Instead of tape that the clerk can visibly see, use double sided tape to secure the flap.

I mailed my daughter a birthday card. It was large, but not huge and I did not see any caution to put extra postage on it. It came back with, "Postage Due $.20" stamped on it. My husband took it to a different PO to send and was charged another $1.10!!!!!!!!!!!! For a CARD!!!! How can this happen???????? (I know no one has an answer.)

Yes, that has been a rule for many years, BUT ... there is a way around it that I use since some of those envelopes are not the best. Print out your postage online. Then lay the label the long way on the envelope, about an inch from the flap. Now you need to tape your label on, don't you? Use wide packing tape across the label overlapping onto the flap and you're good to go! Alternatively, order the padded ones online. They seem to hold much better.

I had to send out a bunch of small envelopes with 1.5" squares. Went to a P.O., and was told it would cost $1.95 each, as they were not flat enought to fit as an envelope. I took them home, opened them, and repostioned the pieces, and taped the envelopes. The cost was $.95 at another P.O... It made a difference as I was sending 12.

Excellent suggestion! I am going to give that a try!

I guess I am the odd man out, I have an absolutely wonderful clerk at my local PO. She will check the different methods to be sure I am using the best method. She has never complained about the tape, even told me that the actual rules don't say anything about using tape. But I live in a small town and so she is not usually dealing with lines of people so can take the time to help each one. I also do what I can to help her out. She is not allowed to order some of the flat rate items that I can order online. So I order her what she needs and drop it off next time in go by (which is often since it is a half mile from my home).

Probably be a lot less after this kind of news

The local post office told me I could not ship anything in the flat rate envelope if it was no longer flat! So I had to pay the regular postage rate.
So I used my own envelope purchased at Wal-Mart.

The Post Office and UPS transport for each other. (And probably Fedex as well.) The local postmaster told me this.

I went to a post office in Pittsburgh and wanted a flat rate box to send a gift to my granddaughter that was a stuff toy. The clerk said that something like that may be lighter and cheaper if it was in a regular box and pay by the weight not flat rate. He weighed it and it was by about $2.00. I double check all ways before I pay a flat rate.

Maybe it's time we all spoke up and when they tell something like no tape etc., ask to see the rules of the post office and where it says you can't do that. I think sometimes we are much too passive when people tell us things that border on ridiculous. The fact that different post offices do not follow the same rules, tells me that maybe it's not in the rules at all, but just an interpretation by different people. Besides how many packages haven't you received that the post office has mutilated that maybe some tape would have helped!

Also a lot of time the Priority Mail doesn't get there any faster then the regular mail and you are paying the extra for it. I have shipped things Priority Mail and regular mail to the same address and the regular mail beat the Priority Mail that I paid the extra for.

Yes Congress straps the post office, but the post office has some gross mistakes and waste on their own too. It's like, "Oh well, we will put in for a rate increase".

All in all we are a pretty complacent society on a lot of important things.

My two cents for the day, be it good or bad!

yep i stopped paying for priority mail long ago. they lie!! it takes for ever to get things to Texas.

That's because Texas is so big!:thumbup:

I have received pkgs that have been sent UPS and then through the PO . There are sometimes I don't get the pkg in a timely manner. I order supplements by mail and have had to reorder at least once. Packages get lost . We have a mailman that doesn't like to get out of the truck to put packages on the porch so stuffs them in the mailbox. We have one of the ones that lock so where he can put the mail in is very small.
That being said I do ship packages by USPS simply because for me its cheaper than UPS or FedEX . I do it online and have never had a problem. Most times I don't use flat rate because I can send by priority by weight cheaper. I use my own envelopes and boxes for the most part or the not flat rate boxes the PO has. Rarely is flat rate cheaper. And if they are going up again!!
And the taping on of the label to make sure things are sealed is exactly what I do for the most part. :)

3 words

Double Sided Scotchtape

Have to say I love our USPS and UPS carriers, out here. We live in rural Texas. :)

This is so WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!! If it fits, it ships, to quote the PO ads. Ask to speak to a supervisor.

I actually did speak to a supervisor... who took great pleasure in showing me on the envelope it states
"Any amount of mailable material may be enclosed, as long as the envelope is not modified , and the contents are entirely confined within the envelope with the adhesive provided as the means of closure".

I guess it's ok if they tape it shut but we can't. It's getting to much to mail things out to bad because it takes the joy out of the holidays also when you want to ship to family and friends. I have an afghan to ship to my daughter and I'm trying to figure who would be cheaper. It seems to me if prices were cheaper people would ship things. They hurt themselves. Sue

I just want to point out that cardboard Flat Rate Priority envelopes are designed for paper, not other items, and are sorted on special large envelope sorting machines. When these envelopes are overstuffed or uneven, they get jammed in the sorting equipment and may be damaged. For bulky items, it is better to use the Flat Rate bubble envelope or a box. When items are excessively taped, they get stuck in the high-speed sorting equipment.

