PWE with tracking question?

[livealoha]

When it comes to shipping cards in a PWE on eBay (not ESE, but just a PWE with a stamp) is it possible to buy tracking on a PWE at the post office? And what is the cost of the tracking info? (Shipping with a stamp and not ESE or ground advantage) thank you so much. I appreciate your help.

[colfix87]

Short answer: no.

As far as I know, the cheapest way to get proper tracking/delivery confirmation on a letter is to send it certified mail, which will run you $4.40. At that point you may as well be paying Ground Advantage rates, which defeats the point of PWE shipping. eBay tracking is piggybacking on the intelligent mail system and isn't available to regular Joes like us.

[shrevecity]

Nope. As mentioned the cheapest way is more expensive than ground advantage.

The tracking on ese is not a postal product. It involves an internal system as mentioned that is managed by Pitney Bowes. This info is put on all envelopes but on those that just have a stamp the info is not printed onto the envelopes until it's in the system. The ese is using the metered mail system which applies that info when label is actually printed. So most envelopes end up with the info only ones sent via the ese get that info provided to the sender and receiver

[nam812]

Originally Posted by livealoha

When it comes to shipping cards in a PWE on eBay (not ESE, but just a PWE with a stamp) is it possible to buy tracking on a PWE at the post office? And what is the cost of the tracking info? (Shipping with a stamp and not ESE or ground advantage) thank you so much. I appreciate your help.

Unless you do not own a printer, why would you ship a card that you sold on eBay with just a stamp instead of ESE?

[Aug06]

I am totally against the PWE thing. There has been times i was going to purchase a card then see they send in a PWE and decided to buy somewhere else and pay a little more for safe shipping with tracking. I always ship in a padded envelope with tracking no matter how big or small the value.
My past experiences were the card always took weeks to arrive. Sending in a safe padded envelope doesn't break the bank....sellers need to stop being so cheap.

[JeffG1954]

Originally Posted by Aug06

I am totally against the PWE thing. There has been times i was going to purchase a card then see they send in a PWE and decided to buy somewhere else and pay a little more for safe shipping with tracking. I always ship in a padded envelope with tracking no matter how big or small the value.
My past experiences were the card always took weeks to arrive. Sending in a safe padded envelope doesn't break the bank....sellers need to stop being so cheap.

Instead of passing on the card and searching for another of the same, why don't you just send the seller a message and ask them if they would consider upping the shipping charge and send in a padded envelope? Most buyers don't want to spend $4+ for shipping the $1 card they need/want, so the PWE is useful to some sellers.

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by Aug06

I am totally against the PWE thing. There has been times i was going to purchase a card then see they send in a PWE and decided to buy somewhere else and pay a little more for safe shipping with tracking. I always ship in a padded envelope with tracking no matter how big or small the value.
My past experiences were the card always took weeks to arrive. Sending in a safe padded envelope doesn't break the bank....sellers need to stop being so cheap.

Most buyers enjoy getting the card with cheaper shipping. The times are not any different in most cases. That's your choice if you don't want to use it. Stop blaming sellers for YOUR choice.

[Bosoxfan5990]

Originally Posted by Aug06

I am totally against the PWE thing. There has been times i was going to purchase a card then see they send in a PWE and decided to buy somewhere else and pay a little more for safe shipping with tracking. I always ship in a padded envelope with tracking no matter how big or small the value.
My past experiences were the card always took weeks to arrive. Sending in a safe padded envelope doesn't break the bank....sellers need to stop being so cheap.

Yeah, this is actually the opposite.

Before ESE, most buyers wouldn't buy a $1 card with $4-5 shipping.

All of my ESE listings have both the ESE & USPS GA option available. The ESE option is free for the buyer, while the GA option is a $4.99 charge for the buyer if they would prefer the added protection.

Of note: I've purchased at least a few hundred cards via ESE at this point and none have gotten into my hands damaged. The number of cards that have gotten lost/never delivered to me is in the single digits.

[Aug06]

Yeah but i've had experiences where sellers still charging $4-$5 shipping and then your card still shows up in a PWE with a stamp on it....and in most cases a 2 weeks later. I'm not "blaming" anyone as you put it with their shipping methods. I'm in it for the hobby and for the fun of collecting, not for saving a buck or $2 on shipping. Id rather have a piece of mind the card i sold or traded arrived safe with tracking..... and although I do see your point about getting a .50 cent card at cheaper shipping...thats just not me.

