Silk Road forums
Discussion => Shipping => Topic started by: iaskquestion on July 14, 2012, 03:17 am
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I just shipped out some first class letters with pills in them. I only used 1 stamp. I just now found out that if they don't fit in the sorting machine then there is a "non-machinable surcharge" so that would make my postage insufficient. When this happens does the post office return to the return address or do they just charge the receiving address?
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standard USPS protocol is to charge the receiving address (this is USUALLY done by leaving a little slip that says postage due and letting you know how much change you need to leave.)
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I made a similar mistake with a padded envelope with 1oz of material inside. It wasn't illegal so it wasn't vacuum sealed or even compressed. It was thick. I had applied 2 stamps by weight (this was a few years back). The mailman kept putting it back into my mailbox. I caught him outside and asked why, he said if I don't put another stamp on, the receiver will have to pay the difference. Even though it qualified by weight, he said its size required 3 stamps. I didn't ask why and never heard of the "non-machinable surcharge" but it seems reasonable I guess. I just put another stamp on and he took it, all was well. I'm guessing if the mailman doesn't catch it and give you a chance to fix it, the receiver will have to pay the difference.
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I made a similar mistake with a padded envelope with 1oz of material inside. It wasn't illegal so it wasn't vacuum sealed or even compressed. It was thick. I had applied 2 stamps by weight (this was a few years back). The mailman kept putting it back into my mailbox. I caught him outside and asked why, he said if I don't put another stamp on, the receiver will have to pay the difference. Even though it qualified by weight, he said its size required 3 stamps. I didn't ask why and never heard of the "non-machinable surcharge" but it seems reasonable I guess. I just put another stamp on and he took it, all was well. I'm guessing if the mailman doesn't catch it and give you a chance to fix it, the receiver will have to pay the difference.
well I didn't use my mailbox ofc. The return address isn't mine ofc. I dropped it off at one of those public blue mailboxes. hopefully nothing happens. worst case scenario is that it gets RTS and they inform LE. If my customers have to pay "postage due" then i will re-reimburse them 5x the cost. I'm so dumb for overlooking this possibility.
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I made a similar mistake with a padded envelope with 1oz of material inside. It wasn't illegal so it wasn't vacuum sealed or even compressed. It was thick. I had applied 2 stamps by weight (this was a few years back). The mailman kept putting it back into my mailbox. I caught him outside and asked why, he said if I don't put another stamp on, the receiver will have to pay the difference. Even though it qualified by weight, he said its size required 3 stamps. I didn't ask why and never heard of the "non-machinable surcharge" but it seems reasonable I guess. I just put another stamp on and he took it, all was well. I'm guessing if the mailman doesn't catch it and give you a chance to fix it, the receiver will have to pay the difference.
well I didn't use my mailbox ofc. The return address isn't mine ofc. I dropped it off at one of those public blue mailboxes. hopefully nothing happens. worst case scenario is that it gets RTS and they inform LE. If my customers have to pay "postage due" then i will re-reimburse them 5x the cost. I'm so dumb for overlooking this possibility.
Since you dropped it off at a box, I don't think it'd be very efficient or cost effective to have them RTS it so they can get an additional 40 cents. I could be wrong though. Mine was in my own box so the mailman just left it in there, it didn't cost anything to leave it in there. From what he said, I gathered: if he picked it up, the receiver would have to pay. It makes sense because sending it back to the return address is probably more expensive than 40 cents.
Anyhow, good luck and please update this thread in the future.
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yea i will let you guys know how it goes. thanks for the info.