Questions for Canadian Members

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kevinv72

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Hey all,

Some questions for Canadian members of the hobby:

Where do you pruchase your shipping supplies from - namely bubble mailers?

Do you buy them from a retail outlet - office supply, post office, etc - or do you get them wholesale from a supplier, or from somewhere else via the internet? Are they from the U.S. or Canada?

When you purchase bubble mailers, do you buy a small quantity at a time, say 5-20, or do buy larger quantity 50-100 or more?

The reason I ask is because I used to buy mine from a retail outlet, but costs this way can become quite large over time, so I looked for an alternative. I searched online, but didn't really find anywhere good in Canada to purchase a large quantity from. So I took my search to ebay, where there we several suppliers of shipping supplies, such as bubble mailers; however, they are all based in the U.S..

I ended up purchasing a case of 100 from this one ebay store for a decent price. The downside though is you then have to pay shipping to Canada, which for a case of 100 mailers, is a little more than the cost of the case of mailers itself. So now the cost has just doubled! If that's not bad enough, Revenue Canada will now soak you with a Duty and tax of about 70% of the cost of case of bubble mailers (rough estimate here).

To put it in terms of numbers, say a case of 100 mailers is US$10. Shipping from U.S. to Canada US$12. Duty & taxes about US$6 for example. So that's $10+$12+$6=US$28! Still not bad when I consider what I was paying for the same bubble mailers from a retail outlet, but wouldn't it be better to buy them by the case from a Canadian source? This way, the shipping would be much less, and no additional duties.

Anyhow, I'd love to know how you buy your bubble mailers, where you get your mailers from and about how much you pay or save by getting them from where you do.

Thanks in advance for answering the questions.
Kevin
 
Jeez, I was gonna direct you to my guy, 500 #000 for $53 shipped, but he doesn't sell to Canada. Looks like they all don't.

I guess it's cheap to ship UPS when the box is so light.
 
There use to be a seller on Ebay that was in Canada who sold bubble mailers. You had to buy in quantities of a hunread but a 5x10 mailer was less than 10 cents a piece so it was great! I bought 300 and still have about 100 left. They have long gone out of Ebay business though :( Shipping was free I forgot to add!

Your best bet is to find a local store that sells shipping supplies. Not your box store but your small business. Call them or go in person and ask them their prices if you bought a case. They should be willing to come down on price. Sure its a big upfront cost but it saves you a lot of money in the end. I'm thanful I bought in such large quantities.
 
I just goto the local shoppers drug mart and get mine there. Depending on the trade (regular cards/patches/auto patches) I would get the smaller or extra padded bubble mailers. Look around for dollar stores as well b\c a local one here in Toronto used to sell 6 bubble mailers for something like $2 and another hobby store here sells them for 25 cents each. Those are only the smaller bubble mailers though.
 
I shop at a dollar store for the bubblies. 3 for a buck. Not bad as I don't do much trading or selling :)
 
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Dollar store I believe might be the best bet.Most places seem like they are 3 for a buck.Unless you are buying the really small ones and they are a bit cheaper.But if you can track down a local small business that can help youthan you may save a bit more.I buy mine at a local magazine store.They sell by the case of 25.Depending on the size from about $.09 each up to about $.30 each.Good luck to you finding a place.Thanks,Winston.
 
I got to Mailboxes Etc. I think the last time I bought 100 it was 19 cents apiece for #000, canadian. Yes, there's taxes, but it's still less than a quarter a piece. You can get larger discounts if you go up to 250 or 500 I think.

Cory
 
There is no duty on Bubble Mailers. In fact, there are almost no duties on most goods flowing across the US/Canada and US/Mexico borders.

I buy mine from a local drugstore. When they do their order once a year, they add an extra case (500) of #000 for me. I get it for $90.
 
I got mine from Staples, had them special order a pile for me and get them in a week
 
I buy mine from the local dollar store as well. I'm not sure what a #000 is, but the ones I buy say 4x8 on the packaging and come 3 for $1.
 
Thanks for your input and suggestion guys! Lots of good info/ideas to look into.

I have been doing some hunting around, and may have found a very good source - factory direct!! I will know more after Monday, so stay tuned for an update.

Thanks again,
Kevin
 
Bubble Mailers?? I just use a Regular white envelope. Box of $25 for like $1.99............................................................................................................. Just kidding. I buy mine at the drug store, although I think i pay a whopping 39 cents for mine. I think I am getting jipped!
 
shortstopguy12 said:
Bubble Mailers?? I just use a Regular white envelope. Box of $25 for like $1.99............................................................................................................. Just kidding. I buy mine at the drug store, although I think i pay a whopping 39 cents for mine. I think I am getting jipped!
Click to expand...


Ahhhhh, so you're that guy!! :p

LOL :D

Thanks for the laugh and info!
Kevin
 
There is one Ontario based seller of bubble envelopes on ebay:

Link

If your in Ontario I think it works out to something like $0.18-0.19 per.

Brian
 
I got mine from Staples. I can't remember the cost but, it is cheaper than buying the off the shelf packages. Have them order you the 100 count pack of mailers from their catalogue, its alot cheaper. It will take about a week for them to get them but they do not charge extra for shipping or special order costs
 
Get them in bulk from an office supply store - back home they came out to about 20 cents per envelope If I got a 1/2 case (50 bubble mailers)
 

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