HOW TO: Pack & Mail your Cards for Swaps

Leah, I will send you a message on atc info. A question foy you, though-- someone was told that the Post Office won't hand cancel things--is that just if they're not doing the extra postage? For instance, if you had something less than an ounce, put a forever stamp on it, and then wrote hand-cancel on it, would it go through the machine anyway?
 
I'd just like to say for tape what ever you do DON'T USE STICKERS. I've had a few personal trades where the other person has used stickers to put them on a note card and I had to just take the cards out of the sleeves and toss the sleeves because not only could I not get the stickers off without ripping the sleeves I almost bent the cards trying! I know they look cute but use for decoration, not adhesive.
 
good info

Where do we send ATC's for trade? I see Halloween and Autumn, would love to participate in both and I am new, Not really sure what I am doing?
Looking for your guidance, and so happy to find more places to trade :)
 
Mx5gurl said:
Where do we send ATC's for trade? I see Halloween and Autumn, would love to participate in both and I am new, Not really sure what I am doing?
Looking for your guidance, and so happy to find more places to trade :)
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Once you post in the swap and join, you can go to the original post, click on the swap hosts name which opens a drop down menu and click the third one down which says "send a private message to ____" (host's name) Then you request their address and they will send it to you. Hope that helps. :)
 
RockingBearRanch said:
Thank you all for the info. I am getting charged different prices depending on which post office I go to. My last mailing cost two full stamps for under one ounce in a business sized envelope because I asked for nonmachinable. It was not rigid or unusual in any other way. I didn't want the paper foil on my art to be bent.

Does anyone know if that is part of the new rate change from January?
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No, non-machinable for stuff you don't want bent has been around for awhile...
 
my bad. lol

it was 20 cents and just went up to 21 cents. i could see it possibly costing an extra 42 cents if it went over an ounce and non machinable. but not 49 cents... what i did when i had an issue like that was to print out the info from the usps website and then took it in with me and said "could you help me explain what this means" that way they could see the actual rule without me making an accusation that would get them crabby. LOL
 
Tape--Washi tape is very good for taping plastic sleeves together. However, it will rip paper ---so don't use it to tape dollar bills to your card sleeves. It also is not good with postal machines...only tape the P.O. likes on envelopes is box tape...no Scotch tape, stickers, or washi there.

On your return envelopes make sure to put the HOSTS address in the return address slot, not yours.
 
debs913 said:
Tape--Washi tape is very good for taping plastic sleeves together. However, it will rip paper ---so don't use it to tape dollar bills to your card sleeves. It also is not good with postal machines...only tape the P.O. likes on envelopes is box tape...no Scotch tape, stickers, or washi there.

On your return envelopes make sure to put the HOSTS address in the return address slot, not yours.
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debs913, Thank you for the additional info about the host's name. I'd not even thought about that to tell the truth.

I've taken to sending single cards lightly taped with scotch magic to a card of some sort (usually something the other person might find useful). I recently received a lovely card in a trade that had been crumpled during mailing. This might still have happened even without the extra support, but the damage wouldn't have been as great. The card, by the way, is still quite lovely.

I also recently received a card from someone who used some sort of really super adhesive double stick tape or something to adhere the cards to a piece of cardboard. I, like someone above in the thread, had to discard the sleeves as I couldn't get the adhesive off of the sleeves and one of them actually ripped.

There's a lot of great advice here. Thanks for adding more.
 
Years ago I bought a pack of #11 envelopes. (That's a USA size that is slightly larger that a #10 but still meets the post office standards for the least postage.)

Now I print my return address on a #10, put all the ATCs and stuff in it, and slip everything into the #11 addressed to the host. Works GREAT!

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I started trading in 2005, and have always stored ATCs in 3-ring binders -- in either 9-up (for vertical cards) or 8-up (for horizontal cards) clear plastic binder pages. So I have boxes of those pages around. To mail 3 or 6 cards, I would cut a 9-up page in thirds and use one strip per envelope. These keep the cards flat (no overlapping) and make the mail as thin as possible. This way, even if the envelope is ripped one never loses any art. (For mailing more, I'd use a full 9-up sheet and fold it into thirds -- which exactly fits a #10 envelope but take a little extra postage.)

For folks who don't have binder page sheets, you can make a safe and easy holder from a plain sheet of paper -- by folding it up a third and putting one staple a third of the way in from each end then place your ATCs in each pocket and fold the top down. (Since the two staples are cross-wise to the envelope, this does not hinder the postal sorting machine.)

PS: Most hosts here at AfA want cards to be sent in penny sleeves. Those also fit into all of the above just fine.

-- Lois (available for trade -- ATCs or mail art)
 
I LOVE LOVE LOVE my size 11 envelopes! I hoard them and only use them when I need to send an SASE. No one around here sells them so I have to buy them online. But they're definitely worth it! :cute:

the only slight problem I've found with using the cut up binder pages is that the penny sleeve gets crinkled up in them and sometimes bends the cards. The cards you send may fit fine, but the cards you receive in the swap may not. It's just extra hassle for the host trying to get them to fit. lol And it can add to the weight. When hosting, I've had some that have gone over 1 ounce and had to have extra postage because of the plastic holder. (plus the hostess has to deal with keeping track of it) Now that being said, there are alot of hosts who like and prefer sending that way. :wubclub: We all have our different preferences and peculiarities haha

thanks for sharing and sharing pics too!
 
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