How To Ship Single Trading Cards

My experience in shipping comes mainly from trial and error over the years. I have been buying, selling, and trading cards online since 2002. The method I outline in this guide is but one of many ways to ship cards, and while it is slightly more expensive up front, it is much more secure, and 99.9% of the time the customer appreciates the extra effort. This guide assumes you’re preparing to ship a card via USPS First Class Mail (although this method will also work for Priority Mail).

Before you start packing, there are a few items you will need ready:

1. The card you're going to ship.

2. A card sleeve.

This is a flexible plastic cover that keeps cards from getting scratches and dings. Though it will not prevent bends and creases, a card sleeve is also great way to store your cards. Sleeves come in many brands, sizes, and colors. The least expensive of these are called “penny” sleeves, which are clear and are sold in packages of 100 or more. If you don’t have any on hand, you can order some on eBay for a few dollars. Most local card and hobby shops also carry them.

3. A toploader.

This is a semi-rigid plastic case with an opening at the top to insert the card. It provides excellent protection against scratches, dings, wear, and bends. Toploaders are light weight and provide an excellent method of both storing and shipping trading cards. They also come in a variety of sizes and shapes, and are made to fit a variety of card thicknesses (also called “points”). For most standard single cards, a 3” x 4” regular toploader will work. You can also get these on eBay and most card shops.

4. A team bag.

This is something of an “extra,” and is not critical, but does provide that little bit of additional protection when shipping cards. Team bags are small plastic bags with a resealable adhesive strip that can store several cards all together. They can also accommodate one or more toploaders. Team bags are great for providing protection against moisture and dust.

5. A bubble envelope/padded mailer.

There are several different sizes available, but in general I recommend the 4” x 7” (#000) size. Slightly larger ones will work as well, but you may have to fold them in half in order to keep the risk of the card sliding around to a minimum. This type of packaging is important for several reasons, not the least of which is that it provides much more protection to your customer’s card than a plain envelope. When you ship via USPS First Class Mail, for example, this type of packaging falls under a different type of shipping classification, and is subject to less handling and fewer (if any) Postal Service sorting machines. Plain envelopes are run through automated sorting devices which causes the letter—with card inside—to be subjected to unnecessary stress. Using a bubble mailer reduces handling and thus the chance of the package and merchandise inside being damaged.

In addition, if you use PayPal or eBay shipping services to print shipping labels, you won't have to worry about buying regular postage stamps for standard security envelopes. The large envelope/package rate, with delivery confirmation, is included as one of the default shipping preferences in both eBay and PayPal's shipping services. You can pay for and print out a shipping label complete with a tracking number right from your home computer, without having to take extra steps to acquire separate postage. The large envelope rates are slightly higher than the standard letter First Class Mail rate, but in my experience it is worth the extra few cents.

6. Printing paper and/or adhesive mailing label.

You'll need this to print a packing slip and shipping label for your mailer.

8. Scotch invisible tape.

You’ll need this to seal the toploader opening.

9. Packing tape.

To affix your mailing label if needed, and to seal the bubble mailer.

10. Scissors.

If needed to trim labels and tape.

Once you have all the above items in hand, follow these steps to prepare the card for shipment:

1. First, make sure you have clean, dry hands and a clean, clear work area.

If you have a can of compressed air, use it to remove any excess surface dust before you begin packing, as dust can inadvertently transfer from your work surface to the card.

2. Take the card you are shipping and place it in a single card sleeve.

3. Take the sleeved card and carefully place it in a toploader.

Try to avoid “stuffing” the card in—just gently work the card in by hand until you feel slight resistance.

4. If necessary, gently tap the toploader several times on a hard surface to get the card to settle to the bottom.

5. Take about a two-inch piece of scotch tape and place it over the open end of the toploader to seal it.

This will keep the card from sliding out during transit. Be careful that the sleeve and card are inside the case and do not touch the tape.

6. Place the taped toploader in a team set bag, then remove the adhesive strip and seal it.

7. If you have printed a packing slip, neatly fold it into quarters and wrap it around the bagged toploader.

This is more for aesthetic purposes, but will also provide friction to help keep the toploader from sliding around inside the mailer.

8. Place the packing slip and bagged toploader into the bubble mailer.

9. Seal the bubble mailer with the adhesive strip or with additional packing tape.

10. Affix the mailing label, complete with tracking number and code, to the back of the mailer.

Try to avoid taping over the bar code of your label.

Your package is now ready to mail! You can give it to your postal carrier or drop it in the parcel drop box. Be sure and update your customer’s shipping information so he/she has the tracking number and is aware of when it was mailed.

It may be tempting to cut corners when shipping a card in order to cut down on expenses. But keep in mind that there are risks to not making sure your customer’s trading card is adequately protected. Trading cards are fragile. Spending a little extra time and money now will save you and your customers a potential headache down the road. The method outlined in this guide is one that I have found to be quite feasible, reasonably affordable, and is met with frequent customer satisfaction.

