Online auction house eBay has emerged as a coveted special delivery for a U.S. Postal Service grappling with declining first-class and priority-mail volumes.
Now the post office is partnering with eBay to train would-be eBay entrepreneurs and convert them into postal customers.
Today through Friday, San Jose, Calif.-based eBay and the Postal Service will host eBay Days at the Denver Mail Processing & Distribution Center. The free classes offer everything from eBay orientations to one-on-one consultations with eBay and postal staffers.
More than 600 people have pre-registered for the event. Similar events in other cities have drawn between 200 and 500 people a day, eBay says.
The alliance has made a convert out of Heather Side, a Denver mom who runs a home-based business selling Zippo lighters through eBay.
Side used to do most of her shipping with United Parcel Service. She recently switched to the Postal Service after “poking around the site” and discovering the increased options, she said.
Side, 33, estimates that she has sold 30,000 lighters since launching her business in 1997. She expects to spend about $1,000 on shipping this year.
“Most eBay-ers are using the Postal Service to ship their goods,” said postal spokesman Al DeSarro.
He could not specify how much business eBay generates for the Postal Service, but the service has recently beefed up efforts to reach out to eBay sellers.
Overall, the post office saw the volume of first-class mail drop to 97.93 billion pieces in 2004, down from 99.01 billion in 2003. Priority-mail volume dropped to 848.6 million pieces in 2004, down from 859.6 million pieces in 2003.
New Postal Service offerings with the eBay customer in mind include free pickup of packages, online label printing, package tracking and two new flat-rate boxes for priority-mail shipments.
The flat-rate boxes were launched based on feedback from eBay customers, said Jim Griffith, eBay’s “dean of education.”
Nationally, more than 724,000 people report that eBay is their primary or secondary source of income, according to a recent survey from ACNielsen International Research.
In metro Denver, 12,526 residents fit this bill. Another 18,556 Denver residents supplement their incomes with eBay sales, according to the survey.
While Side has become a Postal Service devotee, post office competitor UPS is continuing its efforts to lure the lucrative eBay shipper.
“We have made extensive efforts to reach out to eBay users,” said Steve Holmes, a spokesman for UPS. The Atlanta-based package delivery service has had a relationship with eBay since 2000.
Both the post office and UPS allow sellers to calculate costs and print labels directly from the eBay site.
The eBay Days event in Denver is part of an eight-city tour conducted through a partnership between eBay and the post office.
The Postal Service is providing classroom space and trainers for the program, while eBay is bringing in additional instructors as well as mobile instruction labs, including an eBay bus.
Customers who sign up for classes can bring items to list and sell on eBay.
More advanced customers can show up on a walk-in basis and get tips and advice from instructors.
Staff writer Kristi Arellano can be reached at 303-820-1902 or karellano@denverpost.com.
