shipping rates

[redowlcc]

Hello all. I am new to selling on ebay so please forgive me if this is a silly question. It all started during my quarantine while locked in the bedroom and bored out of my mind. I started digging through my old trading card collections and admiring them when it hit me. Why not purge these collections for some extra cash since they have just been sitting in the closet for several years ? Given the current demand for some of these today (also thanks to the pandemic) I have found it surprisingly pleasing to see some of the returns I've managed on a few. My question to anyone who may be dabbling in this market themselves is this. How are some sellers able to offer such cheap shipping rates ? Im seeing cards being sold for $5.00 left and right and the shipping only costing the customer less than $1.00. I too would like to sell some of my low cost cards but its not very sensible for me to charge the customer nearly the same amount in shipping for a $5.00 item. This essentially doubles the cost for a potential buyer and most likely causes them to keep scrolling right on past my listing. Someone, anyone...please answer this question for me. I have been shipping my cards with a great level of protection using USPS first class inside a bubble mailer roughly 4"x7". Am I over doing this? I honestly felt like any serious seller would take these same measures of protecting the product for any serious buyer, no matter the final sale price of a card. Most hardcore TCG collectors biggest deal to them is the condition of the card. There, I'm done now. Thanks in advance.

[2013grotz]

A lot of the cheaper cards are likely going via postage stamps, no tracking.  Shipping is going to cost a minimum of $3-$4 *with* tracking, so this seems the only way.  Of course, that always has risks of false INR claims, but most people take that risk.  The asterisk here is noted for the "Ebay Standard Envelope" which is often not honored and has numerous problems.  Especially since going any route like this is going to involve putting the card through regular first-class mail, and the regular envelope being "flexible" which will be an issue for your cards getting there in one piece.

As far as packing goes, most will do a card holder in between two pieces of regular cardboard.  Past that, it doesn't matter if there's bubble wrap or anything else. 

My suggestion is for your cheaper cards from when I rid that part of all the stuff laying about is this: Consider not selling them at all (if they have low values/commons) - I shredded my 1987-1991 commons for giggles just to see how many would fit in the trashcan I have.  Otherwise, try grouping similar teams or things (All-Star special cards).  If you got something worth past maybe $10 then consider packing as I described, use regular parcel postage, and go from there.  Of course, if you got something super rare/valuable, think about sending it off to be graded.  Hope that helps.

[redowlcc]

2013grotz, thanks for the reply. Yes it does help as it gives me the sense that I've been over doing shipping protection measures for SOME of the listings. I will most likely continue to offer that level of protection for my higher priced items. Maybe this next question would be better suited for the post office but I'll shoot it out there anyways. Are there size/weight limits to an envelope that can be regular postage stamped and dropped in a drop box? Of course I'm not talking anything larger than your standard letter size. But I'd still be slightly concerned with the rigidity of a basic envelope, even with the cardboard surrounding the item, which also adds a tad bit of weight. I've shipped around 15 cards at this point and hate to lower the standards too much, though I'm gradually relenting to that inevitability. I guess to better formulate this question would be this. If I use rigid, semi-card-board-ish envelope style packages, no larger than a standard letter envelope, would that be acceptable to slap a basic postage stamp on, or does that constitute a more legit package with the USPS requiring something extra than a stamp? Again...I realize this may be a question for the post office themselves but you never know. Someone on here might save me some digging around or a trip down there. Thanks again for your reply. 

[albertabrightalberta]

eBay standard envelope

Use eBay standard envelope to ship lightweight items up to 3 oz, such as trading cards, stamps, or coins. 

[2013grotz]

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@redowlcc wrote:

Are there size/weight limits to an envelope that can be regular postage stamped and dropped in a drop box? Of course I'm not talking anything larger than your standard letter size.If I use rigid, semi-card-board-ish envelope style packages, no larger than a standard letter envelope, would that be acceptable to slap a basic postage stamp on, or does that constitute a more legit package with the USPS requiring something extra than a stamp?

Generally there are no weight limits on a regular envelope.  You just add more postage.   Like was mentioned, the top out probably for what you can pull off in an envelope is about 3 oz.  The problem I alluded to above is the "letter" requirements the postal service has, which is described here. You can definitely use a photo mailer or rigid envelope, but you might be presented with issues.

Your problems are going to be:

1) Dings for INRs for having no tracking.

2) Any plastic material is not supported (so you can't use those bubble mailers you mentioned).

3) Envelope must be completely flexible at every point and not uneven.

4) Envelope must not be greater than 1/4" thick.  This is basically a sealed pack (15) cards, or three cards in holders.

Of course consistent with all the threads here, there's been numerous problems with the Ebay standard envelope, which was also mentioned.  The USPS has exhibited very many problems with people using these from not recognizing them as valid postage and "upgrading" them to parcels (or "non-machinable" charges) to the "tracking" not working.  The ironic thing that the rules for them (consistent with regular envelopes) preclude any of the things that ebay pitches for most part (rigid items, inconsistent items, non-flexible items).

Anyway, that's pretty much all the issues in front of you for using standard envelopes.  I wish you luck.