How to ship CD's

USPS Media Mail. Just make sure they are packaged well.

Amazon sellers ALL use a small padded envelope.
I hae purchased over a hundred, and 97% arrived perfect. Once in awhile the case is cracked. (however no way to know if it was cracked before being sent.
The ones who add a thin layer of bubble wrap and then in the padded envelope go the extra mile. However some of those ones have been cracked anyway. (again my guess is they had the crack before shipment)
And same packaging (except lighter material) from England and Germany to USA. So it is the standard.

I use the Tuff poly bubble mailers if sending one at a time and have had great success with no complaints from any of my recipients. The USPS media mail sending 6 cd's with tracking coast to coast runs about $5.

Are you talking about shipping your CD's to someone else, or when you make a purchase from somewhere like Amazon?

After reading Elizabeth's post about Amazon, I'd like to add something. I've bought a lot of CD's from them and they offer something called an A-Z Guarantee. If you don't get what you ordered or if there is a problem with it, you file a claim and you will either get a refund or another CD. This applies to orders coming from Amazon directly and 3rd party vendors. I've had to use it several times and they've always taken care of the problem right away.

To ZD542,

I'm going to be placing some ads shortly for a bunch of my SACDs, some of which are OOP and are somewhat valuable. So, I want them to arrive safely to the purchaser.

Because I'm old and have early Alzheimers, what is USPS Media Mail? I haven't heard of this one.

Media Mail:

http://www.stamps.com/usps/media-mail/

try carnival cruise line...

Since they are valuable, what the best venders do is cut 2 pieces of corrugated cardboard and sandwich the cd between them, then tape together. Then put into the mailer.

I have sent a few & received many as per E's description. And yes, some have arrived with cracked cases. I ALWAYS cover mine in bubble-wrap & add a cardboard outer & put them in a padded envelope -- to no avail. Some arrive cracked anyway.

If they're valuable and you're concerned about damage a USPS small flat-rate box at $5.80 might be a good option. You'd get a tracking number with that.

I would add cardboard inserts on those hard to replace jewel cases of sacd's, inside padded envelope .

padded envelops. you can also separate cd from jewel case and enclose piece of bubble wrap inside the jewel case

Here's a couple of options to the padded envelope.

http://www.uline.com/BL_1455/Self-Seal-CD-Mailers

http://www.packagingprice.com/forms/product_detail.cfm?categoryID=10173&productID=3001
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The best packagers also placed a thin square of foam inside the case, between the top cover and the CD/SACD so the CD cannot move, and the case top os cushioned from the inside.
Buying one sheet of thin foam and cutting it into 3mm squares would do a lot of mailings.
You can add delivery confirmation to any package for under a buck. USPS online confirmation.

"The best packagers also placed a thin square of foam inside the case"

Yes, I love seeing that thin foam inside the case when I receive an expensive classical CD. It protects the center spindle hole.

My comment should read 3cm centimeter, not 3mm.Sorry