peiklk
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posted on July 25, 2005 07:30:31 AM
ARGH!
I use Priority Mail for 95% of my shipping (and I'm sure we'll get some shipping nazis here attacking me for that), but I want to sincerely thank all of those people out there who ABUSE the Priority Mail supplies that are made available.
I just ordered some new materials and come to find that the Priority Mail packing tape is no longer available due to abuse.
My carrier informed me that because they kept finding the tape used in unauthorized places, the USPS had to pull it from general use and stock it only for the post offices directly.
Sure, I can buy my own tape (which I do for non-PM items), but I cannot buy tape of the quality of the PM tape -- that stuff is great. Very strong.
So one again, thanks to you few bad apples who ruined a good thing for everyone else. Much appreciated.
------
"Bend over backward for the customer. Don't bend forward."
Bush/Cheney 2004 -- FOR AMERICA'S SAKE!
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toybuyer
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posted on July 25, 2005 07:35:45 AM
cannot buy tape of the quality of the PM tape
What? Being from the land of 3M, there is certainly better quality tape. From your sentence, I gather you were abusing it also.
The tape was only to be used to identify packages as priority rate not to completely secure the package.
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Roadsmith
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posted on July 25, 2005 07:53:15 AM
This is weird. About 6 months? ago, we were all told that we'd no longer get that tape free but could buy it from the USPS. Are you sure it's not for sale any longer?
Yes, there was a LOT of abuse--people using it inside packages to wrap an item before closing the box, people getting it free and using it when they were moving!! for sealing moving boxes, etc.
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TheFamilyBiz
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posted on July 25, 2005 08:05:42 AM
It hasn't been "openly" available for quite some time now. However, if you do enough business with your local Post Office and can find a friendly face behind the counter, they'll still provide it to you at no cost. I even have several Postal employees argue with their colleagues about providing it to me.
One time, when one of the grouchies said they couldn't provide it, another reached over and handed me a full roll. "Do you know how much business he gives us?," she asked her grumpy colleague. "Don't you know he's the one who gets us the small boxes we can't get? It's the least we can do for him."
I actually felt pretty important and it put a swagger in my step for the rest of the day...
Of course, your Postal facility might be filled with the aforementioned grouchies  .
Wayne
Never explain -- Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.
~ Elbert Hubbard
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vintagepostcardsdotorg
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posted on July 25, 2005 08:47:19 AM
i never could stand their tape - it stuck to EVERYTHING, including me when i touched it before i could put it on packages. i buy and sell a lot of postcards, and the ones who gripe me are the folks who cut up priority mail cardboard and use the pieces to create postcard sleeves. cheap, cheap, cheap. and technically illegal. very unprofessional-looking, a poor business image and presentation. am amazed at the number of well-known dealers who do this.
http://stores.ebay.com/postcards-postcards?refid=postcards-postcards
http://www.vintagepostcards.org
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birgittaw
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posted on July 25, 2005 08:50:08 AM
Both my local post offices are great in sharing tape; again, I do order and give them boxes they can't get when they order, so it works both ways.
I suppose I'm guilty of abuse -- at least once. Had a steep roof on my house, and after a snow storm and melting and freezing, HUGE chunks of ice were falling from the gutter onto the sidewalk. I used the tape like police tape to cordon off the area (there was a bar next door, and didn't want some happy soul knocked out by a projectile.) The next day, my mail carrier laughed like a maniac when she saw it, and we decided it was free advertising for the post office.
B/
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shawnb1
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posted on July 25, 2005 09:17:34 AM
I've got 2 or 3 rolls of that awful stuff--how much will you give me for it?!!! I never can get it off of my tape dispenser--it sticks to all the parts.
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blueyes29
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posted on July 25, 2005 09:28:46 AM
I love my priority tape...yes, it's super-sticky but that's why it's so good. When I heard (a few months ago) that it was going to be unavailable, I asked my friendly post office types if they could give me some. They were more than helpful and I've got about 20 rolls that I use judiciously...strictly for Priority items!
