How to SHIP decks without overpaying or OVERCHARGING

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Fluffykitten
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How to SHIP decks without overpaying or OVERCHARGING

Unread post by Fluffykitten »

ok, so i run my own online business and have been collecting cards only recently and the first thing i saw on ebay and other card buying places (im looking at you bicyclecards.com) is that so many people charge waaaay to much for shipping.

for my business i can ship almost everything for FREE and NOT take a loss. even to canada.

now im going assume that because cards are relatively heavy people might now know how to ship them without breaking the bank. well i am going to show you have to know exactly what it costs to ship 1 to 8 decks for less than 5.15 to anywhere in the usa. if you are in the USA and you are ordering less than 8 decks the shipping SHOULD NEVER, not ever, costs more than 5.15. period. i mean NEVER. did i mention it shipping should never cost more than 5.15 to ship 8 or less decks?

Here is how

step one: Gather supplies:

Image

1-a regular kitchen food scale(costs $10-15) or a postal scale if you are doing this for kickstarter, now this is required if you want to pay less than 5.15. if you dont you can skip to the priority section.
2- padded bubble mailers. i recommend http://www.papermart.com/Product%20Page ... upID=19011
* you can get 150 for $23.47 plus shipping. the size is 6" x 9 + 1-5/8" and that comes to about $0.20 each after shipping. again if you are doing this for a Kickstarter or for selling lots of decks this is a must.
* you can also get smaller quantities on etsy, or even ebay but this is the best deal.

3- or you can use FREE priority mail shipping supplies, USPS will ship these FREE to your home:
free padded envelopes (fits 8 decks to 10 decks, cost to ship is $5.05 with online shipper discount)):
https://store.usps.com/store/browse/usp ... iorityMail
free small flat rate box (fits 4 to 6 decks, cost to ship is $5.15 with online shipper discount)
https://store.usps.com/store/browse/usp ... iorityMail

Step two:
decide how many decks you want to ship:
1-3 decks use the bubble mailer
Image
Image
perfect fit.
the cost for 1 deck(envelope included) is $1.81 (it will weigh 3.75oz but usps rules say if something weighs 3.01oz that means you have pay the 4oz price.
the cost for 2 decks is $2.48
the cost for 3 decks is $3.14

if you put in more than 3 decks you will hit the 13oz cap. It is a usps rule that if a package weighs more than 13oz it MUST be shipped priority
Image

and at the point it makes more sense to ship flat rate priority because it is cheaper.

PRIORITY MAIL

4-6 decks use the small flat rate box
the cost is always $5.15
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shown here with 6 decks
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thats my company logo, sorry i dont have any boxes that dont have my logo. :) http://www.KoutureCrochet.com

7-10 decks use the padded flat rate envelope, but you will have to stuff one envelope inside the other, which is annoying, but will make sure your decks arrive perfectly.
Image
Image
yep thats TEN decks
including one set of kems box and all. i think there is room in there for dice, and more padding.
Image
still only $5.05 to ship!!

ao now you know, shipping decks should NEVER cost more than $5.15 for up to ten decks!! if you pay more for less decks from the usa to the usa you are being overcharged.

and as a small business owner few things annoy me more than overly expensive shipping.
Russell

Re: How to SHIP decks without overpaying or OVERCHARGING

Unread post by Russell »

It's not that cut and dry actually.

Card collectors are anal about the condition of the cards, any little dent and they freak out. You can't just throw decks loose into a bubble envelope and ship it out. They need to have at least 2 layers of bubble, which is why we wrap our decks in a layer of bubble wrap before it goes into the envelope or box.

You also need to figure in the cost of materials, which you glossed over. Depending on what and how you are shipping you might be using up to $0.50 worth of bubble wrap, cardboard, tape, peanuts, etc. $0.50 doesn't sound like a lot until you need to ship out 1,500 packages, that comes to $750!

Last, but not least, is your time. Yes, my time is worth money, everyones is. That's the H in S&H.

Don't forget the most important factor, if it is not shipped securely you will have to issue a refund or ship a replacement. That makes it doubly important to ensure you have packaged your cards correctly.

Everyone wants things shipped cheap, sometimes you need to pay just a bit extra to make sure it arrives safely.
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Fluffykitten
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Re: How to SHIP decks without overpaying or OVERCHARGING

Unread post by Fluffykitten »

I want to makes urge everything I ship is perfect for my business so I don't do anything that will damage the product.

I have just started collecting and I actually got all of my decks via mail, as well as spending a lot of time shipping.

One thing that really stands out is that 9 out of 10 times packages that ship well start with a good box of bag. The bags I recommended are the bags I have been using for my own business and they affordable yes but also very good. Likewise the flat rate priority boxes are amazing and set up in seconds, literally.

When I do my orders it takes about 2 minutes per package, and everything goes in gift packaging in addition to the regular packages. One thing I did forget to mention, mostly because I don't think there is a need for it, the two orders of 4-6 decks I got, both came perfectly in the small flat rate box. As long as you use your own tape on top of the self sealing, it's golden.

