Tracking Items you have sold for Free! Avoid Disputes!

As a seller or buyer on okay tracking items could not be easier! If you are using USPS Priority orGlobal Priority, printing postage online will give you a FREE - DELIVERY CONFIRMATION (DC) -. With the new changes withUSPS in July 07, you should buy the Delivery Confirmation for all items overseas; just get the total formailing the item and add the DC cost for the postage calculator.You can pay postage using PayPal, credit card, or debit card. It is that easy. At the post office, the cost of DC is around $1.35 and you got to stand there inline (or worst, waiting in line) just to get your postage. If you are buying an item on okay and have paid with PayPal, just ask the seller for the Postage Tracking Number and you can keep track of the item you have won. One day, PayPal might send you the tracking number without even asking for it.
The best that DC does is Track the item you have sold. This is helpful for many reasons, but the best reason is -Item Disputes- on okay or PayPal. Here is a good example: I sold an itemto a really nice guy inItaly. 20 days after I mailed the box, the winner opened an Item Dispute on PayPal. PayPal wrote me telling me about this dispute. I checked the post office tracking online and found that the item was Attempted to be Delivered 6 times already!! Wow, now how was that my fault? The post office in Italy has been trying to find this guy for a week already and he wasn't home or moved?
I wrote back to the winner and told him the address that I had mailed the item to, and maybe he should gohome and wait for theitem one morning or put in a change of address or something (I just figured he had moved and forgot to update his information on PayPal).
After 35 days, he told PayPal that he had not received the item yet. This time I wrote him back and sent him a copy of the report from the post office in Italy (from the tracking report) showing him that the post office had been trying to give him his package for 18 attempts! He finally got the item and left me some luke warm feedback saying how slow I was. Even then, the dispute lasted 30 more days until it was cleared. One day, PayPal will read okay feedbacks and Postal Tracking to help us little guys out.
This shows you that Delivery Confirmation saved a payment refund and the winner would have gotten the item for free! And the best part of this guide is that the Delivery Confirmation was free for me since I used the online postage from the Post Office. Waiting in lines, filling out forms, paying for postage, adding an additional $1.35 can all be avoided using the online system.
Lastly, if someone says they did not recieve the item, all you have to do is look up the tracking number and see for yourself if the item has arrived. It is that easy to protect yourself from bad feedbacks and lost items. This is far better than insurance and cheaper in my book and far more safer.
Hope this guide will help you as much as I have been helped.
P.S.
NEW NOTE ADDED 2-14-08 Valentines DAY
With the new postal rate changes, the very deal of all times is the Priority Flat Rate Envelope! If your item will fit into a 12 inch by 9 inch envelope you are in luck! You can mail an item up to like 20 pounds! If the item is heavy or has sharp edges, make sure you reinforce the packing; also what I do is inforce the corners and edges of the envelope to keep the item from ripping out of the cheap cardboard. I can now use a few yards of clear tape and still be cost effective. The DC is free if printed online and the total cost is $4.60 anywhere in the USA (You are going to love it!). Overseas the cost is under $11.00! That is all it cost! If you are a seller on okay, you can drop your shipping charges dramatically and make your item more accessible and reasonable to our overseas friends.
In the past, I had been using regular Priority Mail for all my items. Itook lots of time to cut and fit every box for every item I sold. For example: I sold 6 rolls of silver quarters which weighed over 3 pounds. Using regular Priority Mail, I had to figure out the mailing cost by the winners Zip Code and every one had a difference cost as you can imagine. I tried the Flat Rate; it took me about 30 minutes (the first time) to figure out how tosecure the rolls of coins onto a thick cardboard protector I made up. Well, for the first time in my life, the total postage for the package was: $4.60 and that included the DC.
P.S.S.
Please VOTE at the bottom of this page to let me know if this guide was helpful. It might not sound like much, but no one paid me to spend three hours writing this guide. I just thought if this information made my life easier, then someone else would like to hear my story. Bless my old bosses and every oneof our other soldiers.
UPDATE NOTE: 4th July 2008
Hello again and a beautiful Independence Day to everyone! I have been using Flat Rate Priority Envelopes to help reduce shipping costs to my okay winners.Below shows how strong and protective these envelopes are if taped properly for hard handling and shipping. Thisis one that was returned from Europe after a 45 day worldwide trip through at least a dozen Post Offices. Inside contained a US Mark 2 Ka-Bar with Fiber sheath,wrapped only in bubble wrap.
I inspected the knife and sheath, perfect condition. I reinforced the envelopeat key points before I shipped the knife. Below in the yellow markings is the outline and configuration of the clear tape that I used to strengthen the package. The envelope did not have even one tear or cut. I could tell that it had been folded up at the weak edges, which is great if you have a small mailbox. If you consider that a box sent to a okayer may not fit into their post office box and he winner will get a notice to go the Post Office to pick up their item, this has got to be more convenient, safer, and easier.



P.S.
Before I came up with the pattern, I tested one of these new envelopes with a knife inside. I then took it and slammed it onto the floor, up against the walls and kicked it out the door a few times. Then I folded every which a ways. The conclusion of this testing revealed how I could make these envelopes stronger and able to hold up against tortures the post office could throw at them.
The photos of the returned envelope was a great aid for me, and showed that my efforts were proven in a real world ( World Wide ) situation.
Everyone have a Great and Safe 4th of July, 2008.P.S.S.
Please VOTE at the bottom of this page to let me know if this
guide was helpful. It might not sound like much, but no one paid me to
spend three hours writing this guide. I just thought if this
information made my life easier, then someone else would like to hear
my story. Bless my old bosses and every oneof our other soldiers.P.S.S. "West is Best - East is Less" This means that went the moon is lit by the Sun on the West side, the Moon is going towards Full Moon (the Best); when the moon is lit on the East side, the Moon is going towards New Moon (getting smaller everyday).