How to ship a lot of cards in a plain white envelope (PWE)
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
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Please include extra postage for the 13-26 card sipping too, an extra one once stamp or .15 will be fine
I think it is .24 for an extra oz right now. You don't put non machinable on the envelops when you stack 13 cards (edit posted this before I finished the video). I would have though that would be larger than the 1/4 inch thickness limit. I am going to have to check that out now so I can save on shipping. Thank you.
@@devlinmurray5853 i lucked out & bought a nice old-school (non-digital) caliper tool years ago which is soooo nice to check that im under the 1/4" thickness haha
@@JackalBruit I have a caliper that I use to measure. I also do a bend test to see if it will still make it through the system.
@@devlinmurray5853 ooo never thought to test that
@@JackalBruit I am paranoid even if it is within the .25 size. I have once had a worker (because I asked if she could measure it) tell me that yes it is smaller than .25 but it is non-machinable do to it being rigid. So i paid the money and mailed it that way. But if that is the case how can they mail credit cards. I place my cards to the far right like a credit card and test the flexibility. Haven't had any issues (fingers crossed)
This is an AMAZING piece of real industry knowledge, definitely going to affect my practices. Always evolving, always learning, thanks for teaching me today Rob!
Anytime buddy
Yeah but they can still get damaged
@@brianwhite3428they can get damaged in a toploader too, but let's be realistic when you receive mail like a bill or whatever it only has a piece of paper in it but how often have you received it damaged? Personally I have NEVER received mail damaged not 1 time, if I look at bills i just received today the envelopes dont even have a crease in them, they arnt even NM they are in MINT condition and that is what convinced me to start using this way of shipping.
"In there like swimwear" I say that all the time lol great video, I was super curious how people ship so many cards cheaply. Thank you!
A few things from my experience. First, invest in a scale. You'll be able to ballpark the weight after awhile (like he says in the video, he found 13 to be the limit for one ounce) but it very much depends on the materials you use. Until you become incredibly consistent in your packaging and find something that works _always_ weigh your envelope. It takes two seconds. Just do it. It will save you some headache. I've had envelopes returned to me for not enough postage.
Second, *_do not_* use two regular stamps for envelopes that are more than one oz. Buy additional ounce stamps from the post office (AKA 15 cent stamps). A forever stamp is worth 63 cents at the moment. Additional oz stamps are 24 cents.
If you use two forever stamps for anything over one oz, you are wasting money. For 1.1-2oz envelopes, you will pay 87 cents using an additional oz stamps rather than 2 forever stamps. Further, even if your envelope is 3 oz (max allowed), it would be $1.11 rather than $1.26. It's not a big deal if you don't trade/sell a ton of cards, but it will add up if you're doing as much business as this guy apparently is.
Third, there is more than one way to do this. For me, as much as I usually love top loaders, they are not ideal for PWE unless you are only shipping 1-2 cards. USPS does not allow anything over 1/4 of an inch because they won't be able to pass through their sorting machines (it DOES NOT MATTER if you write "non-machinable" on the front or even purchase a non machinable shipment. It will likely end up going through them anyway. It only takes one lazy USPS employee.) But the reason top loaders are not ideal is if your package is pushing that 1/4 threshold, you want your package to be flexible so it can get through the machines. Your cards might flex a bit, but they will be fine. Top loaders, on the other hand, can literally get caught in the machines, shredding your cards and you end up with a postage disaster. Take it from me, use semirigids for the more valuable cards. (ultrapro 2s work well) They flex along with the card and are thinner (you can even cut the top of the semirigids off if you wanted to make room for 3 columns and not place them sideways in the envelope) while also protecting the corners. Best of both worlds.
Another option is to cut up 9 pocket pages into thirds and stick up to 7-8 cards per pocket. I have had corners dinged this way though (cards slip out the top sometimes), so make sure you tape the top of each sleeve firmly. You can always put two in a single envelope since they are so thin. These should fit beautifully into #9 envelopes. From there, all you need to do is surround 1 or both sides of your cards with a super thin cardboard (like a cut up cereal box), and you're done.
What about ebay's 3 oz max for pwe? 13 cards gotta be over that....
Bro you’re a literal genius! I never thought to cut the semi rigids!
