I am thinking of adding greeting cards and gift tags to my shop. Mainly because they will hopefully be easy to handle with a newborn while on maternity leave. Famous last words:) And I think my idea is super fun:)
I have been stocking up on supplies to make the products but now need to stock up on shipping supplies. I was wondering for those that sell gift tags and greeting cards. What type of mailer you use? And typically what is the first class rate to mail it. I am thinking a single card. I am not up to packs yet. I am finding stay flat mailers but have no idea how much they cost to ship a single greeting card. Also does anyone have any advice for suppliers? I only want to buy a few to try. I can't see buying a pack of 100 if the cards aren't going to sell.
my 'guess' is bubble mailers. the gift tags for sure would work in those. you could wrap in extra bubble wrap. or even put in a jewelry bracelet square box. what do you think about the idea of having the card between 2 pcs of cardboard? in a bubble mailer? again, wrap some bubble wrap around the cardboard. you could recycle card board boxes cut into rectangles about an inch larger top and bottom than the card size so corners of card wouldn]t be bent over
do you have a postal scale? lay out a card/envelope, invoice copy, bubble mailer, biz card... i'd guess under $2 1st class mail. a guess..maybe more like 1.30....
Thanks for the suggestions. I have been thinking of putting card board around them. I have been saving my cereal boxes. Not exaclty professional but was hoping customers would appreciate my save the environment tactic. I use poly mailers for the rest of my products as my products don't matter if they get squished. I don't have a lot of storage space so bubble wrap may not be the best for me. Stay flats say they are made for cards and paper documents and they are easy to store.
I just don't know where to get a small amount to try. Yes I do have a scale. However when looking at shipping rates of other sellesr, the rates are all over the price range map.
Bubble mailers I think are classified as packages and get a higher shipping rate. What are stay flats classified as? If an envelope, then they should technically get a cheaper shipping rate then bubble mailers. I would think anyway.
When I've purchased cards here on Etsy, most have come in a very nice cello bag in side a bubble envelope.
You can purchase cello bags in smaller quantities at uline.com
I'd suggest that you be very careful with using cereal boxes as packaging for the simple reason that people with some allergies simply cannot handle them. Even food packaging can be extremely dangerous to some people.
Oh my, I didn't even think about the allergy issue. Thanks. Yes I bought a small pack of cello bags from an Etsy vendor to try. I will look into bubble mailers. I have used them before. I guess shipping cost are shipping costs. Up, up, up.
