On the same subject, what is the "best" way to ship cards oversees? I shipped a couple in padded envelopes but the post office made me put a customs sticker on it with a value. I later found out that because I listed the value over $50, the person receiving the package had to pay around $17 to get their package
.
I was told to get around this, I just write Gift on it, but I would like to know the safest way to ship cards out of the US.
Envelope?
Top Loaders?
Padded Envelope?
Your 'best' bet shipping overseas
from the U.S. goes something like this:
Under US$40 - ship in toploaders inside a padded envelope. Depending on what country and how many cards, this should cost you between $.80 to $2.40. ALWAYS write out one of the small green customs forms, write 'playing cards' under the item description, check 'Gift,' and declare a value of less than $20 (if possible).
Over US$40 - the safest way to go (and I encourage you to pass this cost onto the customer or person you are trading with) is USPS
Registered mail. You will have to fill out another form for this, and it costs an additional US$7.50 on top of the shipping costs mentioned above, but it is usually the only truly trackable (by the sender) way of mailing out of the country. Declare the real value on the customs form, but stick with marking 'gift' (to avoid your customer having to pay more at pick-up), and also stick with the padded envelope if you have them available to you.
Registered mail from other countries (parts of Asia and Europe, for example) is often a lot cheaper (as low as $1-3 more per package, in some instances), so if your customer(s) whine about excessive shipping costs, you can tell them that's the law of the land, or you can point them directly to this link:
http://usps.com/send/waystosendmail/extraservices/optionalserviceandfeaturefees.htm#RegisteredMail
