This is going to upset a lot of people who use online postage - goes into affect in January:
Stamped Mail Over 13 Ounces Must Be Presented at a Retail Service Counter
http://cryptome.org/0001/ps100909.htm
Priority Mail weighing more than 13 ounces bearing only postage
stamps as postage may not be deposited into a collection box, Postal
Service lobby drop, Automated Postal Center (APC) drop, Postal Service
dock, customer mailbox, or other unattended location. These mailpieces
are also precluded from pickup service. The sender must present such
items to an employee at a retail service counter in a Postal Service
facility. The Postal Service will return improperly presented items to
the sender for proper entry and acceptance.
New Post Office Rules
I print my postage and dont use postage stamps. I am pretty sure there is a difference. The prio. box says you cant use stamps anyways.
bull hockey every small office in the us in a town of less then 600 people only use stamps on thier boxes...they don't have postage meters
They must be going to enforce something that they haven't in the past. It has always been PO policy that anything over 13 ounces couldn't use stamps or at least it required more than stamps. You can't even mail a letter from here over 13 ozs with just stamps and has been that way here for as long as I can remember.
That's been the rule here for more than a year. We are a very small town, also. The only way around it is to print off your postage on the computer. I had bought $1 and $4 stamps, only to find out I couldn't use them in a lot of my packages. You don't need a postage meter, you just need a computer printer.
at my PO where I was the Postmaster until recently, everything that left our office had stamps, being that I still pick up and recieve mail there, everything still leaves the office with only stamps, I sent a 10 pound package yesterday and the new Postmaster put stamps on the box to send it out, but then again we have to hand stamp everything that leaves the office and write it down, where it's going who it's from exactly how much it weighed,dimensions of the box...blah blah blah...maybe they are getting new meters but our small office knows nothing about it yet
Strange as I remember buying priority mail stamps when it was like 3.80 just for that purpose.
Exactly then we went to $4.95 for that
Ahhh. But that $4.95 postage will cost you $4.80 if you print the postage out using the USPS.com site. 15 cents saved adds up.
true very true
Plus delivery confirmation is free if use print out postage online, even if you pay for it at the post office.
hhhmmmm
I love paypal for printing shipping labels, that way you have a record of the person's addy and the tracking number.
I've often thought it would be easy if both trading partners sent each other 1 penny via paypal, so a label and record could be kept, but I know not everyone uses PPal.
You can still use PP to make a label if someone hasn't sent you money, but it takes more steps, same as using the USPS website. I always forget my password at the USPS site!
Lakesidecallas, I print my labels from the USPS site and one-half of the label is my receipt to keep. It contains the DC# and the person's address--just as it does from the Paypal site. If you want to use the USPS site, why not change your password to match your Paypal password so you can remember it?
How do you weigh your package for postage if you do this all online? I want to prepare my packages and just have them picked up, or drop them off without having to stand in line at the PO.
I haven't figured that out yet, I still drag them all up there to the PO or FedEx
Daisy, you can buy a small scale for a reasonable price. I also have an old scale of this sort:
http://antiques.lovetoknow.com/Antique_Food_Scales It doesn't look exactly like that, but it is a top-loader.
It cost me $10 at an antique store, and it is surprisingly accurate!
ButterflyChaser, I used to print all my labels the way you did. Then when I went to check on delivery, I'd have to type in all the numbers, which I find a pain, plus my number eight doesn't work very well!
Now I just go to Paypal, look for the person's name and there is a tracking link right there.