is this a common thing?

So i just got back into cards pretty heavily and have been buying single cards on ebay for between 1-5 bucks on a daily basis. Shipping always between 2.50 and 3.50. All of the packages so far (7 total) 6 have been in bubble mailers 1 PWE, all hand written addresses and none have cost more than $1.00 to ship. Is this a pretty common way to ship cards that sell for cheap?

saw some Aybar's for sale/trade here.

http://www.thebenchtrading.com/thebench ... p?t=312716

zookerman182 said:

So i just got back into cards pretty heavily and have been buying single cards on ebay for between 1-5 bucks on a daily basis. Shipping always between 2.50 and 3.50. All of the packages so far (7 total) 6 have been in bubble mailers 1 PWE, all hand written addresses and none have cost more than $1.00 to ship. Is this a pretty common way to ship cards that sell for cheap?

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Unfortunately, that is pretty common. Your best bet on low end stuff is see what you can buy from the same seller or else you will get screwed with shipping costs. Check sport lots, check out my cards, beckett marketplace, and ebay sellers with large inventory (TNTnorthnj) to see what you can combine. It's rough paying more for shipping than the actual card.

from a seller you don't have much of an option considering that you need to make sure that your item gets to the buyer undamaged. pwe would be great but there's no guarantee that it would make it in the condition shipped.

Yeap. Hit them on their DSRs. Some people validate higher shipping rates by saying it pays for their time/gas. I say that time/gas was dedicated and accounted for whenever you CHOSE to put the item up for bids. I disagree with shipping over $2.50 for a single card, and even then it should come in a penny sleeve, toploader and bubble mailer. If you're going to sell on a site where people are paying for an item, then it's YOUR responsibility to get it to them in acceptable condition.

Sorry for the rant. In the end, you agree to pay the shipping when you bid, so you should always look at it like you're getting a PWE. If you're paying $5 for shipping... expect a PWE and let yourself be surprised with a lead box with tons of bubble wrap. Else, leave 'em that 1 star in their DSR ratings.

On the other hand, if you get charged $5 for shipping (which I've paid for cards that I've looked long and hard for) and get them in a home-made mailer -- I paid $5 for shipping once and the guy apparently took an old photo mailer, cut off the corner and taped it on the two open edges to make a mini cardboard mailer -- then they can expect a PayPal claim for shipping and reporting to eBay. True, I should be happy if the cards make it okay, but it would have been SAFER in something that could have been shipped for $2.50. That extra $2.50 could have been saved for shipping on something else.


GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RAAAGGGEEEEE!

I always try to buy from sellers that offer combined shipping. I do not mind paying $3.00 for shipping on a card, if they offer $.50 for each additional card.

I typically do free shipping or $2.00 shipping and people seem to appreciate that

the cards i have bought arent just base. They are serial numbered variations and such. Which would be tough to pick up any other way.

Im not too mad about the shipping of these cards because they are cheap cards. i just wanted to know if this was normal. I did bid so i do agree to pay the high shipping. And all the cards did come in penny sleeves and top loaders. (i dont know how else to ship them without them being damaged).

TO simply answer your questions, Yes it is normal

zookerman182 said:

the cards i have bought arent just base. They are serial numbered variations and such. Which would be tough to pick up any other way.

Im not too mad about the shipping of these cards because they are cheap cards. i just wanted to know if this was normal. I did bid so i do agree to pay the high shipping. And all the cards did come in penny sleeves and top loaders. (i dont know how else to ship them without them being damaged).

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It is pretty common to send even if they did not sell cheap.

Average s/h on ebay seems to be 3-3.50 (though some sellers charge more + a few charge less). I charge 3.50, but offer a very reasonable combined s/h rate of .50/additional card + a FLAT RATE of $5 s/h no matter how many cards people win. I use new envelopes, new pennysleeves, new toploaders, new teambags, new bubble peanuts, w/dc, insurance for higher $ cards, etc. It costs more than $1/card to ship a card. Often times, I LOSE $ on postage b/c buyers will buy say 100 cards + needless to say, you can’t ship all of those for $5. As a bidder, I bid w/shipping factoring into my bid. I only ding dsrs if the service is horrible- e.g., takes weeks to ship, plain white envelope, damaged card (+ no offer of refund), never getting item, etc.

I charge $2 and cant ship a single card for less than $1.22. Factor in the price of the mailer, penny sleeve, toploader and team bag... Id say $2 is a great price.

I don't sell often, but I tend to lowball shipping, or at least try to be as fair as possible. I generally charge between $1.50 and $1.75 and include a penny sleeve, top loader, team bag if it's an especially valuable card, extra padding/protection, and a bubble mailer. I think a lot of people take shipping into consideration these days, as the lower I set shipping the higher the bids tend to be (and vice versa).

I HATE paying over 2.50 on shipping, that is why I just use free shipping for my auctions.

jswaykos said:

I don't sell often, but I tend to lowball shipping, or at least try to be as fair as possible. I generally charge between $1.50 and $1.75 and include a penny sleeve, top loader, team bag if it's an especially valuable card, extra padding/protection, and a bubble mailer. I think a lot of people take shipping into consideration these days, as the lower I set shipping the higher the bids tend to be (and vice versa).

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On big ticket items i sell i always either do free shipping or almost no shipping. This does indeed make the final big usually higher. Im not at all bothered by the shipping charges. I understand that thats the way it has to be for collectors. I would rather pay the $3.00 shipping charge through sellers on ebay than not have a chance to ever pick up 80% of my players cards.

Yes, I include free shipping for big ticket items as well. Seems kinda silly to charge $2 on something you're selling for over... say... $30 (single card)

While $3.50 is a little expensive, shipping and handling covers everything from the materials the card is sent in to the shipping itself.

i saw this aybar on here a while ago, looks like a signature error.

bigpapiMA32 said:

While $3.50 is a little expensive, shipping and handling covers everything from the materials the card is sent in to the shipping itself.

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i charge $3.50 and that's my cost (postage cost), I mail from Canada and in a photo mailer, to the States it's like 3.49 to ship them, I could do it cheaper but they wouldn't be as secure. ...so I guess everything is relative.

1995BBRefractorGuy said:

i saw this aybar on here a while ago, looks like a signature error.

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haha sad, so sad

I never thought the player i collect autographs would be so worthless that this would be done to them. I know aybar isnt pujols but......CMON MAN!

Just my 2 cents real quick.

When selling I charge $3.00. When shipping I put the card in penny sleve, toploader inside a team bag with 1 packing peanut. (all supplies are brand new ultrapro products) Then in a 000 bubble mailer. It cost me roughly $1.56 per package with a single card. I also combine shipping, every item after the 1st is $0.50 and when shipping hits $5.00 the rest is free. Lastly when the total bill is $25.00 or more I include DC. Personally I feel that $3.00 is very fair when shipped properly.