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Wed 5 Jan, 2005 01:06 pm
OK, this seems to me that it may be a sophomoric question, but here goes...
I've been doing quite a bit of eBaying lately, and my little postal scale just isn't convenient any more, so I've been looking for a bigger one.
However, everything I find is listed as "Not Legal for Trade."
I understand that to get a precision scale like the USPS has would probably cost in the thousands of dollars, so my question is this:
Will a quality scale, say $50-100 in cost, suffice for sending packages even though it's "Not Legal for Trade"?
Is there anything illegal about doing business with a scale that is "Not Legal for Trade"?
Thanks,
General Tsao
I think that means you can't sell by the pound with an uncertified scale. Depending on the weight, I would just get a bigger postal scale and have done with it.
If you are shipping and applying the cost to the bill, good enough, I think, if you bill for "Shipping and Handling." If you're off a little, UPS charges more than expected. You now have more "Shipping" and less "Handling." I wouldn't try to advertise price plus actual shipping costs.
This is all opinion, of course.
Why not ask your post office?
I was doing up parcels for consignment in one of my jobs and they just used a set of bathroom scales. For real.
I have weighed and mailed packages for a business and we used a quality bathroom scale.
paulaj wrote:I have weighed and mailed packages for a business and we used a quality bathroom scale.
That's strange. I used the Post Office.
We used the post office for packages going overseas.
It's okay, Stillwater. I got it.
Roger is correct in his first post as to the meaning of that label.
Go to Ebay and search for a postal scale. You should find an Oklahoma, gruff soundin' seller that has the best scales and prices. That's where I got mine and have loved it! If he still has the one that goes up to 30 pounds, and that's all you need, you should be able to get one for under $40.
On a scale, "Not legal for trade" just means "for home use only", that is, not for use in a shop or similar for weighing stuff sold by weight.
Thanks, everyone. So is the concensus that I should be able to weigh with a non-legal scale accurately enough to mail packages I've sold on eBay?
GeneralTsao wrote:Thanks, everyone. So is the concensus that I should be able to weigh with a non-legal scale accurately enough to mail packages I've sold on eBay?
Not only that - you're an outlaw!
"When postal scales are outlawed, only outlaws will have scales*".
*and fish, but that is a different story.
Mr Stillwater wrote:Not only that - you're an outlaw!
Mr. Stillwater...........................if you spot IT you probably got IT!
LOL
Thanks again! See you on eBay!
I used to work in a mail room, and I seem to remember that most postal administrations use price bands where as long as a parcel is between certain weights the same charge applies, for example over 5 but not over 10 pounds, so with big parcels going surface in many cases you don't need to know a weight exactly, just that it is between certain weights. Hence the bathroom scale scenario, where a couple of ounces won't matter.
However if you were sending high(ish) value goods by courier service, like disk drives or display cards, you might want more accuracy.
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