I've got some inexpensive rolls of coins in plastic tubes. What's the best way of shipping single rolls?
I use these plastic bubble wrap envelopes. Make sure you tape the plastic tubes shut. I also tape the tubes to the inside of the envelope so it won't move around. I ship with tracking.
I’ve bought a couple rolls and they came bubble wrapped in 4”x 6” padded envelope. They arrived in good shape.
Those bubble mailers are excellent. You should be using First Class Mail Service which is USPS. Unless it's gold it should be under a pound. And if it is gold i definitely would not ship it USPS. In general, the most trustworthy service is UPS. I work at a department store and whenever we have anything super expensive we send it UPS because it actually gets to the destination! If you ship through paypal you get a discount which is better than the rate in the post office. Let me know if you have any more questions about shipping because I'm fairly knowledgeable.
That's just an opinion. The USPS is perfectly fine and UPS and Fedex have plenty of problems. Not to mention with coins you better have private insurance if you're going to use UPS or Fedex
I would recommend wrapping them in bubble wrap and then into a sturdy box. The three main shippers don't care about the contents, just as long as they arrive. If they arrive damaged then they will tell you that YOU should have done a better job packing them. Since they are "inexpensive" it will not be worth the effort to file a claim.
I usually use a small priority flat box with some bubble to pad it. Especially if you’re shipping multiples
Not automatic, it has been free but needs to be selected. That said, you have to declare the proper value or the claim will be rejected. You can't put 50 on 200 and say that's all you wanted as an example
Well I am basing that off of my experience. I work in the shipping department of my store and often people call asking where their package is. 9 times out of 10 if the package is missing its USPS. None of them are perfect so I agree with that.
Of the three, USPS, FEDEX & UPS it's not tough to assess in my area. UPS is far and away the best. ETA is always spot on, unless unforeseen weather delays. USPS tracking is horrific. Their estimated date of arrival is virtually always wrong. I don't think our local carriers have passed their reading proficiency exam. They're a bunch of dolts. Misdelivered letters and packages all the time. FEDEX is hit or miss.
I’ll agree totally. And usps will often not deliver if they don’t feel like getting out of their car. They’ll just say driveway is impassible due to snow or ice even though it’s perfectly plowed out my mail carrier is very temperamental like that at least she likes animals especially dogs as she carry’s dog treats with
Amen. Ups will deliver period. My regular driver wears shorts 365 days a year will walk through a foot of snow no problem and drives his truck like he’s in the Daytona 500. Seriously. He turns the corner and unless he has to stop right away he holds it to the floor
With the weight of the rolls, your best deal is going to be using a flat rate box from USPS. Just put some padding to fill up the box and make sure the rolls aren't flying around, and they'll be just fine.
I shipped via USPS a vintage Marantz preamplifier in a Sony box. I did not want to call attention to the value of the item inside, so I insured it for $100. The tracking showed that the USPS received it but it never departed my home city. My guess is that the Marantz that I sold for close to $1K ended up in postal employee's garbage can. OTOH, a CD I bought from a seller in Brooklyn did not arrive. He issued a refund thru PayPal and all was forgotten. More than 2 years later the USPS delivers a badly soiled but still intact mailer containing the CD. The seller was no longer on ebay and his address on the envelope was illegible so I could not send him the money he was owed.
A roll of 90% silver quarters + tube + packaging weighs about 9-10 oz. - USPS First Class Package postage is 3.82 - 4.33 depending on destination - tracking is an additional 0.90 - insurance is also additional (1.65 to $50, 2.05 to $100, etc.) - lighter coins in packages weighing 5-8 oz. will cost 0.70 less for postage - these rates are for items mailed at the P.O. (postage and services bought and printed online cost a bit less) Flat Rate (small box) Priority will cost 7.90, tracking and $50 insurance included. Wrap the rolls/tubes securely, add padding, place the addresses so that there is room for postage/tracking/insurance labels - hope this helps
I've received similar shipments - the more tubes there are together in the same box, the more they will shimmy, shake, rattle, bang together and unscrew their own & neighboring caps - yours seem to have survived the journey relatively unscathed