i recently posted about this same issue about a month or so ago, received some assistance from the community, and honestly believed my problem was solved. however, after making a complaint to my usps sorting center on an unrelated manner, i am getting back more mail than ever requiring me to reprint labels and thus making the ESE ineffective.
most of my business is magic, pokemon, and sports cards under 2.50 in value. i would previously put cards in either a semi-rigid (pokemon, magic) or rigid (sports) top loads, fold them up in a piece of paper and put them in a 4X6 envelope. i mailed 1000s of items this way with periodic issues like a folded paper edge would get caught in a machine, it would either get sent back because of a bad address, get "lost", or require more postage. the more postage "excuse" because of their damage is the most frustrating one because every single item was mailed the EXACT SAME WAY EVERY SINGLE TIME.
after the community's suggestion on 3-23, i started mailing items in the same 4X6 envelopes, but then i started taping two thick index cards around the items to eliminate the thicker paper edges and provide a smoother soring experience. that worked for awhile, but started to get some back. on 4-4, i then i remembered another suggestion, affix them with tape on the INSIDE of the envelope to eliminate any possibility of them shifting. that worked okay for a few weeks as i wasn't getting anything back.
however, they started trickling back in. the extra postage needed "excuses" because the envelopes were damaged in the sorting process somehow, and this was after the complaint on an unrelated matter was made. i'm not saying the usps has it out for me, but in the last three days i've had 7 items returned requiring more postage even though i've mailed 100s out the last few weeks and they were again, all mailed the exact same way. i am at my wits end here. it literally feels i could mail a post card with NO item whatsoever and it will get sent back to me.
making matters worse, i sell about 25% of my weekly volume on eBay, on another website, THE EXACT SAME WAY, but have never had one single item returned. the reason for this is because i use a usps postage stamp. NOT ONE SINGLE ITEM. it feels as if usps allows considerably more allowance with usps envelopes than they do with eBay, AND usps is unable to track any envelope using eBay ESE tracking numbers.
so finally to my request, how do the rest of you that use ESE's ship them. i use two thicker index cards, and about the only thing i can think of is either just using two thinner ones, even though the thicker ones aren't really that thick, using just one thick one, one thin one, or none at all. i'm not 100% comfortable with given how much damage the usps has consistently done to my envelopes.
switch the paper envelopes? however, i offer free shipping and cannot spend too much on them. switch to all semi-rigid protectors? had buyer recently complain about using a rigid protector between the two index cards, and left a negative, that was removed. or do i do what a local gaming store does? use 4X9 envelopes, and tape a semi-rigid in the center of that piece of paper, and tri-fold the piece of paper, and stick it in the envelope? i seem to have the fewest problems with the largest envelopes even though recently the first one came back in the last few days.
the problem is not the rigids or semi-rigids, the folded paper initially or the index cards now, or the methods which i have changed for the better because every single item was mailed the exact same way every single time. the problem lies elsewhere and i am trying to fix it to the best of my ability, but don't seem to be getting anywhere. so i will listen to any suggestions from anyone else who uses ESE's. HELP!!!!!
