All I want to do is talk about Sportlots

[timber09]

Originally Posted by Cliffroach

I spend a lot of time looking at shipping costs in tandem with the cost of the cards. I'm a set builder and I often have to jump around to different buyers to find what I need at the best price with the best shipping. And some days it just works out that I pay more in shipping then I do for the actual cards because I'm buying cards from several sellers. So I really pay attention to the shipping costs and sellers that don't have a big jump from 2-4 to 5-10 for example will always get a first look from me.

Just as an example I spent around $250 on Sportlots in July in cards and $144 in shipping. But shipping is part of the deal especially at a time when there aren't any card shows.

Side note: I order from some of you in this thread quite often, and often multiple times a week. Please always feel free if you recognize my name to hold my stuff for a couple days and ship things together. Saves you money and saves on all trash too.

Thank you for your insight Cliff and, personally, thank you for your purchases.

Interestingly, one of the few occasions where I had a package returned to me was yours however I was able to include that in your next shipment.

Always nice to see folks that I have dealt with post here - many thanks again for your business!

[Westlake]

Originally Posted by tribefan26

I stopped budget over 4 cards - I was tired of demands for postage due.

I don’t differentiate budget or premium for more than 4 cards.

This is what I do and exactly why I do it.

[ga5150]

What I'm running into using this chart as reference (thank you!) is on the box shipping of 11-16 cards. If someone bought 11 cards at .18 ($1.98), and then get free box shipping then it's an immediate loss as it would go First Class padded envelope starting around $3.08 or so.

Are my calculations correct?

I appreciate you sharing your chart and I've been making lots of adjustments to mine.

Originally Posted by Dalston

As a buyer, this is a great shipping chart! There are a ton of sellers that put steep jumps in their charts that simply discourage adding cards to purchases, since who has the time to go through an entire inventory to find enough cards to add to justify the jump.

I just put in an order for about 1,000 cards across a large number of sellers and had to prune orders from about a dozen sellers because there was a shipping jump that meant I was better off ordering fewer cards. And if there is a card I want that has multiple sellers at 0.18, I'm always going to buy from someone like you or bryanscs where I know I'm not going to dinged by unfair shipping policies.

[bryanscs]

Ideally, you have several box orders that can be shipped together to make up for the postage loss.

[nam812]

Originally Posted by ga5150

What I'm running into using this chart as reference (thank you!) is on the box shipping of 11-16 cards. If someone bought 11 cards at .18 ($1.98), and then get free box shipping then it's an immediate loss as it would go First Class padded envelope starting around $3.08 or so.

Are my calculations correct?

I appreciate you sharing your chart and I've been making lots of adjustments to mine.

Hey Stoney, good to see you. Box orders don't have to ship out immediately. Hold off a few days to hopefully get a few more box orders, and then like bryanscs mentioned, send a few box orders together in the same mailer or box to make up for any loss.

There may be a set amount of days you can wait, but if it does exist, I don't know what it is. My personal guideline is 5 days. I mail to Wisconsin on the 6th day after my first box order comes in.

[timber09]

Originally Posted by bryanscs

Ideally, you have several box orders that can be shipped together to make up for the postage loss.

Yeah - this exactly.

Usually I have anywhere from 10-20 purchases that go along with the Box shipment. I am sure that I eat a bit of the shipping but I think it has worked out in more sales. A trade-off I am willing to make at the moment.

[Cliffroach]

Am I looking at it wrong in thinking that the box shipment option is more a positive for sellers then buyers? I haven't really looked into the option as a buyer because it doesn't seem to make sense to pay for shipping twice.

[nam812]

Originally Posted by Cliffroach

Am I looking at it wrong in thinking that the box shipment option is more a positive for sellers then buyers? I haven't really looked into the option as a buyer because it doesn't seem to make sense to pay for shipping twice.

If you aren't in a big hurry for the cards, and you find a few seller like this thread's own bryanscs that offer free box shipping, you will only pay 1 shipping price which would be from sportlots headquarters to you.

[Budler]

Has anyone tried putting 18 or more cards in 9 pocket sheets. folding them and putting them in a large PWE with cereal box pieces on both sides.

I have received many cards like that. You can get the cheap sheets (with out the the holes to attach them in a binder)

[bryanscs]

Originally Posted by Budler

Has anyone tried putting 18 or more cards in 9 pocket sheets. folding them and putting them in a large PWE with cereal box pieces on both sides.

I have received many cards like that. You can get the cheap sheets (with out the the holes to attach them in a binder)

This sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Ha!

[bryanscs]

Originally Posted by Cliffroach

Am I looking at it wrong in thinking that the box shipment option is more a positive for sellers then buyers? I haven't really looked into the option as a buyer because it doesn't seem to make sense to pay for shipping twice.

The goal is to be able to purchase cards from multiple sellers. If they offer free or discounted shipping to the box, you can have many orders shipped there for free or very little. Then when you accumulate a larger amount of cards, you pay the one shipping charge from the box to you.

[ga5150]

Ah...ok. I'm not at that level yet. I usually only get 3-4 orders per week (not per day). I think I'll do the once every five days shipping for box orders. THat makes much more sense.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by bryanscs

Ideally, you have several box orders that can be shipped together to make up for the postage loss.

[ga5150]

Who's Stoney?


I didn't realize I could sit on them and let them accumulate. I'll change to shipping every five days for box orders. That makes much more sense as I don't get nearly the volume of you other guys.


Thanks!