The other thing I forgot to add is this thing:

http://www.uline.com/BL_7605/Super-Duty-Bubble-Bags
Pennies per bag and let's the shipper have a second layer of bubble wrap and this is made for shipping heavy metal objects so a deck of cards will be fine.
There is also the option of putting in a small priority bag and then putting that bag in a priority padded flat rate envelope.
This is not something I have done myself, but I have gotten fragile items shipped to me this way. It's still $5.05 to ship plus time I guess and ok, I stand correct $6 is my new max.

To me it's all about ease, speed and cheap. The method I outlined is the fastest, cheapest way to do it.

I got an order of two decks from eBay that I paid $7 ($3.95+$2.95) to ship. It came in with a $2.81 postage seal on it. Add (generously) $1 for the envelope and that's only $4. Now unless they are paying themselves $60/hour to fold the packaging slip in half and stick in the padded envelope as well as the two decks(3 mins work), I got robbed on shipping. And like I said cause I have my own business and I know what it really costs to ship, there is no reason for that. None.

Now sometimes, rarely, there is good cause to charge $7 for a package that costs $2.81 in postage. Moo for example has amazing packaging that is reusable but also costs a lot to make and prepare for shipping.

Edit: speaking of time:

http://sites.dymo.com/Solutions/Pages/S ... (DYMO_US1)

Dymo printers. Save me mega time. I have the 450 turbo, but I soooo want a 4xl since I ship internationally so often.
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Re: How to SHIP decks without overpaying or OVERCHARGING

Unread post by Fluffykitten »

Of course that's just my opinion. I know that not everyone is like me who rather pays more in product than on shipping. And I assume that these are all regular decks. If for example a deck was $250 I would expect a lot more than just a bubble mailer, and I would do more as well.
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Re: How to SHIP decks without overpaying or OVERCHARGING

Unread post by dazzleguts »

Thanks for the write up Fluffykitten. I don't mind paying a buck or two extra for good packing but I have received packages that turned out to be 3 times their actual shipping cost, and that's international. Having this info clearly laid out may make some shippers think twice about grossly overcharging. A seller I stick with, even though they are in the Netherlands, makes their shipping very transparent and I've found I can trust them in the quality of the cards too.

Would love to see this laid out for international shipping as well.
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Re: How to SHIP decks without overpaying or OVERCHARGING

Unread post by Fluffykitten »

International

Is much harder. It can be hard to guess the prices because they vary so widely by nation, product type and other issues.

However, haven't encountered a situation in which I would need to charge a customer 3x my cost of postage, local or international. Even though I have paid $8 for shipping and gotten packages that cost $2.81 to ship, plus .25 for the bubble mailer, plus .25 for a bubble envelope (see post #3). That pissed me off. Because I know what packaging and mailing costs. I know how easy it is to do from home, and hopefully now you do too.
BMPokerworld

Re: How to SHIP decks without overpaying or OVERCHARGING

Unread post by BMPokerworld »

I found valuemailers.com to have the cheapest bubble mailer prices around. They sell on eBay as well, but those are a little thinner quality. I use papermart.com for bubble pouches. You also need to keep in mind that you pay final value fees on shipping on eBay. Ebay does not give you a discount on the final value fees when you combine shipping. That means that I pay $.33 or more, per item, in final value fees just on the shipping. So when someone buys 17 decks on eBay from us, we pay $5.61 in shipping final value fees + postage of $4.90 + about $.75 in shipping supplies. As you can see, we are heavily subsidizing the shipping. Flat rate envelopes are the same cost to all countries, except Mexico and Canada, which are cheaper.

Thanks!
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Re: How to SHIP decks without overpaying or OVERCHARGING

Unread post by dazzleguts »

Has anyone considered the environmental cost as well? If the bubble lining is not glued to the paper it can be stripped out and both the plastic and paper can be recycled. Otherwise it just gets thrown away. I have received many packages from Europe that were in recyclable bubble mailers, are any available in North America?
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Re: How to SHIP decks without overpaying or OVERCHARGING

Unread post by Fluffykitten »

dazzleguts wrote:Has anyone considered the environmental cost as well? If the bubble lining is not glued to the paper it can be stripped out and both the plastic and paper can be recycled. Otherwise it just gets thrown away. I have received many packages from Europe that were in recyclable bubble mailers, are any available in North America?
i have looked at it but for me i havent found anything that i found affordable.
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Re: How to SHIP decks without overpaying or OVERCHARGING

Unread post by walrus »

dazzleguts wrote:Has anyone considered the environmental cost as well? If the bubble lining is not glued to the paper it can be stripped out and both the plastic and paper can be recycled. Otherwise it just gets thrown away. I have received many packages from Europe that were in recyclable bubble mailers, are any available in North America?
You sound like a damn hippie tree hugger
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Re: How to SHIP decks without overpaying or OVERCHARGING

Unread post by dazzleguts »

You're just saying that because of the bark marks on the side of my face Mr. "valued" member.

@Fluffykitten. Yeah, I thought they might be too much more in cost to be preferred.
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