Shipping

[tdouglass]

My last PWE out cost me .97 to send. Does this seem pretty on par with what you guys are spending? Seems like a lot to me, and was wondering what the cheapest way to ship is.

Thanks in advance.

[pmannings#1fan]

I send in bubble mailers which is $2.19 average with a DC# added to it!! That's usually 1 or 2 cards in toploaders & protected. Also shipping through PP or USPS online may be cheaper cause PP the DC# cost only 19 cents.

[tdouglass]

I was just wondering about the guys who sell cards on ebay for like .99 cents and free shipping. How does that not cost them money? What is the cheapest way to send just one or two cards?

[golferphil]

Not sure how anyone can sell a card at .99 and ship for free. If you take out ebay and paypal fees there is almost nothing left.

Along the same lines, why does paypal shipping charge $1.41 (1.22 postage + .19 DC) to ship a 1 ounce 4x7 padded mailer? I checked on the USPS site and you can ship a 1 ounce large envelope with the following limits for .88.

Size limits:
- Rectangular
- No more than 12 inches high by 15 inches long by 3/4 inches thick
- Must not be rigid and must be uniformly thick (see package prices)

Looks like PayPal charges the package price (1.22) no matter what what you are mailing...

[Laxbam619]

I usually ship my items for .44 cents, the cost of 1 stamp....if you use bubble mailers it automatically becomes a "parcel" due to its thickness, while i use bubbles for my high end items, to save some money ive been using the same size manilla envelopes without the bubbles, if the package isnt thick and just one or two cards in a top loader it counts as a envelope and only cost .44 cents...hope this helps, if i doesnt make sense shoot me a PM

[tdouglass]

There are a lot of buy it now cards for .99 and free shipping. Obviously they have figured out how to ship cheaply... huh.

[tdouglass]

Do you think I could throw a card in a soft plastic case (like the 9 card holders, but single slips) and put 2 think pieces of cardboard around that? If that went into an envelope, would it still be .44?

thanks

[Laxbam619]

probably did what I did, if an item sells for .99 ebay only takes like .8 cents plus .44 for the stamp, so I guess the seller is still bringin in .47 cents which adds up sellin base cards especially if u can list for free

[Laxbam619]

I wouldnt put the cardboard around it, but i guess use your judgement...if it doesnt look much thicker than the original envelope looked u shud be fine...plus these envelopes are alot cheaper than the bubbles, there like 12 for $3 at staples

[crazygrover]

Originally Posted by golferphil

Not sure how anyone can sell a card at .99 and ship for free. If you take out ebay and paypal fees there is almost nothing left.

Along the same lines, why does paypal shipping charge $1.41 (1.22 postage + .19 DC) to ship a 1 ounce 4x7 padded mailer? I checked on the USPS site and you can ship a 1 ounce large envelope with the following limits for .88.

Size limits:
- Rectangular
- No more than 12 inches high by 15 inches long by 3/4 inches thick
- Must not be rigid and must be uniformly thick (see package prices)

Looks like PayPal charges the package price (1.22) no matter what what you are mailing...

Paypal charges the package rate because that is the only way that you can ship with DC! The $0.88 size is not allowed to have DC attached to it. That is the way I understand it.

[ohiomike]

Originally Posted by crazygrover

Paypal charges the package rate because that is the only way that you can ship with DC! The $0.88 size is not allowed to have DC attached to it. That is the way I understand it.

Thats right. For DC the package must either be 3/4" thick OR be Priority/Express mail. By rule, anything 3/4" thick can't be sent regular first class or first class large envelope.

Technically you can send 1 card in a PWE for $0.44 but I can't imagine many people would survive doing that on ebay on a regular basis. If the combined cost of the card + S/H is under $1, I'd expect it to be a PWE and would personally stay away.

The $0.88 large envelope rate works for a bubble mailer as long as its a regular top loader, but can't have a DC with it and usually any kind of thicker card that requires a thicker top loader will make the package too rigid to be eligible for the large envelope rate.

The safest way to ship is First Class Parcel which starts at $1.22, because you can add additional padding / packing material to the package as thickness does not matter. However, to add a DC to this service (required for online shipping at a cost of $0.19, or $1.41 total for 1 ounce) the package must be at least 3/4" thick or you risk the package getting bumped up to Priority Mail and either be sent back or delivered with postage due. Even for packages that don't quite meet the thickness requirement, its fairly rare for this to happen, but it seems like as time goes on its starting to happen more and more.

