(11-17-2012, 09:25 PM)jpleazme805 Wrote: PWE have a very high chance of receiving a damaged card... some sellers (new sellers) will ship cards without a toploader or using the old ultra holders, that are very flimsy.. I received a couple of those in 2007... a Lady was selling her son's early 90's cards... every card received was damaged.. 7 cards shipped in PWE.
Sellers think they are saving themselves money & offering lower shipping costs by using PWE... but they are setting themselves up for failure... Postal Clerks don't care about your mail. heck, UPS & FEDEX employees don't care about your packages... Walmart employees recently got in trouble for throwing LCD TV's onto the floor.. nobody cares about other people's stuff.
I think those people that charge $5 or more for shipping are trying to make a couple extra bucks off shipping charges... now, if it is a high dollar card, say $200+ (I picked $200 because not all of on Beckett are rich).. I would not worry about paying $5 shipping, if it was insured & properly packaged..
For domestic shipping, there is not a big difference between First Class & Priority Mail... maybe 1-3 days, maybe.
I served in the Navy & was responsible for my ship's Postal Operations for 4 years. I am familiar with most international shipping policies, at least those countries that I've visited to.
I have never heard of USPS charging extra for a PWE if you write "do not bend" on it. I did not learn that is the schooling I have regarding USPS. I have shipped items (picturers & other documents) in PWE & always write 'do not bend" on them... the Postal Clerks never tell me I have to pay extra..
Only time I've been questions about the items I've shipped, in regards to postage... was when using bubble mailers... I was told it has to be 1/4" thick...
All my cards I ship with toploaders & two pieces of cardboard on each side to protect them... especially if they are jersey/patch cards... those get ruined very easily.. even, if you write "do not bend" on the envelope/bubble-mailer.. trust me.. Out of all the "letter/auto" cards I have purchased, I received 3-4 that had creases that were caused during shipping...
Sellers should ship cards how they want to receive the cards they buy or trade for..
well that is how the post office works.. if you want to write DO NOT BEND on an envelope you need another 20 cent stamp on the envelope. MANY post offices workers do not even know about this rule.