@vanpatrick2005
Many of the horror stories which you may have read regarding mailing items using the eBay Standard Envelope (ESE) seem to have resulted from sellers misunderstanding how the ESE works.
Too many sellers are attempting to send ESEs which are far too stiff and rigid to travel at ultra-fast speeds through the roller systems in the USPS sorting machines. The ESE needs to be VERY flexible, since the ESE will be bent nearly in half multiple times as it travels throughout the sorting machines -- so don't use anything thicker than a penny sleeve (NO TOPLOADERS!!!), sandwiched between a dual-layer of the type of material used for cereal boxes or soda pop 12-packs. I've been using that method for several years, without any customer complaints, and no INR cases.
Your PWE needs to be exactly that -- a plain white envelope, either a #6 or a #10 -- don't use any rigid mailing envelopes, as they are far too stiff to travel through the USPS sorting machines.
One of the major issues regarding the ESEs is the method which the seller uses to actually mail the ESE. Most important -- do NOT hand the ESE to a USPS counter employee: Many of them are unfamiliar with handling the ESE, and will either reject it, or tell you that it needs more postage, or set it aside for judgement from a supervisor -- or worse.
I mail all of mine in the USPS lobby, using the "Metered Mail" slot. Since the ESE is simply nothing more than another piece of contracted business metered mail, it joins a whole batch of other business metered mail, and is processed automatically at the next USPS Distribution Center at the end of the day.
Other sellers have indicated that they have had success simply mailing the ESEs in USPS "blue boxes," or from their home mailboxes. The less opportunity for a single USPS employee to reject your ESE is the best policy!
Regarding USPS scanning and tracking: First of all, the USPS counter employee can not "scan" the ESE, since the ESE does not use a regular USPS Tracking number -- another reason NOT to give the ESE to a USPS counter employee. The ESE should receive its initial scan at the end of the day, after it has been received at the next USPS Distribution Center, which is often in another city or county. So don't expect to receive that initial scan until late that evening, and sometimes not until the following day (although several USPS Distribution Centers have become lax in delivering all types of First Class mail).
The ESE may receive additional scans along the way -- or not (again, USPS has become very lackadaisical regarding ANY type of deliveries!). The "delivered" scan does not indicate that it was delivered to the buyer's address -- it only means that the ESE has been delivered to the ZIP Code of the post office matching the ZIP Code of the buyer's address. Depending upon the post office, delivery to the buyer should occur within a few days -- but weekends and holidays will affect delivery, as well, as well as mailings to distant rural addresses.
Many eBay sellers have been mailing out tens of thousands of ESE mailings over the past few years, with little or no mailing problems and complaints from buyers (I've had neither since I started using ESEs several years ago). While it is not as perfect as high-priced USPS Tracking, you might find it to be just what you need for your lower-priced trading cards and currency.
Give it a try -- and good luck!
