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eBay standard envelope?? Hard pass, or hard maybe?
jeffcbay
Posts: 8,948 ✭✭✭✭
https://pages.ebay.com/ebaystandardenvelope/
Have you seen this from ebay?? I hope this doesn't become the new normal for ebay sellers. Cards shouldn't be shipped in a PWE, as much as buyers want to save money this way. I never do it, even upon request. I only charge $3.00 for an unlimited amount of cards combined, and more times than not I'm spending over that $3.00 for shipping costs.
Check out these envelope details:
Not too rigid, no thicker than 1/4", no bubble mailers. No thank you.
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I think it's going to serve a purpose possibly. Since it's only for cards $20 and under, will make sense at times. Might help people sell more $1, $2, $3 cards when they can offer a dollar shipping (with tracking, which I think is the problem this was meant to address)...so buyers aren't spending as much or more on shipping than cards. I dunno.
I just cant figure out how the cards will possibly get there safely?? I think there could be lots of hassles and returns. I'm not really sure yes or no. Leaning towards NO.
I sent my first the other day - card in a top loader with 2 commons surrounding it in a team bag. Taped it to a folded 8 1/2x11 sheet and put it in a PWE. We’ll see. I think there’s lots of potential for .99 card sales - like surfy mentioned, should get more sales since shipping is just a fraction of the bubble mailer costs. I picked up some rigid envelopes to ease my mind a little going forward (like the kind eBay points to in their page covering the shipping option).
Jim
I've sent about 400-500 cheap cards on a second ebay id last year without a single one being damaged. a couple never arrived so this is a welcome perk since it is cheaper than a stamp and has tracking. sent about 20 already and the process was pretty smooth.
I do offer unlimited purchases for $4.25 on my main ebay id but once you get into lower grade cards, people just don't want to pay the shipping. many cards that didn't sell on my regular id, I moved to the other with $1.25 shipping and they sold within a couple days.
I print the label directly on a PWE #10..... I put the card in a cardsaver or toploader between two pieces of chopped Priority Medium box (thin cardboard), so gets close to the .25 inch thickness limit.
And damage is not really your concern anymore I don't believe. You're basically protected to whatever your card sold for, if I'm reading this correctly:
"You’re protected under this Shipping Protection Plan (“SPP”) in amount not to exceed the lesser of (i) the total sale price (including taxes) of those products or items contained in any individual shipment or (ii) twenty dollars ($20.00 USD). "
So if you have to refund a buyer for damaged card, you'd seemingly be reimbursed.
Edit: Oooh, unless you shipped like 3 under-$20 cards together but total is over $20...would you only be covered up to $20???
I've done plenty of PWE trades on another site, to/from as far as Australia with no issues and up to 27 thin cards at a time. 3 cards/pocket in a 9 pocket page folded in thirds, cereal box cutout support for both sides, in a 4 1/8 x 9 1/8" envelope. Single cards, I use the same size envelope in a taped top loader, and tape the top loader to the inside of the envelope so it doesn't shift and get the envelope stuck/torn in the automated postal equipment.
My guess is eBay would rather take a slice of this business than give it all to COMC/Sportslots. Not something I would use on my primary eBay account, but I may set up a second to liquidate the cheap stuff.
Sounds good, but 2 concerns:
-It takes just as long to create a listing for a cheap item as it does for an expensive one.
-The listing fees on the cheap $0.99 stuff make it prohibitive, especially if they don't sell the first time through.
I guess I like this shipping idea for low-cost items in theory, but I'm not sure when the inexpensive items would triage ahead of the higher ones when I dig out items to list for sale. If and when they did work their way to the top, it also seems like I'd like to see ebay eliminate listing fees for low-cost items (perhaps with the requirement that the zero listing fees policy would be available to sellers with a sufficient level of reputation so as to avoid the marketplace getting flooded with a bunch of garbage items no one wants at any price).
eBay PWE? Hard yes.
For its purpose, it is perfect.
If I buy a $5 card, I could care less how it gets to me if I don't have to pay $4.99 for shipping.
You understand that's illegal, right?
To print the label on the envelope? Take me away officer!
