posted on October 12, 2007 03:49:37 PM new
Probably everyone else knows, already, about this. I didn't, but found out today. An envelope that should have cost 58cents to mail was $1.47 because I stamped "do not bend" on the envelope and had one piece of cardboard in it. The clerk who did actually take The Class in the new regulations, said it was the "do not bend" that caused the higher rate. The base rate for such an envelope is $1.30, plus 17 cents for each additional ounce. From now on, I guess I'll forget about stamping the envelope. . . .
I'm always the last to know.
_____________________
There is more to life than increasing its speed. --Mahatma Gandhi
posted on October 12, 2007 04:02:56 PM new
Now you understand how thoroughly the general public -- not just eBay sellers -- was reamed in the last round of postal increases.
Interestingly, many of the huge increases were said to be necessary because the pieces had to be processed by special machinery...when all along the Postal Service has been telling us it needs automation to keep costs down.
When you think about it, it is appalling what a con job USPS did by seducing the public with raptures about the "Forever Stamp" as if it were actually a bargain while quietly obfuscating rate increases in excess of 100% in some classes.
posted on October 12, 2007 04:22:31 PM new
I had a clerk try to charge me $22 for a flat rate International Priority envelope to Taiwan today that should be $11- because it bulged. I looked her straight in the eye and said "bulging is permitted, look it up in the manual". She gave me the $11 rate.
posted on October 12, 2007 04:39:59 PM new
I also found out that boxes rectangular cost more to ship in some cases, I had a doll I was shipping that according to the weight (5 lbs) should have shipped for 11.50 but when I put the measurements in the cost was 20.50
I finally figured out how THEY figure it out and its by cubic inches. Take the length 23" times that by the width which was 13" that equals 299 cubic inches now you take the height which was 9" and times 299 cubic inches and you get 2691 cubic inches. (For your package to be considered a small package you can't exceed 1728 cubic inches) You divide your cubic inches which were 2691 by 194 and you get the true weight for the rectangular box your shipping..........NOW, tell this to your ebay buyer......who will think your nuts.
But thats what I had to do since the shipping was so high. I had to pay the difference on another doll I shipped just before selling this doll because I didn't know this and had already told the buyer shipping was 11.50
I have stopped selling items that are too large for a fair shipping price unless the item is worth lots of $$$, then the shipping is not a problem.
posted on October 12, 2007 05:07:49 PM new
lol... i had a 'new' clerk attending me at the post office today. he was only new at THIS particular post office... i was mailing a 6"x9" envelope, that had about 50 fliers in it. i was amused that when he took the envelope from me, before putting it on the scale, he held it, bent it back and forth, then laid it on the scale. i didn't say anything to him about it, but i wondered WHY he did it? ... it just went thru my head, "gosh, i'm glad that's not a precious post card or photo." LOL.
posted on October 12, 2007 05:22:04 PM new
When I have an envelope that is truly rigid, I put an extra 17 cent stamp on it and write Hand Cancel all over it. If I pay extra, I want them to go through the extra step. I know they send rigid envelopes through the machines all the time, even though they charge extra for them.
posted on October 12, 2007 07:55:31 PM new
On the USPS website to calulate shipping, it is advised to click on large package for any item being shipped in a box larger than a Priority #7 box. Then enter the length, height, & width to get the correct postage.
posted on October 12, 2007 09:39:53 PM new
Pixi--You said "When I have an envelope that is truly rigid, I put an extra 17 cent stamp on it and write Hand Cancel all over it. If I pay extra, I want them to go through the extra step. I know they send rigid envelopes through the machines all the time, even though they charge extra for them."
Does this actually work for you? Hand Cancel instead of Do Not Bend? I like to send everything at the p.o. so I have a receipt/record of what and when was mailed. I wonder if Hand Cancel on a slightly rigid envelope would make it with just an extra 17 cents.
I too, like Toni, am getting turned off by selling large things that will need extra postage. I'm really concentrating these days on ephemera.
Dorrie: What is a #7 priority box? I'll look at the ones I have here to see if I can figure that out.
_____________________
There is more to life than increasing its speed. --Mahatma Gandhi
posted on October 12, 2007 10:53:05 PM new
I don't send slightly rigid mailings with extra postage and get away with it- unlike Neglus, who pays an extra 17 cent postage on every shipment. Very rigid mailings I mark with HAND CANCEL and pay for it. None have been returned to me, so I don't know if they hand cancel or not.
posted on October 14, 2007 03:40:08 PM new
are you guys using paypal or stamps.com pre printed labels or taking them to the PO?? I have never had a problem. I pre print my postage and either give it to my carrier or drop it off at the PO. I have written do not bend or fold on many envelops and no problem. I think the difference is that the pre printed postage already has the bar code on it so it just goes on it's way ??
posted on October 16, 2007 10:57:27 PM new
I took it up with the postmistress at our main post office. She tells me it doesn't matter what it is stamped. If it passes the flex test, even if it says please don't bend, I am not to be charged more. As I told him,it does bend, I just don't want the postal carrier to bend it in half through a mail slot. The bendability is so it will go through the machine..and even with two sheets of chipboard, it does.
The one time my little local postoffice tried to charge me more, I told them I would wait, while they called the postmistress. And I did.
