I have some post cards from 1910 - 1915 and I would like to know what would be the safest and most cost effective way to ship them individually. Should I use just a regular envelope, an envelope with cardboard (so it doesn't bend), or a bubble mailer? Any information or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I have sold many postcards on eBay and the way I mail them is to print out 1 sheet of paper showing the item and fold it over the card(s) and mail 1st class. They don't get creased or bent as they just flex with the mail being handled.
Flex with the mail? Good grief. I would much rather the postcards that I buy be shipped with sturdy cardboard around them in a cardboard mailer. I Love the USPS...but...I get extremely bent "paper" mail all of the time.
Unless you are selling a very cheap card i would recommend sending with cardboard protection, almost all of my postcard sales i use cardboard and a post card plastic sleeve.
I ship all of my postcards in rigid plastic postcard sleeves (" toploaders " )placed inside an invitation sized envelope. The cost is about the same as a cardboard mailer . I have only had one postcard destroyed out of the 34,000+ I have shipped.
The best part about using the rigid sleeves is that there is no "waste". Instead of throwing away the cardboard mailer, buyers have a sleeve to protect the card.
I've found shipping lots of 100 cards or so by USPS Flat Rate envelope to be most economical. Doing is via PayPal includes Free delivery confirmation.
With single cards, I haven't settled on a method yet. I found Neglus' suggestion an interesting one since it seems practical. However, I got a very big surprise at my post office one day. I shipped a single card first class with a sturdy cardboard insert by First Class Mail. I found my envelope in my p.o. box a few days later. Couldn't be it didn't have enough postage since the counter clerk handled the outgoing piece.
I come to find out that the envelope was "not flexible" (machine handled) according to my buddy clerk and hence it was returned for additional postage! I never heard of this before, but apparently the recent rate increase (May) stipulated this change.
Initially my PO charged me a $.17 surcharge for "rigid" and I paid the extra for about a year. Finally I decided to challenge their interpretation of the rule because the mailer was flexible and always was machine cancelled. My buddy clerk told me that they had gotten a little more lax - that it was now ok to just pay the 1 oz postage. I mail in invitation sized envelopes and my packages do not qualify for Delivery Confirmation but truthfully, in the thousands I have shipped, that has never been an issue. I see no point in paying for Delivery Confirmation and extra packaging to ship a $10 item.
Thank you Neglus. From what you wrote, you are using a rigid card mailer now and your USPS branch isn't dinging you the extra $0.17? That's great!
My counter clerks are great, but I think that sometimes they aren't aware of the USPS' policies when it comes to mailing things. Long ago, a couple of my local counter clerks told me you could not use tape to seal the flap on a USPS Flat Rate Envelope; it could possibly be rejected. The USPS Web site doesn't concur with that. In fact, it states that "tape may be used to seal the envelope." I reprinted those pages, gave them to my buddies and now they go out sealed and not one has been returned.
I don't use rigid cardboard, I use "rigid" plastic postcard sleeves. They actually bend enough without damage to go over the rollers (or whatever they use) for automated handling. Since they are flexible, I do not have to pay the rigid surcharge. PS My postal clerk told me the same thing about tape on the flat rate envelopes and then told me that was rescinded. Now he told me that it's in effect again! Brother!
)
)
)
)
)
