neglus
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posted on April 27, 2004 07:59:49 AM new
After pulling an all-nighter to ship 250 postcards ( I was out of town), I realize I have to streamline my shipping!! Here's what I currently do (bear with me) and I guess the best streamlining I can do is to find a way to print my labels for my PayPal payments but I don't know how. I am open to suggestions!
My shipping package weighs in at exactly one ounce. I can't even have a full size packing slip or I have to pay an additional $.23 postage (US) or $.80 (International) per shipment. I use real stamps for postage because postcard collectors like stamps too.
When I ship, I go to paypal and open a Word document. I copy the buyers address and the ebay# and title on to the Word doc and add these to my two sentence "thanks for your purchase" blurb. I get about 6 to a page. I keep copying and pasting and PayPal filing those transactions until it shows that I have no more PayPal transactions.
Then I take those sheets, cut them up, hand address the envelopes, pack the card with the packing slip etc.
It would be swell if I could make address labels when I copy and paste the addresses....I can't figure out how to do this in WORD (the label maker seems to print the same address?) Will Vendio just print an address label (my PayPal data is mostly imported but not always reliable, especially with store sales)..
EEK I am so sleep deprived I am rambling (I shudder to think how my listings are going to read today)! Fluffy..how DO you process 60/hour???
**********************************
Sig files are too much trouble!
http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on April 27, 2004 08:05:12 AM new
Well, that was processing 60 check payments an hour...which didn't include labeling, picking or packing.
I think the Dymo LabelWriters will do what you want, which is to print one label at a time. You keep a LabelWriter window open on your screen, then when you want to print you just cut-and-paste into the window. Pretty simple. You can configure your label template to have your return address as well.
I cannot fathom addressing 250 packages by hand.
If you go the LabelWriter route, there are sources for Dymo-compatible labels that are much less expensive than Dymo. Don't buy 'em on eBay; everyone wants an arm and a leg.
--
Answers to Questions Nobody Asked, #69:
Did you know that Casanova, reputedly the greatest lover of all time, spent his twilight years as a librarian?
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neglus
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posted on April 27, 2004 08:32:15 AM new
That sounds like what I want. There is a Dyno LabelWriter 330 on ebay with $150 BIN...is that what I want and a good price?
**********************************
Sig files are too much trouble!
http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on April 27, 2004 08:39:17 AM new
[ edited by fluffythewondercat on May 4, 2004 08:37 PM ]
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aladdinsgenie
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posted on April 27, 2004 09:35:07 AM new
In WORD, when you use the option "Envelopes and Labels" under Tools, pick the size label you want and then click on "New Document". This will put a full page of blank labels on a new page for you. Then you can just copy and past the address you want to each label and them print out a full page of labels each with a different address.
Hope this helps.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on April 27, 2004 09:39:28 AM new
But if you are printing only a few labels, doesn't that waste the rest of the sheet of labels?
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[ edited by fluffythewondercat on May 4, 2004 08:38 PM ]
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pelorus
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posted on April 27, 2004 10:47:23 AM new
Here's the low impact, low cost solution based on your current procedure:
Cut and paste the buyer name and address again, onto the bottom of the page you are printing. Then cut it out and apply to the mailing envelope with tape.
Hand writing addresses? Fuggedaboutit.
Even better, when you get a Paypal Payment notice, print page one. The buyer address can be cut off the bottom and applied to the envelope. The top part includes item title and ebay number, so you mail that with the item.
This eliminates all the cutting and pasting you are doing in MS Word now.
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aladdinsgenie
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posted on April 27, 2004 10:48:51 AM new
That's a good point, but if you have a partial sheet of labels leftover, you can just copy and past to the part of the document where there is still labels and run the same page thru again. Hope this makes sense. This is what I do when I only want to print a few labels at a time.
The WORD document actually outlines the labels so you know which label you will be printing to.
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niel35
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posted on April 27, 2004 02:18:26 PM new
thanks Alladin - I set up a label in word and it works great. Saves a lot of hand writing.
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parklane64
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posted on April 27, 2004 02:33:01 PM new
Not to go into details, but if you are hand-writing ANYTHING it should be because you specifically want that part hand-written. I use to work assembly line style with the size of my batches decided by the number of labels on a sheet. I would use pre-printed return address labels. And print the info onto a del. conf. label, if necessary.
For your market I would try to pick up unused sheets of older stamps and use those. Thrills the dooty out of your buyers and you may actually get postage below cost sometimes. Who knew? Plus I like the fonts that look hand-written.
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dacreson
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posted on April 27, 2004 02:47:15 PM new
"Even better, when you get a Paypal Payment notice, print page one. The buyer address can be cut off the bottom and applied to the envelope. The top part includes item title and ebay number, so you mail that with the item"
Right Oh... been doing that for years.
David
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niel35
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posted on April 27, 2004 03:19:44 PM new
Can I change my font in word and if so how? I went to envelopes and labels but don't see where you can change the font??
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Roadsmith
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posted on April 27, 2004 05:33:14 PM new
I don't ship as many items as you do at a time, and I hand address all but the Priority items that don't want insurance. But seems to me if you already have a 1 oz. package, the smart thing to do is to hand-address without a label--just write the address on--and that wouldn't add any weight.
I know - this is easy for me to say. On the other hand, congrats to you for selling 250 postcards!
___________________________________
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photosensitive
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posted on April 27, 2004 06:55:10 PM new
I use Word set up on the Avery label template. I keep a page saved that is filled with my return address and when I need less that a full page of labels I copy or type the addresses over mine for as many as I need and print it out. I use my return address labels for all my mail and it comes out pretty close to even. I have to print a page of my own address once in a blue moon. Works for me.
-----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
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whatnot3
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posted on April 27, 2004 09:00:38 PM new
If they just flat envelopes, why don't you just run them through the print and ship the label? You should be able to get an extra laser printer and load the tray up with them.
Then just set up a template, copy, paste, hit print.
Should be fairly simple with just about any text program.
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aladdinsgenie
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posted on April 27, 2004 10:36:05 PM new
niel,
After you copy and past your address onto the labels in the "New Document" you can highlight and then change the font the same as you would in any WORD document.
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niel35
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posted on April 28, 2004 05:42:13 AM new
thanks Alladin - I learn so much on this site. amazing !! Life gets easier for me.
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niel35
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posted on April 28, 2004 05:56:34 AM new
Alladin - sorry to be such a pain. I am trying to get it to default to the font Comic Sans, blue print and size 14. But it doesn't seem to go through. as the next time I go in, it is back to the regular font, etc. any ideas
boy, is it pouring here in Miami
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neglus
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posted on April 30, 2004 12:50:16 PM new
Thanks for the ideas everybody!
Whatnot - they are flat envelopes and I am now printing the addresses right from my Word doc and IT WORKS GREAT - I think the labels may have put me over the 1 oz. so this is better for me. THANKS!! Now what to do with all the saved time...
**********************************
Sig files are too much trouble!
http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
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