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  1. #61




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    Mine are all traveling by Non-Machinable. Large Envelope is suppose to have all 3 of these criteria filled before it can go:

    1. Over 11 inches long - nothing smaller can ship in this category
    2. Thicker than the smallest mail slot opening
    3. Uniform rigidity - a small top loader does not qualify for uniform overall rigidity as it's floppy - unless you put a 12 inch piece of cardboard into the envelope and completely fill it.

    My PO says my packages are too rigid to go Large Envelope. They have to be flexible. A card in a top loader is too rigid.

    Taken straight from USPS website:

    Large envelopes that are rigid, nonrectangular, or not uniformly thick pay package prices.
    http://ircalc.usps.com/PopUps/LargeEnvelope.htm

  2. #62




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    You called my out, you do that, you get it right back. I'm trying to help everyone out here, you got a beef with that, then be a man and send me a PM.

    I know from previous exchanges that you're a bit mentally challenged, centrehice, so I'll try to keep this simple:

    - I believe it was FuriousD82 who first dared to point out that your method might not work, not I
    - A PM would be fine if I wanted to trade barbs, but I like to have everything out in the open so that others who read to posts can put things in the proper context
    - It's wonderful - really, it is - that you are trying to help out, but you can't treat an opposing viewpoint as a personal attack; the info being posted here is 100% relevant to the topic of the thread.

    The fact is that the USPS is so inconsistent in its interpretation of its own rules that pretty much any way we ship anything other than a single piece of paper is subject to rejection at any time unless we pay the extortion fees that are the full package rates. I've gone out of my way to make friends with all the front-end agents over the years and they are all scared of the ham-handed managerial teams, so they default to doing whatever is most expensive. If one can avoid dealing with a human at the USPS, one should.

  3. #63




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    I tried this method at 3 local post offices. It only worked once. Unfortunately, this method only works if you are willing to lie that your hockey card is a photo or document, which, as much as you would like, a card, especially auto/GU is NOT a photo and therefore must be sent as a parcel. Also, the fact that there are dutiable goods in the package, cannot be sent as a letter, machineable or not.

    dre2112 - I've never understood why people feel a need to self-enforce customs laws on low-dollar collectibles, unless they work for Revenue Canada or the IRS. My mother once had a customs agent pull her shoes off of her feet and try to tell her that she had just bought them in Buffalo, when they clearly were scuffed and used. IMO, they do not command my obedience. I'll gladly state whatever I need to state in order to save my fellow collector customs fees, which in my eyes are completely illegitimate taxation in this context. Please don't be a government tool unless they hook you up with the retirement plan!

    Moral dilemmas aside, the reason to put "photos" is so that we don't put "hockey cards - please steal me". It has been well-documented that a significant number of cards, particularly those going to and from Quebec, have been taken while in transit and never delivered. I've had 4 packages disappear in the last 6 months (two here, two from eBay) and I think I've gotten off light.

  4. #64




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    My experiences vastly differ from yours. I've sent out thousands of packages and never had one go missing, whether Quebec or Czech Republic or Russia and I always mark my packages "card" on the customs label. I'd suggest printing the address instead of hand writing it, as sometimes hand written addresses aren't clearly legible.

    Either way, if you're sending as Large Envelope International, it's not going to work. As I mentioned, above:

    Large envelopes that are rigid, nonrectangular, or not uniformly thick pay package prices ($6.16-6.92)
    http://ircalc.usps.com/PopUps/LargeEnvelope.htm

  5. #65




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    My experiences vastly differ from yours. I've sent out thousands of packages and never had one go missing, whether Quebec or Czech Republic or Russia and I always mark my packages "card" on the customs label. I'd suggest printing the address instead of hand writing it, as sometimes hand written addresses aren't clearly legible.

    Either way, if you're sending as Large Envelope International, it's not going to work. As I mentioned, above:

    Large envelopes that are rigid, nonrectangular, or not uniformly thick pay package prices ($6.16-6.92)
    http://ircalc.usps.com/PopUps/LargeEnvelope.htm

    It's basically up to your local post office if they consider toploaders rigid or not . As some do and some dont . Some get by with their local PO not considering them rigid or not uniformly thick and some of us arent as lucky.
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  6. #66
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    I know from previous exchanges that you're a bit mentally challenged, centrehice, so I'll try to keep this simple:

    - I believe it was FuriousD82 who first dared to point out that your method might not work, not I
    - A PM would be fine if I wanted to trade barbs, but I like to have everything out in the open so that others who read to posts can put things in the proper context
    - It's wonderful - really, it is - that you are trying to help out, but you can't treat an opposing viewpoint as a personal attack; the info being posted here is 100% relevant to the topic of the thread.

