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  • Price of sending a Fat Quarter

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    Old 11-26-2011, 07:56 PM
      #1  
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    Leota's Avatar
     
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    Default Price of sending a Fat Quarter

    I notice that several of us spend over $2 to ship a single FQ. With shipping going up and the price of fabric rising, we
    need to save anywhere we can.
    You can fold a FQ to fit in a standard business envelope and put two first class stamps on it and it will ship without
    problems.
    The other thing you can do if you are shipping from the U.S. is go to www.usps.com and put in the weight of your
    package and it will give you the exact postage needed.

    Hope this helps.
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    Old 11-26-2011, 08:33 PM
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    The size of the envelope also will increase the price. Larger than a #10 will cost you more.
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    Old 11-26-2011, 08:38 PM
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    you would need to iron that fq pretty flat to get it in a long business envelope and have it slip through the cardboard letter check slit. i send fat eighths through the mail all the time and i know i iron and steam them really good to be able to send in the long envelopes for either $.44 or $.64 depending on the weight of fabric. i will have to try a fq and see if i can get that flat enough to fit through that letter check slot in the long evelopes. otherwise the postage jumps up to $1.71 for the package rate.

    unless you have a weight scale at home to weigh your letters and packages, it would be hard to use the usps.com site to calculate postage.
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    Old 11-27-2011, 05:36 AM
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    the only thing i worry about the envelope is that if a
    machine gets it , it will get torn open and you will
    loose your fq. i ship my stuff in the flat rate prioity envelope.
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    Old 11-27-2011, 06:04 AM
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    My post office WILL NOT accept fabric in a business envelope. It can get torn when it's sorted thru the machine. If it's not in a padded envelope they won't take it. I have snuck small pieces of fabric in envelopes, but I wory about them making it to their destination.
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    Old 11-27-2011, 07:00 AM
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    Originally Posted by dkabasketlady
    My post office WILL NOT accept fabric in a business envelope. It can get torn when it's sorted thru the machine. If it's not in a padded envelope they won't take it. I have snuck small pieces of fabric in envelopes, but I wory about them making it to their destination.
    i have sent 100's of fat quarters in business envelopes non damaged and none refused by post office. I iron them flat and cover with a piece of press and seal plastic wrap.
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    Old 11-27-2011, 07:31 AM
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    I just sent a piece of fabric - less than a FQ - and had a hard time getting it to fit in a #10 envelope - I pressed it and did the careful folding to make it fit - and did not enclose the card or plastic baggie - it did make it to it's destination okay, but I was fretting about it.

    I try to find a balance between convenience and "reasonable" - I won't pay (or charge) for a FRE for one yard or less of fabric. A fairly accurate scale is very convenient to have around - it's also great for measuring food - ingredients or portions - if one only mails things once in a while.

    I will only fill a FRE to "moderate distortion" - about six yards is all I can fairly easily get in the regular sized FRE. It also depends to a certain extent on how hefty the fabric is.

    I usually also put the fabric with a "to and from" card in a plastic bag and that goes into the outside mailer - whether a manila envelope or a Priority Mail product.

    The Priority Flat Rate containers (envelopes and boxes) ARE convenient - but not always the most economical way to send things. The USPS site (and a scale) is definitely helpful when trying to figure out the least expensive way to mail something.
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    Old 11-27-2011, 09:53 AM
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    how can the p.o. refuse your envelope? at the most, they charge you an additional $.20 to hand cancel the stamp if they envelope is not machine cancelable. you need to let them know that they can hand cancel at the counter. it is on the usps.com website. also it helps to put the wide clear tape around the envelope ends to help them through the process.

    i have gotten some pretty mangled envelopes from fabric being sent in the business envelopes. some just didnt make it so they were in p.o. plastic baggies when i received them. it helps to know how to package them. i say practice on getting the fabric flat enough because it is possible to do so and pay the lower postage.

    Originally Posted by dkabasketlady
    My post office WILL NOT accept fabric in a business envelope. It can get torn when it's sorted thru the machine. If it's not in a padded envelope they won't take it. I have snuck small pieces of fabric in envelopes, but I wory about them making it to their destination.
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    Old 11-27-2011, 11:51 AM
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    I've mailed 100s of fqs in #10 envelopes...use envelope as template then iron, iron with a qtr of inch allowance between edge of fabric and top of envelope; tape envelope closure and you shouldn't have a problem.
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    Old 11-27-2011, 02:38 PM
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    Originally Posted by KerryK
    The size of the envelope also will increase the price. Larger than a #10 will cost you more.
    I ship my patterns, which are much larger than a FQ, using 1st class mail all the time. I use a 6x9" envelope. Anything up to 6 1/8" x 11 1/2" x 1/4" ships for the same price, depending on the weight. A #10 is only 4 1/8" x 9 1/2". Try using a larger envelope and you will be able to ship a FQ easily. If I were doing so, I would also put it in a plastic zip-lock, forcing the air out of the zip-lock first.
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