Originally Posted by shrevecity

Most buyers enjoy getting the card with cheaper shipping. The times are not any different in most cases. That's your choice if you don't want to use it. Stop blaming sellers for YOUR choice.

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by Aug06

Yeah but i've had experiences where sellers still charging $4-$5 shipping and then your card still shows up in a PWE with a stamp on it....and in most cases a 2 weeks later. I'm not "blaming" anyone as you put it with their shipping methods. I'm in it for the hobby and for the fun of collecting, not for saving a buck or $2 on shipping. Id rather have a piece of mind the card i sold or traded arrived safe with tracking..... and although I do see your point about getting a .50 cent card at cheaper shipping...thats just not me.

That is a 1000% different experience than what you said on your first post. If the listings shipping is misreprested then you have a point but if listing says it ships pwe and you purchase it, you agreed knowing that shipping price and shipping method

Your initial post label all pwe sellers as being cheap.

[jamcas997]

Originally Posted by Aug06

I am totally against the PWE thing. There has been times i was going to purchase a card then see they send in a PWE and decided to buy somewhere else and pay a little more for safe shipping with tracking. I always ship in a padded envelope with tracking no matter how big or small the value.
My past experiences were the card always took weeks to arrive. Sending in a safe padded envelope doesn't break the bank....sellers need to stop being so cheap.

I at one time did not believe in PWE until ESE came around. However it is not the SELLERS who are being CHEAP it is the BUYERS. The buyers are the ones who ultimately make the decision to go PWE/ESE or Bubble Mailer with tracking. I offer both ESE and Bble mailer with tracking on all lower priced items in the ESE range and in over 20000 items sold under ESE I can safely say fewer than 10 have upgraded their choice from PWE/ESE to the BBL Mailer with tracking option. So again it is the buyers being cheap not the sellers. Also how are we suppose to move the junk just sitting around?

[jamcas997]

Originally Posted by Aug06

Yeah but i've had experiences where sellers still charging $4-$5 shipping and then your card still shows up in a PWE with a stamp on it....and in most cases a 2 weeks later. I'm not "blaming" anyone as you put it with their shipping methods. I'm in it for the hobby and for the fun of collecting, not for saving a buck or $2 on shipping. Id rather have a piece of mind the card i sold or traded arrived safe with tracking..... and although I do see your point about getting a .50 cent card at cheaper shipping...thats just not me.

If a seller does this than they are in the wrong.

[DynaEtch]

Yes seller is in the wrong doing that, charging $4-5 then shipping stamped PWE. Particularly look for the method of shipping they have listed- if it says ground advantage, then it's false advertising, as a PWE is not ground advantage, it's first class mail. I doubt ebay even allows the option of first class anymore, but if the seller uses a generic term like 'standard shipping' or 'economy shipping', it may not *technically* be in the wrong shipping in a PWE for that price, but I still think it's misleading for a seller to do that.

I dont usually go to ebay for low dollar cards, I use COMC for that more, but in terms of ESE, I think it's mostly ok, but Im generally more wary of it compared to bubble mailer tracked, just from some personal experiences (most recent being about a month ago, 2 cards ~$19 each, shipped ESE, showed delivered, and never arrived). Seller is free to ship how they want, and buyer is free to buy what they want with the given shipping (assuming shipping is correctly advertised).

[Aug06]

Originally Posted by shrevecity

That is a 1000% different experience than what you said on your first post. If the listings shipping is misreprested then you have a point but if listing says it ships pwe and you purchase it, you agreed knowing that shipping price and shipping method

Your initial post label all pwe sellers as being cheap.

You're right...I could of worded that a bit better. I think i said that out of frustration from past experiences where something did show up in a PWE and was charged way more than the price of the stamp.
I have recently reached out to sellers about asking to ship in a padded envelope on ebay and even said i pay a bit more for shipping...usually most will accomadate, but i have had a few that refused and one recently that was just rude about it and told me to buy elsewhere.....so I did.

I just know i'm the guy who would decide to go that route and without valid tracking i'd get a message saying they didn't receive or something was damaged.

