When Donna sent me seeds, she used a yellow envelope lined with bubble wrap. The seeds arrived in perfect condition.

Jared

Thanks Jared!

Hi,
I use a 4" x 8" bubble envelope. It protects the seeds from being crushed pretty well. It costs $1.95 to mail (to a US destination), and you can usually put quite a few seeds in to it for that.
Mike

Hi Tina,

Just to add to this, I do use a 4"x8" bubble wrap but don't put the seeds directly in the envelope! Put them in (if you have one, a tiny manila envelope or you can use one of those tiny plastic jewelry Ziploc baggies) I prefer to use paper though so the seeds can breath. If you don't have either of those you can make a little packet yourself out of paper..carefully using scotch tape to keep the packet closed.
It cost me 1.97 for the postage and I have tried the route of using an envelope with the tiniest bubble wrap you can find, but they always end up charging me the same..1.97 to assure that they keep the envelope out of the sorters which can crush the seeds. Life it too short so I use the easiest which is the bubble envelope.
Someone sent me some seeds in an envelope with the thinest of bubble wrap (successfully).. which I can't find anywhere.. everything is too thick so I gave up and use the easy to obtain mailing envelopes...

Donna

Bubble wrap is the best way! I did get once seeds only packed in a envelope. I dont know, what happened. pressure by stamping or something else, the germination of all the seeds where bad and the little germs did grow only a bit and firered. Wrap first in some papertowels or something like that, to remove moist. Otherwhise the mold- fungi have a good meal.
best regards
Frank

Same thing happened to me..fresh seeds that got damaged in an envelope although the sender did their best to protect them..poor thing did try though..

{{gwi:394931}}

That�s it Donna! Thanks for the illustration!

So if you receive an envelope where the bubble wrap in an ordinary envelope were all popped, it was squished through?

...A lot depends on how helpful and friendly the P.O. agent that is waiting on you at the moment is!! One time I was told that it would cost me $2 to keep the envelope out of the sorters on this end, but couldn't guarantee it on the other end..$2 (1.95 to 1.97 )is what a bubble envelope costs to send (of course you have to pay for the bubble envelope also)... Those seeds pictured above were put between pieces of cardboard with a hole cut out in the center in which the seeds were put. Didn't work..

There is a product out there called "flat foam wrap" it is used between dishes as well as other things and it comes in different thicknesses. Well my aulicum seeds from jimnpa came in this wrap in an envelope and they were just fine. It is just thick enough to protect the seeds (in my case anyway) but not too think to keep it out of the sorters and costs you about 20cents more plus your stamp. Since then I have hunted everywhere trying to find this ultra thin wrap and everything is thicker..so back to the bubble wrap envelopes..life is too short...

If you put bubble wrap in and envelope they will charge you the 2 bucks anyway because now the envelope is now too thick to go through the sorters.. so why take the chance. You can't "Fool Mother Nature" and you "Can't Fool the Post Office"!!

Donna

I cut a used bubble wrap envelope to fit inside of a regular business sized envelope (these are the materials I had on hand). The seeds were sorted into small ziplock-type bags. I should know by the end of the week if this worked! The resulting envelope was too thick for the sorters, but maybe that is a GOOD thing (less chance of getting squished).

Thank you to all of the forum community who responded! You guys/gals are great! -Tina

I just received a envelope today in the mail with this flat foam wrap Donna speaks of and my small Strumaria seeds were squished flat, I did ask the mailer to please take steps to avoid them from being squished in mail and this was his solution. It did not work. Lisa

Sorry Lisa that your seeds got squashed...in the end the extra dollar or dollar and a half is well worth the price to feel secure that the seeds you are mailing get thorough safely..we go through all the trouble to grow them and take the time to pack them up for travel, why not go the extra mile and do it correctly and then you don't have to worry one bit. That's just my opinion though..nothing more disheartening than receiving mashed seeds or having the recipient tell you your seeds were mashed after you've taken all the time to do this... Anyway, better luck next time. :-)

Donna

Thanks Donna for your support about how it makes sense to pack up well, I contacted the ebayer I bought the seeds from and they sent me a replacement, but they still never packed any better and the second batch was squished again. All those good Strumaria seeds going to waste. I will just not purchase again from this person, they don't seem to know how to pack things safely. Such a waste, and I am so disappointed, I really wanted those seeds.

Lisa,

Usually when purchasing from EBay, the postage price is listed and added to the price of the item. Can you tell if the seller/sender spent the amount of postage that you paid for? Sometimes sellers will state an amount for postage and not quite spend the total amount that was listed, a way for the seller to pick up 25 cents or a dollar here and there...of course occasionally a seller will say "free postage" and you know of course that they've fixed this in the price, but I've always had great luck with those sellers offering free postage, even as far away as Australia!! Sorry you've had this bad experience with EBay, I must say I've had great luck for the most part buying on EBay...

Donna