A Quick Guide to eBay Shipping for New Sellers

You don’t need a warehouse operation to ship like a professional. The core setup is simple: a postal scale, a tape gun, a stack of poly mailers, and access to the USPS website to print labels. That’s it for most resellers starting out.

A postal scale is the one non-negotiable purchase. Eyeballing package weight costs you money every single time — either you overpay by guessing high, or you underpay and the package gets returned. A basic digital scale runs around $15 to $25 on Amazon and pays for itself on your first few sales.

For packaging materials, you have two main options: poly mailers for soft, non-fragile items like clothing, and shipping boxes for anything that needs structure. USPS offers free Priority Mail boxes you can order in bulk and have delivered to your door at no charge. If you’re shipping mostly small electronics, shoes, or similar items, these free boxes should be your default.

Tape matters more than people think. Regular Scotch tape will not hold a box through the postal system. Use 2-inch packing tape and seal every seam on your box. A lost or damaged package that wasn’t properly secured is on you, not USPS, when it comes to buyer disputes.

eBay gives you two choices when listing: charge calculated shipping or offer free shipping baked into your price.

Calculated shipping uses eBay’s built-in shipping calculator to pull real-time carrier rates based on the item’s weight, dimensions, and the buyer’s zip code. You enter your package specs, eBay shows the buyer an accurate cost at checkout, and you collect exactly what it costs. This is the safest option for beginners because it eliminates guesswork.

Free shipping is a strategy, not a giveaway. You build the expected shipping cost into your listing price. If an item typically costs $9 to ship and you’re listing it for $40, you price it at $49 and mark it free shipping. Free shipping listings often rank higher in eBay search results, and buyers psychologically prefer them. The downside is that you’re taking on shipping cost variance — if a buyer happens to be across the country and your estimate was off, that’s your problem.

For most resellers, calculated shipping is the right default until you have enough data to know what things actually cost to ship to different regions.

USPS, UPS, and FedEx all have their sweet spots. Knowing which to use saves real money.

USPS is the default for most resellers for a reason. First-Class Mail handles packages under 16 ounces and is usually the cheapest option for small, light items — think trading cards, small collectibles, or accessories. Priority Mail covers packages up to 70 pounds and typically delivers in two to three days. The flat rate boxes are where USPS gets genuinely great: if your item fits in a flat rate box and weighs more than a few pounds, flat rate almost always beats dimensional weight pricing from UPS or FedEx.

UPS and FedEx start to make sense at higher weights and larger dimensions. Once you’re shipping items over 10 pounds or dealing with large boxes, their rates can undercut USPS Priority Mail significantly. Both also offer better tracking and more consistent delivery windows for high-value items, which matters when you’re selling something over $200 and need documentation that it arrived.

eBay has a partnership with USPS through its shipping labels tool, so purchasing labels through eBay directly gives you a discount compared to walking into a post office. Print your labels at home, drop the package off, and you’re done. This is worth doing even if you only sell occasionally.

This is where a lot of resellers get blindsided. Carriers don’t just charge by how heavy a package is; they also charge by how much space it takes up, which is called dimensional weight.

Dimensional weight is calculated by multiplying the length, width, and height of the package in inches, then dividing by a divisor (139 for UPS and FedEx). If the dimensional weight is higher than the actual weight, you pay the dimensional weight rate. You can run your numbers through UPS’s dimensional weight calculator before committing to a box size

Note that as of August 2025, both UPS and FedEx now round every dimension up to the next whole inch before running the formula. A box measuring 13.1 inches gets billed as 14 inches across all three dimensions. That small change can push packages into higher pricing brackets or trigger additional handling surcharges you weren’t expecting, so measure carefully and use the tightest box that still protects the item.

This hits resellers hardest when shipping bulky but lightweight items: large shoeboxes, board games, framed artwork, oversized collectibles. A sneaker box that weighs 2 pounds might have a dimensional weight of 5 pounds, and you’re paying for the 5. The fix is to pack as tightly as possible, cut down oversized boxes, and run your dimensions through a carrier calculator before you list.

eBay’s shipping calculator handles this automatically if you enter accurate box dimensions, which is another reason to use it rather than estimating.

An item damaged in transit creates a nightmare: the buyer files a claim, you lose the sale, and if you didn’t pack it well, the insurance claim probably won’t cover you either. eBay’s seller packing and shipping guidelines lay out what’s expected of you as a seller, and following them protects you in disputes.

For fragile items, the rule is two inches of cushioning on all sides. Bubble wrap, packing peanuts, air pillows — any of these work. Wrap the item itself, then fill the box so nothing shifts during shipping. Shake the closed box before sealing; if you can hear or feel movement, you haven’t packed it tightly enough.

