Trades By Mail --- Postage?!?

[Key365]

I want to know what the best (and cheapest) way to mail pins that I'm trading. Of the last few trades it seems to be different every time. I've received pins in a basic envelope with 2 stamps on it, I've also received pins that are packed so tightly I need to use the jaws-of-life to open. The cost to send fluctuates a lot too based on how I package it. It's hard to trade a pin when it costs nearly 5 bucks to send.

So all-things-being equal, how do you package a standard pin and what is the average shipping cost?

 

[kronos]

I want to know what the best (and cheapest) way to mail pins that I'm trading. Of the last few trades it seems to be different every time. I've received pins in a basic envelope with 2 stamps on it, I've also received pins that are packed so tightly I need to use the jaws-of-life to open. The cost to send fluctuates a lot too based on how I package it. It's hard to trade a pin when it costs nearly 5 bucks to send.

So all-things-being equal, how do you package a standard pin and what is the average shipping cost?

If you have Paypal, you can pay and print postage through there. Single pins cost me between 1.60-1.90 to ship DC included. If you need help with it, PM me, and I can walk you through it.

 

[shooting4ownhand]

Ship through paypal. For between 1-4 pins I can usually ship them for around $1.70. For international, I recommend buying international stamps and getting it ready yourself. I never pay more than $4 in postage that way.

 

[charlottetowell]

I'm not 100% on this but does the us mailing system also go by size of envelope as well as weight....I'm in the uk so am not sure of this but the other day I received 2 trade envelopes from America, both containing 1 pin of similar size and weight....one was in a Regular sized bubble mailer, and the other was in a long narrow envelope that had been reinforced with tape etc so was super secure....I noticed a big difference in the shipping costs....

The bubble mailer was $6 something , and the envelope was $2 something, and I remember inking wow! I didn't know you can mail things that cheaply from the states!! I still have the envelopes if anyone wants a pic, I wonder if this difference was due to size, weight, state it was psed from?? Anyone shed any light on this? I know as a uk resident, our mail goes on size and weight of the package.

 

[Poohs_hotstuff]

I'm in Canada and the cost depends on length, width and thickness of the envelope, so consequently I have developed a similar way of packing so that the majority of my envelopes are the same thickness. If they exceed a certain thickness, they cannot be sent as lettermail or a light packet and the cost jumps dramatically. Placing all pins (if possible) on a single backing and bubble-wrapping this inside a bubble envelope is my usual way as it keeps the thickness within their acceptable limits. Weight is the next factor and there is nothing you can do about this lol. I always try to see if there is more than just one pin that can be traded, as one pin is barely worth the postage any more, unless it's a pin of importance to you. Still never hurts to ask if there is anything else you can trade.

 

[imp]

I posted some info here a while back:

http://disneypinforum.com/showthrea...-Spending-A-Fortune&highlight=internationally

 

[shooting4ownhand]

I'm not 100% on this but does the us mailing system also go by size of envelope as well as weight....I'm in the uk so am not sure of this but the other day I received 2 trade envelopes from America, both containing 1 pin of similar size and weight....one was in a Regular sized bubble mailer, and the other was in a long narrow envelope that had been reinforced with tape etc so was super secure....I noticed a big difference in the shipping costs....

The bubble mailer was $6 something , and the envelope was $2 something, and I remember inking wow! I didn't know you can mail things that cheaply from the states!! I still have the envelopes if anyone wants a pic, I wonder if this difference was due to size, weight, state it was psed from?? Anyone shed any light on this? I know as a uk resident, our mail goes on size and weight of the package.

Shipping from the US depends on size/length and weight. I've shipped pins from the US as cheaply as $2.90 and spent as much as $5.00. It really depends on if the post office considers the bubble mailer a package or long envelope.