Well, I hate to add another monkey in the pile, BUT, do not take your flat rate boxes to the stand alone shipping office(s) that "offer" USPS mailing. They are not required by any law to mail it at that rate.
I took a flat rate box to one of them to mail to my USAF son stationed in Hawaii on a Saturday. It was a flat rate of the $10.70 size. When he quoted me over $30.00 to mail it I about fainted. When I asked why that much, he said they did not need to follow that rate. I told him I loved the son, but not that much & took it to the P.O on Monday. I also confirmed that statement with the Mail lady on Monday.
Unless the site is an authorized USPS site, they will charge you for the weight and size of the box, and not for the Flat Rate.
And, yes, I have also been caught by the same size, not flat rate marked boxes.

Happy Quilting,
SUsan

Hey, you can spell astute.

I don't think we are bashing, but maybe I just see this differently. All I was saying is that all the sizes and rates and shipping rules can get very confusing. I can only speak for myself, but I have always said that the post office doesn't charge enough for their service. I am very aware of the cost of shipping all around the world and we really have it made here. Perhaps if we paid more for the service, the employees could make more money and they might even hire a few more people for the incredible volume of mail that travels this country and the globe.

I agree, the rules can be so confusing even the PO clerks can't always keep up with them.
I have heard of clerks refusing a stuffed Flat Rate Envelope because "It's not flat.". Sometimes I think they make up the rules as they go along. HAve you ever seen the DMM, DOmestic Mail Manual (rule book) -- it is HUGE!!

But let me say in general I LOVE the P.O. and all the clerks who work there.

oops, sent the above out before I wrote anything...!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the info on those envelopes......I will be more conscious of that when I pick them up the next time.

What you need to check are the words "our government", since when is the postal service our government? It is a private corporation using the title of US Postal service. Check it out along with the rates

I appreciate all of the above information. I don't really use the flat rate boxes because I do over fill them. I use my small food scale and weigh my package and then go to the computer, enter the needed information and then print out the label with the correct postage. FYI, The USPO gives you the amount you save by using your computer. I like the service because I can stay at home and have the package picked up from my mailbox. Works for me and I too, believe the USPO does need the appropriate postage.

I had a similar experience at the Post Office. I thought there was only 1 small Priority Mail box so I went in and asked for one. I got it home and it was smaller than the ones I had used before. I had to go to the Post Office so I asked why they made the boxes smaller. I found out that there are about three sizes. The really small one is Flat Rate ($4.95) and the other two sizes are Priority Mail which goes by the weight. Does the Post Office do this to confuse us?

You are correct, USPS is not run by the Fed Government. It is a business, and has to make a profit. One item to share regarding priority mail. The delivery date of 2-3 days is only a best hope; it is NOT a guarantee. I learned this when I sent a package to one of my sons. It took over a week to get to him. When I complained, I was told that Priority is not an absolute delivery date. At that point, I stopped paying for priority delivery and started using the delivery guarantee. For $.85 for any size package or letter, you can have a postcard sent to you telling you that your item was delivered. My packages still arrive in about the same amount of time that they did with priority delivery.