How to store coffee

This is no secret and probably almost coffee lovers know about it. Still, some people might find this guide useful for them.

First thing you need to know the fact about coffee freshness first.
- Coffee will start to lose its freshness right after the roasting is done.
- Coffee roasted beans will be able to keep its freshness up to 30 days if stored right.
- Ground coffee freshness will only last for 14 days it you stored it right.

Things that will make your coffee lose its freshness quickly are air, heat, light and moisture. So based on this fact you need store your coffee in an airtight container and placed it where there is no heat, moisture and light.

Ceramic container will be a good choice, I myself use it. It's antique (not important) and your coffee will be protected from light but make sure you placed it in a place where ther is no direct sun light (will cause heat). Save your coffee container in cabinet or in the kitchen. NEVER put your coffee in refrigerator, that's a stupid act, really.

Since roasted coffee beans freshness last longer it is best if you store your coffee as roasted beans and grind only when you want to drink coffee.Never, again, NEVER let your roasted coffee beans or ground coffee stay too long in the open. Take the amount you need and close the container right away and put it back inside the cabinet.

This is important that you store your coffee with the right way since coffee freshness affect how your coffee will taste.

WRC Dimensional Sign Letter Care and Mounting

Western Red Cedar Dimensional Sign Letters, available in a Western Style Font, are a very economical and attractive way for the Do-it-Yourself-er to build a high impact sign for a fraction of the cost of pay-to-install channel or metal letters. This guide is to make you aware of the special care, mounting and handling requirements for wooden sign letters, and in particular those you can purchase from "Affordable 3D Signs", an Ebay store.

Available fonts & Sizes:

5” Tall Western Upper case only Letters, numbers, punctuation

Description:

This sign letter is CNC cut from ½” thick Western Red Cedar board. This material is naturally rot and insect resistant. Our tooling process may leave some fuzz on sides of letters, but this does not affect the intended use of the letters. The front face of the letter is sanded, the back and sides are not. The color of the cedar wood will vary from dark brown to tan to light brown with white to even red or pink streaks. Random knots could occur anywhere on letter, however the knots will not be loose, and there will not be any knot holes.

Recommended Use:

The rustic look of these letters make them very attractive. Great for inside or outside signage.

Mounting:

These letters can be mounted with adhesive caulks, structural adhesive, double sided foam tape, screws, or nails. If using nails or screws, the letters should be mounted on a flat surface, uneven pressure on the letters could break them. Pilot holes of the correct size should be drilled through the letters before screws or nails are inserted, do not over tighten, letters are fragile. If the mounting surface is uneven caulking can be applied to the back in varying thicknesses to keep letter level. If attaching screws or nails from the back, be careful not to crack the letter, drill blind pilot holes if possible.

Repair or modification:

These letters can be repaired if broken. Gorilla glue works well. Try to apply pressure to close the joint while glue is drying.

Painting:

Can be clear coated, stained, or painted with most any finish suitable for wood.

Antique Furniture Window Frames Door Shutter

SmokinTex 1400 - Featured On The "TODAY" Show

SmokinTex Pro 1400... Smokin Tex Pro 1400 Stainless

The Entire SmokinTex product line can be seen and purchased at our online store MyRubberneck where a limited number of COUPONS exist, FREE SHIPPING is offered every day and all purchases come with a FREE GIFT.

Make old-fashioned pit barbecue and delicious natural wood-smoked foods with this powerful, convenient smoker. The food is slow-cooked over real wood smoke to produce that rich, mouth-watering flavor! Features all-stainless steel construction, an electrical thermostat that allows you to accurately control the temperature from 100 to 250 degrees fahrenheit, a well-insulated cabinet and no-draft cooking conditions for a consistent, savory product, and easy-to-clean grills and racks. Powered by an 700-watt heating element, rated for 10 amps and 120V single phase current. Holds up to 33lbs., and comes complete with 3 cooking grills, wheels, wood, disposable drip pan, 6' power cord, cookbook, and instructions.

Smokin Tex Pro 1400 Stainless Features:

All stainless steel smoker model 1400.

Capacity: Approximately 38 lbs. per load

Shelves: Capacity 5 - (14.5" x 14.5")

Electrical: 700 Watt heating element, 10 amp, 120v single phase current

Dimensions: W-17 1/2" x D-21" x H-29" (without wheels H-26 3/4")

Wheels: Standard

Insulation: Full - except bottom.

More Smokin Tex Smoker 1400 Features:

Weight: Approximately 93 lbs. crated.

Standard Accessories for the 1400 model:

3 - Standard Stainless Steel Racks

Stainless Steel Drip Pan

Wheels

Wood

Cookbook and Instructions