posted on January 20, 2001 03:53:34 PM new
Here's some things that might be of interest because of the postal rate increases:
There is no book rate any more for international shipping. For the Domestic books there is Media mail which includes all kinds of media and always did when it was called "book rate" or more specifically, "special standard mail." But book rate for International was only for books and it is gone. Confusing is the rate which used to be called "small packet" for packages which is now renamed "Letter Post". Nothing much has changed there. it is not just for letters. nothing has changed but the name, and total dimentions are still 36".
There is a special rate not for books but for "bound printed matter." If you read the descriptions of it on the web site you will see this is NOT for books, but at the Post Office which uses the new IBM computer, it does say books are allowed. So the clerks where i go are using it for books but there is a catch: Sometimes the rate is cheaper than Media mail and sometimes it is more. It depends on weight and distance.
There is another money saver that I'm not sure about but here it is: When I read about the increases for priority mail I was pretty certain I read correctly that the new 1 lb. rate @ $3.50 was only if you used your own packaging. What I read was if you use their box you were charged the old "up to 2 lb." rate which went up to $3.95. Where I go every day, all the clerks are unaware of this and charging the $3.50 rate for under 1 lb in their own Priority box. Maybe I'm wrong here but I doubt it. The PO gave the clerks no training about these new fares and they have actually been asking me what I read on the internet.
yaFools are everywhere. We have one clerk where I go who thinks she's working at Neiman Markus. She wraps, unwraps, looks up any question, and stops work everytime she speaks. Very nice except there is always 20 people in line so its like all 20 of us were taking the time to wrap packages for the morons.
[ edited by zzyzx000 on Jan 20, 2001 03:56 PM ]
posted on January 20, 2001 05:51:51 PM new
Packaging has nothing to do with the priority rates. It is $3.50 for under 1 pound, $3.95 for under 2 pounds, regardless of packaging. Surface Mail has also been renamed Economy Mail, but is still pretty cheap for overseas shipping.
[ edited by InternetEdge on Jan 20, 2001 05:52 PM ]
posted on January 20, 2001 06:08:22 PM new
Packageing does have a lot to do with shipping rates.
If you use the Priority boxes you are supose to pay the $3.95 flat rate up to from 13oz up to 2 LBS .
the $3.50 priority rate is a break on priority shipping up to 1 Lbs when you use your own box or package.
That is How it is Supose to work till all the postal clerks get the new rates down many will get the break useing the Priority boxes. http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
posted on January 20, 2001 06:11:09 PM new
Priority under 1 pound 3.50, regardless of packaging except the fixed rate envelope requires the 2 pound rate.
I had a little trouble at my PO with a clerk who thought that books were not eligible for "media mail", wanted to use the "printed matter" rate instead, rechecked and clerk was wrong.
posted on January 20, 2001 06:19:34 PM new
Today one of my usual clerks, who is on the planet, and I discussed the new rates. He showed me The Book and said he had no idea what it was all about, he had to trust the computer. Great.
I severely do not understand the international situation. Before, it was very possible to go surface for only a few dollars, using book rate. But my last book to Canada was cheapest at the $9 Global Priority rate. Today I spent gobs to mail to Mexico.
I don't know why any overseas person would buy from an American with these rates.
posted on January 20, 2001 06:25:22 PM new
figmente is right about Priority. I just reread the rules. It's that cheap cardboard thing they call the pouch that has to be $3.95 regardless of weight. I thought the max on that used to be 4 lbs (it is for international) but for domestic there seems to be no limit. So send somebody 100 lbs. of lead for 4 bucks
posted on January 20, 2001 07:01:58 PM new
I'm still confused about the proper rate for books too. Today I had a clerk tell me my books had to be sent by the "bound printed matter" rate. huh? I thought that was for magazines?
Don't even get me started on international rates. I am so upset about the whole thing! keziak, I fear you may be right- between import taxes/duties and the whopping cost of shipping, it just doesn't seem practical for them to buy from us anymore.
posted on January 21, 2001 01:23:33 AM new
zzyzx000, you're right about the "media rate" and "bound printed matter" rates BOTH applying to books now. I read the restrictions for both rate classifications, and books can go by EITHER rate. Depending upon the distance from your place to your buyer's, EITHER ONE may be cheaper than the other (by a dollar or more). It's a lot of trouble to check for the lowest rate for every book you mail, but doing so can save quite a bit of postage expense.
