Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Since I offer free shipping, I thought $5 would cover the International postage, and negotiated a new sale price.
The Post Office offers an International envelope for $6.45, but the clerk said that since there was a cardboard stiffener, it was not an envelope ... it was a package. $13.50, please.
I ended up refunding and cancelling the sale.
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I have been thru the same argument with the US Postal Service.
I posted an 8x8" bubble envelope with a stiffener & collectibles for the grandchildren (cards, stamps, Wall-E cd) overseas.
Width was now just over 1/4", which should have upgraded me from letter to flat but, either way, cost U$D ~5.
Clerk insisted I pay the parcel rate, eg, U$D ~10.
Being an accommodating sort, I next tried a 6x9" photo mailer (same sort of contents).
I expected that the photo mailer would travel at the letter/flat rate (much less than 1/4" thick) plus the non-machinable charge.
Different clerk, different post office, different *county*, same result: the clerk insisted it be rated as a parcel, doubling the price from U$D ~5 to U$D ~10.
"But a letter can be rigid" says I, "and that adds only 21 cents."
"Yes, but that is for 'rigid', and this is actually STIFF."
I got stiffed, in more ways than one.
I next wrote the USPS HQ on my letterhead, asking for a ruling about the photo mailers, on their letterhead.
They never answered that simple question.
Of late, I have resorted to ikeyPikey's Maxim: "Count on indifference to make a difference."
I insert stiffeners in a greeting-card-sized envelope.
In the middle, along the top, I hand-write the amount of postage for a first-class letter and, underneath that, write "21c".
I put what I think is the correct letter rate worth of postage on the right side of the envelope.
I add twenty-one cents worth of postage over on the left side of the envelope - perhaps inadvertently creating the impression that I added the 21c after a window clerk told me to pay the non-machinable surcharge - and toss the envelope into the outbound mail slot. Sans customs declaration, to boot.
These arrive at their destination, on time, intact, no postage due, no nothing. Indifference rules! YMMV.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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Anything sent in a "bubble" mailer is automatically considered to be a parcel.
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Maybe the way to go would be to send all stamp shipments in leftover Christmas cards.
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... send all stamp shipments in leftover Christmas cards
Ouch! Some Postal employees have been caught 'collecting' gift envelopes.
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The photo mailers I have measure .27 at the edge with a digital caliper and do indeed "scrape": when passed through the template at the PO.
What used to be well under a $1.00 is now well over $2.00 most of the time. Depends on the clerk - some charge under $1.00, some add the 21 cents but most charge the parcel rate.
A brand new clerk just out of training said they were trained to place the envelope flat on the counter and try to bend the envelope 90 degrees and if it would bend it was OK at the lower rate (destroying the photo or enclosed item in the process of course).
Grrrr
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90 degrees? That's ridiculous. The flex test (for domestic "flats" anyways) dictates they only have to flex two inches, which is a far cry from 90 degrees!
Source: http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/201.htm#1096362
I bet they hand out free "Welcome to the USPS" Sharpie markers, too. Standard issue for their new graduates.
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Hang in Carl, every time i go to the post office i get a different opinion..sometimes i just tell them do it(what i ask) and they do ! What do i have to lose ? 
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One time I was mailing a box to Australia and the postal clerk pulled out a soft measuring tape and proceeded to wrap it around the entire box. He then turned the box sideways and did the same. When I asked him what he was doing, he said that's the new way to measure. Then he quoted me $40 something. I balked, took my package and left.
I went to the next town over and the postal clerk there did the correct height, width and length measurements. It cost me $12 to mail.
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11:20:18am
All the more important to cultivate that favorite clerk who smiles when they see you and chats about the kids or grand kids.
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In the description area of all the stamps that I sell, I have a disclamer of 'Shipping to US and Canada only'. A sale to a guy in Brazil slipped by me.
Since I offer free shipping, I thought $5 would cover the International postage, and negotiated a new sale price.
