Silk Road forums

Discussion => Shipping => Topic started by: Eva00 on December 01, 2012, 02:50 am

Title: Weighing flat rate envelopes and proper postage - Is the PO lying to me?
Post by: Eva00 on December 01, 2012, 02:50 am
So I went into my local PO to send off some unrelated packages, and when I inquired about flat rate envelopes I was basically told I would have to have my items weighed.

I was under the assumption that if I bought a prepaid $5.15 stamp and pasted it on a  regular envelope (with my party time powder), I could just slip it in a blue box and be on with my life. Must I really bring in my item to be "weighed", or is the clerk just misinformed?

For the record, I will be shipping on a postcard and some small papers.
Title: Re: Weighing flat rate envelopes and proper postage - Is the PO lying to me?
Post by: pPharm on December 01, 2012, 05:30 am
With flat rate envelopes you can just drop it in a blue box; IF it is under 13oz. If it is over 13oz you need to bring it in to the PO and hand it to a clerk to send it out. (Or use an APC to print non-stamp postage)
Title: Re: Weighing flat rate envelopes and proper postage - Is the PO lying to me?
Post by: Eva00 on December 01, 2012, 06:41 am
Yes, but if I stamp a regular envelope with the priority stamp (or $5.15 in stamps), will it ship priority? I told the clerk point blank that I was under the impression it would be shipped if it was under 13oz, and he said anything shipped priority must be weighed.
Title: Re: Weighing flat rate envelopes and proper postage - Is the PO lying to me?
Post by: oban_18 on December 01, 2012, 03:52 pm
Yes, but if I stamp a regular envelope with the priority stamp (or $5.15 in stamps), will it ship priority? I told the clerk point blank that I was under the impression it would be shipped if it was under 13oz, and he said anything shipped priority must be weighed.

USPS is particular that any piece of mail to be shipped Express or Priority be marked as such.  This is as simple as writing "Priority Mail" on the envelope and then throwing it in a blue box with the correct postage.

And the worker is right, speaking from three years of experience as a top-rated Powerseller on a well-known clearnet auction site... I used to send about 40-50 packages (or more) daily, Priority and First Class.  Priority shipping is by the ounce, which is why the flat-rate boxes and envelopes are so popular (and how I saved a ton on shipping once they were introduced.)

Best solution?... get a Priority Flat-Rate envelope.  Slap your postage on that, and drop it in a blue box. Weigh it first to make sure it doesn't exceed 13 oz or it will get rejected.

Title: Re: Weighing flat rate envelopes and proper postage - Is the PO lying to me?
Post by: th3creeper on December 04, 2012, 03:29 am
I was under the assumption that if I bought a prepaid $5.15 stamp and pasted it on a  regular envelope (with my party time powder), I could just slip it in a blue box and be on with my life. Must I really bring in my item to be "weighed", or is the clerk just misinformed?
Actually, you are the misinformed one.  If you place a $5.15 stamp on a Flat Rate envelope or small Flat Rate box then yes...you can use drop box(providing the weight is below 13 oz)  You cannot ship FLAT RATE unless you use a USPS FLAT RATE envelope or box.  Now..to ship your regular envelope Priority it will cost the same postage as flat rate providing it weighs below 12 ounces I think it is.  My advice to you is get yourself a postal scale and use the usps.com postage rate calculator to determine correct postage.  Postage rates for non flat rate envelopes are determined by weight/dimension.  Also, if the envelope is rigid or stiff that means it can't be fed through their automatic sorting machines which will be an extra charge.