@sawmill035 Best advice in the comments, and much better advice than what's in the video. You know what's up.
To others, don't use toploaders in PWE. I've even spent the time to walk into several USPS offices and showed/asked them about this method and they ALL rejected it saying it was not "consistent" enough. What they mean is that the envelope needs to be contiguous (same thickness and flexibility/rigidity all the way from end to end), and top loaders make that impossible. I tried anyway and had all my envelopes returned to me. Don't do this. Just use semi-rigids or some thin cardboard or cardstock. And for the love of god STOP USING TAPE. I have received so many cards with adhesive residue on the edges because of this, and it also destroys the card sleeves, creating even more waste. Just buy resealable plastic pouches (team bags or similar) that fit your card protection method - it's more professional looking, better protects the cards, and creates less waste since it's reusable! ta-da!
@MassiveSwordAndCards or hear me out ... use a piece of paper and fold that over the opening of the toploader or semi rigid and use tape to tape that down. When I ship I fold the end of the tape so it's easy to remove if the buyer wants to reuse the toploader.
One of the most valuable pieces of information out there to save small sellers a lot of money on shipping!!
I just hit Seller Level 2 on TCG Player today and got my inventory increased from 100 to 500. I added up to 350 cards and then got 2 orders within a few hours.
The first one was for 10 cards, so I watched the 1st part of your video. And then I got an order for 28 cards and came back to watch the rest of it just 3 hours later lol.
I can say I totally get it now that I've applied it, and wow thank goodness you made this video. Haven't seen one as detailed as this, exactly what I needed.
Thank you!
Anytime!
Love the video! Only thing I would add is you can use bigger envelopes and it's still considered first class mail. Post office max is 6.125"x11.5". I use 6x9 envelopes for bigger orders so I can do 4 stacks of cards.
Nice!
Thanks! This was extremely valuable for my business, you deserve this.
Glad it helped!
@@rng-gamez I have one other question if you don't mind. Where do you buy those small white adhesive labels that you used in the video to tape the card stacks down?
@@hobbylottery5014 I just get them off amazon in bulk
Really appreciate your experience! I've played around with multiple shipping options and methods, and this is the safer and price friendly option for bulk. My packaging procedure, after watching this video, is now a max of 13 cards in a Team Bag and up to 3 Team Bag packages in a PWE (max of 39 cards). This is because after weighing 39 card + PWE + 2 pieces of paper (one for protection and one invoice) + 3 Team Bags = barely under 3oz. This will allow me to ship using 2 stamps. Material is cheap; stamps are not.
My question is, how do you get around USPS' max weight for PWEs? The max for a PWE is 3.5oz, but 50 cards with a PWE and two papers is about 4.5oz. I know the postal office most of the time will ignore something a little over, but a 4.5oz PWE would be 1oz over the max. I know you've successfully delivered 50 cards in a PWE, but I was sharing my intake as a fairly new seller.
16 cards and a top loader is going to jam their machine. It may have worked out for you because of your specific post office, but if I tried this method, my specific post office will send it back to me as a non-machinable or make me ship it as a package.
This will not jam the machines. The length of a top loaders goes through the machine just fine. Having more length than that will start to cause issues. If placing multiple top loaders in longer envelopes make sure there is room to bend the letter. That is the rigid test. Most office workers at post offices have no idea what the limits are. They just go by the book or if they don't know they error on the side of saying no.
It has nothing to do with my post office, when I mail something it goes through 10-20 other places to in the mail stream. About 100 people in the post office touch every piece of mail. Don’t use a top loader with 16 cards
i just packaged a 26 card order in a PWE following the instructions in this video, and thought i'd follow up with my experience so far.
the package came out to be 2.9 ounces, using one PWE, one sheet of paper, 26 pokemon holos, two top loaders, 4 penny sleeves, and some transparent tape. i set it up the exact same way as the video, and was a little worried it'd be over the 1/4" thick limit. i took it to the post office to be sure, and they slid it through a makeshift cutout and it fit through. used two forever stamps (covers 3 ounces w/ a little extra change) and sent it on its way. hopefully no issues but if i do have any ill comment here on the experience. thanks for the video, it helps so much!
oh forgot to mention i used 2 team bags as well, exact same as video
You say don't worry about machinable vs non-machinable but many post offices check this and require it. If I use a regular stamp, they will be back in my PO Box the next day saying they need extra shipping. I have to use the .99 cent non-machinable stamps or they don't go through. It depends on the workers at each post office but they should be stopping each item that does not bend and require the non-machinable stamp. This is coming from someone that has been shipping cards since 1998. I haven't had the non-machinable issue until around two years ago when my post office really tightened on this. Anything with that top loader or hard cardboard will get that NM requirement at my local office.
i have never had an issue with over 50,000 card sales on my one tcgplayer account.
