SASE SASBE Weigh It!

I just received today my 8th envelope with postage due. I didn't accept it and returned it .. it would have cost 64 cents to get it and return it.

When someone offers seeds for SASE, don't just grab an envelope and slap two stamps inside and out. Take it to the post office and weigh it going out and add a little extra postage inside in case the seeds or bulk of the seeds require more postage.

I just don't have enough money to pay for seeds I'm giving away and I've talked to a number of people who are in the same boat as me. We're not stingy or mean .. we just can't afford to subsidize free seeds and it also cost money for seed packaging like plastic bags and printing cost.

X

This message was edited Jun 11, 2010 7:22 AM

I'll agree with that one one can thing of it like sending 3.00 in quaters or 5.00 on change it is heaver than one thinks . good heads up . thanks for the reminder.

X, I had a similar problem last year. Not sure if I will be offering seeds for SASBE or SASE this year as a result even though I try to do so every year. I did make a good effort to be fair in my offers to try to make the costs exactly match what was asked for, but had a number of people short me. I was very frustrated and can't afford that this year.

i do have a feller that i just talked too in TX told him to make sure to add enough on his SASE puffy that i was not stengy with the seeds he was wanting caus was had so many 20 or so of bean seed and a few kind there were 3 kinds a total of 5 type seed so make sure he had stamps to cover the return trip home so he would get them .i had them ready to ship as soon as his SASE arived . hope he does right ~;>0)

And I just received ANOTHER postage due envelope.

No more SASE for me.

Xeramtheum,

Flowers or veggies ? iam looking for veggies i am in zone 7A any warm zone does well for me no shorten from me if any thing i'll over pay and leave it in the pack for you to likc and stick lol .

herbs

hichory cain corn

peppers (any not el scorh er type i like to eat them)

red mellen

yellow crook neck squash

squash others ?

Cat Nip

Radish

Okra (have red)

If you have any of these i dont need a bunch just a few i will plant and save seed . just let me know

I deal mostly in rare, hard to find and unusual seeds .. no veggies .. i tried veggies where I live but the bugs convinced me to give up .. I wasn't particularly interested in eating insecticide sprayed veggies .. I tried to go the organic route and it's a joke.

Thanks for the offer!

You shared some really nice seeds with me last year.. I didnt send for any this year, but its a shame that people cant simply follow the rules and do as you ask. I know alot of people really enjoyed your generosity and didnt mind being fair with you on the postage..

I agree, I also paid to send out seeds .. my fault for not asking for more I guess.
Postage is really funny here, you can't send a bubble with stamps it has to have a label in my area.

Another problem is that post offices interpret the rates differently, so somebody may think they've sent enough postage for a "large envelope" but when you mail it they charge you as a "small package."

My solution has been to provide my own (new) bubble envelopes and ask for an extra 20 cents to cover that cost. I can weigh the envelope with the seeds and know exactly what it will cost me to send it. People can then Dmail me their addresses and pay the postage in any way they like -- my preference is PayPal, because people sending postage in the mail tend to delay.

I had a SASBE offer lined up this winter that I decided not to do, because I just didn't have the time to hassle with it. Instead, I sent out free seeds to the first X number of people who responded. For me, the main issue are the people who jump to claim one of 20 or 50 packets available and then never bother to send their postage. So then I'm telling folks all the seeds have been claimed while staring at a stack of them on my desk. If I do SASBE offers this year, I am going to set a firm time limit: if I don't receive your postage by such and such a date, your seeds will go to somebody else or be sent to the "seeds for newbies" effort.

That's going to make me sound really tough, but it's a real hassle trying to keep track when I'm sending out 100's of packets and some people keep "forgetting" or telling me it will be in the mail tomorrow. I sent out reminder Dmails one time, but frankly that's just too much work for sharing free seeds.

Usually, I don't have a problem with people not sending enough postage, because I'm very clear about how much to send, and about wanting it sent as loose postage, and not sending a prepaid postage label (which my PO won't accept). If I "know" the person, I'll often just get the seeds sent out to them and then use their postage to replenish the "kitty." If anything, people tend to toss in an extra stamp -- which I use when I send out seeds to newbies etc.

I wrote a DG article on SASBE's that I've been known to link to if soembody seems unclear on the concept. If Terry re-runs it this winter, I'll make sure its links are up to date etc.

There's got to be a way for us to share with each other without making ourselves crazy. :-)

critterologist,
Keep me in mind ....

i do Veggies though


This message was edited Jun 12, 2010 3:20 PM

I don't usually get my seeds organized until after the holidays, but I'll hopefully be posting various offers in Jan/Feb.

ok

Thing is, I did take mine to the Post Office and it was weighed. And was told the return envelope would have seeds in it. I intend to be at the Post Office as soon as I recieve that return envelope. This is not right and it's very irritating to go to the trouble and time to go get it weighed and have something like this happen to you. And to have traders thinking that it's your fault.

The post office needs to get its act together .. as mentioned before, you can get two different prices at two different post offices .. I have made a formal complaint at the usps site. Ya'll should too.

http://www.usps.com/customerservice/welcome.htm?from=home_header&page=CustomerService

I agree X. Get your act together postal service, you charge us enough as it is.

