Packaging

[sounds]

Hi guys,

I'm fairly new to programme collecting and I have a few programmes I intend to sell on ebay however some advice is needed.

I have sold a few old programmes in the past and sent them in the cardboard backed envelopes as they fitted nicely in either C5 or C5+ envelopes.

Currently I have a few I want to list that will not fit either as they are too big and I wondered what other people do as the next size up is A4, which is way too big.

Am I missing a trick here as programmes seem to come in all sorts of sizes.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[Auchinleckian]

Anything over the A5 size is classed as a large letter, so you're paying the same for A4 or something just above A5. No way around it am afraid.

[littlewiggy]

What I do for bigger items is buy a pack of 5 x A4 (Normal) Brown Envelopes from the Post Office (£1), then cut out a bit of loose cardboard the same size as the item I want to send.

Then I pop the item into an A4 plastic sleeve, fold & seal it, then sellotape it to the cardboard, then pop it in the A4 Brown Envelope. Then fold the sealed envelope over so it fits snug, and tape flap down with parcel tape.

It's not only cheap (20p per item) & works a treat, but it's also very neat & nicely protective.

Palace Pete has had photos off me using this method, and I'm sure he will tell you they were very well packed.



Anything bigger than A4, I use the same method but instead of an envelope I use a roll of Brown Packing Paper (also available cheaply in the Post Office).
_________________
NEWPORT COUNTY & GENERAL FOOTY BADGES:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/newport-county-badges/albums

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

I wouldn't disagree with Wiggy, who takes almost mother and baby-style precautions with his wares, but for the sake of £6.65 you can buy 25 C4 (12.75" x 9" or 324x229mm - A4 is 297x210) brown self-seal board-back envelopes off EBay. That's 27p each and saves you all that palaver.

Plus you may need a roll of brown sticky tape to go round the edges and across the flaps at each end. One of those is maybe £1. (NB: use brown tape because the recipient can see it as opposed to cellotape).

And if you wanted more than 25 you can buy boxes of 50 or 100 and they work out cheaper pro-rata (eg a box of 100 = 16p each). Plus you can always insert another piece of cardboard (eg from a cornflake box or a used envelope) on the opposite side of the board-back to make it doubly protective. And use a plastic sleeve round the programme to waterproof it.

And dare I say it but it looks a tad more professional and one thing that gets my goat as a recipient is spending 15 minutes cutting through all the near-invisible cellotape in opening it and making sure the cellotape & scissors don't damage the contents.

And as Auckinleckian says, there's no way round that postal charge I'm afraid, these are "large".

And if you do it on EBay, and want to get the customer to sign so you have some kind of protection, that's another £1.20 or so per mailing.

And if you ask our resident postman on here about that, it's not worth the £1.20 as anyone can sign for it including the postman! So you might think of "special" and that's about £7 each. And Ebay get their percentage of the postal charge you serve on your customer.

Sorry, not being negative and you can make your own decisions about the best way to go. Best of luck.

[littlewiggy]

I didn't realise the extra-large board-envelopes were that cheap Pete.
Crikey, what the hell have I been doing?!!

LOL!!!!


_________________
NEWPORT COUNTY & GENERAL FOOTY BADGES:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/newport-county-badges/albums

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Exactly, Wigster!

[littlewiggy]

Pete’s Picture Palace wrote:

Exactly, Wigster!

_________________
NEWPORT COUNTY & GENERAL FOOTY BADGES:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/newport-county-badges/albums

[DySporting]

My last bulk orders were 500 c5/a5 which cost £37
and 250 a4 which cost £24

They were via Amazon and I’ve found them cheaper on Ebay since. Always buy envelopes in bulk, loads cheaper.

[sounds]

Many thanks for your help and advice.