@@rng-gamez Enjoy that while it lasts. It sucks when the post office cracks down on something that they really shouldn't and you have to pay .35 more to ship each envelope.
@@Categoryonegames I have been doing it for 5 years
Yeah, I could definitely not send 50 cards in a PWE without Non Machinable. Different POs have different rules apparently. I was also sending eBay standard envelope in a bubble mailer for the longest time till I read the rules, and it says not to. LOL
Wish I knew this a couple months ago, fantastic video!
Starting a TCG account thanks this video really helped!
I do the same thing but instead of a top loader I use comic board backing that I cut to fit the team bags. Waaayyyyy cheaper than top loaders and works just as well for protecting the cards.
Folded cardboard for vending machines works well and is cheap. And it saves the cutting process.
What's poppin! Great video glad you're going more in depth about shipping.
This was incredibly helpful!! Thank you!!!!
Awesome video man, I just shipped my first order of multiple cards. 5 cards, did it just like this except in a thick top loader
ummm have u not heard of the $0.24 extra oz stamp?
could be a way to save some pennies in that 14 - 50 card window
assuming 13 cards equates to 1 oz, then 14 thru 26 cards should only be an extra $0.24 in postage instead of the full $0.63 forever stamp
Thanks Matt for calling the store the other night and asking about shipping! It was so nice talking to you- I hope you see this video!
Doing the lords work thank you sir.
Perfect explanation. Thank you.
Definitely needed this
I wish between my post office and Columbus can't even do a stack of 6 cards without a non machineable stamp or it gets sent back.
Thanks for the guide! One thing for me is I’ve had cards kicked back to me before by usps cuz THEY labeled it as non machineable or not enough postage when I get around 13-26 cards range. I started using additional ounce stamps to mitigate things. I think we play the line of pwe and large envelopes from a technical standpoint given the thickness of our envelops. Any thoughts on that? 2k sales this year on TCGPlayer.
Yea I put extra postage on the 13-26 I guess I might have skipped that part in the video.
I got like 10 or 15 envelopes delivered back to me that said non machine-able postage due because I was sandwiching like 8-10 cards in sleeves between two top loaders. Now I just use card savers and only put 4 or 5 cards to keep it at an oz and flexible
Hey there Rob. Haven't commented before but I have been watching your videos for a while. You and bulk kings are actually the reason why I started a TCGPlayer store. I just wanted to ask for your opinion on an issue I've had. Basically my local post office clerks told me I need 1 forever stamp, and 2 regular stamps to ship a PWE with 12 cards, 2 top loaders, 2 team bags, and a packing slip. With this information obviously being different from your video would you recommend I try going to a different post office? The amount of stamps these clerks have been telling me I need to use has seemed ridiculous but what incentive would they have to lie?
I have never used more than two stamps on anything, and I would never actually go to the post office for anything. You will always pay more for postage at the post office. I ship thousands of orders a month. Never had an issue
@@rng-gamez Thanks for the heads up, I really appreciate it!
First Class Letters can go up to 3.5 oz and have to be less than .25 inches thick. The first stamp (cost of right now is $0.60) will cover the first ounce. Each ounce after that will be an additional $0.15 up to the 3.5 oz limit. So under 1 oz is $0.60, up to 2oz is $0.75, up to 3oz is $0.90, up to max of 3.5 oz is $1.05 so technically RNG-Gamez is over paying using 2 $0.60 stamps so they will take it and run lol. Although using this method of shipping 51 cards my scale shows it goes over the 3.5 oz limit (3.8 oz is what it reads). Maybe because you put the 2 $0.60 stamps they let it go over the limit by a little bit.