No, to use priority mail packaging in a non-priority shipment.
I think 9 out of 10 times a low value card in a card saver in a envelope is perfectly fine.
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
As stated above, this will allow for sellers to be able to sell lower dollar cards without having to charge $4 for shipping. Since its only for cards under $20, I dont see it as an issue and actually would welcome being able to buy $5 cards without having to pay 80% of the purchase price in shipping as well. Been selling on sportlots for years now and have had less cards damaged/lost by the USPS in PWE sent non machineable in 10 years than I have using bubble mailers with tracking since this past summer.
Not exactly illegal, but if the post office catches it they will bill the recipient priority mail postage due and you will probably receive negative feedback in return.
He’s not shipping in priority, he’s using the cardboard from those boxes to protect the cards.
The disclaimer on every Priority Mail box and envelope states:
"This packaging is the property of the United States Postal Service and is provided solely for use in sending Priority Mail shipments. Misuse may be a violation of federal law. This packaging is not for resale."
I'm thinking more for the 'pick X to complete your set' type listings. I've got 5k boxes of cards in sequence already, no individual pics/scans, individual listings per set that I can keep rolling over. Anything over ?? cards requires bubble mailer/box.
packing up a card in a USPS small flat rate box, then stuffing that into a larger bubble mailer and shipping the entire package first class (hiding the fact theres a SFRB inside) is where this warning applies. cutting up pieces of the box to use as scrap cardboard isn't illegal. the box scraps couldve been from used, otherwise waste and non-reusable flat rate boxes. although I would agree that going to the post office and grabbing 10 "free" flat rate boxes to just cut up for rigidity purposes is NOT their intended use and wastes USPS revenue since they give it away for "free", intending to recoup the cost when you ship with it. however recycling old used flat rate boxes for this purpose I doubt is illegal since they have already served their purpose and been paid for.
myslabs.to/smzcards
I'm looking at different envelopes for this. Any suggestions? They seem to be not cheap for the rigid ones. About $30 for 100.
I always buy my bubble mailers from Royal Mailers, and it looks like they have decent rigid mailers as well. Ebay says they can't be too rigid, but I wonder if these qualify. https://www.royalmailers.com/Rigid-Layflat-Mailers/
Thanks Jeff. They are probably good. All the specs on dimensions is a little unclear by ebay; but I'm thinking the 6 X 6 would probably work great for a few cards in top loaders?
Also, it says the address has to be parallel to the length. I'm assuming the labels print just like normal labels on ebay ??
I mailed my first one and they do not look like regular labels printed on ebay. The tracking # is on the upper left corner and they are printed landscape orientation for the envelope
If you have Acrobat (editor, not reader), you can edit the PDF to crop the page .8 at the top and 6.2 at the bottom. Then on the print dialogue box change on the bottom left change page setup to landscape and paper size to your envelope ( use monarch #10 for PWE).
Just seems dumb to print out the label and tape it to the envelope unless you have large enough labels to print to.
6x6 won't work - they need to be rectangular per the aspect ratio requirement in the first post in this thread.
Jim
I received 2 orders recently from sellers who used the new system.
Both shipments were fine. One was sent in an envelope that was semi rigid, which I liked. Better than a PWE with no tracking for sure.
I see some sellers on eBay using this method to ship Graded cards... can you get a slab to ship in these measurements? It will certainly be too thick, slab will be shipped with no protection. Yikes..
Nic
Guides Authored - Graded Card Scanning Guide PDF | History of the PSA Label PDF
Yeah, the ebay "rules" for these shipments say graded cards aren't allowed. Gotta be too thick - there's a .25" limit - and I wouldn't be surprised if slabs are cracked or crushed as they move through the process.
Jim
Definitely not graded cards... I suppose those sellers will learn that lesson the hard way.
Initially when I started this thread I was vehemently against the idea of using a PWE for cards, but the more I research this and look at the various options to protect your card, I might be sold on this PWE option.
I'm not sure using the rigid envelopes will fly, but I would love to hear more feedback on this. I also wouldn't ship more than two cards in top loaders. I've heard some sellers say to not use the 1 ounce option, as this may cause cards to not be scanned. I will be shipping my initial PWE shipments using the 2 ounce option until I hear more feedback.