I, too, have noticed that book rate is GONE from international rate tables (at least on the ones I've had to look up lately--the U.K., Australia and Canada), and it's VERY CONFUSING trying to determine which rate applies. International surface mail now seems to be almost as expensive as airmail.
posted on January 21, 2001 01:51:29 AM new
I mailed a package to Hong Kong Friday, it was cheaper to send it "Air" than it was to send it "Ground". That has never happened before. The P.O. had no explaination for the shipping rates. And they have been absolutely horrible about reimbersing me for a lost package (my 1st and only) to Hong Kong that I mailed in October!! They admitted they lost it, and that they would pay, they just didn't know when. Meanwhile the lady in Hong Kong has to be wondering, even though I have kept in touch and have done business with her before.
posted on January 21, 2001 11:25:15 PM new
well, what is the difference between the media mail & bound printed matter rates? just the prices? how do you know which one to use?
And what rate are you supposed to send magazines by now?
posted on January 22, 2001 06:05:52 AM new
"Printed matter" is appropriate for catalogues and magazines (as it always has).
"Book Rate" which was previously named "Special Standard B" was renamed "Media Mail" with no other significant changes.
The clerk who says otherwise is wrong.
posted on January 22, 2001 09:31:14 AM new
The BIGGEST problem with these new rates and TITLES is that the postal service in all their wisdom didn't bother to TELL the postal clerks what the heck is going on..
Why they had to change the book rate title to media matter, is beyond me..
I went to mail something in small packets to Canada, and the fee jumped 3 times what it had been, cause she said no small package rates.
Well duh there is still that, the big wigs felt they needed to change the title, and she didn't know that.
But lucky for me my postal workers work with me .
Joan
a. Consist of advertising, promotional, directory, or editorial material (or any combination of such material).
b. Be securely bound by permanent fastenings such as staples, spiral binding, glue, or stitching. Looseleaf binders and similar fastenings are not considered permanent.
c. Consist of sheets of which at least 90% are imprinted by any process other than handwriting or typewriting with words, letters, characters, figures, or images (or any combination of them).
d. Not have the nature of personal correspondence.
e. Not be stationery, such as pads of blank printed forms.
I don't think many books are going to meet the criteria of A above.
Also, small packet rate does still exist, but the name has been changed to "Global Airmail Letter Post" and is still only a fraction of Global Airmail Parcel Post rates.
posted on January 22, 2001 06:07:38 PM new
My apologies if I was incorrect. I was not aware of the post office of having defined "editorial" so I was going by Merriam-Webster's definition:
editorial (noun)
First appeared 1830
: a newspaper or magazine article that gives the opinions of the editors or publishers; also : an expression of opinion that resembles such an article <a television ~>
posted on January 22, 2001 06:25:03 PM new
I have an idea the clerks are wrong in allowing books to be shipped "bound printed matter." They reason is those new IBM computers are VERY poorly programmed. They have added the word BOOK into the description for the clerks to read, but if you read the rules, books are meant for Media Mail. Book are the original Media and since its clear few people read books any more (at least few are buying them on Yahoo), they allow the new forms of media: Audio and Video tapes, Audio and video and computer disks etc.
The IBM software is so bad it took them until last week to call a Postal Money Order whose serial # starts with an "8" what it is. Until then it called it a "Treasury Check" and had a special icon to enter that.
Think about it: The clerk tells the computer that it is going to enter a Domestic Postal Money order and feeds it in the reader. Then the computer reads the serial # and says, "no, that's not a Money order, that's a Treasury Check." So the clerk has to go back and start all over. Now if the computer was smart enough to tell the 2 apart, why didn't it just accept it and call it whatever it wanted to? Answer: Poorly written Software from the company who made a killing selling this garbage to the Post office and turned in great earnings last quarter. I'm not impressed.
posted on January 23, 2001 04:11:22 AM new
auctionee- THANK YOU!!
That post cleared it all up. I hope I don't have to print that all out & bring it to the PO with me, but if they continue to not get it then I certainly will. I think Joan is onto something- no one at the post office really seems to have gotten clued in as to what is going on.
