What has been your experience in sending your seeds via the USPS?
I have sent seeds in a business sized envelope that I made from manilla envelopes and the seeds were wrapped in bubble wrap.
I have sent seeds in a regular business size envelope (tiny seeds) and the seeds were wrapped in a layer of bubble wrap.
I have sent seeds in small, home-made bubble envelopes cut from larger bubble envies, that were about 4 by 6 inches or smaller.
And I have sent seeds in regular, small, bubble envelopes.
I have found that if I take my home-made manilla bus. sized envie to the post office, I get charged 53 cents.
If I take my small, home-made 4 by 6 bubble envie to the post office, I get charged $1.13.
If I take a regulation bubble envelope to the post office, they charge me $1.13.
When I mail from home, I use 53 cents for the home made manilla envie, 53 cents for a regular business sized envie, and I put two first class stamps on the home-made 4 by 6 bubble envelopes I made.
I've had 15 or more trades delivered here and the bulk of them came in the little home-made 4 by 6 inch bubble envelopes and all have had 2 first class stamps on them. No postage has been owed.
Today, I got 2 trades delivered, both in the 4 by 6 home-made bubble envelopes. One had two first class stamps on it. The other had only one first class stamp on it and attached to it was a note that says that I owe my mailman 72 cents and I'm to pay him in the envelope that he provided!
Does this make any sense to you? Mailing costs seem to be all over the board. I'm confused.
Linda
Question About Postage Cost Differences When Sending Seeds
Welcome to the crowed, I mailed the same seeds out a couple weeks ago three places ,homemade (cut down ) bubble envelopes 80 cents for USA and 69 cents for Canada.???
Go figure, even the post lady said things don't make sense.
my experience is that if one ounce or less, the envelope flys for a regular 41¢ first class postage stamp - - if the envelope passes through a template that each and every post office has for testing thickness. if the envy is too plump then ONE 17¢ stamp is added as a surcharge.
if the envy is more than one ounce AND is too plump to pass through the template, then the freight is one first class (41¢) stamp for each ounce PLUS ONLY ONE 17¢ stamp for surcharge. the surcharge is only assessed for the first ounce - - anything over that is not subject to additional surcharge.
so, what i usually end up with is a plump little envy that gets a 58¢ stamp . . . the rules are universal throughout the U.S. and its terrirtories - - if you are being charged otherwise, contact the US Postal Inspector office - - they have a link on the postal web site: http://www.usps.com . . .. it just ain't legal for you to be paying more in Augusta, GA than in Augusta, ME . . . or anywhere else for the same darned weight and thickness of your envy.
if you do not turn in the post office people who are screwing you, then it is your own fault if you get screwed again.
i should mention - - i am a person who cycles through about 50 seed requests every day of the week ... nobody has been dinged for extra change on any SASE packet i have sent out with 58¢ postage on an envy weighing one ounce or less.
I haven't had a problem sending seeds for 41 cents. I just tape little baggies to the inside middle of the envolpe and write "seeds, hand cancel please". I have yet to have one returned or had the seeds crushed. I don't trade that many seeds so I'm not sure if it will work for you.
The woman who works at the local post office told me that anything that's marked "hand cancel" or "fragile" will not be put through the machinery and that is what adds the extra 17 cent surcharge, CoreHHI. You have been lucky that you or your recipients haven't been charged the extra surcharge.
Let me also add that the woman who works at the local post office never put my envelopes through any slot template at any time to check it. She just adds the extra charges.
Linda
I don't go in the post office and ask. That may be why it works. Someone in the back doesn't know the difference or doesn't know it needs more postage?
i put the seed packs inside regular old bubble wrap, wrapping once around, cutting the wrap and taping the loose bits. then i send in a regular envelope as this is what folks send me - with 58¢ postage on it, since if i made a proper wrap around the cargo the envy is too plump for the PO's template.
if i send a bubble envy, the postage is 58¢
I too received a trade in a home made bubble env. was about 4 x 5 ... light... only 3 packages of seeds. The sender put 2 $.41 stamps on it which should have been more than enough. But no, I received notice that I had to go pick the "small parcel" as it was called and owed an additional $.41 on it.
Later, my hubby went to the usps website to try and determine the reason. He could not find the reason why it amounted to the exact amount it did. I guess I could have asked at the post office, but didn't. Prior to this, I have always sent out seeds like this and just put a couple of stamps on them. No problems that I know of. I have also received them the same way and with no postage due.
Something has changed at the post office.
Donna
My Post Office charges me 80 cents to mail a small bubble envelope. They say it is over a 1/4 inch and under the new postal rules it is now considered a package. I started sending them from my house with 58 cents postage but they are sent back saying 22 cents postage is due. They are the same ones that I was sending before and they were going as unmachineable hand sort for 54 cents. I don't know what bumped them into a package. I have given up trying to argue with them and don't know who or how to go about trying to get it set right. I know they charge the 80 cents no matter what the weight of the bubble envelope is.
I think it has to do with the thickness now too.
Donna
I was told that unless you go to the post office and ask them to hand cancel, your envelope will go thru the machinery. She said "machines can't read". It's only if your envie is too thick for the machine (see template) that it's hand cancelled. And she told me that if I use a small bubble envelope it will be too thick and will be hand cancelled. So that's what I'm using from now on to be sure my seeds aren't crushed. And too, she said two 41 cent stamps would be enough.
After the rate increase in May? the PO goes more by size than wt. If your package is thicker than 1/4" they charge more. I sent 5 packages of seed out last week with approx. 10-15 packages in each BE and it cost me 3 stamps to send each one, which is $1.23. According to the postage meter here at work it should have been $1.13, but since I do not have an assortment of stamps it cost me 3 stamps.
Should have said I'm talking more about the hand-cancelling aspect of it. I was sending out regular envies with bubble wrap inside and she said I'd be better off with the small BE, and that it would fit thru the template, and also be unlikely to be put thru the machine. On the 82 cent packages I meant the small BE 's only. :)