Ebay allowed me to enter Standard label as an option but now is forcing me to use Priority ship

[jonat_schei]

I am selling a bunch of TCG cards on ebay and I figured the best option would be to use an ebay standard envelope/ bubble mailer that I normally use to ship cards.  I slip in 2 pieces of cardboard and ship the card in a hard sleeve for added protection.   I posted a bunch of cards and only charged the buyers $1.25 for the shipping but come to find out I have to pay $4+ for the shipping for every single card...... I am essentially losing money on some of the cards after fees.  Why did Ebay even allow me to enter this shipping as an option ? Why am I being penalized for something Ebay allowed me to do ?  If it was going to be an issue why didnt it stop me when I was making the listing ?   Is there some kind of price point cut off for using a Ebay standard letter ?

Thank you for any assistance with this. I am currently down like $40.00 because of this. It may not seem like a lot to some but it is for me to just throw away.

[wooden_flower · Accepted solution]

@jonat_schei 

The standard envelope can only be used for cards $20 or less, or combined orders of $50 or less. Above that, you must use a regular shipping service. It does not have to be priority mail - ground advantage  would be less than priority.

Many sellers complain about the $20 cutoff. If you think the card will go above $20, then list with ground. Or if the selling price is a pleasant surprise, accept that you will have to spend $4 of it on shipping.

If the same buyer purchases multiple card, you do not have to send each separately - click the link to buy labels in bulk in the upper right of the label page, and have the system combine the purchases by buyer. Tracking is automatically applied to all of the purchases. If the buyer bought 4 card with $1.25 shipping each, that is going to be very close to the price of ground advantage.

[jonat_schei]

Sheesh thank you for the clarification !  If only Ebay was this forthcoming ! 

Much appreciated for the advice I will definitely use this in the future.

Hope you have a wonderful day !

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

@jonat_schei   

You can select Ground Advantage.  Your cards sold for more than $20 so they do not qualify for ESE shipping.  

You can not use Bubble Mailers nor can you make the envelope too stiff.  It has stay flexible enough to wrap around a standard coffee cup to go through the sorting equipment.      

Also your cards sold for more than $20  The eBay Standard Envelope is ONLY for select categories for items that SELL for $20 and under, your auctions went higher which is great.      See the categories and envelope requirements here>

https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/shipping/choosing-a-carrier-and-service/ebay-standard-envelope

Also check out this post by a fellow mentor that has screen shots of how to pack so that the sorting equipment can read the tracking.      

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/Standard-envelope-shipping/m-p/34239169#M5984

An experienced seller said they wrap a couple sheets of plain white paper around a card to prevent damage and it works well.   

[wooden_flower]

@jonat_schei 

Thanks! You, too 😁

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

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@jonat_schei wrote:

Sheesh thank you for the clarification !  If only Ebay was this forthcoming ! 

Much appreciated for the advice I will definitely use this in the future.

Hope you have a wonderful day !

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I was in the SLOW typing corner while @wooden_flower  gave a concise and great answer.  

I see that you think that eBay doesn't make it clear that it is just for $20 and under.  It does say that when you select the ESE shipping and it's shown on your listing>  

US $1.25 eBay Standard Envelope for eligible items up to $20.