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cblev65252
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posted on July 25, 2005 09:42:01 AM
This is nothing new. I stocked up when they announced they weren't giving it away anymore. Packing tape is relatively inexpensive so I don't see what the real gripe is. Once in a while you do have to pay for packaging materials.
OTH, I went to our local CVS today and they had those 3M Inflata-Paks on clearance for $.87 each!!! I bought all of them. They're great for breakables. No need for bubble wrap or peanuts.
Cheryl
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dblfugger9
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posted on July 25, 2005 10:38:48 AM
I miss that tape, too! It was sticky but easy to handle and you never had to peck at it to find the end like regular tape
One clerk gave two rolls before they stopped giving it out as well, but that is long gone. Peiklk, one guy at the PO had an idea and he gave me a pack of the priority mail label stickers. You can use those to tape up unsecured ends on the priority boxes too!
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sanmar
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posted on July 25, 2005 11:07:38 AM
I can honestly that I have NEVER used it for anything but Priority mail. I was very lucky to have ordered 4 rolls just before they shut it down. I seal my boxes with 3M tape that i buy at Costco. It is a hell of a lot stronger than the USPS tape. I ship about 75% by Priority Mail & only put it on non Priority Mail boxes. There is no need on a USPS box.
Life Is Too Short To Drink Bad Wine
[ edited by sanmar on Jul 25, 2005 11:08 AM ]
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bjboswell
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posted on July 25, 2005 12:32:41 PM
well kids get ready for the next USPS change. My postmaster told me last week that the PO is going to start printing priority on the insides of the boxes and bags so people can't turn things inside out and use them or cut them up to ship paper. My best advise STOCK UP while you can...
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TheFamilyBiz
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posted on July 25, 2005 12:42:44 PM
Hey -- the smaller ones already are printed on the inside. We started getting them like that several months ago.
Wayne
Never explain -- Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.
~ Elbert Hubbard
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Roadsmith
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posted on July 25, 2005 12:53:56 PM
But BJ, are you saying that we should stock up now so that we can illegally cut those boxes up to protect paper items when shipping them?
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EstateSaleStuff
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posted on July 25, 2005 01:12:29 PM
When we talked with our favorite PO'er she says she can still get that (tape), but there are some Priority Mail boxes that she's NOT allowed to order ... soooo, we trade.
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stonecold613
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posted on July 25, 2005 02:01:40 PM
What? Being from the land of 3M, there is certainly better quality tape.
I couldn't agree more. That priority tape was the crappiest tape I have ever used. Sure, it sticks to things, but it doesn't do any good when it rips just thinking about it. The 3M packaging tape is not that expensive when you stop to think about it. Most rolls will tape up an average of 50 parcels (a little less on larger and a little more on smaller parcels) and broken down to that, you are only spending just a few pennies on each box. And the tape is 100 times stronger than the priority tape. The only thing I use the priority tape on non-priority boxes to mark them priority.
.
.
.
Alive in 2005
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bjboswell
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posted on July 25, 2005 02:16:48 PM
Road, I am just reporting the news. I don't cut the boxes up and use them BUT I am guilty of turning the bags inside out to ship books on occasion... really on occasion. I ordered some bags before I can't get them. I am not wealty enough to buy pouches when needed. This really is how we make our meager (and this summer very meager) living.
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Japerton
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posted on July 25, 2005 05:57:12 PM
This is very old news.
Plus, that tape isn't that good.
+++++
It's easier to watch a camel get stuffed
through the eye of a needle, than watch
a man use heaven to get all his friends rich
~~~~~~~~~~~**~~~~~~~~~~~
Avatar wish list....
...and he must possess a kind eye...
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carolinetyler
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posted on July 25, 2005 06:59:15 PM
I just found out yesterday it wasn't available any more - that's my absolutely favorite tape - it's the only one that holds well but is really easy to handle. I don't know what I'm going to do when I finish my last roll. Go begging at the post office maybe. Next thing you know they'll take away the free boxes if they keep finding those really cheap people who cut them up and turn them inside out and tape them together - not with that priority tape though...
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MAH645
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posted on July 25, 2005 07:19:05 PM
I used it to hold up the ball on my commode when it was leaking one night. We used some on Priority packages,but the 3-M holds tighter on the bigger boxes.