As for printing labels, I just purchased a DYMO 450 on Amazon, currently on sale for $66 (less than half price), and the DYMO 30323 labels (2-1/8" x 4"). *EDITED TO ADD I'm finding that the 30323 labels are way too small, and the 99019 2-5/16" x 7-1/2" labels are much better.
I will still be using bubble mailers for cards worth more than $10, or when buyers buy multiple cards, but for single and cheaper cards, I'm willing to give this a try. I have over 2000 ebay fixed price listings, and about 90% of them are less than $5 cards. The hard part will be bulk editing those effected listings.
I'd love to hear feedback from other sellers who started using this ebay PWE method.
Since I am starting out as a single low end card dealer this has helped me get rid of a lot of $1 and $2 dollar cards on eBay. So far so go.
My Ebay Auctions
you are right, ebay's bulk editor doesn't seem to work for me. the find and replace never seems to find the text even when I copy it straight from the listing. so this will take a bit but it should be better for those sales. good luck
I have never shipped using pwe because of no tracking. Now, I may start. However, I have had hundreds of cards shipped to me that way and never had an issue. Well.... Except for sellers who seemingly get free tape from 3M and try to use as much as they can on my card trying to secure it! That is the only thing that bothers me. For cheap cards, a top loader, penny sleave and either one piece of painters tape or a team bag is sufficient. I would actually rather have no tape than too much.
Shane
New information regarding ebay's new standard envelope option. New to me, anyway. lol
In the month of February I shipped over 70 PWE's using this new service and I have had excellent results! My items are being shipped just as fast as any of my USPS First Class bubble mailers, and tracking being scanned just like my bubble mailers. I think the secret to having them scanned all the way through transit is by using the 2 ounce option (71 cents) instead of the 1 ounce option (51 cents). Hey, I'll pay the extra 20 cents if that means it's being consistently scanned.
ALL of my buyers seem to be very happy with their PWE service. I'm shipping all cards in a penny sleeve inside a rigid top loader inside a team bag. I never ship more than two cards in the same envelope, even though they technically allow more. If the buyer buys more than two cards, I just pay the USPS First Class postage and ship in a bubble mailer like normal. Even though the card value limit is $20, I never ship anything more than $10 in the PWE to protect myself and the buyer.
The new information I learned the hard way was, with ebay's new "managed payment" system, usually your shipping label cost is directly deducted from your "pending payment" funds... but when using ebay's "standard envelope" service, that shipping label cost is thrown into your month-end invoice. I just had a chat with ebay about it, and they explained that UPS FedEx and the ebay standard envelope label fees aren't instantly deducted from your pending funds. Needless to say I was shocked when I saw my February invoice and all 70+ label fees were in there. But at least now I know what to expect in the future. I hope this helps the rest of you who maybe didn't know what to expect.
I love it. I have done it a few times now, and like has been mentioned it is a great opportunity to buy inexpensive raw cards on ebay. There have been cards that I solely listed on ebay because I now only have to charge 51 cents shipping instead of $3. The only issue I have is when people take advantage of it and use the 51 cent option for other things than what it was intended for.
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Here's the stuff I use to ship PWE:
6-3/4 Security Envelope with peel-off seal
Penny Sleeve
Rigid Top Loader (not a CS1)
Team Bag (not tape)
Wrap the card in a 5" x 8" index card for added protection from the post office sorting machine
Dymo LabelWriter 450 with a 99019 label
I prefer a little piece of masking tape/painter's tape with a little fold-over for easy removal at the top to squeeze the toploader shut. This little pressure also keeps the card from moving around for the most part. When you put a toploader in a team back, the card can still eek out of the penny sleeve and crash into the top of the bag, not that it will really cause any damage, but still a pet peeve of mine. For the love of god, please do NOT put scotch tape on toploaders!!!
Not that they are expensive, but think team bags are overkill.