Originally Posted by nam812

Hey Stoney, good to see you. Box orders don't have to ship out immediately. Hold off a few days to hopefully get a few more box orders, and then like bryanscs mentioned, send a few box orders together in the same mailer or box to make up for any loss.

There may be a set amount of days you can wait, but if it does exist, I don't know what it is. My personal guideline is 5 days. I mail to Wisconsin on the 6th day after my first box order comes in.

[nam812]

Originally Posted by ga5150

Who's Stoney?


I didn't realize I could sit on them and let them accumulate. I'll change to shipping every five days for box orders. That makes much more sense as I don't get nearly the volume of you other guys.


Thanks!

There's a guy I trade with on the collector's universe (PSA) site with the same ID (ga5150) and the same exact bulldog avatar, and his name is Stoney. Since you obviously aren't him I apologize, but the name and avatar being the exact same as his made me think you were him.

[ga5150]

No need to apologize! I am also ga5150 with the same bulldog avatar on the cu forums since 2009, but I haven’t been active in quite a long time. Perhaps your trading friend has a different variation of the 5150 name.

I participated in lots of the BBCE group breaks of vintage packs on there.

Originally Posted by nam812

There's a guy I trade with on the collector's universe (PSA) site with the same ID (ga5150) and the same exact bulldog avatar, and his name is Stoney. Since you obviously aren't him I apologize, but the name and avatar being the exact same as his made me think you were him.

[tpeichel34]

Originally Posted by ga5150

Ah...ok. I'm not at that level yet. I usually only get 3-4 orders per week (not per day). I think I'll do the once every five days shipping for box orders. THat makes much more sense.

Thank you.

For box orders, I believe they give you a grace period of three days, then they start counting on how long it takes you to fill an order. So if you get a box order, then wait five days, it will count as taking two days to process the order for your Order Speed calculation.

[DMS6391]

Originally Posted by tpeichel34

For box orders, I believe they give you a grace period of three days, then they start counting on how long it takes you to fill an order. So if you get a box order, then wait five days, it will count as taking two days to process the order for your Order Speed calculation.

This is correct. And I think they normally give you 10 days to fill an order direct to buyer before refunding the buyer. I think that’s correct. So for fill to box I assume you have 13 days.

[nam812]

Originally Posted by ga5150

No need to apologize! I am also ga5150 with the same bulldog avatar on the cu forums since 2009, but I haven’t been active in quite a long time. Perhaps your trading friend has a different variation of the 5150 name.

I participated in lots of the BBCE group breaks of vintage packs on there.

I just checked, and his ID is ssdawg77 with the same bulldog avatar. I have been on CU since 2007, so I must have remembered your ID from years ago, and then thought you were him when I saw your avatar. If any of that makes sense. lol

[nam812]

Originally Posted by bryanscs

Make sure your PWE is less than 1/4" thick.......

I made a 1/4" slot in a piece of cardboard tonight that I will use to check the thickness of my PWE shipments. What I learned by making this.....1/4" is not very thick at all. lol

[bryanscs]

I think you will struggle to get 'stacks of 5 cards' plus protection (cardboard of some type or a thick top loader) plus the envelope to be thinner than 1/4". Just my 2 cents though.

[nam812]

Originally Posted by bryanscs

I think you will struggle to get 'stacks of 5 cards' plus protection (cardboard of some type or a thick top loader) plus the envelope to be thinner than 1/4". Just my 2 cents though.

5 Heritage cards in a team bag and then sandwiched with cardboard (I cut up large priority mail boxes) made it through my 1/4" template. All that's left would be the thin envelope. 4 and 4 side by side to make 8 would be a great PWE order. 5 and 5 side by side is so close and would need some postal negligence (which there is usually an abundance of).

[bryanscs]

I wouldn't risk it. Ha!

Also, a PWE can not weigh more than 3.5 ounces. So keep that in mind too.

[sedin26]

Originally Posted by Budler

Has anyone tried putting 18 or more cards in 9 pocket sheets. folding them and putting them in a large PWE with cereal box pieces on both sides.

I'll preface this by saying I know a seller can't use my strategy due to customer expectations and possibility of damage. I'm in OBC and we mail a lot of low grade vintage back and forth. I'm in Canada but almost all members are US-based. What we often do is simply take a 9-pocket page and cut it into three pieces (i.e. 3 pockets per piece). We'll then fill those up and stuff them in an envelope.

I usually enclose this in an 8x11 sheet of paper. It is very common to send 12 or 15 cards this way. Many times, I've included two of these sheets and sent 24 cards in a PWE. My record is 48 cards in a single PWE, on several occasions. All of these have arrived safely, with no damage.

I'm generally able to get away with minimal postage because I just drop them in the box and nobody ever seems to check. I should be paying $1.94 or $3.19 but until someone stops me I'm putting $1.30 on there and it works every time.

Canada Post doesn't appear to care if the PWE is too stiff or bulky, whereas USPS is a lot more strict, from what I understand.

[Andr3000]

I started doing stacks of 4 (8 total), but changed my max to 6 after a while. 1/4” is NOT very thick.

I believe securing everything to the invoice/piece of paper with painters tape is important too. If you fold the paper around the stack(s) like a regular letter, it makes the envelope nice and uniformly-thick, so it will make it through those sorting machines (and is also better for the cards).

[Cliffroach]

Giving the box shipping a go. Is that something that you guys prefer, don't prefer, or don't really care about either way?

And does anyone know where there is a list of shipping costs for box shipping? Thanks.