I’m on a crusade to get everybody to convert from toploaders to Card Saver 1’s. Now this is for your personal collections. Why?
Cheaper
Takes up less room.
Fits nicely in all containers that store PSA cards. I store both together and the combo looks nice sitting together.
They won’t slip out no matter how hard you try. You don’t need an over sleeve like using a team bag over a toploader. If you want to use a sleeve though, the tight graded card sleeves do well.
They protect your private collection cards just as well as toploaders…maybe better cause they don’t shift inside like cards in toploaders do.
They “show” and “display” better. You don’t have to move your fingers around to view the whole card.
The cards can be seen with less distortion and scuffs/scratches because they hold up better (don’t show scratches as much).
Cards fit great back to back.
You can add an info tag without covering up part of the card.
If you use toploader containers now, these won’t fit but…it’s probably time to get rid of those filthy boxes anyway.
Now for shipping some may prefer toploaders but I’ve used cardsavers for that too and and haven’t had a single complaint. Plus, if you use a plain envelope, you can ship ‘non-rigid’ and save money there.
I’ve sent countless toploaders in envelopes and have never been charged more than a stamp. Every other point makes sense tho. One nice thing about toploaders is the fact that they are symmetrical. You can stack them and back to back they are just as nice as Card Savers IMO.
Cardsavers are just for PSA grading, otherwise I prefer Ultra Pro recessed snap holders. Dirt cheap and great quality for cards that aren’t of much value to get graded.
I made the switch a couple months ago, though i use the ultra pro semi rigid. The main thing i use top loaders for us to sand which cards when shipping to provide that extra safety.
Snap holders are problematic as well as costing more. Maybe for smaller collections but when you need 100s of thousands the cost piles up. But that’s all another story.
There is not a toploader inside the PSA building in Newport Beach. Ask yourself why;)
Just seconding this, as it is one of the most common misconceptions around here that just won’t die. I ship 100+ singles in toploads in plain white envelopes every week with just a single stamp.
As far as the shipping toploaders…in case a newbie reads what you wrote it’s important for them to know that your info is wrong. We don’t want them doing it then getting it returned for lack of postage…or worse, having the recipient getting a postage due notice.
A toploader in a regular envelope requires a “rigid” fee. Maybe they won’t catch you but for .21 cents why chance it!
This is your experience, not a universal truth. It is dependent on the Post office. The previous area I lived, you had to buy the more expensive stamps to ship a rigid envelope. When in a larger city, they didn’t bother. It is entirely dependent on the PO and how they enforce the policy.
You have to understand that not everyone is a smart shipper. There are those that throw a toploader in an envelope and call it good. Then there are those that fold a piece of paper so that the toploader is not egregious. After sending hundreds of cards like this I have never had a card sent back…ever.
I have dropped off at non-familiar post offices in the past when I am heading to a different facility for work, or running some errand that takes me elsewhere. I always ensure that I take it directly to the desk and make it a point to tell them that they are all set for regular shipping. Simply tell them that you have done it a ton of times before with no issue and they will move it on. If not, find a blue box and dump em in there. I have never gotten any back requiring added postage, I have only had this issue of inexperienced or unfamiliar clerks at the counter trying to tell me something wrong. I have gotten team bagged lots back when I sent out 10-20 to test the limits. 12 in a team bag never came back, 13-14 came back about 50/50 requiring more postage, 15+ I don’t think ever made it through. As long as they are less than 1/4" thick and can fold flat around a drum that is like 11" diameter or something they are fine and these easily can and do likely millions of times a year with toploaded singles and things of a similar thickness/rigidity.
Definitely. Although I normally only send cards under the $30 range in envelopes, I may consider adding the 21 cent stamps to cards over $20 just because. There are many here with more experience and more blunders than I
@gottaketchumall My entire post office enforced this policy, it wasn’t simply one clerk. Debating how you successfully avoid it is fine, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist and/or isn’t enforced. We can speculate on why certain regions enforce this policy, maybe some are in the black more than others, who knows. Regardless, it is their policy, and is enforced in certain areas. Very similar to the “cheap” international paypal option discussed in a previous thread. People are taking a risk, and it can be successful, but it is inherently a risk (the international one being more than this situation).
