A Note To All USA Traders

[MW Connection]

PWE works as well when you pay the Non-Machinable surcharge, which guarantees that the letters don't go through a machine sorter in the USA. When they go international, then at times they are on their own.

I know in the United States I can ship with a protection dummy card and write non machinable on the letter for .70 cents. It works awesome and mostly everyone has been honest about their card arriving to them.

[centrehice]

That is the correct price for Non-Machinable postage domestically - .70 cents

To Canada that cost is $1.16 plus the .20 cent surcharge for a total of $1.36. for up to 4-5 regular sized cards.
To Europe 3 or more cards will cost you $1.75 via PWE/Non-Machinable.

[FrenchConnection]

What we have in Western New York is a location problem - I'm guessing gmoney lives here as well, all the PO's follow this now, at least the ones I've been to - and your package will actually will come back to you for insufficient postage. I've given up on that method.

To the OP, here's another suggestion - in my opinion, make larger trades, trade old trade bait for new trade bait to make it more worth sending to add on to a deal, etc - but too few want to go that route

[Drewk86a]

Important: The "non-standard surcharge" does not always mean non-machinable. Unless your PWE is extremely thick (1/2 inch or more) there is still a chance it could be run through one of the sorting machines. The USPS has upgraded many of its machines to process fatter letters. With up to 1,000 letters on the feed station at all times, there is no way for the machine operator to test the rigidity of each letter so if your letter will cause a machine jam it is usually not discovered until it happens.

My advice, is to pad the envelops as you describe but make the envelopes fatter or taller. The taller envelopes like wedding envelopes or some greeting card envelopes stick out above the standard size envelopes and are easier for the machine operators to identify.

I use a CD mailer. The square envelope is rigid, but more importantly it is taller. If my CD mailer, somehow, makes it the feed station of a sorting machine, there is a very good chance the operator will see it and pull it out of the feed tray.

A CD mailer with 1 - 3 cards can usually get in at under 2 oz.
1 or 2 oz letter (with surcharge) = $1.36
3 oz letter (with surcharge) = 1.82

The CD mailers are more expensive than PWE, but you can buy them in bulk on-line. Make sure you look for the rigid one and not the plain cardboard.

[Crosby 87]

Unfortunately, the PWE method has not worked for me at the half dozen PO's that I have been to in my area. They all say the top loader is too rigid to be machine sorted.

yep same issue here. location/region specific.

[Crosby 87]

What we have in Western New York is a location problem - I'm guessing gmoney lives here as well, all the PO's follow this now, at least the ones I've been to - and your package will actually will come back to you for insufficient postage. I've given up on that method.

if it doesnt come back, there's a chance your recipent gets stuck with the postage charge.

[centrehice]

Gallinator buys his CD envelopes from Walmart at a very good price. They are rigid and really work. I use them as well as a Re-inforced PWE. My 2 Walmarts don't have them, but when I am in Portland, I grab a couple of packages.

That guy that was on TV about 3 years ago giving away CD's on how to use Windows, eBay. He was mailing them to Americans at a cost of 50 cents in a rigid CD envelope and charging consumers postage of $6.95. Sure the instructional CD was free, but his profit was in the $6.45 postage and handling he charged.

CD envelopes are all shipped at the envelope rate, not the package rate.

[rustyisin]

if you pay for your items with paypal, the shipping is required to have a tracking number and a signature for seller protection. This costs money.
Moreover, when the item is transferred to a different country mail carrier there is no guarantee they will collect a signature. This effectively voids the seller protection.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news - but it isn't in the US seller's best interests to sell any item worth less than $100 to a Canadian buyer.

[centrehice]

if you pay for your items with paypal, the shipping is required to have a tracking number and a signature for seller protection. This costs money.
Moreover, when the item is transferred to a different country mail carrier there is no guarantee they will collect a signature. This effectively voids the seller protection.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news - but it isn't in the US seller's best interests to sell any item worth less than $100 to a Canadian buyer.

Nothing is required to have a tracking number or signature. That's not true at all.

[centrehice]

if you pay for your items with paypal, the shipping is required to have a tracking number and a signature for seller protection. This costs money.
Moreover, when the item is transferred to a different country mail carrier there is no guarantee they will collect a signature. This effectively voids the seller protection.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news - but it isn't in the US seller's best interests to sell any item worth less than $100 to a Canadian buyer.

Nothing is required to have a tracking number or signature. That's not true at all. You are lucky as a Canadian Seller, When you ship to the USA, everything arrives because the Postal System works, unlike at home in Canada, where it fails badly.

Hockey cards also do not get stolen by either Customs Officials or Postal Employees in the USA, like they often do when they are shipped to Canada.

I agree it's a risk to ship to Canada, but there is no strict rule in place regarding Paypal and Tracking, plus signature.