Shipping Internationally in Plain Envelopes

wilyfungi

wilyfungi

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Have any of you guys done it? I do not know if it is even possible with customs forms (maybe with stamps.com or something... or maybe not even that difficult). Obviously I want to do it with a toploader and maybe taped edges or something too, just throwing a card in a plain envelope is not going to end well a lot of the time.

With the recent price spike for first class mail international from $3 to $6.20 shipping small orders in bubble mailers no longer makes sense, people who would order 1, 2, even 3 cards before will just pass.

I am sorry if this is not the place for this, I just could not think of anywhere to bring this up or who to even bring it up with. My international business has diedddd since I made the changeover for prices, and I always had such good success with bubble mailers until now.
 
wilyfungi said:
Have any of you guys done it? I do not know if it is even possible with customs forms (maybe with stamps.com or something... or maybe not even that difficult). Obviously I want to do it with a toploader and maybe taped edges or something too, just throwing a card in a plain envelope is not going to end well a lot of the time.

With the recent price spike for first class mail international from $3 to $6.20 shipping small orders in bubble mailers no longer makes sense, people who would order 1, 2, even 3 cards before will just pass.

I am sorry if this is not the place for this, I just could not think of anywhere to bring this up or who to even bring it up with. My international business has diedddd since I made the changeover for prices, and I always had such good success with bubble mailers until now.
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I've had good luck shipping in a standard mailing envelope internationally. Prices are cheap and if you put the cards into a toploader they will make it safely 99.9% of the time.

I think the price varies for international first class mail though depending on destination.
 
NarcoticHobo said:
wilyfungi said:
Have any of you guys done it? I do not know if it is even possible with customs forms (maybe with stamps.com or something... or maybe not even that difficult). Obviously I want to do it with a toploader and maybe taped edges or something too, just throwing a card in a plain envelope is not going to end well a lot of the time.

With the recent price spike for first class mail international from $3 to $6.20 shipping small orders in bubble mailers no longer makes sense, people who would order 1, 2, even 3 cards before will just pass.

I am sorry if this is not the place for this, I just could not think of anywhere to bring this up or who to even bring it up with. My international business has diedddd since I made the changeover for prices, and I always had such good success with bubble mailers until now.
Click to expand...

I've had good luck shipping in a standard mailing envelope internationally. Prices are cheap and if you put the cards into a toploader they will make it safely 99.9% of the time.

I think the price varies for international first class mail though depending on destination.
Click to expand...

So you never had any problems shipping it as a letter or flat? Do you know which one you shipped it as?

I know the price will vary :) just looking for more information in general
 
I shipped a Japanese Expedition pack of 5 cards in no top loaders in a bubble mailer for 6.75. The person paid me 2.90. >.> Apparently it's not considered a large envelope but rather a parcel despite how thin it is.

I tried to send a single card in a top loader for only 2.25 and the person stamped a 6.55 label on it and I was like "ohhh nooo no no no you don't... I'd bite the bullet with the first one but I ain't paying for that. Why is it so expensive for a single card?" She was annoyed and was like "That's a parcel. This is the minimum price." -_-;;

So I just attached some tape around the corners in case it gets wet, and stamped 4 forever stamps with a .20 cent stamp and it was approved.

Whether it will make it to the Netherlands safely or not... dunno. I'll know in a couple of weeks.
 
Most of the time, if you are sending just a few cards you can use a regular envelope. If you send more an a few cards (or decide to use a cushion mailer), expect to pay $6+ to ship internationally. It is safe to send with a regular envelope; the only downside is that you do not have a customs number as proof of shipment. If you pay for the exact postage (without stamps) then with USPS it will be on your receipt. Although to eBay and PayPal, that is not an accepted form of proof. The problem is, if you're selling a few cards not worth a whole lot, it makes no sense to pay $24+ for Priority and Express mail with Delivery Confirmation. As for the safety issue, I have sent out roughly 500 packages in the past year with a good chunk of them being international. Only once was the package "lost."
 
SoulWind I sent out about 500 packages the last year, the thing is they were all bubble mailers because customers were 100% willing to pay my "combined cost" of $3.50 :(

so when you send in an envelope, you get to ship at letter rate SoulWind? that is the main thing I need to find out, I have been trying to wrap my head around it and it looks like rigid things are okay as letters but not flats, which is kind of funny
 
wilyfungi said:
so when you send in an envelope, you get to ship at letter rate SoulWind? that is the main thing I need to find out, I have been trying to wrap my head around it and it looks like rigid things are okay as letters but not flats, which is kind of funny
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That's correct. But you need to make sure that whatever you ship is thin and lightweight. I believe the cut off is 1-2 oz although I could be wrong on that as I don't work for USPS. :p What exactly do you mean by flats though?
 
Well you have letters, then flats, then actual packages. But apparently flats reallyyyyyy have to be like actual magazines, things they can just bend right in half. I do not really understand, because it is the more expensive service, you can do letters nonmachinable...but not flats.

As far as thin, I already have an idea of the limits...seems like three top loaders width is about the most you can push it :( or might even already be too far
 
wilyfungi said:
Well you have letters, then flats, then actual packages. But apparently flats reallyyyyyy have to be like actual magazines, things they can just bend right in half. I do not really understand, because it is the more expensive service, you can do letters nonmachinable...but not flats.
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Oh ok I was not aware of that!

I am not sure about sending flats international. I'd guess it to be more costly.
 
I have received many packages from Japan in plain envelopes. I returned a damaged card to Japan in a plain envelope this week with no problems.
 
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