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by Aug06

You're right...I could of worded that a bit better. I think i said that out of frustration from past experiences where something did show up in a PWE and was charged way more than the price of the stamp.
I have recently reached out to sellers about asking to ship in a padded envelope on ebay and even said i pay a bit more for shipping...usually most will accomadate, but i have had a few that refused and one recently that was just rude about it and told me to buy elsewhere.....so I did.

I just know i'm the guy who would decide to go that route and without valid tracking i'd get a message saying they didn't receive or something was damaged.

If that happens you are 100% covered on esewith the built in pip insurance. If it happens and it can with ground advantage you are likely SO, when it comes to protection.

[Cactuspies]

if www.letter-track.com is still working check them out. you can get I believe it's 5-10 free "tracking numbers" and then can purchase extra

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by Cactuspies

if www.letter-track.com is still working check them out. you can get I believe it's 5-10 free "tracking numbers" and then can purchase extra

You would not be covered by the ebay insurance or have tge protections ebay provides sellers of ese. If you are shipping pwe on ebay there is really no reason not to use the ebay system. The ese uses the same tracking system

[nam812]

Originally Posted by Aug06

.......I have recently reached out to sellers about asking to ship in a padded envelope on ebay and even said i pay a bit more for shipping............

If I were the seller I would never agree to "a bit more" from you. It would have to be the exact difference to get you into a track-able service.

[Aug06]

Originally Posted by nam812

If I were the seller I would never agree to "a bit more" from you. It would have to be the exact difference to get you into a track-able service.

LOL!.....Good God man...when I say "a bit more" I mean exact shipping....lol...talk about taking things so literal.

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by Aug06

LOL!.....I have no problem paying exact shipping...guessing you're that PWE guy who like to make $ on shipping?..lol

Hmm are you the type who would complain if a seller charges more than actual shipping. Like say they charge 5.00 when it costs 4.50?

I see why some sellers will not upgrade especially if you use the term a little bit more.

[mogwai316]

You can have both shipping options available, then the buyer can choose what they want without having to message and pay separately for a shipping upgrade etc. For example all my cards less than $20 are free shipping with ESE but the buyer can also choose ground advantage for $4 more. I can remember only once out of thousands of orders have I had a buyer actually do that, though. I do also offer a free upgrade to ground advantage if they buy cards adding up to more than $20 though, so it really makes more sense to just buy additional cards to get the upgrade instead of paying the $4 extra.

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by mogwai316

You can have both shipping options available, then the buyer can choose what they want without having to message and pay separately for a shipping upgrade etc. For example all my cards less than $20 are free shipping with ESE but the buyer can also choose ground advantage for $4 more. I can remember only once out of thousands of orders have I had a buyer actually do that, though. I do also offer a free upgrade to ground advantage if they buy cards adding up to more than $20 though, so it really makes more sense to just buy additional cards to get the upgrade instead of paying the $4 extra.

I tried that for a while, but had a few buyers play the well I selected this when they get it via PWE whele they never paid the extra.

Also if the buyer asks beforehand there is no need to have the buyer pay more later. Seller can go in an edit the shipping before purchase.

[nam812]

Originally Posted by Aug06

LOL!.....Good God man...when I say "a bit more" I mean exact shipping....lol...talk about taking things so literal.

Well I like to remove any gray area, so I would always have to straighten out intentionally vague sentences with any buyers before going forward.

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by nam812

Well I like to remove any gray area, so I would always have to straighten out intentionally vague sentences with any buyers before going forward.

I agree. I have had buyers complain 4.50 shipping is too much on an 8oz item. Had one leave a positive but said shipping was high on an item I charged 3.00 shipping for that shipped in a box and weighed 12oz. So I would want to clear up what a little bit more is first as well.

[Budler]

Originally Posted by Aug06

I am totally against the PWE thing. There has been times i was going to purchase a card then see they send in a PWE and decided to buy somewhere else and pay a little more for safe shipping with tracking. I always ship in a padded envelope with tracking no matter how big or small the value.
My past experiences were the card always took weeks to arrive. Sending in a safe padded envelope doesn't break the bank....sellers need to stop being so cheap.

It is all about the money and math. or the risk and rewards

I can buy 6 cards for .99 each with free shipping and loss one of them in the mail and still be ahead of the game vs I purchased one card and paid $4.99 for shipping. I get 4 extra cards for the same amount of money.

We all can do it our way and there is no need to justify it to anyone. There people doing it both ways which I have deal with.