Holy cheap envelopes batman!

Artrigis

Artrigis

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Ive been selling games for the last 2 months or so. Just realized Ive spent about $70 in envelopes to ship out 140 packages. Significantly cheaper than office supply stores / usps of course, but still pricey.

I was just thinking.. "Hey, what are those white plastic envelopes I am always getting when I buy from sellers off of Amazon? They must all be using them for a reason.." And so I found these http://www.amazon.com/WHITE-POLY-MA...&qid=1343072507&sr=8-4&keywords=bubble+mailer

Does anyone here use these and have experience with them? I always bought bubble mailers because if I were to buy, I know that's what I would like my item to be packaged in. But I suppose I can simply cut out some bubble wrap / newspaper for extra padding and stuff it in the envelope and it would be adequate.

Can you easily fit games in these things? I don't know if they run a little small on the inside or not, I mostly sell dvd-case sized games such as gamecube / ps2 etc.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: It looks like there is a $0.17 surcharge for using poly mailers, can someone confirm this? Also I always buy pre-paid postage labels on Amazon, if they are pre-paid how would they charge me the $0.17 each?
 
[quote name='yourlefthand']I would just pick some bubble mailers up from Sams club if you can.[/QUOTE]

Sadly I don't have a sams club card anymore. I miss their cheap cheesecake and nathans hotdogs!
 
I would not use those thing mailers. Even with hard cased games (like PS3/360 cases or DS cases), items are prone to damage. And because they provide no padding, they're prone to shock damage so cases could get cracked or the disc could become loose inside a case. I think roughly half the items I receive in those thin mailers arrive with some damage.

You can get bubble mailers for roughly 18 cents on eBay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-0-6-5x1...1?pt=BI_Mailers_Envelopes&hash=item232006c1ff

I've used those types of mailers for the past 3-4 years with no issues.
 
Thanks for that suggestion, those look great. Does anyone have any insight on the $0.17 surcharge on plastic based mailers? Can't seem to find too much info about that.
 
[quote name='Artrigis']Thanks for that suggestion, those look great. Does anyone have any insight on the $0.17 surcharge on plastic based mailers? Can't seem to find too much info about that.[/QUOTE]

I use poly mailers and never pay any more than I would if I used the kraft mailers. Poly mailers actually end up cheaper because they are lighter weight than the kraft ones - plus, the poly mailers can stretch so they can fit substantially more than the kraft mailers.
 
[quote name='Doomstink']I use poly mailers and never pay any more than I would if I used the kraft mailers. Poly mailers actually end up cheaper because they are lighter weight than the kraft ones - plus, the poly mailers can stretch so they can fit substantially more than the kraft mailers.[/QUOTE]


I like poly mailers too. They are lighter then Kraft and tape/labels stick better. Also they are more water resistant (this is important as many mail carriers leave stuff outside).

I have bought from www.mailersusa.com for over two years now. They provide mailers for many companies including Best Buy (that is how I found out about them---fyi).

This is the size I use (7.25" x 11.25"; also known as #1).

You can get them for ~ .19 a unit when you buy a 100 at a time. I'm sure there are cheaper option on eBay but these are shipped from the U.S. and arrive in 2-3 days by UPS...

And their customer service is great!
 
Poly mailers will be fine as long as you don't enter it into the realm of media/parcel postage, because there is a high chance whatever you send will not make it to the destination in one piece.
 
[quote name='Squarehard']Poly mailers will be fine as long as you don't enter it into the realm of media/parcel postage, because there is a high chance whatever you send will not make it to the destination in one piece.[/QUOTE]


You really don't get that much more protection using kraft. If you're mailing multiple games/dvds use a small box.

I've never had buyers receive damaged games and the only time I've received damaged games is when Toys R Us decided to ship 10 games in a kraft envelope and not fold out the air/empty space but folder over the extra space.
 
[quote name='Squarehard']Poly mailers will be fine as long as you don't enter it into the realm of media/parcel postage, because there is a high chance whatever you send will not make it to the destination in one piece.[/QUOTE]

Not to start a fight, but this has not been my experience at all. I've had nothing but good results with media mail.
 
[quote name='yourlefthand']Not to start a fight, but this has not been my experience at all. I've had nothing but good results with media mail.[/QUOTE]

Complete opposite for me, as I've had many orders as of late with Hastings using bubble mailers, and the ones that come media mail are just completely trashed and smashed. But it's not just because of the mailer, media mail in general is just pretty crappy as I've received numerous packages just this past couple of weeks where the contents have seen better days. I even just received a package earlier today where the insides of the packages have been destroyed. But that's not to say it always comes this way through media mail as I've had many packages arrive with no problem as well, but from my experience I've had many many problems with media mail packages arriving without problems.
 
Kraft takes more of a beating , labels and tape stick better on poly. I bought 500 #000 for .07 each on ebay. Probably will last me 2 years.
 
I'm surprised to see people arguing in favor of the quality of poly mailers. I've always felt like it was clear that kraft mailers offer significantly better protection. The only benefit I see to poly mailers is a couple pennies in cost savings.

I also think poly mailers give customers the impression that you were more concerned with savings a few cents rather than properly protecting their item. Whether you think that's fair or not doesn't really matter, but I know when I order something for myself and it comes in a poly mailer my first thought before I ever open it is always "that cheap ass had better hope this isn't damaged."
 
[quote name='Squarehard']Complete opposite for me, as I've had many orders as of late with Hastings using bubble mailers, and the ones that come media mail are just completely trashed and smashed. But it's not just because of the mailer, media mail in general is just pretty crappy as I've received numerous packages just this past couple of weeks where the contents have seen better days. I even just received a package earlier today where the insides of the packages have been destroyed. But that's not to say it always comes this way through media mail as I've had many packages arrive with no problem as well, but from my experience I've had many many problems with media mail packages arriving without problems.[/QUOTE]

In my experience it depends on how long it takes to arrive. Sometimes things sent media mail fly through the system and arrive just fine in a couple of days. When an item gets stuck in New Jersey for 2 weeks, though, it's probably safe to assume you can go ahead and start the return process.
 
[quote name='sevenfold']I'm surprised to see people arguing in favor of the quality of poly mailers. I've always felt like it was clear that kraft mailers offer significantly better protection. The only benefit I see to poly mailers is a couple pennies in cost savings.

I also think poly mailers give customers the impression that you were more concerned with savings a few cents rather than properly protecting their item. Whether you think that's fair or not doesn't really matter, but I know when I order something for myself and it comes in a poly mailer my first thought before I ever open it is always "that cheap ass had better hope this isn't damaged."[/QUOTE]


I'm talking about "poly bubble" mailers not "poly bags". Poly bubble mailers have just as much inner padding as kraft. I like them better because they are more flexible and it is easier if you have a smaller item (i.e. PS3 games are shorter then Xbox 360) to fold over the extra material so you have another layer of padding whereas kraft mailers are more RIGID so it becomes difficult to fold over extra material which then gives more room for the item to mail around.

I can basically make all my poly bubble mailers form fitting to the item by folding over extra material. This means they won't move around at all on the inside of the envelope. It is difficult to do that with kraft mailers.
 
Ive decided to go with Vinny's suggestion. Thank you everyone for sharing.

I definitely was overpaying by getting them at the dollar store.. 0.50 each.

I just kept buying them there because I didn't know if I would be able to consistently buy games, but after 2 months I think its safe to say now that yes, yes I can =)

Thanks again everyone.
 
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