up process is a little convoluted. You need to set this printer as your default printer in the Windows Control Panel, and you also need to change your PayPal Print Settings so it will react appropriately when you finally click “Print Label”. You need to download the latest version of Java to your web browser, and I’ve noticed that it’s not super friendly with Google Chrome.
Once you smooth all of that out, it’ll be your best friend for your eBay business. No longer will printing labels feel like a burden…it actually gives me the sudden urge to start giving out hi-fives. Long story short, it’s a huge time saver and WELL WORTH the dolla dolla bills required to put up for it.