One issue I dislike is that for an auction listing, if the selling price ends up over $20, or the buyer has multiple wins totaling over $20, the checkout still allows the buyer to select the STD envelope option, but the option is greyed out for the seller to select. The only way around this is to send an invoice to the buyer before they pay.
^^ I do the same. You can physically pinch the top loader while applying the tape to keep it shut. After I put the toploader and card into the envelope, I cover the entire envelope with clear shipping tape. It actually makes it very hard to tear the envelope and protects it from moisture. Feedback from buyers seem to appreciate it, they tend to note 'great packaging' on my standard envelopes. I did the same before the standard envelope feature came out; you just have to make sure you put the stamp on after the tape (you can't cover a stamp with tape).
@RufussCkingston regarding the tape, I've heard people complain about the card sliding up and sticking to the tape (even painters tape). Also when I use team bags I make sure to pull it a little tighter as to close the gap at the top of the top loader. I do use the correct size top loader so with the penny sleeve the card doesn't really slide around anyway.
@PNWcollector I used to use shipping tape all around the envelope, and it's not a bad idea, I was just worried I would get a postal worker on a bad day and have them reject the envelope for whatever reason. Very true about not taping over postage or bar codes.
I tape over barcodes every time; has never been an issue.
My sales have gone way up since I started using the service. For cards under $5 it's my standard shipping method. Between $5-$20 I offer the buyer PWE or BMWT.
@PNWcollector I think taping over bar codes is frowned upon, but not a deal breaker. I think certain tape can interfere with the scanners.
My sales went through the roof once I changed over to PWE with tracking. Plus I'm making more on the card than when I was charging $3 shipping. Looking back I was so against this idea, but man was I wrong.
I had 8 out of 50+ mailers disappear or be return/ scammed from Dec to early January with PWE and no option for tracking. That rate with the standard envelope w tracking is 1 out of 40 since. The local PO here isn't too worried about being dead on w the .25 inch and will let me know if I'm at 2 oz or 3oz etc on certain shipments so I can gauge what level of protection I amusing will still meet the weight limit. Also, none have been returned. I like it.
If the card is getting stuck in the tape it is either because the tape was not applied to both sides with pressure to close the top of the toploader, in a sense creating a tape wall that the edge of the card will slide against and stick to, same as just using a team bag, the card won't stick to it, but can slide out of the penny sleeve and crash into the top of the bag. The other way is if someone places a toploader down on a paper or cardboard and then tapes the end, where only one side of the toploader has tape. This way the card will slide out and under the tape in the gap between the toploader and the surface it is taped to. Get cards like this every now and then.
When you use a little tape and apply pressure to both sides of the toploader, you can literally shake it like a Polaroid picture and nothing moves.
don't forget you get insurance automatically as well. I sent a few hundred and one got torn and delivered with no card. I filed the claim and all you have to do is send a screen shot of the buyers message in ebay and they deposited the claim in my paypal account a few days later.
Things have been great with the standard envelope for me for the past few weeks. My first 20-30 were delivered and scanned properly and perfectly. Buyers loved it...... Sleeve/Loader/TeamBag/Taped to inside of 6x4 thank you card with a message to the buyer.
This week, for some reason, my last 7 envelopes have failed to be scanned anywhere in the last 7 days. I am confused and shocked. Not sure if the post office is getting behind again or there is a delay in the system tracking?
Do you use the 1 ounce or 2 ounce option when buying the postage? I'm just trying to test the theory of the 1 ounce postage not getting scanned as often as 2 ounce postage.
I can't see the logic in this.... all envelopes are going by the same scanners.... It's not like someone is sorting 51cent and 71 cent envelopes into separate piles.
I've had good results as well. The only difference in my packing approach is that I add a common card on each side outside of the top loader inside the team bag for protection, and I cut a piece of paper as wide as the PWE then tape the team bag to that page to prevent the card from sliding around inside the envelope. Not sure if it helps, but the label takes up half a page so I figured I'd use part of the rest of the page for something, and it's still under 1oz. So far, I've sent about 20 using this method - all have scanned all the way through except for 1, and I got positive feedback on that one so I assume it made it there successfully.
Jim
I don't either but someone mentioned it somewhere so that's why I'm asking folks.