I just had a single card in a toploader sent back today with extra postage required sticker on it.
@@503AIM that is extremely rare and for sure an error
awesome information in this video. thanks man
I just weighed 50 cards and the total weight is 3.5 ounces. I will mention that they were all all legacy foil cards from pre-8th edition days so I guess they may weigh more. Otherwise I'm not sure how you got your package under 3 oz.
Looks Great! As of recent, we've been getting returns for "additional postage needed" for about $3 on each envelope that has been returned. 3 just came back to us when we use 3 forever stamps on each of these. 1 order had 12 cards, 1 order had 16 cards, and another had 21 cards. We've never really had issues with this until lately. From the 20+ cards, it's a little tricky because the thickness may hit over that 1/4 inch thickness. Not sure why this has been happening. Have y'all noticed any issues lately?
Had an issue recently as well with orders less than an ounce. Clerk was complaining how the envelopes were too rigid and it counts as a package. Wanted to charge me an extra 45 cents on each envelope even though all were weighted and bellow 1 ounce. I can only assume that they just don't want to do the work so they find reasons to complain lol. That being said once I go through the 600+ top loaders I have left I will be switching to semi-rigid sleeves just to be on the safe side.
I like to use card savers they’re much thinner and less rigid than top loaders
I take it that the USPS isn't that strict when it comes to an envelope being slightly overweight. I replicated shipping 13 MTG cards like you did in the video and it weighs around 1.5 oz. I had my 1st sale of 12 cards today and with me shipping them in a smaller envelope it came out to 1.2 oz, I used an extra oz stamp just in case since I'm starting out and don't want to take any chances.
I took the chance and shipped multiple order at 1.4 oz with one ounce stamps. I believe as long as it weighs under 1.5 you are good. Same thing with bigger mails or packages. USPS rounds down to the nearest ounce if under the .5 threshold and rounds up to nearest ounce if above the .5 threshold. Saved a lot on shipping costs after I figured this out
So 3 cards in a penny sleeve, then the rest loose in a team bag in the first two examples?
outstanding. thank you for sharing
In Las Vegas in Summerlin I'm finding envelopes like these are making USPS force me to pay an extra ~$3.90. They are changing their policies here I think. Or their manager is misinformed.
Great video gang
Thank you very much.👍
If ROB could answer this AWESOME, but does anyone know what labels he purchases/uses to tape them down? I am a painters tape guy, and I really like that professional look. So any info, if it’s through Amazon or whatever I’m very grateful for the answer lol.
Wouldn’t a bubble mailer be more professional? First thought having 50 cards mailed to me in a PWE is “cheap”. You can buy bulk bubble mailers for less then 50c a piece.
It’s not cheap it is the industry standard
It would be more professional for sure.
A bubble mailer is a parcel. I would be 4 to 8 dollars depending on where it is going. If its a 20+ dollar card, sure. But like Rob says in the video if someone is buying 50 swamps at 1 cent a piece you can't spend 4 dollars to ship it to them. I am no economics professor, but I know that would be bad for business.
I keep referencing this video for different card tiers. Would you please add chapter markers for the different methods based on # of cards?
At 5:11 you said "you can do 30, BUT -" . I have watched this video several times and have always wondered what you were gonna say there. What is the but with shipping between 30-32 in two stacks?
I would recommend sleeving all the cards before putting them in the team bag 3 or 4 per penny sleeve depending on which penny sleeves you're using. make sure you include the packing slip and keep tape away from the cards.
Why do you say not to worry about machinable?
are the 50 cards not over 3oz? or u just have been getting away with 2 first class stamps over 3oz?
It’s right on that boarder might be a tiny bit over but I have never had an issue
On my scale 50 cards, two sheets of paper and the envelope are 3.5oz.
Rob.. Help me out man. I struggle with figuring out when to upgrade to first class, or when to do PWE. Do you base it on values bought? Can you tell me what values you think are suitable for PWE vs first class? An example that I get pretty commonly is someone buys 10-12 cards from me. Each valued at $2-4, normally I upgrade due to it being almost $40. Sometimes its 3-4 cards at 15 though. What are your thoughts?