If you have an issue with a window clerk arbitrarily refusing your packaging, ask politely to speak to their supervisor or the Postmaster. When I worked as a window clerk, most customers with issues were sent to my window already wound up and screaming. I know long lines are frustrating, but it is demoralizing to be yelled at all day long. A lot of the problem are customers who show up with their mail completely unprepared. We always put them to the side and had them prepare the mail themselves.

I couldn't believe the shipping/handling on a recent purchase - it was actually more than the cost of the product - was shipped from the shopgoodwill.com website and it came to me in a "Libby Glass" box that had seen better days - the least they could have done was use a decent box for my money ... probably will not shop this site again unless I can pick it up locally.

Flat Rate Envelopes
 

=-------------------
I send a lot of these to family, and routinely add just a touch of Elmer's Glue to the closures. I make sure none
of it can be seen on the outside of the package.
And so can avoid the tapes, except over the address, which is in ink and can run with a bit of moisture.

Anther reason that the USPS is going broke is 90% of the employees are now contract employees. Do you realise that the cost of a government contract is approximately 4-5 X that of the cost of the employees salary. However, there is that never ending fear of having to pay the employee's retirement benefit, insurance, etc, etc. What they fail to understand is the reason that the contract is so high is because you are paying for that contract employee's retirement benefit, insurance, and a company profit

w7sue, that's the reason I don't shop there. They rip you off on the postage!

there is a big difference between this and "the envelope is flat." I bet I could put a baseball in a FRE and still get it to close with the adhesive.

Very interesting read here
http://www.micromerchantgazette.com/..._Envelopes.php


"When sealing a Flat Rate Envelope or Flat Rate Box, the container flaps must be able to close within the normal folds."

"Tape may be applied to the flaps and seams to reinforce the container, provided the design of the container is not enlarged by opening the sides and the container is not reconstructed in any way." Flaps -- like the flap you close.


I have been known to print out pertinent portions of the DMM and keep them in my purse to show to PO clerks if they give me a hard time.

Unions are bankrupting everything.........cities, counties, states and the government. Why shouldn't the Post Office be any different?

P.O. delivered a UPS package to my house at 11 a.m. i opened it, looked at it, and decided i needed something different. so repacked it and took it to the P.O. with a UPS return label on it, and they wouldn't take it. i told the clerk, but you just delivered it l hr ago. had to drive a half hour to return it. but did wait for a sceduled trip to town.
Postal clerks were not all created equal. some nice, some not so nice. ask me. i worked it.

The FRE problems remind me of when I was in a fabric post card swap. Most of the postcards I recieved from within the US had a regular 1st class stamp, a few had a little additonal postage. My PO wanted to charge me over $1 for each postcard so I went home, put my postcards in an envelope and mailed them with a 1st class stamp. That sort of changed the whole idea of exchanging postcards but I didn't waste my money on postage.

Gas prices...affect shipping and transportation costs. People still ship plenty. My front door is a loading dock thanks to Craigslist and Ebay purchases by my husband. (And me...truth be known). Nothing is free.

I hVe never shipped holiday gifts. Gift cards ship quite cheaply. We are fortunate though, we don't exchange gifts. I just send a check to my one niece and one nephew. $$ talks.

Sandy

Well, at my post office, it depends upon the person behind the counter and whether they're in a grouchy mood or not! and then it could change at a neighboring town's P.O. Caveat emptor! Our guild had experience with those quilted postcards we did a few years back... everything from the regular postcard rate to over .80 for either hand stamping and/or thicker than 1/4 inch! WHAT-EVAH!

PTQuilts is correct -- the PO rules are as quoted. We ship dozens of FRE's every week, and all of them are secured with an extra piece of tape or three to further secure the seams.

The rule is that you can't modify the envelope - you have to be able to fold the flap over normally. A little creative folding on your fabric, and not trying to stuff too much into a FRE will ensure success every time.

Our local Postmaster is the regional trainer for new postmasters, and is the one who informs us on the rules.

Your local counter person needs education...

This is a bummer to hear. I shipped in a flat-rate envelope once without tape and the glue let loose. Luckily, I had more product to ship my customer. I have 8 3/4 yds in a flat-rate to ship today. We'll see what happens.....

I thought that part was "odd" because my postal person always adds tape if I have forgotten....

I'm in the countryside and have 3 post offices within 3 miles, 2 of them within a mile of each other! My sister retired from the USPS 2 years ago, and was stressed to the max with all the foolishness. I participate in a few swaps and have found the service is quite variable. One clerk insisted it was cheaper to put my squares in a priority envelope when I already had them in an addressed tyvek one- It wasn't! Another always offers to tape the Priority flap for me if I forgot to take my tape in. Another clerk insisted the priority envelope is only for papers- Not True! Inconsistent service is frustrating, but it seems some of the Post Office clerks have had poor training. The USPS does subcontract with UPS and Fed Ex for distance travel.