I have sent the same exact seeds to different people and all were weighed at the PO at the same time. Same amount of seeds, same envies... On more than one occasion I have had them arrive to the recipient with postage due!

My mom works at US PO is Post Master and has got in another masters back side more than once over scales out of whack .... she dont play games with weight and her PO is huge Billions of mail every 6 months

angedawn, when you tell people exactly how many stamps to send and they short you two, then it is not the post office. Mistakes happen and most people try do the right thing, but it gets frustrating when multiple problems hit you all at once.

I too have had my share of problems. As I once posted in another thread, I think the trading feature on DG is the weakest feature on DG. Ironically, I understand, it was the first feature when DG first began.

Interestingly, I was on another gardening website just recently, just casually checking it out, and they also had a trading feature. Being curious about it, I looked into how they ran that feature. Seems all traders send their packages to a central admin person assigned to handle the process. It didn't matter if there was a trade partner involved or not. The sender would then get credit for the postage. The package would be assigned a package# and the package# and contents would be posted on the website. Any member of the site could ask for that package. The package would be sent to them, and they were billed S&H. This could be paid with credit if you had any. There where small fees associated with the process to cover the additional handling by the admin (paid by the receiving party) but overall it sounded like a smooth, uncomplicated process which kept everyone honest with very few PO issues (typically handled by the admin). One thing I noticed was all trade packages contained more than just a couple of items and often where large quantities of items. I'm sure I may not have all the details correct and there may be more to it but I found the concept very interesting.

Krowten, I know this and I completely understand that. It's just when you try to do the right thing and take the time to go get your bubble envelope weighed by the post office and then find out that you have to go back and redo it all over, it is the PO fault and it is frustrating.

I do want to say that I appreciate response to my post re seeds that I was looking for. Thank you, and I'm looking forward to seeing them grow.

I too have been burned on the SASEs I've sent out. I usually load up a bubble mailer so I often require 4 or 5 stamps on it. I know how many seeds I'm sending and how heavy they'll be. So I generally know the approximate postage needed.

I also outline very specifically what they are are to send me as part of the SASE (particularly small ziplock baggies, 2 x 3 inches or so, no other kinds of envelopes, no sandwich ziplock bags, due to the bulk--can't fit as many seed packs in the bubble mailer if there is too much plastic bulk.). I did a batch of about 20 SASEs on two different sites, with very specific instructions.

Out of the 20, only 4 people followed my guidelines. I received lots of sandwich baggies, some glassine baggies, brown envelopes, homemade paper envelopes, etc. A lot of my seeds are teeny tiny seeds which will fall out of the homemade and glassine envelopes. The point of sending the small ziplock baggies was to replace the baggies I've already filled for them. These other envelopes they sent were useless to me since my seeds will fall out of them. I got so frustrated that I swore this year I'd deadhead so I wouldn't have seeds to contend with and I won't be offering anymore SASEs.

Maybe some will say I'm being picky, but I was very specific in my post and even enumerated each guideline to make it clear and easy to follow. If people are expecting a bunch of freebies from me, they must be willing to follow my guidelines or ask questions. I spent my time gathering, cleaning, drying, and labelling my seeds. Then I spent my time packaging them and labelling each package so I could share them. People need to respect our time, effort, and generosity. And most of the people who received my SASEs never even said thank you. With some of them, I even sent specific seeds I knew they were looking for which I had not originally offered. But rather than get too upset about it, I just decided no more SASEs.

I feel your frustration.
Sometimes, traders don't know about the size of your envelope and suggest that you have the PO weigh it. It stinks that different PO's interpret things differently.
When I sent the envelope back with stamps already on it, I sent six extra and asked to be notified if more were needed.
I wasn't trying to cheat anybody.
th

This message was edited Jun 18, 2010 7:35 AM

This message was edited Jun 18, 2010 7:38 AM

I for one appreciate instructions like ButterflyChaser posts on her offers. It doesn't get much clearer than that!

As a relative newbie it really helps to have the experienced traders spell it out. I trust their knowledge and look to them for guidance. I have responded to SASBE offers and always make sure I put enough postage and sometimes extra if I think the person may have underestimated what it would cost to mail back.

Thank you, Kelly. When people follow the instructions, it sure makes it easier on me. I think you included a couple of extra stamps in your SASE to me. When people do that, I usually stuff in a few more varieties of seeds as a thank you, since they were considerate enough to think about my costs.

I remember when I was a newbie and didn't even know what SASE meant. It was all so confusing back then, so I do try to eliminate some confusion.

Thank you, Kelly!

I'm a newbie,

I promise to always send EXTRAx2 postage. It only makes sense that if someone is giving out free seed, taking the time to write about it, package and send it back that people could AT LEAST make sure there is MORE than enough postage for your order plus a couple extra for the sender!

If i have ask for a SASE & you asked for Stamps only rest asured i will send them soon i have been battleing a summer cold and have not fared well . they will be on their way soon please dont write me off yet .

Thank You
Sarge

patiently waiting.. no big deal here... ;-)