Shipping Advice: Padding

[redterror117]

I'm looking to start selling manga as part of my web store on eBay, and I would like to get some feedback on whether or not a light paperback book requires padding, such as bubble wrap, to make it safely through the mail. If wrapped in plastic and sent through a standard envelope, I can ship it as lettermail, absorbing part of the cost to make the sale more competitive. However in many cases the addition of padding (through a bubble envelope) causes the item to be over the 20cm thickness maximum allowed by lettermail. Suddenly the price spikes, and I'm concerned that the shipping cost will deter business.

My assumption is that with soft corners there would be less concern over them being bumped, but I haven't shipped a book yet to know how it would work out.

[widgetc]

Add a thin layer of cardboard (pop carton thickness) and it will be fine.

[momcqueen]

When I ship magazine-type materials, I create an inner envelope of stiff cardstock. Like a sandwich. The cardstock is bread, my item is the baloney.

[forester_studios]

I add a piece of foamcore and mail it in a regular non-paper envelope. Depends on how thick the item is of course. You can get form core board at Dollarama for $1.50 a sheet. The sheets are quite large, so you can often do at least 3 or 4 parcels per sheet. It is rigid and very lightweight. Much lighter than cardboard, which can make a big difference in saving $ in lettermail costs.

[forester_studios]

I meant non-padded envelope! Sorry for the typo folks!

[femmefan1946]

It may come down to how easy the book is to fold.

A stiffener or corplast, corrugated card, or foamcore, would be necessary for a North American style comic book, but most mangas are thicker and hard to bend.

I would go for a poly envelope rather than paper. The book is more likely to be damaged by water (rain snow puddles) than by folding or bumping.

If you use a polybubble envelope, keep an eye on thickness. A 2cm envelope can go letter rate but a 2.5cm envelope requires parcel shipping at two to four times the price. OTOH, most parcel rates include tracking or Confirmation of Delivery.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

Bookmark that-- and the rates will change on January 14, 2019.

[momcqueen]

Poly-envelopes: that is a good point I forgot to mention. I do use those now instead of paper envelopes for my paper-based items for the reason they are much harder to tear and also more water-resistant. And if you have an ebay store and gain a Shipping Supplies coupon, they're free. I have a lifetime supply at the moment which leads me to wonder if I should start selling the family collection of Harrowsmith magazines circa 1980. 

[redterror117]

Thank you everyone for the advice! I'm going to use my store discount coupon for some poly bags. I've got brown paper envelopes currently, but I'll add some extra protection for moisture in the meantime until they come in 🙂

[lucky9092]

I would also make sure nothing moves inside if you shake the envelope left-right and up-down. Movement can cause damage to the edges of sensitive documents.