[ohiomike]

Originally Posted by tdouglass

My last PWE out cost me .97 to send. Does this seem pretty on par with what you guys are spending? Seems like a lot to me, and was wondering what the cheapest way to ship is.

Thanks in advance.

Are you sure it wasn't $0.98?

That would make sense if you send a PWE with additional cardboard for padding, or an extra thick card. $0.78 for a PWE that weighs up to 3 oz and then a $0.20 surcharge for it being too rigid and thus non-machinable.

Otherwise, I'm not sure how they'd get to exactly $0.97 as I don't see any first-class options that would be exactly that number.

[tdouglass]

Nope. It was exactly .97...

[mindbinge]

my postal guy was giving me down the road about my bubble mailer not being 3/4 inch thick and using DC on it...I was standing there with a stack I just got out of my PO Box...I had about 8 to 12 of them in my hand and told him they were all exactly like that, so i didn't understand what the problem was...he just looked at the stack and looked at me and said "hell i don't know either, they just started complaing about it this week"....so, it must be something coming down from higher up...someone must have had a manager meeting somewhere and this is all they had to complain about.

I think the post office needs to relax on the DC stuff....you should be able to put that on anything you want...they make a lot of money with it just taking a couple of seconds to scan stuff.

[topherkris1]

asdfasdfasdf

[ohiomike]

Anyone shipping in a PWE without a Top Loader deserves every negative rating they get. If someone is too cheap to pay an extra $0.20 for the non-machinable surcharge, they shouldn't be shipping cards in the first place. Shipping PWE is being cheap to begin with, but shipping PWE without a top loader is just inexcusable IMO.

[Cactuspies]

for 1-4 cheapie (not curved chrome or thick cards) you can get away with a pwe and a rigid card holder for 2 stamps or less. see here: Ultra Pro Semi-Rigid Card Holder - 200ct Box - $12.99 : Blowout Cards - Sports Cards and Trading Cards Wholesale Online Store or the graded ones that are just like this (will hold more cards). I've been doing this for sportlots and it is really no heavier or thicker than a regular holiday or birthday card that has a gift card in it. You should label the envelope w/do not bend or fold or pictures (something to that effect) also just make sure you have a piece of paper around the holder to prevent a lot of movement and that will help keep a flat surface and should prevent a lot of catch ups in the po machines. Until I get bad feedback this seems to be the way to do it cheaper. Otherwise I purchased a box of 500 bubblemailers to use.

[Chaddie84]

PWE non-machinable for $0.64..although I would only ship via that method with approval of the person receiving the card.

My PO actually has $0.64 stamps for just this purpose.

[topherkris1]

asdfasdfasdf

[caustexx]

I ship PWE with machineable surcharge, 64 cents total, and I get nailed on shipping, im on some kind of probation. Too many collectors thinking there card needs to come packaged from the gods. If I showed you a card that shipped PWE (w/ top loader) Vs bubble mailer you could not tell a difference, there's no damage to the card.

[topherkris1]

asdfasdfasdf

[golferphil]

Originally Posted by crazygrover

Paypal charges the package rate because that is the only way that you can ship with DC! The $0.88 size is not allowed to have DC attached to it. That is the way I understand it.

Thanks! I didn't even think about that.

[Lockdown32]

I wouldn't send any card in a pwe to begin with. You are going to have problems. Most people who buy a card want it to get to them in good shape. A lot of times cards get damaged when they go through the sorters. If you want people to keep coming back your best bet is to send in a bubble mailer. Don't be surprised when someone sends a card back and wants a refund because it got bent to crap in a PWE!

[ManInTheMirror]

Originally Posted by Lockdown32

I wouldn't send any card in a pwe to begin with. You are going to have problems. Most people who buy a card want it to get to them in good shape. A lot of times cards get damaged when they go through the sorters. If you want people to keep coming back your best bet is to send in a bubble mailer. Don't be surprised when someone sends a card back and wants a refund because it got bent to crap in a PWE!

Sorry man don't agree at all. PWE works fine about 95% of the time IMO.

[pearljam_cubbies]

I just tried sending 7 cards out in pwe's but postmaster told me for a rigid letter that its classified as a parcel? So they were $1.95 each. Am I doing something wrong? Im using penny sleeve, topload, cut a decoy card in half and taped to each side of topload and then a teambag. They weigh out at 0.8 to 0.9 ounces yet are still costing more