General Forum

I was hoping for some experienced folks to offer their best suggestions for shipping cards to Canada from the US.  What method do you use?  What kind of cost should one expect for sending say 20 cards or so?  Please let me know.  Thanks, Craig

Very popular subject.

https://www.tradingcarddb.com/Forum.cfm/Page/G/ID/0/?MODE=VIEW&ThreadID=14310

https://www.tradingcarddb.com/Forum.cfm/Page/B/ID/0/?MODE=VIEW&ThreadID=15031#88075

20 cards or so in a photo mailer...$1.15 or $1.36. Depending if it goes over 1 ounce.

20 cards or so in a plain No.10 business envelope using the 9-pocket method...same price as above.

A lot of people prefer going as cheap as possible, but I would rather play it safe. I use bubble mailers just like I would any trade headed to the USA. 

That's too costly for most of my trades, Billy. Not worth it in some cases and as has been stated many many times by collectors on both sides unneccessary - thus the threads referenced by Chuck.

While I appreciate the effort, like stated before if it exceeds the "worth" then no .It's not necessary rather a preference by some members but I have yet to have any PWE issues to date.

Unless, Billy, are you getting regular non-package international mail rates on bubble mailers? I have mailed those on ocassion within the states as simple first class mail, but my nearby postal clerk told me recently a bubble mailer automatically makes it a package.

No. I don't do them very often so I don't worry about it. Usually when I do a trade to Canada it requires a small box anyway. 

Edit to add: You will see me occasionally turn off my tradelist. I do that when I can't afford to ship any more for the month. 

A bubble mailer is NOT automatically a package. I've mailed several to Canada as a 1st Class International Letter. The thickness is what makes it a package. If it is over 3/4ths of an inch, it IS a package and the price is much greater. It also must be somewhat flexible to mail as a letter. Of all the bubble mailers I've shipped to Canada as a letter, only one came back saying it needed a customs form. It was b/c it was obvious that there were 2 stacks of something in there. I repackaged it in the same mailer using the 9-pocket page method and it went straight on to the recipient with no problems and even cost less the second time.

Tell my mail clerk that. I tried. I've since avoided going through her when mailing. 

Go to the USPS website and print out their "rules" for that. Show it to her and she can't argue with you about it! SHE tells the computer what to do when dealing with a package, not the other way around. There are SO MANY un-trained clerks in the USPS system! They don't actually know what they are doing if they haven't been there for at least a decade. Even some of the veteran clerks aren't sure when it comes to international mail! Trust me. I really do know what I'm saying here and I have inside knowledge about that.