I use an envelope tracking service which runs 20-30 cents. I think tcgplayer starts to require tracking aka first class package at $50. Somewhere around $20 I start looking at the address and decide if tracking or a package is warranted.
@@takhsisprime What service is that?
@@Mutoforma lettertrackpro
How would you ship 13 cards if 2 of them were $15 and the rest $1 or less?
Man my post office must’ve hired new people and are telling them to measure each piece. I’ve been using this shopping method since you posted it without issues and today I got back like 50 envelopes smh
Interesting it still really shouldn’t happen because it falls under the guidelines. Try tyvek envelops for orders over 30 cards might help
@@rng-gamez thank you. Seems like it just might be people who don’t know what they’re doing as a bunch of these envelopes are 1 card orders well under an ounce asking for an additional ounce stamp. I’m definitely not happy at the moment 🙃
Thanks for making a video about me 🤣
😊 I hope it helped!
now you have your own step by step guide :)
I'm gonna make this change with my staff right away
My shock when I randomly stumble on this video to find out that a forever stamp is only valid for 1 ounce... I hit 400 sales on my tcgplayer store and I been shipping multiple 15+ card orders on pwe with just 1 stamp. Either I got lucky or I'm about to receive a lot of complaints for undelivered cards soon lol
Update on which one of the two it was 😅
@@atcollectiblessd Got lucky lmao. Since all of the heavy ones I did were on Holiday season they just shipped them. Due to the amount of volume they deal with every day being so high they didn't bothered with my lack of postage lol. Clerk told me that it's fine for now and that they shipped all my mail but I should definitely start using proper postage for heavy envelopes from now on.
Thanks!
You bet!
I did the same with the 13 cards, but I taped them to a top loader with the penny sleeve and the order page info and it got returned? they said return for postage but parcel rate. Why is that? one stamp?
Is there a way to ship a pack of sleeves in a pwe?
yo, i'm trying to follow this now and i'm over 3.5 oz in weight for this with 43 cards. how do you ship with only two stamps / at all? > 3.5oz is supposed to not be allowed for USPS
I don’t have any issues
@@rng-gamez Lol gotcha, hope USPS extends the same courtesy to me
@@lordnarwhalI know it's late but you could always send 2 separate envelopes and message the buyer you split the shipment. This way would be the best method for orders over 40ish cards.
@@XingCollectables Yeah I'm still doing it now and so far I haven't had any issues with stuffing them all into a single envelope and shipping with the 3.5 oz postage. Not sure I could get away with 2 stamps. But I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing until something goes wrong I guess!
How many cards in an envelope for you to NOT need a top loader?
Thanks for the content. So how did you decide between using direct and sending pwe out yourself?
People can still order from you directly even if you are direct
@@rng-gamez oh, do people do that allot? I assumed there would be far less non direct business with direct sellers having higher prices.
@@takhsisprime I get about 20-30 a day on my direct account I also charge 1.99 for shipping
@@rng-gamez so do you run a separate account for direct?
@@takhsisprime no one is direct one is SYP and one is non direct for the store
What label are you using?
Do you feel like using the standard long envelopes are best route even on small orders?
Also when placing your smaller orders do you migrate towards the middle of the envelope always or more left like CCs that you receive. Thanks for the videos!
We have done tons of testing and they have the best acceptance rate.
Where do you get all of the supplies you use to ship?
What size envelope is that? It looks taller than the one I use. I use envelope #10.
for the 50-54 cards in the PWE, will that require 2 stamps or do I have to pay for shipping?
are you selling your cards on eBay??
Nice hack Rob 💪
Will this work along with eBay standard envelope?
So you don’t write “do not bend” on any Pwe order?
Never
How do you get away with Nonmachinable not on the envelope? Do you just let it ride?
yea its like a 99.9% success rate
If my letter is 1.09 oz should I add a second forever stamp? What's the common practice? Please and thank you
Anything over 1oz they will charge you extra. I put a stamp on it and just pay the extra at the PO. You can use another stamp, but you are going to be wasting money.
Isn’t there a thickness maximum with envelopes ?
Yes 1/4 of an inch
i have sold 6 cards so far lol.
Hey it’s a start
do you pay the non machinable fee?
No I do not
This wouldn’t work with sports cards.
No TCG cards only