Actually I have to agree with @gottaketchumall
Though I don’t ship in plain envelopes hardly ever anymore these are details directly from USPS’s website. Nothing that I’ve found says “no you can’t” ship a toploader as long as it’s affixed somehow to a piece of paper in the envelope so it doesn’t shift around.
From USPS’s website:
1.2 Nonmachinable Criteria
A letter-size piece is nonmachinable if it has one or more of the following characteristics (see 601.1.1.2 to determine the length, height, top, and bottom of a mailpiece):
Has an aspect ratio (length divided by height) of less than 1.3 or more than 2.5.
Is polybagged, polywrapped, enclosed in any plastic material, or has an exterior surface made of a material that is not paper. Windows in envelopes made of paper do not make mailpieces nonmachinable. Attachments allowable under applicable eligibility standards do not make mailpieces nonmachinable.
Has clasps, strings, buttons, or similar closure devices.
Contains items such as pens, pencils, keys, or coins that cause the thickness of the mailpiece to be uneven; or loose keys or coins or similar objects not affixed to the contents within the mailpiece. Loose items may cause a letter to be nonmailable when mailed in paper envelopes; (see 601.3.3).**
Is too rigid (does not bend easily when subjected to a transport belt tension of 40 pounds around an 11-inch diameter turn).
For pieces more than 4-1/4 inches high or 6 inches long, the thickness is less than 0.009 inch.
Has a delivery address parallel to the shorter dimension of the mailpiece.
Is a self-mailer that is not prepared according to 201.3.14.
Is a booklet that is not prepared according to 201.3.16.
There may be some issues with paper weight but I think that toploaders are covered under all the requirements they have above.
**Edit, more on odd-shaped items:
3.3 Odd-Shaped Items in Paper Envelopes
Pens, pencils, key rings, bottle caps, and other similar odd-shaped items are not permitted in letter-size or flat-size paper envelopes unless they are wrapped within the other contents of the envelope to streamline the shape of the mailpiece and prevent damage during postal processing. If an odd-shaped item is not properly wrapped, it could burst through the envelope and cause injury to employees and damage to USPS processing equipment. Odd-shaped items that are properly wrapped within paper envelopes and sent at letter prices may be subject to the nonmachinable surcharge under 133.1.5 or 233.1.4 for First-Class Mail letters, or the nonmachinable prices under 243.5.5 for USPS Marketing Mail letters. Certain types of odd-shaped items, when properly wrapped, are permitted as automation letter-size mail subject to the standards in 201.3.10. Flat-size automation mail is subject to the uniform thickness requirement in 101.2.4.
Sadly, my post office also told me that a toploaded single in a regular envelope would cost an addition $0.21 with a stamp. Honestly, if you can get away with just a stamp, more power to you! xD I don’t want to risk getting a neg feedback on ebay for something silly like being short $0.21.
As @scratchdesk pointed out it really is more of a matter of fact than it is an opinion. The fact that I have had thousands of successes this way in the past year and a half proves that it works, and the fact is that the items are handled by machines, not people. If I was over the threshold, machines would reject a large portion of them. Being that I have higher than 99.99%, if not 100% success rate, we know I must be nowhere near the limit.
If necessary, I would print out the relevant info he pointed out above and have a talk with your postmaster about it if clerks are really that bad with it. For someone like me, it equates to about $1,000 a year in postage difference, and though it may not be that big to low volume people, it still is a >40% difference in postage from a plain old stamp to a stamp + non machinable add on.
Back to @garyis2000 's point though. A card saver 1 is even safer as far as these non machinable regulations go as they are even thinner and more flexible. I have been contemplating the transition to card savers only, but they are actually a fair bit more expensive for me than toploaders since I can buy ultra pro toploads wholesale and not card saver 1’s. At least not cardboard gold ones. I have heard bad things about UP card savers and have yet to try them.
I don’t appreciate the flappyness of card savers. I think I’ll stick with the top-loaders. Top-loaders are more firm and compact IMO. They also LOOK way more organized.
great points!