Shoes should always ship in their original box if you have it. Wrap the shoebox in a plain shipping box or a poly mailer sized for shoes — never ship a retail box as-is without outer packaging. Buyers can see the condition of the retail box through photos, and a crushed Nike box on a heat pair drops the resale value.

Electronics need extra protection. Use anti-static bags for anything circuit-related, double-box higher value items (box inside a box with cushioning between), and photograph everything before sealing. If something goes wrong, that photo documentation is what saves you.

eBay automatically includes tracking on all labels purchased through the platform. Never ship without it. Tracking protects you from “item not received” claims, which are one of the most common issues resellers deal with.

Insurance is a separate calculation. eBay provides $100 of coverage automatically on Priority Mail shipments purchased through their labels tool. For anything over $100, you need to add declared value coverage, which costs a few dollars but is worth it on high-ticket items. If you’re selling a $500 watch or a graded card, the insurance cost is a rounding error compared to what you’d lose in a claim.

For very high-value shipments, signature confirmation is worth adding. It proves the buyer received the item, which prevents fraudulent “not delivered” claims and gives you solid footing in any eBay dispute. Per eBay’s selling practices policy, signature confirmation is actually required on any order totaling $750 or more.

Even when you pack well and ship correctly, things occasionally go sideways. Knowing how to handle it without panicking saves you time and money.

If a buyer claims their item arrived damaged, your first move is to check whether you purchased shipping insurance and whether you have photos of the item before it shipped. This is why the pre-ship documentation habit matters — without photos showing the item was in good condition when it left you, you’re in a much weaker position in any dispute. eBay will typically side with the buyer on damage claims unless you can demonstrate the item was packed correctly and left your hands undamaged. If you have insurance coverage, file the claim with USPS or your carrier directly; eBay’s own resolution process and a carrier insurance claim run on separate tracks.

For “item not received” claims, tracking is your primary protection. If tracking shows delivered, you have solid ground to stand on in an eBay dispute. If tracking shows the package is lost or stuck in transit, use USPS’s missing mail search tool to open a search before the buyer escalates to eBay. Lost packages on Priority Mail shipments purchased through eBay labels are eligible for an insurance claim, which covers up to $100 by default — another reason to add declared value coverage on anything worth more than that.

StockX operates on an authentication model, which means your item doesn’t go to the buyer — it goes to StockX first, where it’s verified before being forwarded. This adds a layer of requirements that eBay doesn’t have.

When you sell on StockX, you’ll receive a prepaid shipping label after the sale. You must ship within two business days of the sale or your order can be cancelled and you’ll take a penalty against your seller account. StockX tracks seller compliance on this and repeat violations can restrict or suspend your selling privileges. The full requirements are outlined in StockX’s shipping instructions.

Packaging for StockX is stricter than a typical eBay order. Sneakers must be shipped in their original box, undamaged, with all original extras (lace bags, extra laces, tags, etc.) included. The shoebox itself cannot be used as the shipping container — it must be packed inside an outer shipping box or heavy-duty poly mailer designed for shoes.

StockX authenticators will note any damage to the original box, missing inserts, or incorrect extras, and they can fail authentication on these grounds even if the shoes themselves are clean. Their sneaker box condition guide breaks down exactly what passes and what doesn’t.

For trading cards sold through StockX, their graded card shipping guide specifies using a rigid sleeve inside a #0 bubble mailer (approximately 7×10 inches). Bent corners or surface damage found during authentication will result in a failed verification and the item being returned to you at your expense.

StockX also requires that items be unlocked, unworn, and in brand-new condition for most categories. Selling a pair you’ve tried on once or a card you’ve opened the seal on will get flagged during authentication.

This deserves its own section because people consistently forget it until after the sale. Your profit calculation needs to account for the full cost of shipping, not just what you charge the buyer.

If you charge calculated shipping, your cost is just the label. If you offer free shipping, you need to estimate accurately. For most sellers on eBay shipping within the contiguous US, here are rough baselines: poly mailer with a lightweight item under 8 ounces is usually $4 to $6 via First-Class. Priority Mail for a standard-sized box in the 2 to 3 pound range runs $9 to $14. Heavier items or oversized packages climb from there quickly.

Add the cost of your packaging materials to the calculation too. Poly mailers, packing tape, and bubble wrap are small individually, but across dozens of shipments they’re a real line item. Most resellers estimate $1 to $2 per package in materials cost.

The only way to get this right consistently is to weigh and measure your packages before you list, run the numbers in eBay’s shipping calculator, and build actual cost (not a guess) into your pricing. It takes 90 seconds and it’s the difference between eating good and breaking even.