Completely Frustrated

[molly1984]

thank you for the explanation! i have been wondering why it seemed like everything was costing $1.30 lately... i swore it was usually cheaper. and people have sent me things with 2 stamps on them and so i wondered about that too, now i see that it is in a transition phase.

thanks that was helpful :)

[Bondsaway]

what rule are you talking about, out of curiosity? just want to be in the know.

Also and I have talked to all 5 postal clerks at my PO. Not one of them reads the new rule the same! They have a cutout they are suppose to use to measure the thickness of the package to determine whether or not it goes parcel or as a letter. Hense the big difference in cost!

Bubble mailers used to be considered "non-machinable" and to mail them only cost something like 14 cents more than normal letter rate. When the po did their last rate overhaul bubble mailers got reclassified as a "package". I believe the determining factor is 1/4 inch or greater thickness makes it a "package". It's a HUGE difference. Using the new rates here's what the reclassification did for a 2 ounce mailing.........

letter = 58¢

letter - envelope containing a riid object (formerly non-machinable) (formerly included bubbles) = 75¢

package - (now includes bubble mailers) = $1.30

The long and short of it is the new rules almost doubled the cost of mailing cards in bubble mailers.


There's still much confusion over the new rules and if you affix your own postage on a bubble mailer at the rigid object rate, it will still most likely be delivered but they're cracking down on that and more and more packages are getting returned to sender.

Thanks for the explaination. That would have been my answer.

[sgazi]

You can see the new pricing here.

http://www.usps.com/prices/

[lil5up3rman]

Also I don't know if you noticed as well but if your bubble mailer(Package) isn't 3/4 inch thick the only way you are going to get DC is by sending it Priority mail which makes it even more expensive and my PO pulls out all the bells and whistles they pull out one of those tape measures used to measure your waist in the military lol and if it's not 3/4 inch thick they rip my DC right off. Daniel.

[mintman2]

Also I don't know if you noticed as well but if your bubble mailer(Package) isn't 3/4 inch thick the only way you are going to get DC is by sending it Priority mail which makes it even more expensive and my PO pulls out all the bells and whistles they pull out one of those tape measures used to measure your waist in the military lol and if it's not 3/4 inch thick they rip my DC right off. Daniel.

I believe the new rule is that if it's a rigid package you can get dc without priority. The clerk that usually takes care of me pulled the info up on her scale screen and it was VERY confusing, even to her, but I believe that's what it said. It takes more than a top load to meet the rigidity threshold though. I handed her a bubble mailer I had just received that had a single top load with a card inside it. She starts bending the mailer back and forth pretty forcefully and I nearly dove over the counter shouting NOOOOOOO - STOP DOING THAT ! Thankfully I didn't have to hear that awful death blow snapping sound a topload makes when it's pushed too far and the card survived. She just calmly hands it back to me though and says "naaaaa, this isn't rigid enough". I tell ya what, that's the last time I'll let her feel my package. Well, at least not without making sure it's rigid enough first.

(LOL)

[skippy]

Anything over 3/4 inch is considered a package now. All PO should have the new template, if yours doesn't you need to be asking why. If your bubble mailer passes though the 3/4 slot and is less then 1 oz. then it will cost you .80 with in the U.S. Over one oz it starts to get prorated per oz. I know that up to 1 1/2 oz it will cost .97. It starts to get charge package rate after it passes 3/4 inch.

[wwf1fan1]

As far as DC goes well they can throw the bubblers in the river and say it was delivered it means nothing.

Wow, it's like you live in Warren, PA where a mail carrier did just that into the Cussewago River! 1400 pieces of mail WHOMP! right to the bottom! Dude walked off the job and left town. I guess it was better than shooting up the post office (except for the guy who was waiting for his BGS 9 1951 Bowman Mantle).

[stewart20rulz]

My PO follows this template as stated by Mike (Skippy) so I rarely pay over $1 to mail a bubble mailer unless it is due to weight. But, my PO also won't let me have DC if my bubble mailers are less than 3/4" without using Priority Mail.