Shipping advice (cheap mailers + Paypal shipping)

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rictor Posted: 06-23-2007 12:11 AM

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I've been trading games online since 1997, so I have a little bit of experience at this.  Over the years, I've kind of perfected mailing games off to an artform, so I thought I'd share a few tips.

#1  Paypal Shipping - A lot of people think that you can only use Paypal shipping for Ebay sales, but anyone with a Paypal account can use Paypal to print out postage for any package they want to mail.  The great thing about Paypal shipping, besides saving you a trip to the post office, is that delivery confirmation is 18 cents instead of the 60 cents they charge at the post office.  You can also track your packages from your Paypal account by clicking on the links they provide, which is very convenient.  I recommend buying a cheap postage scale off Ebay (probably cost around $20) and weigh your packages yourself.  Then you print out the postage, tape it to your bubble mailer, and pop it in your mailbox.  Here's the link:

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_ship-now&info

#2 Bubble Mailers - Stores charge way too much for bubble mailers, so I buy mine in bulk on Ebay.  If you ship many games, it's worth it to buy a box of 100 bubble mailers on Ebay for around $20 shipped.  Even if it takes you a couple years to use that many mailers, it's worth it if you have the space to store them.  I have 3 boxes of 100 in different sizes I keep in my basement and office closet.  My favorite is the #1 mailer that's big enough to fit a couple of DVDs/games, because it will fit box sets, collector's editions, and oversized games, but is still small enough for single games, is very light, and is slightly cheaper than the next larger size.

#3 Mailing tape - I use a lot of mailing tape, the clear kind that the post office uses that is about 2 inches wide.  I put a small piece on the seal of my bubble mailers to make sure they stay shut in shipping, and I use 4 pieces to cover all 4 sides of my Paypal postage printouts that I attatch to the front of the mailers.  Quaity mailing tape is expensive ($3-5 a roll for the good stuff) and it's too heavy to buy online (shipping charges kill the deal), so I buy mine at Wal-Mart or Big Lots.  Both sell multi-packs of 6-8 rolls that work out to around $1 a roll.  It may take me a year to use a whole package, but if I just bought it as I needed it, I'd spend an extra $20 a year on tape.  I know some people hate buying thing in bulk...but if you have the space, it's really worthwile.  I understand that some people may live in one-bedroom apartments, but I did too at one point.  All I can say, is get creative about storage...get plastic bins to go under your bed, get organizers for your closet that use every square inch of space.

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animallyson replied on 06-23-2007 3:55 AM

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Thanks for this-I had wanted to hear about Paypal shipping from someone who I know trades a lot. I'm going to start using it myself. And I am totally with you on the ebay bubble mailers-so cheap!

Also, Rite-Aid sometimes has really good sales on tape-the good stuff, buy one get one free, etc.

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spooon replied on 06-26-2007 12:53 PM

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 Rictor introduced me to the paypal shipping.  this is a must for any serious person who mails stuff alot.  I used it alot for ebay but could never figure out how to do it for other items.

 I got a really nice scale off of ebay for like $20 and helps a ton when doing ebay and game shipments.  Also, please reuse the mailers when you can.
 

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Lurknomore replied on 06-26-2007 2:09 PM

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Great job rictor.  I stickied the thread, as I feel that it is an informative and necessary read for all those that are new to Goozex and the mailing of games.  Continue to post other notable ideas, and we'll just continue to add to the OP.

I cannot reiterate the greatness that is the Paypal shipping link.  First of all, Delivery Confirmation through PayPal should be free as the whole thing is done electronically...but the discount is plenty great.  One has to wonder why PayPal doesn't offer an easier means of getting to that PayPal shipping page though.  I only can get there by means of the link, as I've tried unsucessfully to find it by scouring their website.

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rictor replied on 06-30-2007 11:28 PM

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My guess is that they don't want people using Paypal shipping for non-Ebay or Paypal store purchases.  That's the only reason I can think of for the secret link.  I wonder if they make a commission of the labels?  Even if they don't, they put the Ebay logo on every single one, so they get a lot of advertising out of the deal.

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bjbarnett replied on 07-03-2007 12:27 PM

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Thanks for the suggestion.  I am going to check out the paypal shipping since it seems like there's always a line of 20 people at the post office and I usually get stuck dealing with the newbie clerk.

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Tredole replied on 07-05-2007 12:56 AM

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Goozex has an easy little button that prints out the sheet with the note + address. just cut down the middle and youve got an address label, although I guess the words are pretty small, I don't tape that on the bubble mailer, just use it for reference when I write the address by hand. 

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cart00nstrip replied on 07-05-2007 4:21 AM

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Tredole:

Goozex has an easy little button that prints out the sheet with the note + address. just cut down the middle and youve got an address label, although I guess the words are pretty small, I don't tape that on the bubble mailer, just use it for reference when I write the address by hand. 

Get your own Gamercard Sig.

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Andre Gigante replied on 07-05-2007 12:28 PM

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rictor:

#2 Bubble Mailers - Stores charge way too much for bubble mailers, so I buy mine in bulk on Ebay.  If you ship many games, it's worth it to buy a box of 100 bubble mailers on Ebay for around $20 shipped.  Even if it takes you a couple years to use that many mailers, it's worth it if you have the space to store them.  I have 3 boxes of 100 in different sizes I keep in my basement and office closet.  My favorite is the #1 mailer that's big enough to fit a couple of DVDs/games, because it will fit box sets, collector's editions, and oversized games, but is still small enough for single games, is very light, and is slightly cheaper than the next larger size.

 I'm pretty big on reducing, re-using, and recycling so I've figured out a way to do so and save a little bit of money on bubble mailers. 

 Any time I receive a game in a bubble mailer I re-use it to send out my next game. Iput the game I'm sending in the old envelope (I usually black out my address with sharpie) and then put that envelope inside of a large manila clasp envelope that has the proper postage and goozex label. 

Hope somebody finds this helpful.  Saves you from buying a mailer and keeps one more from going into the trash right away. 

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DickMcVengeance replied on 07-09-2007 3:00 PM

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http://consumerist.com/consumer/on-the-cheap/get-free-shipping-materials-from-the-post-office-276368.php

I just noticed this, and I figured that everyone here would want to stock up on free shipping materials!

Associate Editor for Destructoid.com Executive Editor for Japanator.com Associate Editor for Tomopop.com

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txa1265 replied on 07-09-2007 3:23 PM

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 More really cool advice - thanks!  I watched someone paying top dollar for that stuff when I was mailing stuff a couple of weeks ago!

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ferndaletiger replied on 07-13-2007 10:58 PM

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Gooodness gracious! $0.16 for delivery confirmation thats AWESOME. Thanks for the info, if I could +1 rep point you I so would! =Þ

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ferndaletiger replied on 07-14-2007 10:31 PM

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I just noticed that its 18 cents as well instead of 16, still so good. I found out because today I shipped Rayman for the Wii...to a ebayer though =Þ

I might have to look into those bubble mailers if there's a good deal on those on ebay. I tend to use those the most.