General Forum

So I use to be a powerseller on ebay of books and music but kinda retired years ago. I thought about getting back into it but how has the market changed. I buy cards on ebay here n there but  on the PWE envelope here what is the rule of thought.

So my theory is: If the trader 1 sends a PWE envlope to trader 2 and trader 2 agrees to the PWE and trader 1 shows the proof of sending the receipt  (such as image of  receipt going to said zip code) then that would suffice as proof of sending. Does Trader 2 agree that they are taking the risk of the item arriving or not since most folks say items arrive ok? 

Now if trader 1 gets the item back due to postage issues. They should be honest resend the item let trader 2 know

So what is the community thoughts on the unspoken rules on this or is there a rule list in place?

Mailing thought? >>> (Also Could you not go to the dollar .25 store buy thank-you cards, mail those out with cards in place and add cardboard as others suggest and those work fine?) 

If Trader2 wants tracking then trader 2 should pay extra for the postage would be the norm I think?.

On larger trades it is both trader 1 and trader 2 job to track and get insurance to protect themselves from lost or damage is what I would suggest and think takes place.

What is your thoughts on this? 

So a lot of the times the traders will have it listed under their profiles that they trade PWE only unless further agreed on. If one person wants tracking and its a simple PWE, then I would personally make them cover JUST the tracking. Most people [should] know that there are indeed risks when shipping PWE through USPS. I personally just cards come back to me from a trade because I didn't put enough postage. (In my defense I was still a ametur trader then.) I made sure i alerted the trade partner. It actually came back again with both stamps stamped out, (even though it was the right amount of postage,) and I alerted again. I don't want anybody flipping out on me because I had absolutely no reason for my cards to get after a month I recieved mine. They got there and the trade was finished because I made sure my partner was kept in the loop of any issues that arose. Even if it is something small or you think it might come back, I would let them know. Any details that you think might ruin the experiance for someone else are probably ones that you should check with them on. I know that that is a lot but I hope I answered your questions.

I try to ship PWE whenever I can and am fine with the same from my trade partner (even multiple envelopes sometimes is cheaper than first class mail). I don't trade much on here that is especially valuable but if I do then I will use bubble mailer and tracking (or if it's a rather large trade that doesn't make sense to ship in PWEs). I have had envelopes lost both in transit to me and to my trade partner (it's rare but it happens and seems to be a little more common lately based on my experience). If the cards I sent get lost I usually try to trade for those cards so I can replace them or ask if there's something I can send to make up for them. When the cards coming my way have been lost I have had the trader send me replacements if they have them, the trader has offered to trade for those cards and resend them to me once they get them, or I just chalk it up to bad luck and move on. It's not either trader's fault usually. 

Ultimately it comes down to are you comfortable sending the cards PWE and knowing that there's a small chance they don't show up or your cards don't show up and understanding that it's not your trade partner's fault when that happens. Also, just have patience because I've had PWEs take 2 months to get where they are going before. Hopefully you never have to deal with it (I think i've had a handful of envelopes lost out of my 800+ trades so it hasn't been super common to this point).

Most of the cards I trade with and for aren't too valuable I don't think, so I use PWE and am fine with getting it in return. As has been mentioned before, if something doesn't show up (which is rare) it is hopefully sorted out between the parties. If I am sending a lot of cards, or if those cards are particularly pricey or rare, I don't mind going padded envelope to get the tracking if I or the other party think it's important to do so.

Yes anything of real value should be tracked and insured agree 1000%  on both sides :) 

The only "bad" trades I've had were ones with little or no communication. (albeit I've had smooth trades with literally no communication other than proposal/accept/send) I can't help but think of the adage...."how long is a piece of string?" it really depends on who is looking at it! I mean if you're looking at junk wax commons...some people will look at them as no value at all, and others look at them as .10 each....a $3 rookie card could then be looked at as valuable and if you collect nothing but high-end cards a $3 card isn't valuable. In the end, I don't think there is no such thing as unwritten rules....just ask what the expectation is and agree or don't. I suppose I'm thinking that PWE is fine by me, and adding tracking has to make sense (recently declined a trade since the value of the cards was less than the cost to ship outside the country even in PWE and would be a month)

I no longer use PWE for trades because I spent about $50 in PWE shipped and hardly anybody got their cards so now I've taken a new approach and NOBODY has complained about it

I have taken to asking the trade partner before accepting the trade if they are ok with PWE or if they'll be using a bubble mailer like I will be (depending on the method I was choosing). As long as we're both good with the same method, great, the trade is on. If not, then discussions happen and the appropriate risks are assigned.

I have it listed on my profile that I will ship PWE unless we agree otherwise. Since I'm not dealing with super rare or valuable cards, it doesn't make sense to pay extra for shipping.

At first I prefered to send in a bubble mailer with tracking because it gave me piece of mind.  As I have gotten more experience I realized that most of the people I was trading with were sending PWE with pocket pages and cardboard protecting the outside.  I learned (the hard way) what worked and did not.  

You can send up to 18 cards in a folded 9 pocket sheet with 2 sheets of cardboard taped around it and it will get to where it needs to go with less than $1 postage.  If you do not have the cardboard around it you risk damaging the cards and pissing off the trader on the other side.  Proper packaging is the kay.