Buy/Sell/Trade Forum

In the last 2 weeks, I have completed 2 trades that brought the other individuals almost 900 cards and over 1300 cards each into their collections. In addition to moving 2,200 cards out of my trade stock, I received over 1,200 cards I did not have in my collection.

But what I really want to mention here is how great both trades worked - great communication both ways, using the counter option to amend the lists after pulling the cards so that it reflected the actual cards being sent, and when the cards arrived (at both ends of the trades), the cards were in the same order as they were listed in the transactions making it so much easier to sort, verify, move into the multiple collections, and add to the physical collections. I think this was the first really large trade for both of these traders but working together, the trades were completed in exemplary style. Even the Post Offices and Customs cooperated delivering the four packages in less than a week (4 business days average).

I want to thank both of these traders for being willing to entertain such large trades and being willing to cross the border (average cost of $0.06/card was the most expensive). One trader was propelled up the ranks of Reds Team collectors adding the 1300 cards to his personal collection and the other I think was able to complete some sets from the 1990s. It was a pleasure trading with both members.  Thanks again - appropriate feedback was left on their profile pages.

Nice going! Was the shipping cost absurd, or was it manageable? Sometimes I hesitate to send heavy card packages across the border because of the potentially exorbitant costs.

Great to hear it worked out on both sides! That's some HUGE trades!  

Have not done any large trades like that at all. Think the most I sent at once was around 120 cards but it stayed within Canada. I did a smaller trade of about 45 cards to the States from Alberta and was first quoted around the $10 CAD mark, she was able to reduce it to about $5.50 so not too bad I guess. 

If I may be so bold to ask, what was the shipping cost?

Shipping from Canada to the States was about $30 for each package.  These were packaged in as small of a box as I could make it.  I re-used some Amazon boxes, putting the bulk of the cards in 600-ct card boxes then placing them side by side inside the bigger box.  Any overage in cards went into team bags. Light weight packaging was used to fill empty spaces.  The key is the volume of the package, smaller being better.

Coming from the States to me, both packages were much bigger than I would have made them (bigger than the ones I sent with much fewer cards). One was $50 through USPS (the large package but fewer cards) and the other was (I think) $30 using UPS.  Had I packed these cards, I would have used whatever 600-ct or 800-ct box that would have fit all of them, wrapped them in a white or brown paper, and sent it along that way. I ship any trade of 300+ cards in this way using whatever box fits all the cards. This keeps the volume down and therefore minimizes the cost. I have shipped many of these larger trades in this way and the cards arrive in the condition I sent them in (as far as I know and I am sure I would know if they had arrived crushed). Another one of 750 cards is going out today for $25 in a 800-ct box.

I recently bought a small scale and have the brackets for weight printed out for Canada Post shipping costs.  I also now do all my own shipping online using my small business account which saves me a couple of $ every time I ship.  In a recent trade sent yesterday, I was able to keep the package at exactly 200g; had it been a gram more in weight, it would have doubled my cost.  The guys at the post office were amazed that it was exactly 200 grams.

I would recommend to all to learn how to do your own shipping.  Keeping the zealous Post Office clerks out of the process is well worth the time for the dollars saved. (They are not all zealous; you just don't know if the one you will encounter is or not till it is too late.) By filling in the details on their website, you get the lowest cost option in accordance with their regulations, not some clerk's interpretation of the rules.

I've traded many times with Canadian friends (mainly with Bru) over the years, but never more than 180 cards because I rarely have more than that number of matches to my friend (not vice versa).

Chuck (C2Cigars) posted a great video a couple of weeks ago explaining how to ship and save money with Canadian partners.

Those are very helpful examples you cited there Bruno. And a great title for this forum thread for dialogue on box shipping.

I have been working on a few deals here and the shipping costs that the members are coming across make the deals not attractive.

My question goes out to some of our eBay sellers. How can the shipping costs have such a variance. I was looking at random lots of 1500 or so cards from the US to Canada with S/H at $16-20. These are low BIN listings so the seller isn't absorbing any substantial overages.

Thoughts or tips...

Thanks for sharing that link to Chuck's video!

Karsal...to answer your eBay question, I know when I am shipping with eBay, I just select the "Global Shipping" option and select the cost of shipping to a buyer in the US.  If a buyer from outside of the US purchases the item, I send it to a processing center in Kentucky and then eBay takes care of sending it to wherever it is going.  I only receive the amount that I charged for shipping to Kentucky, eBay figures out what the second leg will be from Kentucky to the buyer, and charges the buyer that amount at the time of purchase.  That would be my guess for what you are seeing.

As for large trades across the border and starting in the States, if getting up into the 600-800 card range, I've found that the most cost efficient way to ship is to put the cards in either 2 300-count boxes or 2 400-count boxes and use a flat rate padded envelope (as I've done when sending to Karsal). I can never find the padded flat rate envelopes at my local post office, so I just order them for free from the USPS website.

I very recently did a large trade with Bruno (cards are mailed both ways yesterday) and found him to be an awesome and accommodating trade partner.  I'm excited to receive the cards and add to my 1990s variation obsession.