The Post Office offers an International envelope for $6.45, but the clerk said that since there was a cardboard stiffener, it was not an envelope ... it was a package. $13.50, please.
I ended up refunding and cancelling the sale.
Login to Like
this post
re: Problem with International Shipping
I have been thru the same argument with the US Postal Service.
I posted an 8x8" bubble envelope with a stiffener & collectibles for the grandchildren (cards, stamps, Wall-E cd) overseas.
Width was now just over 1/4", which should have upgraded me from letter to flat but, either way, cost U$D ~5.
Clerk insisted I pay the parcel rate, eg, U$D ~10.
Being an accommodating sort, I next tried a 6x9" photo mailer (same sort of contents).
I expected that the photo mailer would travel at the letter/flat rate (much less than 1/4" thick) plus the non-machinable charge.
Different clerk, different post office, different *county*, same result: the clerk insisted it be rated as a parcel, doubling the price from U$D ~5 to U$D ~10.
"But a letter can be rigid" says I, "and that adds only 21 cents."
"Yes, but that is for 'rigid', and this is actually STIFF."
I got stiffed, in more ways than one.
I next wrote the USPS HQ on my letterhead, asking for a ruling about the photo mailers, on their letterhead.
They never answered that simple question.
Of late, I have resorted to ikeyPikey's Maxim: "Count on indifference to make a difference."
I insert stiffeners in a greeting-card-sized envelope.
In the middle, along the top, I hand-write the amount of postage for a first-class letter and, underneath that, write "21c".
I put what I think is the correct letter rate worth of postage on the right side of the envelope.
I add twenty-one cents worth of postage over on the left side of the envelope - perhaps inadvertently creating the impression that I added the 21c after a window clerk told me to pay the non-machinable surcharge - and toss the envelope into the outbound mail slot. Sans customs declaration, to boot.
These arrive at their destination, on time, intact, no postage due, no nothing. Indifference rules! YMMV.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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re: Problem with International Shipping
Anything sent in a "bubble" mailer is automatically considered to be a parcel.
Login to Like
this post
re: Problem with International Shipping
Maybe the way to go would be to send all stamp shipments in leftover Christmas cards.
Login to Like
this post
re: Problem with International Shipping
... send all stamp shipments in leftover Christmas cards
Ouch! Some Postal employees have been caught 'collecting' gift envelopes.
Login to Like
this post
re: Problem with International Shipping
The photo mailers I have measure .27 at the edge with a digital caliper and do indeed "scrape": when passed through the template at the PO.
What used to be well under a $1.00 is now well over $2.00 most of the time. Depends on the clerk - some charge under $1.00, some add the 21 cents but most charge the parcel rate.
A brand new clerk just out of training said they were trained to place the envelope flat on the counter and try to bend the envelope 90 degrees and if it would bend it was OK at the lower rate (destroying the photo or enclosed item in the process of course).
Grrrr
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this post
re: Problem with International Shipping
90 degrees? That's ridiculous. The flex test (for domestic "flats" anyways) dictates they only have to flex two inches, which is a far cry from 90 degrees!
Source: http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/201.htm#1096362
I bet they hand out free "Welcome to the USPS" Sharpie markers, too. Standard issue for their new graduates.
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Auctions
re: Problem with International Shipping
Hang in Carl, every time i go to the post office i get a different opinion..sometimes i just tell them do it(what i ask) and they do ! What do i have to lose ?
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re: Problem with International Shipping
One time I was mailing a box to Australia and the postal clerk pulled out a soft measuring tape and proceeded to wrap it around the entire box. He then turned the box sideways and did the same. When I asked him what he was doing, he said that's the new way to measure. Then he quoted me $40 something. I balked, took my package and left.
I went to the next town over and the postal clerk there did the correct height, width and length measurements. It cost me $12 to mail.
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
29 Dec 2016
11:20:18am
re: Problem with International Shipping
All the more important to cultivate that favorite clerk who smiles when they see you and chats about the kids or grand kids.
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