Keep the tape for the holidays!
metalmike
Posts: 2,152 ✭✭
The most important thing is CYA. If you are selling a low value card why would you want to charge 3 or more for shipping? In my opinion the best way to ship a card that would be in your dollar box at the flea market is the following....Penny sleeve......top loader......team bag. DO NOT USE TAPE! I REPEAT DO NOT USE TAPE!!!! If you follow this method usually the card arrives in great shape- if you use tape instead of a team bag you are setting yourself up for a bad sale...i.e... card will shift and get stuck to the tape. And nobody wants to pay money for a card that arrives in the mail ruined! For " better" cards see above and use a bubble mailer which I feel a 3 dollar charge is justified considering the time and expense involved. Also unless you use delivery confirmation Paypal will not back you up (no proof of mailing) which kind of makes 1.00 shipping not cost effective. If this happens just refund the buyer his money as I feel it is not worth the hassle. Opinions?
USN 1977-1987 * ALL cards are commons unless auto'd. Buying Britneycards. NWO for life.
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I generally agree with most of your shipping logic. Buyers of $2 cards are going to shy away from $3 shipping. I still ship everything in a bubble mailer since I can get a box of 25 at Sam's Club for under $5. You can ship one card in a bubble for the large envelop rate of 80 cents. I also skip all the extra mailing services like DC when shipping the cheap stuff. This allows me to keep shipping rates around $2 and still pocket listing and Paypal fees as well as the cost of the holders. If I sell a more expensive card requiring additional seller protection then I will charge more for shipping. Of the 5,000 or so packages I've sent out over the last decade I've only had one where the customer allegedly didn't receive. That customer left a negative before even asking for a refund. If someone does not get a $2 card then I would simply give a refund without question. Every now and then I get a $2 card in the mail with DC and I'm thinking what is the point? The seller would have been better off either pocketing that expense or passing savings to the buyer. Extra mailing services are designed to protect buyer and seller but I don't think people need to be protected from a $2 loss. If I used DC on 100 packages of cheap cards it would cost $75 for DC using the standard form or APC and $18 using Paypal shipping (but I would have to mail at the higher parcel rate and screw around with 3/4 inch thickness requirements). Since I've only experienced a net loss of $ZERO over 10 years I would be foolish to purchase the extra service. More money in my pocket or the less I need to charge for shipping resulting in more bidding action. I would definately agree fighting with a customer over $2 is not worth the hassel and in the long run not good for business.
On a related note, I have been buying far less cards on eBay of late as shipping rates for the stuff I collect have exceeded the cost of the cards I like. I now have to be patient and wait for the cheap shipper or bite it when I really want a particular card. I'm sure many other bidders are in the same boat. I usually avoid sellers who refuse to combine shipping or have rediculous rates when they do. I never quite understood why someone needs to charge more than pocket change for each additional lower value card. Of course, any buyer should factor in shipping when placing a bid and if the combined price is cheap then you might as well jump on it.
Tape never gets near card as POST-IT-Note just peals off from top loader very easy.
1955 Bowman Raw complete with 90% Ex-NR or better
Now seeking 1949 Eureka Sportstamps...NM condition
Working on '78 Autographed set now 99.9% complete -
Working on '89 Topps autoed set now complete