**********************************
Two men sit behind bars,one sees mud the other sees stars.
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vintagepostcardsdotorg
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posted on July 25, 2005 07:29:07 PM
"I am not wealty enough to buy pouches when needed."
wealthy? the cost is negligible. why should the taxpayer pay for the USPS pouches that you turn inside out and use? if the cost of packing supplies is going to make or break you, maybe you should reconsider your business model/what you're selling. i don't mean for that to sound nasty but it really steams me that people misusing the tape, the boxes, etc. has created a problem for those of who do pay for packing supplies. it's a cost of business, plain and simple. why should someone else pay the cost of your packing materials?
http://stores.ebay.com/postcards-postcards?refid=postcards-postcards
http://www.vintagepostcards.org
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blueyes29
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posted on July 25, 2005 08:58:47 PM
I was told by a postal clerk today that they can't order the priority items...(they do anyway but have to "go around" the system)...she said they're supposed to "push" the boxes and materials that USPS has for sale in the Post Offices and are really not supposed to even have any of the priority items on display or available. That was a REAL shocker to me!
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peiklk
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posted on July 26, 2005 05:12:22 AM
Glad to see others share my disappointment that this great tape is no longer available or harder to get. I wish I'd gotten the word BEFORE it was made unavailable.
Some of the PM boxes DO need the tape -- and my understanding is that the tape IS for sealing and not for marking (that's what the labels are for). But some of the PM boxes don't have adhesive. Also I wisely secure the ends of the adhesive boxes too. My postal carrier thanked me for doing that because she pointed out how often the adhesive works loose and the ends pop open.
I know some of you don't appreciate the quality of that tape, but it was in fact far better than anything I've found in a store. And it smelled good too.
------
"Bend over backward for the customer. Don't bend forward."
Bush/Cheney 2004 -- FOR AMERICA'S SAKE!
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aintrichyet
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posted on July 26, 2005 05:29:28 AM
wish I'd gotten the word BEFORE it was made unavailable.
I remember a thread going on here when it was announced that it would become unavailable on the USPS website store ... so we ordered a lot of it beforehand.
tape, .... And it smelled good too.
Hmm! so you're a glue sniffer eh?
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mingotree
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posted on July 26, 2005 10:37:01 AM
I really don't understand this statement:
""she said they're supposed to "push" the boxes and materials that USPS has for sale in the Post Offices and are really not supposed to even have any of the priority items on display or available. ""
Huh! They are supposed to push it or not?
Hide the Priority stuff ? Why?
Very confusing....why HAVE Priority if you can't get it??
It's NOT really free, it cost more to ship.
Why wouldn't they push it?
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dblfugger9
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posted on July 26, 2005 11:08:12 AM
I was told by a postal clerk today that they can't order the priority items...(they do anyway but have to "go around" the system)...
A few have told me they cant get the 1# cube boxes. Which seems really stupid to me. They're the post office! Where else should you get them from? But that being said, I had ordered from the web a box of flat rate and a box of the cubes. The flat rate shows up the cube's dont. Email them, no record of it, call 800#, blah, blah, sorry. So now I feel like the postal workers took my cubes - like its on the black market or something!!! lol! And there is an announcement on USPS.com something about if you order, the orders arent going after till after July something or other or because they are upgrading...... So great! I still have no cube boxes and cant get them anywhere !
I think its a conspiracy, I tell ya
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deur1
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posted on July 26, 2005 03:25:28 PM
My postmaster told me last week that the PO is going to start printing priority on the insides of the boxes and bags so people can't turn things inside out and use them or cut them up to ship paper. My best advise STOCK UP while you can...
I am very glad! I send 100% USPS Priority about 800-1000 packages a month. I pay for the use of Priority materials that are available BY using the service. This is why the boxes were made available to use for customers using Priority service and paying the priority rate.
It was either that or charge ME and OTHERS who use Priority shipping for the materials. I say, make it harder for those not paying the priority rate to use the priority materials.
This may sound harsh but I think this is more than fair.
Just my honest,humble opinion
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