PSA shipped two packages

wrestlingcardking

I was a bit surprised that orders three weeks apart came back together.

Big80s

That's interesting. I don't think I've ever experienced or even heard of that happening before. But at least they made it back safe. Now where are our scans?

epatmythes

If you paid for return shipping on both of them... I'd definitely be calling CS on it in the morning and making sure you at least get a voucher for the difference!

chelseafc11

Here is a scenario for you...

I wanted to grade 169 cards. The declared value of all the cards fell in the $1-$1000 ($485) range. Flate rate of $22.50 up to 25 cards. As I said, I had 169 cards - $22.50 for the first 25 and an additional 36 dollars for the other 144 cards. Still with me?

They charged a total of $58.50 to ship the 169 cards - here is the kicker - they shipped all of the cards in one single USPS flat rate box.

Even WITH the increased USPS prices relatively recently (as this happened well over a year ago) the most it would cost them to ship my package completely covered with insurance would be....drum roll please.....$25.05 (I included Sig. Conf. as well as insurance in the price, god forbid they buy the postage online, they "save" you off even more!)

If you read this far and had your calculator handy, you would know that the price to ship the cards was not even close to being the actual shipping cost. I'll even give them the cost of the shipping supplies, but that still doesn't justify such a gross price discrepancy.

With all that said, I think their services are great, but I am mystified at where they get their prices from, and how so many can overpay and be happy with it. If it was a single seller on ebay that charged people double the actual cost of shipping, there would be 5-10 posts on it easily and a "block this seller" campaign. Just my two cents...

stangrider

Are you sure that they don't have a third party provide insurance other than USPS? Perhaps this could be some of the reason behind their shipping costs. I can't imagine the individual brown boxes cost a ton, but it is an additional cost as well. Just a thought.

epatmythes

1) Yes, they insure through a third-party... not the USPS.

2) They have to pay their employees who have to double check, pack & ship your cards (that doesn't just happen magically)

3) I'm sure when PSA figures out their numbers, sets their prices, etc... you are the exception, perhaps the 1 in 100 case, not the norm... think about it... 169 cards at a declared value of $485!!! That's $2.87 a card... that's less than you paid to have each card graded! Why would you do that? God forbid your order was lost and/or severely damaged... now you lost your cards & you lost money! I'm sure I'm not alone in this, but I always set my declared value at what I think the card will be worth in the grade I think it will get... and only fudge the numbers downward if I'm close to one of the shipping value thresholds and/or I have to meet the max value restriction (IE. for cards less than $250, books for $200, but a PSA 9 or 10 sells for $400+).

mtcards

Ebay sellers are held to higher standards.

Honestly though, if the shipping costs are known up front, its a cost of the merchandise/service. I have never had a problem with ebay sellers charging what they want. I recently bought an auto card on ebay, the seller charged $7.05 shipping...it came in a flat rate priority box. I know they made money on the shipping, but I dont care, I could have either paid $20 and free shipping for the card or $10 BIN and $7.05 shipping - I took the cheaper of the two.

jwgators

I wish sellers, whether it be eBay, PSA, or any other retail mail order company would not use shipping as a profit center. Charge what you need to in the price of the product and pass through the actual shipping costs.

If you need to cover for packing materials, the wages of the people boxing the packages to send and the gas to drive to the post office, bump the price of the product and quit hiding it in the shipping charges.

JoeBanzai

I used to work in sales for a linen rental company. Here's how it works. MOST people want a simple (and cheap) unit price on what they are renting, or in this case, purchasing. It then makes more sense from the companies standpoint to make their profits off of "ancillary" charges, like shipping or fuel surcharge or just a plain old service charge.

I too get irritated when I send in three orders at the same service level (different sized items) and have to pay three shipping charges when they could all be returned at the same time in the same box.

One of the alternatives would be for PSA to start charging different fees for different sizes and perhaps more incrementally by value. That would be a nightmare wouldn't it?

Bottom line for me is; PSA makes me more money for my cards when I sell them, so they are going to get my business.

Joe

packCollector

if you are looking for the cheapest alternative to get your cards back from PSA then open a fedex account. you can get your 169 cards delivered coast to coast for less than 20 bucks.

Mickey71

If the cards aren't worth a crap...go FEDEX. If they are worth more than $500...you're taking a chance using FEDEX. I've heard they will lose things regularly. Not really a service to send expensive collectibles. In the case of the million (169) subbed cards worth $400...he should have used FEDEX.

KbKards

As I said, I had 169 cards - $22.50 for the first 25 and an additional 36 dollars for the other 144 cards. Still with me?

They charged a total of $58.50 to ship the 169 cards


Stop right there. Nobody said you were going to be charged the exact postage that would be listed on the postage label. Below cost shipping is just a marketing gimmick that some businesses use to get you to buy and the cost of it is added to the product you're buying. You computed PSA's advertised shipping and handling charges to be $58.50 and PSA charged you $58.50. PSA is a business and can list any price they want for the product and services they provide. If the total price for the service you want isn't feasible for you then don't use the service. How much money they make or save on the products and services they provide is really none of your concern. If you think they're making a fortune because of it then buy some stock. If PSA wanted to they could offer free shipping or reduce shipping to a flat $5.00 per order no matter how many cards but then all they would do is increase the cost of grading. It's all the same to you in the end.