General Forum

I have been trading over the internet since I was 9 years old and selling on ebay since I was 17-18. I do not know if it is something to be proud of, but I have never once had to go out of my way to purchase shipping materials. I often see people say on youtube or the like that, especially for selling cards, it is almost required that you purchase new bubble mailers, or use new toploaders, etc. Sure, I can definitely see that if you are selling dozens of cards every single day, but over the years, I have completed hundreds of trades and sales, and have not had an issue since my second-ever trade when I learned that people valued the condition of cards (I was 9 years old -- lessons were learned).

I have never purchased new team bags, despite using them all the time now, I have never purchased a box or new bubble mailer -- I just reuse ones in good condition from previous sales/trades. I do tend to use new penny sleeves and toploaders now, but I never have had to go out of my way to purchase them -- I would have bought them anyway for cards in my own PC. I still have a 100% feedback score on ebay -- it's just never been an issue.

Am I alone here? It feels wrong to me to just chuck perfectly good bubble mailers or toploaders, or whatever in the trash if they aren't in terrible shape. Are there people out there who really care that much about the new-ness of the packing materials, so long as the card(s) arrive(s) safely? I understand it is not as "professional", but as a very practical person, it seems silly and wasteful to me to spend money and throw away perfectly usable materials that can protect the card, which is the only purpose of shipping materials in the first place -- to protect the card(s).

The vibe I am getting from some of these afore-mentioned YT videos is almost the vibe I get from some people who buy a card for the slab instead of the card itself. It just seems impractical. Am I crazy here?

Not crazy. Though I don't sell on ebay, the only thing I buy for trading are business envelopes for PWE. Of course, I also buy the cereal boxboard I use but that is more for the cereal than the shipping material. I haven't even bought painter's tape yet I have enough ready for shipping that I could probably pain a good sized bedroom.

I believe in the "Reuse, Reduce, Recycle".

I buy packing tape. I may have bought a roll of painter's tape special. I bought sleeves a long time ago for my own use, then was using them for shipping. I have boxes of "used" sleeves, top loaders, card savers, team bags, and plastic boxes all over the place. I never bought a bubble mailer. I have had some arrive inside of another box "unused" so I used it, but 99.9% of my bubble mailers are reused ones. Sometimes, sleeves, top loaders, and bubble mailers arrive and are so over-used, they can't be saved. But the majority get saved for another shipment.

For selling and shipping I try to reuse as much as possible, but still have to buy bubble mailers. For my PC I like to use new top loaders and such so I do buy a good amount of supplies. 

I guess if all you do is trade and sell it doesn't matter as you're not collecting anything. 

"Of course, I also buy the cereal boxboard I use but that is more for the cereal than the shipping material."

That might be one of my favourite lines ever posted here.

For trades with TCDB members I try to re-use as much as possible.  We're all cheapskates here on TCDB!

For sales on eBay and other sites, I will use new materials, mostly PWE envelopes with inexpensive blank greeting cards as the cardstock to provide additional protection.  I want the purchaser to be left with a good impression.  Since some of these sales sites also allow printing mailing labels for postage (i.e., eBay Standard Envelope for Trading Cards), I purchase inexpensive 4x6 mailing labels which allows me to print the mailing address and postage on the same label.  I pay 7 cents each for those, but it saves me so much time and it's actually less expensive compared to a stamp.  They fit perfectly on those inexpensive blank greeting card envelopes (which cost me 10 cents for the card and envelope.)

Ask me what I’ve spent on supplies after 1000+ trades…

It’s fine to be frugal but at some point. It’s hard to continue that trend..

I re-use the card savers, penny sleeves & 9 pocket pages that I receive from trades. 

As far as bubble mailers I buy the poly dvd ones (#0 I think) in boxes of 1000, about $0.15 ea. 

For the chipboard that I use to sandwich the cards I buy in 8.5" X 11" sheets and I cut them into thirds with guillotine cutter...also boxes of 1000, about $0.09 ea. 

I put the cards between the chipboard sheets and I put the whole thing into a lip & tape bag that is the perfect size to fit in a #10 envelope.  I buy the lip & tape bags from an industrial packing supplier 10000 at a time for about $0.005 a piece. These are similar to team bags but sized exactly for a #10 envelope.

The #10 envelopes I get at Costco in boxes of 500 for $10.  These envelopes have a removable strip so you don't have to wet them.  

The only thing I buy specifically for trading on tcdb is painters tape.

I was buying all of these things already for my sticker business so that is why I use these particular supplies.  The shipping is pretty much the same process for my low volume sticker sales.  Large orders obviously ship in a box.

-Daniel

I buy envelopes 30 for 1.25 ( Dollar Tree) ones with the peel.

Painters Tape ( Dollar Tree) (only bought one so far I recycle ♻️ the tape.

I use pocket pages I get sent in go right back out. ( I just bought some of these used cheap in bulk) 

I use the cardboard from a couple different houses trying to make sure I have enough. ( I haven't done a ton of trades yet but like to do about 30 to 40 a month to keep cost low (right now I'm only doing maybe 20 a month?