Acceptable Packaging Methods

Good !
It means that a thief would also find it difficult in what little time he or she has to carry out those dastardly deeds.

If your knife, or anyone else's knife is good enough then you should never damage the contents. If a sender places the items so close to the edge of the packet/envelope then it is poor packaqing and can be damaged no matter how much tape is affixed.

I repeat, too much tape is not enough. Ask a thief !

Londonbus1.....

The problem with theft is that in some postal system the amount of tape is not a deterrent. They'll just take the whole thing.

May I clarify myself...........
The problem I encountered was a few of the taped packs left little room for error in opening. The cardboard sandwich was essentially the same size as the small glassine envelopes. The carboard was taped all the way around. Usually the carboard wrapper is larger than the envelope and you can easily get an Xacto blade in just deep enough to cut the tape. But in these cases, their was no wiggle room and it was a chore to safely open the pack. Understand, I'm not talking about the outside mailing envelope, but the package inside.

When I get a package that is overwrapped, I appreciate the fact that the seller took the time to make sure the stamps are safe. But I do get frustrated sometimes when there is so much tape and packaging that I begin to wonder if I'll ever get the stamps out!
I'm not a regular seller on ebay, but occasionally I'll list a few duplicates. I usually just put them in one of those clear stamp glassines, then put that between two thin sheets of cardboard. I list a lot more on Listia, and usually put them in glassines and send them in a greeting card. They are not real expensive stamps, and I offer free shipping there, so I try to keep my costs down.

A very nice twist on Stamp packaging.
Very impressed.

United States Safe-t-mailer.

Pop your window card inside, light gum on both sides.
Cover with kitchen wrap. Perfect.

I have two packaging versions. For staying within 1 ounce so I can stick to a single first class stamp I put the stamp in a mount, then a glassine. I use a very small piece of tape to close the glassine. I put that between two pieces of cardboard large enough to not move around much in the envelope but not full envelope size since that will likely exceed 1 ounce. I tape the glassine down to one side to prevent it from moving with two small pieces of tape. I tape the two pieces together with just a small piece of tape on each of the 4 sides. This whole thing goes into a folded packing slip. By now there are about 8 layers from the stamp to the outside air. It is not moving and it is cheap and under 1 ounce.

I am sure tape can be used well or poorly. I've received packages with tape just in the place to make it hard to open safely. So think about how to protect the stamp but also think about what the buyer will have to do to open the package.

For when I'm going for tracking (which is most of the time) I use a cardboard "thick envelope" just like revenuecollector does. I still put the stamp in a mount and in a glassine with a small piece of tape to hold it closed. I then tape the glassine onto a packing slip and fold it over to provide a bit more protection and to make it so it doesn't move around inside the package.

Occasionally a stamp requires special handling and more protection is always a good idea. You can always add extra layers, extra envelopes inside envelopes etc.

I always put a little sticker on the back of the envelope that says "please do not bend" for good measure.

Rick

I just received my first two purchases in the mail yesterday from ebay!

One was 1,000 stamps, off paper kiloware that was carefully places in a sandwich bag, surrounded by thin cardboard stock and the folded invoice. The envelope was well taped on the outside.

The other was a smaller lot of a few stamps in a cardboard backed dealer card, taped lightly to the inside of the envelope with a thin cardboard front. LOTS of packing tape on the outside of the envelope.

Everything was well packed. They both used stamps on the envelopes. In fact, one of them basically covered the front of the envelope with lower denomination stamps from 30 years ago! That made it a pleasure to receive these packages, and would order from either of them again. The other thing that really impressed me was the speedy shipping.