Shipping

[buymycards]

Hi, I know many of the people on this forum sell baseball cards. Here is a tip for saving some money when you ship one ungraded card. This won't work for graded cards. It also won't work for more than one card because more than one card will cause the package to become more than 1/4" thick, which makes it a parcel.

Here we go:

For one ungraded card, here is how you do it. I buy a 6 x 8 photo mailer. They are cheap when you buy them in bulk. Because they are less than 6 1/8" high, they are letter sized. Since they are rigid, they become a non-machinable letter. The card and the photo mailer weigh slightly under 2 oz, so the pricing is 46 cents for the letter, 20 cents for the 2nd ounce, 20 cents for the non-machinable part, for a total of 86 cents.

The rules for these rigid photo mailers changed two years ago. Before that these would have been a parcel, and the rate would be $2.07. I have mailed hundreds of these in the past two years. I have been with the Postal Service for 30 years and a Postmaster since 1998. Look in section 101.1.1 of the Domestic Mail Manual.

Hope this saves you some bucks.

I have printed some small labels that I put under my return address so the clerks in other offices don't charge postage due. The labels say:

POSTMASTER: This mailpiece meets the physical standards for letters, as defined in Section 101.1.1 of the DMM. Thus, letter prices are applicable. Also, the nonmachinable surcharge is applicable and the relevant postage is affixed.

Rick

[tschock]

Another option.... 1 card in a top loader held between 2 thin pieces of cardboard in an regular envelope. Under 1 ounce so it's just a regular envelope containing a rigid object (66 cents).

A bit more "work" but you save 20 more cents plus the cost difference between the mailer and an envelope. Once you get the knack, you can package them quite quickly (though time IS money).

[buymycards]

Taylor, good idea.

Rick

[deadballfreaK]

I sell a lot of low grade pre war cards- t206, t205, E-90 etc. I put the card in a sleeve and put the sleeve in a top loader upside down so the card can't escape and get into the tape. I cut a piece of strong cardboard to exactly fit a standard sized envelope and use scotch tape to attach the top loader to the cardboard on all 4 sides. Painters tape might be better. I think I will try it. Plain white envelope marked clearly "NON MACHINE RATE" and "PHOTOS DO NOT BEND". Total cost to me maybe 75 cents for up to 3-4 cards. I have shipped hundreds like this with no complaints. pretty stiff and hard to bend. It allows me to offer a low shipping rate. Naturally for a high dollar card I will take some extra pains.