I went to ship off my first 4 books this morning (Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!) and I purchased USPS DC. It cost 75 cents. PBS DC costs 18 cents. What is the difference? Also, does anyone know what the extra 27 cents is for? Something about a bar code?

Thanks for your patience with the newbie!!!!!

PBS dc is electronic, you print the barcode at home, it comes out right on the PBS wrapper.  The .27 extra fee you pay is a type of convenience charge that is utilized by PBS to help defray the costs of running the site. 

So basically if you use PBS DC you pay .27 + .18 = .45

but if you use USPS DC you pay .75 and PBS gets no benefit. 

ETA: Welcome to PBS!

Thanks, Kristen!

you are very welcome!

Also the 27 cents acts as a type of "insurance" for PBS purposes at least. If the book goes lost in the mail, you still get your credit.

That makes sense! Thanks, Angie!

Does anyone know if you buy online postage (ebay,click-n-ship, etc) can you use PBS DC and if so, how does it work?

You can only use PBS DC if you get it here, as far as I know. When you print the wrapper.

You can create custom dc for shipping anything I believe.  I have done that with my swaps.  You can get the Custom DC by clicking you Account tab.

HTH!

I know PayPal does, and I think the others also, include DC as a mandatory addition. I know one gal on here says she uses PBS DC and then cuts it off and tapes it across her PayPal DC (only one can be scanned, and it doesn't matter which one)

It costs her .63 then for her DC but she has the convenience of online payment, and the guarantee of PBS DC. I guess if it's worth it to you, so be it.

I like that PBS offers DC at a reduced rate and I hope that one day we are able to print out the entire postage label - not just DC. I have really appreciated this benefit through PayPal. Whenever I sell something on eBay, all I have to do is click the shipping label button to get the entire postage label printed out. Not only does it save on money (they also charge 18 cents for DC), it also saves on time because I don't have to stand in line at the post office.

If you use DC from somewhere else, you do not get the quick credit here.

Thanks for your time guys.  Appreciate it!