How to Ship on a Budget

If you're not careful, shipping can take up a large amount of your hockey card budget. In Dec 09, I made 20 trades, and I probably paid at least 30$ for just the postage. If I had bought new bubble mailers and materials for shipping every time, the cost for shipping can rise quickly. There are several things that you can do to save when shipping your cards.

First, always re-use your bubble mailers. When trading, you get one bubble mailer going out and one coming in. You can re-use that bubble mailer for the next trade. I usually cover the old address with a recycled piece of paper.

Thin out your packages. As long as your package is thinner than 2 cm (3/4 inch in the US), you can ship using the "oversized envelope" option (large letter in US). Don't let the postal clerk tell you otherwise. If they get huffy, don't confront, just ask for how much postage you need and put it on yourself and mail away.

Finally, be sure to lighten up your packages. In Canada, there are price hikes at 100g, 200g, 250 g, and 500g. If you are in this hobby for the long term you could save a lot of money by buying digital scale. I bought one for 20$ shipped over 2 years ago and it paid for itself in 4 months.

Its always a good idea to get become familiar with the postal office's pricing and restrictions. I can't speak much for the US, but in Canada you can ship paper like objects like photos or cards without a declaration form as over-sized letter mail. Don't let the postal clerk tell you otherwise. Just say that the package contains photos or paper products. This is fine for smaller cost items, but be sure to declare more expensive items, or even ship them via a trackable method. You can get a guide from the local post office with a handy table for figuring out the postage you'll owe. I've included a series of tables below from the Canada Post website which has costs for the different weights.

Here are some handy tips on how to accomplish all of the above:

• Anything thicker than a 10 ct card box is thicker than 2 cm when placed in a bubble mailer. If its thicker than 2 cm, then you can't mail it as an over sized letter.
• With adequate protection it IS possible to ship 100 cards in an oversized letter mail. More than that is pushing it.
• The bubble mailer needs to be only big enough to hold the cards. Cut off excess paper and bubble and tape the side shut if you are near the cutoff. This can save you a couple of grams if you need it.
• Re-use old bubble mailers. Tape a sheet of used paper to the front.
• Make smart trades if you need supplies. Run out of game used top loaders? Trade for some game used cards.
• Run out of team bags? Team bags are fancy speak for "plastic bag + taped shut". Here are some alternatives: Re-used team-bags, the bags that 100 ct penny sleeves come in, the bag that the team bags come in, old pack wrappers (as long as they can fit a top loader in the interior)
• Sandwich your cards. For 9 cards (or equivalent thickness), here's a cheap way to send securely every time: two decoys, three top loaders, 5 penny sleeves and 1 team bag. Take the three highest value cards put them in penny sleeves and top loaders. In the last two penny sleeves, place three cards in each (be careful when inserting). Sandwhich the cards as follows and place them all in a team bag: Decoy - Top Loader - 3 in sleeve - Top Loader - 3 in sleeve - top loader - decoy. Then tape the team bag securely shut so that none of the cards can move. You just protected the corners of 9 cards. If you use thin, but stong decoys, you can get up to 15 cards this way, but its a push.
  

All the best in your hockey trading!