    The fact is that the USPS is so inconsistent in its interpretation of its own rules that pretty much any way we ship anything other than a single piece of paper is subject to rejection at any time unless we pay the extortion fees that are the full package rates. I've gone out of my way to make friends with all the front-end agents over the years and they are all scared of the ham-handed managerial teams, so they default to doing whatever is most expensive. If one can avoid dealing with a human at the USPS, one should.


    You told me to watch my attitude, when another member tried to shut me down in helping others. He tried to shut down my helpful thread and the tons of digging I had to do to get to this point. Remember, I was in the same boat until my USPS guys got proactive and dug into the situation and found out that yes both PWE's and Bubble could both travel by Non-Machinable surcharge with NO Customs Form. My attitude was frustration by the other poster trying to tell us that nothing worked.


    It does work.


    What we have now at USPS is the Clerks refusing to even want to know what Non-Machinable represents. Because they themselves have never used the Non-Machinable category, they flat out refuse to believe it exists.

    I'm obviously beating a Dead Horse here, but a clerks refusal to do their job is the issue here, nothing any of us have said or done is at issue.

    The trouble with many on here is that they are still pasting a Customs Form to the PWE or the Bubble, you cannot do this, it automatically becomes a package.

  7. #67




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    It's basically up to your local post office if they consider toploaders rigid or not . As some do and some dont . Some get by with their local PO not considering them rigid or not uniformly thick and some of us arent as lucky.

    I sent a couple dozen as Large Envelope through one outlet, and tried again at an another and they told me they were too rigid. We'll see when those first batches make their destination if they aren't crushed in the rollers/sorting machine for being too rigid. If not, I'll be sending them Large Envelope (I only did this for base thickness and jersey cards. Patch cards made bubblers un-uniform thickness).

    I'm also going to give the non machineable letter a try.

    centerhice are you sending it in a large PWE reinforced with cardboard (what kind of cardboard)?

    My clerk told me in order for it to be non machineable it had to have a bump (like a bow or ribbon inside like you would find on some hallmark cards or wedding invitations) and or had to be rigid.

  8. #68
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    ...


    I am sending these two formats below, and both are being honored as Non-Machinable, NOT Large Envelope.


    1. PWE - Re-Inforced cardboard around a Top-Loader, taped to hold it in place inside the PWE. Outside of PWE is also taped so it does not wear through around the top and bottom edges of the envelope

    2. Size #0 Bubble Envelope 3 x 5 inches, slightly larger or smaller is also fine. They don't seem to care.


    NO CUSTOMS FORMS ON EITHER

    The reason they won't send it Large Envelope is that it Must by over 11 inches in one of the measurements. Large Envelope is also slightly more expensive than Non-Machinable.

  9. #69




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    Sent two more PWEs today to Canada, each using a $1.30 stamp purchased from the APC, which pays for the $1.10 postage plus the 20 cents non-machinable charge. Penny sleeve, top loader, dummy card on either side to provide rigidity, taped onto the PWE from the inside then sealed with two long strips of packaging tape along top and bottom edges...I hope we agree that these go through just fine and do NOT require a customs form.

    It is my experience, however, that if I send something in a #000 or disc mailer (which is itself rigid), I *MUST* attach a customs form or it ends up returned to me in a couple of days. I use the "large envelope" calculations at the Automated Postal Center to determine a base amount of postage, then I add 30 cents to it (an arbitrary amount) and buy a stamp of that denomination. I don't try to go to the counter and request "large envelope" or anything else, as they will then want to send it as a package. Again, the *only* way I have been able to send these out cheaply is by avoiding the clerks and by also attaching a customs form to anything that is not a PWE.

    The point here, once again, is that different things will work for different people in different location and we should all be doing what we can to keep the transportation costs down. Some people have given up on that goal, but at least there are several methods to try.

  10. #70




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    My experiences vastly differ from yours. I've sent out thousands of packages and never had one go missing, whether Quebec or Czech Republic or Russia and I always mark my packages "card" on the customs label. I'd suggest printing the address instead of hand writing it, as sometimes hand written addresses aren't clearly legible.

    Just to clarify, dre2112, the missing packages were coming TO me, not from me. My handwriting is an impeccable block lettering, so I never have an issue, but you are correct that some people would be better off printing a label.

    I had a really good run of several years with nothing going missing, but after the first couple went AWOL recently, I found a few articles online somewhere about problems with postal employees stealing cards or people trailing along behind the delivery van and taking them out of mailboxes (I have a P.O. Box, so I suspect some sticky fingers at my sorting center, but can't prove anything). I'll see if I can find the stories for you and perhaps you'll change your mind on the "photos" thing. Or not.

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