thekeeping guide to Packing Garments Perfectly

A 7 DAY MAKEOVER

Those selling clothes on eBay are selling dreams and customers' expectations are high, help is at hand.    Goods that arrive quickly and perfectly wrapped copy the experience of a great day out shopping on the High Street, ensuring  your customers are driven back to your site to repeat their experience.   It is so easy to make your site stand out from the many others, by offering a speedy  dispatch in your own house style you will make your site stand out.     The competition is probably OK but  ordinary ~ by making you dispatch superb in a week you can make your site UNIQUE in a WEEK.

What are your customers expecting?

You do not know who your customers are, but you do know what products they want to buy and at what prices.     When customers buy clothes on eBay, they will  have experienced shopping for that label on the high street, the warm country glow of rummaging in the gloom of a Jigsaw store or the highly polished minimalist interior of a Reiss store - all this is part of the shopping experience for clothes.     A little of the magic of going shopping on the High Street is expected even when buying on the internet, yes I know its not rational, but shopping isn't rational.    That's why selling clothes on eBay is different to selling any other product.  The longer your customer waits for delivery the higher is the expected standard of your service.      Post off the garment late in a reused carrier bag and you destroy in an instant all you customers' hopes. 

Speeding up the pack an dispatch process

You can pack your clothes as soon as the first bid has been placed ~ you  know its going to sell.     Use your  packaging station effectively by using it to wrap as many parcels as you can in one session.     If you are selling clothes you need to pack expertly and quickly and the packaging you use needs to reflect the packaging used by the labels you sell, so why not design your own colour scheme.    Planning and organising the materials ahead of doing your packaging will halve the time you spend packaging, for very little cost. 

How to set up a pack and dispatch station

1. Plan a colour scheme and order wrapping paper in your chosen colour
2. Buy zipped garment bags, and polythene bags for your larger items and large mailing sacks  Tip: don't waste money on buying a wide range of sizes, buy large sacks in quantity and fold to use for small items.
3. Schedule sales to end on days that are convenient for you to do your packing.   Tip:   plan two auctions each week you will soon find you need to visit the post office less frequently
4. Organise a packing area where clothes can hang in a post free atmosphere
5. On a table create a packing station with all the items in 1 and 2 in this list and a scissors, tape, receipts, swingtags, cellotape and wrapping ribbon
6. Visit the post office and obtain packs of any forms needed for posting, keep them on your packing station

• A DRESS or SUIT:    Place the garment, flat,  in a zipped garment bag, Close the zip and press to expel some air.     Fold the bag in half, fold in half again.     Maybe add a ribbon or wrap and attach the receipt and a swing ticket (with a thank you and returns information) 
• A COAT:      As above     TIP:   visit the hardware store and buy rubble bags and use instead of mailing bags for these larger items.     Invexpensive, surprisingly smart and very tough.
• TOPS, TROUSERS, SWEATERS:     Lay wrapping paper upside down on your packing station table, fold the item neatly and place on the wrapping paper.     Bring the wrapping paper sides to the centre over the garment and create a fold to hold the paper in place, fold in the ends.      Turn the package over and hold the papers in place with either cellotape or cord.      Add a swing ticket either to the garment before wrapping or to the parcel.
• SHOES and ACCESSORIES:    Wrap in a little tissue paper, Overwrap in bubble wrap or perhaps a box.    Wrap the parcel in giftwrap paper, secure with gift cord and add a swing ticket

Improve your dispatch time

• Garments need the protection of Mailing sacks - they are secure, smart, light enough to reduce your mailing costs, and waterproof.      They give perfect protection to the gift wrapped parcel inside and they are secure     
• By wrapping ahead of auctions closing you should have a pile of wrapped items that can be slipped into mail sacks and given an address and tracking label within hours of an auction finishing.
• Unwrapped items should be hung in smoke free area

• Copy the buyer's address from the details they have given to eBay or PAY PAL, you can copy and paste into word, or use PAY PAL to create a mailing label.     Tip:   For speed I cover the label with wide cellotape, using a hand held dispenser, much cheaper than a document wallet.
• Overseas parcels get an additional wrap of tape all around the mailing bag, and a return address label and customs form.    
• I keep stocks of all the forms I need at home, rather than filling them in the Post office queue.

• Get back on the computer after posting and let your customers know that their parcel is on the way, if you sent it by a tracked service give them the tracking number.

More help

I have written this guide as an interested amateur on eBay, but an amateur with a background in retailing and packaging, so I hope the tips and tricks have been useful.   

I stock a wide range of Italian gift wrapping papers in fashionable plain shades, garment zipped bags and mailing sacks, these are available in starter packs to help you launch your makeover at minimum cost.

Visit thekeeping site on eBay or go to  About me to find out more about 'packing perfectly and dispatching early.'    

Good luck with your 7DAY MAKEOVER