I’m new here and didn’t want to search the entire forum for the answer to this question. I just got back from the post office and one of the workers just informed me that I have been packaging semi-incorrectly. The way i ship low valued cards (less than $10) are in a plastic sleeve, top loader, and an envelope with one forever stamp on it. It’s how I’ve shipped out many cards and how I’ve received cards that I had purchased. The worker told me that since my envelopes weren’t bending that I should ship them via a bubble mailer with tracking and all that jazz but if I sell a card for $2 then I’m not going to pay $2.67 to ship it. He went on to tell me how their system in the back worked and how they envelopes wrapped around a cylindrical like item and since the envelope doesn’t bend it could damage the goods or just not work. So really my question is am I shipping these cards wrong? What’s an optimal way, for both the buyer and my wallet to ship cards? Do I add an extra stamp, just ignore what the worker said, or shell out the extra $2.17 to ship cards? Thank you in advance!
Sounds like he cant be arsed doing his job and wants more money from you! I may be wrong but if we all had to track etc the post office would be jackin it in San Diego!!!
I may be wrong but most people send cards in do not bend envelopes with standard postage(for lower value items)
So I dont know what he is gabbing on about, if they cant take rigid envelopes they may aswell back up their bags and off they go!
You do not want your envelope to bend ,that damages cards.So him wanting to bend it…
…wow may aswell cut it up so its easier to ship…
Bit of a rant 
In short id keep shipping with maximum protection and reduce the chances the cards can be damaged and bent.Maybe go to a different post office?
Use sleeve + card saver, not top loaders. I’ve never been asked to use an extra stamp.
Regardless, most single card sellers still use top loaders. Try ordering from TCG Player: the majority of cards will come to you in an envelope, sleeve and top loader.
Toploaders are a cheaper option and we arent submitting to psa.
Top loaders are less secure, result in card movement during shipping, and less flexible for sending in an envelope.
Card Saver 1s are less than $0.15 ea. and occasionally marked down to under under $0.10 if you look carefully. Not much of a cost to begin with.
I live in the UK, soo they arent that easy to come by. Unless you pay double the price.Also this is for a could quid worth of cards not a psa submission. A sleeve, toploader and rigid envelope is more than sufficient for low value items.
I have found some from abroad at a great price, whether they will arrive or not is another question 
NEW SEALED BOX 200 CARD SAVER I TOP LOADERS FOR GRADED CARDS SEMI RIGID PSA BGS
Wrap the toploader in saran wrap. It is easier to remove than tape and protects against water.
Yeah top loaders are fine. Use a team bag on top of that and its perfect.
I ship ~100 singles, playsets and 10x energy lots a week in a regular envelope with a plain ole forever stamp. I wrap the cards in the packing slip to prevent slippage. 10x energy go in a team bag and playsets just go all in a single penny sleeve.
The 49 cent stamp is 100% good to go for a single in a toploader. Anyone who tells you otherwise is misinformed, and there are links on this forum if you dig deeper to the exact definition of “machinable” at the USPS site, which this packing method easily passes. Several here on the forum decide to pay the extra “non machinable” fee of 17 cents or whatever it is, but at my volume I prefer to keep my ~$1,000 per year in my own pocket.
We have a winner folks. The card saver bends just enough to keep it from being “rigid”, is cheaper, and protects just as well.
Top loaders do not bend hence, they are rigid and require extra postage. Usually, you won’t get caught but it looks like the op was caught.
You’d save a lot more if you canned the toploaders and used card savers? Plus you’re circumventing the law which saves you money but, in the long run, you cost all of us lol.
Circumventing which law? By definition they are machinable as they can pass around an 11 inch diameter drum with no issues. They do tens of thousands of times a year.
I only use Non-Machinable postage because I had two damaged envelopes many years ago at different time without it. So I pay to have it hand sorted. It’s 21 cents extra and it’s worth $1000 to give me and my customer a little extra piece of mind.
As a rule, I don’t complain if I get my cards safely. I also don’t care how other people ship. But if you’re asking for my opinion, the extra 21 cents is worth it.
I don’t know about the extra .21 when you can use a card saver and you’re fine.
That was a joke but it’s hard to make the argument that a stiff top loader isn’t “rigid”. Rigid is the adjective they use to demand the extra 21 cents,
Back when I did a lot more trading than I do now, I always used top loaders and a team bag with a single stamp. Never had a single issue and never even knew there was a non machinable option. I even wrote fragile and do not bend and non machinable on every single one of the 100s of trades and sales I did, with not a single issue ever caused by that.
I’ve driven 45mph down my street where the speed limit is 35mph hundreds of times. Does that mean its legal cause I never got ticketed? Of course not like the op found out at the post office.
I’m surprised not a single pokemon singles seller uses DHL global, it’s dirt cheap and you get tracking. I worked for a company that sold chinese goods on ebay and it would cost like 10 cents to send a 3oz phone charger across the country, complete with working usps tracking.
Dhl charges 10cents to ship a small item?
Probably because its as slow as it can possibly be. Like 2 to 3 weeks to receive something. I buy a LOT of books and those sellers tend to use Dhl. I’m generally fine with the speed but a lot of people wouldn’t be.