Dave:
Do what we do at the shop. Weight and measure your packets. Check the Canada Post website to see how much postage you need to put on. If it is under 500 g, and less than 2 cm thick, it is letter mail. Put it in the letter box on your street and deal as little as possible with the post office people.
David
Thanks Dave. I looked at the CP website but think I misread it and didn't realize the letter mail definition. At the second place they used a plastic piece with oblong slots cut out to slip the envelope through. One was thin and one thicker. Do you know the dimensions and how they are used for establishing shipping cost?
P.S. The envelope I sent you was the first one I referred to that he got right!!!
Dave:
You need a CLEAR ruler, in centimetres.
Measure the length, height, and width. Plug the numbers as you see in the Canada Post website.
Those guys at the RPOs (Retail Postal Outlets), are only making 5% on stamp sales and 10% if they use a label. They are the ones who are not Canada Post employees. they're like the ones in Shoppers' drug Mart, Home Hardware, etc. If I have to go to a Canada Post counter, I find one staffed by Canada Post employees.
David
Lemaven,
Check on-line for a digital scale. There are some very reasonable ones out there. Some of the best deals come from China and offer free shipping. Since the ones from the local stores all come from China, just cut out the middle man and save yourself some money.
I hate making trips to the PO because of the lines and time involved and have never had a package returned for incorrect postage, although I did have one returned because the return address label was on the reverse and they didn't know the stamped side was for the addressee, I guess.
Mike
Thanks for the feedback Mike.
I put the return sticker on the back to accommodate all the nice stamps I used for postage - hope that doesn't turn out to be another problem!
I went to the new Post Office outlet at my local bodega, proudly announced by the owner (with whom I have become friendly in 15-years as a loyal customer) as being run by his cousin and son. I had 9 Auction lots to mail out and wanted to get quotes on postage costs before adding the stamps.
When I got the amount on the first easy one (low weight to Canada) I realized he thought I was going to buy stamps from him that included tax. When I told him I already had the stamps and just needed to know how much to put on the envelopes he became quite surly. He literally threw them on the weigh scale and scrawled the amount on the envelope then flipped them across the counter at me. I subsequently sent out my invoices, which were quickly paid (kudos to SoR members!)
I went home and applied the postage and after grocery shopping went to another privately-run outlet outlet at a pharmacy. I just asked the lady to double-check that I had the correct postage and 5 out of 9 were incorrect! I had to drive back home and put another $5 on and I had already given 3 buyers a discount on postage as they had fairly small lots.
Not a good start to a long weekend!
P.S. I have now spent $20 on a digital weigh scale to make sure that doesn't happen again. Hooray for free enterprise!
re: Canada Post (Bad) Quality - Gangnam Style
Dave:
Do what we do at the shop. Weight and measure your packets. Check the Canada Post website to see how much postage you need to put on. If it is under 500 g, and less than 2 cm thick, it is letter mail. Put it in the letter box on your street and deal as little as possible with the post office people.
David
re: Canada Post (Bad) Quality - Gangnam Style
Thanks Dave. I looked at the CP website but think I misread it and didn't realize the letter mail definition. At the second place they used a plastic piece with oblong slots cut out to slip the envelope through. One was thin and one thicker. Do you know the dimensions and how they are used for establishing shipping cost?
P.S. The envelope I sent you was the first one I referred to that he got right!!!
re: Canada Post (Bad) Quality - Gangnam Style
Dave:
You need a CLEAR ruler, in centimetres.
Measure the length, height, and width. Plug the numbers as you see in the Canada Post website.
Those guys at the RPOs (Retail Postal Outlets), are only making 5% on stamp sales and 10% if they use a label. They are the ones who are not Canada Post employees. they're like the ones in Shoppers' drug Mart, Home Hardware, etc. If I have to go to a Canada Post counter, I find one staffed by Canada Post employees.
David
re: Canada Post (Bad) Quality - Gangnam Style
Lemaven,
Check on-line for a digital scale. There are some very reasonable ones out there. Some of the best deals come from China and offer free shipping. Since the ones from the local stores all come from China, just cut out the middle man and save yourself some money.
I hate making trips to the PO because of the lines and time involved and have never had a package returned for incorrect postage, although I did have one returned because the return address label was on the reverse and they didn't know the stamped side was for the addressee, I guess.
Mike
re: Canada Post (Bad) Quality - Gangnam Style
Thanks for the feedback Mike.
I put the return sticker on the back to accommodate all the nice stamps I used for postage - hope that doesn't turn out to be another problem!