What's the cheapest you can mail a slabbed single $20 coin for?
DMWJR
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Not something I do every day, but I have a number of coins in the category, but haven't figured out a reasonable way to ship them if I sell them for $20, other than in groups. The slab makes it non-machinable. I sent one to a guy in a cardboard ribbed insert in a standard envelope and someone at the post office ran it through the machine cracking the slab in half. Just looking at the USPS site, it looks like it would cost me $3.00 to mail one.
Doug
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charge $3 shipping on top of $20
They just sent me one airmail all the way from China for .99 cents. Not sure how they do it but certainly makes $3.00 seem excessive.
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
I'd probably insure any $20 coins I shipped - $1,300 is a lot to lose.
For a slab don't waste your time with nonmachinable first class. Bite the bullet and use a padded mailer for 3 bucks. JMHO.
Unfortunately, $3 is the cheapest. If it's eBay, eBay labels is $2.66 with the discount.
That's what I figured. Roger I guess I should have specified this was not a $20 COIN or even a $20 Omega!!!
How is anyone sending coins for $3? I sent a group out this Monday for $3.50 each in padded up bubble mailers. The lady at the PO said the price just went up.
A couple were $20 coins, all First Class. Stick enough weightless paper in the bubbler to keep the mailer from getting "sorted".
It’s cheaper if you buy the postage label on eBay or PayPal than doing it at the post office as those two provide discounted pricing.
The price was $3 before the increase. If you buy the label on ebay or something like that, you get a small discount, so it would be about $2.66 I believe.
The cheapest? I guess if a package is being deliver close to home, one can always try to write the recipient's address as a sender. Postage and jail time would be optional.
Just checked on sending a 4 ounce parcel, (padded mailer containing a slab between two pieces of lightweight corrugated cardboard) and a packing slip). $3.50 at the post office, $2.66 with eBay label (up from $2.61). 8 ounce eBay label went to $3.18 from $2.77. Plus the cost of the mailer of course, about another 6 to 12 cents in quantity.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
I guess I have more time (and spit) than most people, but I buy discount postage stamps on ebay. If you are patient you can find lots for 60 or 65 percent of face value. It would be mixed denominations of older gummed stamps. Then I lick and stick until it all adds up to the appropriate rate.
How much do they charge you to ship the stamps to you? lol
$3 and peanuts in a padded envelope. If it's 3/4" or more it gets kicked out of the auto cancel line and becomes hand handled and cancelled. So, just add enough of the foam peanuts to make it thick enough.
Carry on,
bob
$2.66 thru eBay + envelope is the cheapest I found. Also stamps.com has a similar price structure.
eBay ID-bruceshort978
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This is how I read the thread title. The thread body explained it a bit differently
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Usually free shipping (tons of old stamps for postage).
Yes, I sell discount postage at 65% with free shipping. A little higher if the denomination are higher. Bit lower if the denominations are lower. Sold about $10,000 face last year and probably used about $2000 face.
[I generally find eBay labels fast more efficient, especially as it uploads tracking automatically]
I started charging a flat 3.00 on my various eBay auctions and only shipping in padded envelopes. I sold some political buttons and sent them in a regular large envelope and they got flattened so always use the padded envelopes now.
K
Last week at the PO, the clerk said that due to the thickness, (slab in corrugated and in bubble mailer) it was not machinable. I paid 3.50. She indicated that was the least expensive option in person at the PO.
Thanks Mel, that confirms it as you are one of the cheapest people in know, lol. I was in ch-town yesterday. I should have called. Sorry!
No kidding. Just got a package of three small (but nonetheless effective) flashlights from Hong Kong. Cost a bit under $3.00 for the trio.
I do the same thing but only for media mail where you don't get a discount for buying the shipping on-line on eBay, PayPal or USPS Click-n-ship. Some times the stamps are older than the postal clerk, Besides, you need a pretty big envelope when using six or eight cent stamps.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
So far eBay gives me a 84% make that a 84 cent discount for a 4 ounce package or $2.66, $3.50 it I buy the postage at the post office.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
ch-town? You can spell Mississippi but you can't spell Chattanooga?
Let me know a few hours in advance next time and we'll have lunch at Bea's.
I didn’t know who might be looking for you so I didn’t want to give your location away
do you want to include envelope, paper, bubble wrap, tape, toner, computer, printer, cost of getting to post office?
Well I would have to find out the cost of insurance for the square footage used to prepare the package, anticipated cost of defense,estimate of toilet papers squares to be used, etc. I’ll get back to you on it.
Here's how they do it - we're subsidizing their shipping!
"These super low shipping rates are being subsidized by the U.S. Postal Service. Yes, the United States and, in a roundabout way, the U.S. taxpayer is footing the bill so that Chinese merchants can ship their products to the USA for dirt cheap, essentially losing millions to support a dynamic where domestic American businesses are being undercut by foreign merchants who are immune to any and all intellectual property and consumer safety laws."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2017/11/05/how-the-usps-epacket-gives-postal-subsidies-to-chinese-e-commerce-merchants-to-ship-to-the-usa-cheap/#7298614240ca
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
They lied, or at least are grossly misinformed, or at least don't know how to explain what they might actually know.
I had a clerk tell me the same thing once.
"Nonmachinable First Class" means it is a letter that can't go through the machine because it has uneven contents (such as a coin) inside. It is first class rate plus 21 cents for the non-machinable part. Problem is, it usually goes through a machine anyway, so wrap securely.
What your clerk (and mine) was trying to say, or should have said, was that your item was over 1/4" thick and/or fully rigid (not at all bendable). Then it goes as a small package, hence the 3.50 charge.
I once had a clerk tell me my item could not go as nonmachinable first class because it could not go through the machine.
What he should have said was that since it was fully non-bendable it qualified as a package.
There are some gray areas - a slab in an envelope (if less that 1/4 " thick) might pass as nonmachinable first class but for me it is not worth trying with a slab.
I do not sell coins... however, I have mailed a few, for various reasons.... cost was not a concern...more interested in safety and security, so paid the necessary fees. Cheers, RickO
1st class tracking 3.50 + envelope.. I've been eating a buck her and there lately since people I guess are used to 3 bucks.. I need to get on the print your own label but that requires internet.
If my store goes gangbusters I'll get the internets again, but doing so well without out it.. the wife and I actually talk and read books and enjoy films. 25 pieces is a hundred bucks now, could be 75ish.. that's not bad.