how to ship single coins cheaply

[kaiser613]

hello all,
I've just started selling coins on ebay and am off to a good start, I shipped my first 2 sales yesterday and already turned a profit on the set I bought them in, but, the cost to mail them hurt my profit margin a bit, I shipped each single coin in a envelope inside of a bubble mailer with a packing slip and the coin inself was inside of a coin envelope. cost at post office, $2.07 plus a buck for tracking. since I only charge 1.25 shipping on the listing im considering changing how I ship in the future, I read that some sellers ship single coins " first class non machinable" which I tried to find some reference to on the usps site but all I could find on it was some extremely confusing jargon laid out in state statues format ( god, I hate going through state statutes) but what I managed to deduce is that you can only ship non machinable if you fill a tray of 200 on the darned things! for those of you that don't know what the heck im talkin about a non machinable letter is ( as far as I can tell) a letter which has a rigid object of some kind in it and cant be sent through their sorting machine for fear of crushing the object inside and ships for a 64 cent stamp. so my question is does anyone know anyway 1 could ship a single coin safely for $1.25 or less?

 

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[Davers]

Good question:

 

[Iamrussell]

When ive bought single coins a couple have come in a regular envelope placed in between a small piece of cardboard- sorry I cant remember what the exact postage was when I received them but dont think it was more than $1.25

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just keep stacking, just keep stacking, stacking stacking stacking

 

[Davers]

Maybe you can look at NGC's website to see how they suggest the shipping of coins ; there may not be a cheaper way but IMO the main thing is that the buyer gets the coin in the condition he or she expects . You may have to raise your price or let the buyer pay shipping , you'll figure it out.

 

[McClod]

Never ever ship a coin loose in an envelope, unless you want it lost. Writing "non-machinable" on an envelope even if you paid the nonmachineable rate does not guarantee that it will not go through their machines! I retired earlier this year after almost 37 years, the last 7 of which were in Mailing Requirements. The way you said you shipped it is probably the best, I'll be happy to look further into it but I'm not on a computer now so cant look the regs up.

pe.usps.com will take you to the Domestic Mail Manual but it would be best to call your District Mailing Requirements office. I think I can find the number if I knew your zipcode. If you're shipping valuables the safest, but not cheapest way is registered mail.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

..I bought a couple Morgans once and when i got it, the envelope was ripped and they were in between folder paper....Thank god they were still there..But they were just BARELY staying in the envelope.

So if you do ship...Make sure they are safe inside the envelope....I think they only paid like 85 cents for shipping. I used to sell small things on Ebay like that Ikes, silver dimes, etc...but It was too riskey for me shipping stuff with no secuirty...but again..thats just my opinion

good luck!

 

[foiler]

You shouldn't be loosing money on shipping, unless your offering "free shipping" which in your case you shouldn't. Pre-weighing your item including all the packing material plus a sheet of paper to compensate for the shipping label and tape to attach it to the envelope will tell you what to charge. You should up charge the cost of your packaging onto the actual mailing cost. If the Ebay shipping program indicates your cost to ship is $1.25 you should add between .75 - $1 to that so you have money to replace the materials you use. It's business 101.

 

[texasvarmit]

hello all,
I've just started selling coins on ebay and am off to a good start, I shipped my first 2 sales yesterday and already turned a profit on the set I bought them in, but, the cost to mail them hurt my profit margin a bit, I shipped each single coin in a envelope inside of a bubble mailer with a packing slip and the coin inself was inside of a coin envelope. cost at post office, $2.07 plus a buck for tracking. since I only charge 1.25 shipping on the listing im considering changing how I ship in the future, I read that some sellers ship single coins " first class non machinable" which I tried to find some reference to on the usps site but all I could find on it was some extremely confusing jargon laid out in state statues format ( god, I hate going through state statutes) but what I managed to deduce is that you can only ship non machinable if you fill a tray of 200 on the darned things! for those of you that don't know what the heck im talkin about a non machinable letter is ( as far as I can tell) a letter which has a rigid object of some kind in it and cant be sent through their sorting machine for fear of crushing the object inside and ships for a 64 cent stamp. so my question is does anyone know anyway 1 could ship a single coin safely for $1.25 or less?

I used to sell some on eBay. Coins etc mostly.
Here is my advice:
Decide on a set dollar amount of acceptable possible "loss" in shipping. Mine was $20. My rule for myself was anything more than $20 had to be shipped "fancy" (read expensive).

The less fancy cheapo shipping for coins was done, in a regular postal envelope (the no see type are best have blue color inside so you can't see the writing inside) and the coin is placed a self sealing corrugated cardboard coin shipping thing, that is made to ship coins inside an envelope. You can rubber stamp your name etc on the cardboard, then tape it to the inside of the envelope before sealing, and clear tape both the inked address (to prevent smears of ink from rain etc) and the folding flap (to prevent theft or loss).

The coin is protected by these self sealing cardboard folders, and the things can be squished really flat if you so desire to make the envelope really thin. Never lost a coin that way, or had an unhappy buyer.

they cardboard things are called Saf T Mailers, here is a link to same thing sold on ebay: 12 6 Safe T Mailer Corrugated Folding Padded Mailers Great for Shipping Coins | eBay

however I bought mine thru a mail order place in bulk, not via ebay.



the #6 size is the regular size I got and use to this day their website:
Safe-T-Mailer Inc. in bulk 500 for $116 is 23 cents each. Also old cereal boxes cut up with scissors in a pinch.

 

[Harry_Morant]

I went to my local carton making business and asked them to cut 1/8 cardboard (White/Kraft board) into 4x6 with a perforated insert to fit a 2x2. Pop out the insert, put in the 2x2 and tape the thin file card rectangles which I have cut up to the front and rear and I've had nothing but happy customers - cheap too but that would depend on how many you order. They cost me 20c for 200 but could get down to about 15c for bigger orders. The good thing about these is for badges which are thick, you just double up, and when sending postcards and photos you just apply tape to the back of the perforated rectangle and use it as the stiffener and wrap in brown paper. Sure you can cut up cereal boxes but I'd have to eat a lot to keep up the cardboard supply. Time is money so the time saved having pre-done is absolutely worth the cost - they look professional too!