A Little FYI Regarding Stamp Trades

I weigh mine at the post office and a regular stamp is fine for one toploader and 3 cards. For 2 top loaders it requires a 66. For more I use a bubble mailer.

One top loader and 3 cards requires 66 cents because it's technically non-machinable. Two top loaders is borderline 86...

Yeah I have had them returned to me before, but that was because I wasn't putting on the extra 20 cents for non-machinable. I think I have sent a few that needed another 20 because they were over 1 oz, but they never were returned and none of my recipients ever said anything. But when I took in an envelope that had two top loaders it in (at least 4 cards) it weighed too much and I had to add another 20, according to the lady at the desk.

66 cents because it is non-machinable, 20 extra cents after the first oz.

shifty4690 is correct.  The top loaders make the envelope ridged (non-machinable).  That's why you are required to add the extra 20¢.  It is not up to their discretion.  They often don't catch it (or they are just too lazy to care).  I've had many things come postage due, and I've also have them returned.  Depending on how much you owe, you might even have to goto the post office to get the item.  Point is, you shouldn't really be cheap about it.  It's fricking 20¢, if you can't afford that much extra.  You shouldn't be playing magic in the first place.

It goes like this:

(Regular envelope with top loader and less than 1/4 thick.)
1 ounce : 66¢
2 ounces : 86¢
3 ounces : $1.06
4 ounces : becomes large envelope rate which I don't remember exactly, but around $1.50

USPS is terrible about paying attention to the weight of items.  MANY ebay sellers under value shipping because they almost never get caught and that equals more money for them.  Pretty crappy, and people wonder why USPS keeps going up and up.  Probably the same people that use priority boxes inside of brown paper and the like (which is actually a felony.  You're stealing from the USPS)

Last edited by Mattssacre (2013-08-17 06:31:22)

In my 240+ trades, probably 200 of them have been plain envelope. Of those, I've only ever gotten 2 back because they needed more postage

I'm actually really surprised to hear all of this. I've been shipping single toploaders with up to four cards using a single 44 cent "forever" stamp for the better part of a year now (in two different states) and have never had an issue. The only "postage due" return I received was an envelope I sent to Quebec with two stamps (really needed three for that or international stamps). The "non-machinable" fact is new to me and helpful for the future.

Also, I've received a number of single toploaders in humble check-size envelopes with no issue.

Maybe this depends on the local office? It would make sense that the volume of mail (or tempermant of staff) would discourage a sharper eye on things.

You should consider yourself lucky.  In any case, you still aren't putting enough postage on it.  Bubble envelopes are considered packages (They're usually over 1/4", and if you put a toploader in it, they consider it rigid)  At the very least it should be $2.07.  That's why most people recommend shipping via Paypal "ship now".  It's only $1.69 and comes with delivery confirmation.

Just because they never returned one to you doesn't mean they haven't charged the person on the other end to receive it.

Doesn't First Class Forever Stamps bypass this?

Something I thought of this weekend regarding the machinable issue: there are a lot of greeting cards that don't require extra postage that are about as stiff (if not more so) than a toploader with three MTG cards. Perhaps that's why some of us in this forum haven't reported any issues?

I mailed a bunch of small trades(<4 cards) in a toploader, for a single stamp.  I used a long envelope, folded the card into a single piece of paper from top to bottom, then stapled through the paper on the sides of the toploader.  I never got anything from the PO of the other party about postage due. 

Would you guys mention that to the trader?  I'm worried that that it may have happened, but have not heard about it.  I sent a few this way with a single stamp, then kept telling the lady that they were fine on one stamp and they would just shrug and send them out.  I just hope my fellow traders never had to pay.

I went down to my local PO today with an envelope filled with a toploader with 3 cards. I asked if it was machinable. The lady working said yes, it wasn't too thick. All it needed was a regular stamp; this was coming directly from the post office employee. Why would you add extra postage to something. Not wasting money isn't the same thing as being cheap. I wouldn't go to the store and pay an extra 40% for my total bill, why would I do it with stamps?