What's the best/cheapest way to ship bras?
Any guidance how to best ship bras economically? In the US or otherwise? Now I've got a couple of comfy bras, I'm ready to list a bunch of beauties I've been hoarding that aren't ever going to fit me. I have googled and looked thru here & ABTF at some length for specific tips on the cheapest, safest way to pack and ship moulded or regular bras and I'm just not finding anything at all current. Any tips would be so appreciated!
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7 comments
moulded bras should ideally be in a box, regular bras i've had no issue just sending in those plastic-bag type of parcels.
I pay attention to how my bras are shipped to me that I buy and use the same logic.
at least in my country I can just go on our post service website and they have a webshop where you put destination country and then select which type of package you want to send and it shows a ton of options.
I know in the UK they have something where you can go to a self service type of place and weigh the package, buy and print a label there and drop it off at the same place. maybe you have something like that where you are too.
You don't need to send it insured unless the buyer is willing to pay for it. I always ask the buyer if they want me to ship it untracked or tracked, and if they want it tracked they pay for that, but I state this in my reddit posts so it's not a "surprise! it's more expensive!"
Generally if you wanna be safe get some tissue paper and wrap around the bras, maybe some tissue paper into the moulded bra cups but the box should be fine for those bras. they shouldn't be shipped in a non-box at all really. hope it helps some, I've sold maybe 10-15 bras total, including a few to the US (from sweden). I never heard back so I assume they arrived fine :)
(not sold moulded bras though I just know all the padded/moulded bras I've bought came in box) also you can Reuse boxes that you've got elsewhere as long as they meet the measurement requirements. If you bought some bras that came in boxes, keep them for the future :D
alidieux has some great points that I follow too (using boxes, tissue paper, sending untracked, etc).
I always save packaging from other bras/mail that I get so that I can reuse it. I use boxes for more expensive bras/ones that are newer, and bubble mailers and tissue paper for unlined bras or ones that I'm selling for really cheap and need to mail for cheap.If you don't have mailing envelopes, the dollar store is a good resource. The post office boxes/envelopes are way more expensive. I'm in Canada, and all mail within Canada is tracked unless it's a letter (and it's expensive), so I try to use a box when I have one. It doesn't save any money to ship within canada in an envelope, so I always do higher quality packaging. I can get away with mailing an unlined bra in an oversized envelope sometimes, and then it only costs $1.89 cnd within canada, but that's rare. We have an online Canada post site that allows us to estimate shipping costs based on the size/weight and location of the parcel. I have a digital food scale that I use to weigh the bra and envelope/box with for estimates (so I can give people a quote and they pay upfront for the shipping and bras before I go to the post office).
If you're selling a bra through paypal, many people use 'frends and family.' There is a fee for using it internationally though I'm pretty sure (on the buyers end I think). I always state that it's an extra $1.50 usd if they they want to send the payment through as a 'goods and service' or 'invoic'e. You can always work that amount into the asking price too if you feel more secure doing it that way (if the buyer picks "goods and services" instead of friends and family, it costs you - the seller - money off the amount you are charging)/they pay).
I've never had any issues with buying or selling bras here or on reddit, but if you aren't sure about the person for whatever reason, you can use goods and services and tracked shipping for security (same goes with buying I guess. Note, however, that international tracking doesn't always work in some countries). I've always used friends and family untracked and have never had issues.
I always warn people that are buying internationally that the package will be 2-4 weeks. I've bought some bras from the UK (reputable seller), which have taken 2 months to arrive, but it's usually 1 week in country and 2-3 weeks internationally.
If you think of any other questions that I didn't cover, just ask!
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