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I sent out about 10 Easter cards. I used brads and the scalloped chick was popped on dimensions so it was on the thick side. However, going to past experience I was pretty sure it didn't need additional postage. But the inconsistent USPS sent one back $.17 due. And guess who I had sent it to? to the neighbor across the street. I had to laugh... the card that had to go the closest distance came back.
Knock on wood, I have never had that happen. I send mine out with regular postage and have had good luck so far! I always make sure the bumps are toward the back. Who knows if that helps or not.
I usually put in a piece of cardstock cut the size of the card to cover the brad/ribbon/button.
A while back I bought a huge pack of ivory cardstock and decided I didn't like it for card bases, so I have been cutting it up to enclose in my cards as a backing sheet.
I haven't had a one come back or arrive postage due. (Knock on wood )
__________________ Bugga in OK
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LOL too funny!!! I irony in that!! Go figure!!! :shock:
How about this one: I go to the PO with the package ready to ship have it weighed so I can tell the seller how much first class postage wil be I'm told from the postal worked while it's on the scale that it's $1.45 okay no problem. Okay so now..I go back to the PO with the SAME package nothing's changed it was already addressed and sealed up I come back to buy postage and mind you I put $1.45 in the corner of the package when I left so I'd remember and they tell me now that it's $1.63???? What??????? I told the PO man that I was just here yesterday and had it weighed and the price was $1.45??? It was too funny and NO I still had to pay $1.63..I think my package must've eaten something the night before and gained like 5 ounces!!! lol
There doesn't seem to be any set rule with the new postal regulations. I really think it depends on the clerk helping you at the PO. Something's wrong with the system..
Just wanted to say that just because you are "lucky" that they have never come back, don't think for one minute that the P.O. won't ask for "postage due" on the other end. Really, is saving .17 really worth the embarrassment? If it does come back you are going to have to stick it in another envelope AND stick more postage on it...so now what has it cost you. NOT preaching, just sayin'....
I made St. Patrick's Day cards with the cute little lepruchaun made of punches and added wiggle eyes to him... I even put TWO stamps on them, just to make sure everything was ok, even though they were not that thick. I think almost every one I sent out had at least one eye missing when they got there. I mean the eyes were not even in the envie! Not even sure how that happened as the envelopes weren't ripped or anything....
LOL too funny!!! I irony in that!! Go figure!!! :shock:
How about this one: I go to the PO with the package ready to ship have it weighed so I can tell the seller how much first class postage wil be I'm told from the postal worked while it's on the scale that it's $1.45 okay no problem. Okay so now..I go back to the PO with the SAME package nothing's changed it was already addressed and sealed up I come back to buy postage and mind you I put $1.45 in the corner of the package when I left so I'd remember and they tell me now that it's $1.63???? What??????? I told the PO man that I was just here yesterday and had it weighed and the price was $1.45??? It was too funny and NO I still had to pay $1.63..I think my package must've eaten something the night before and gained like 5 ounces!!! lol
Once I got three different price quotes over three days. :confused: Finally I looked it up on line and was "armed" with that info when I went in...
Oh, I did follow up with the others I sent cards to make sure they were charged an additional $.17. When in doubt, I do take it to the PO to have them weighed. I only sent Easter cards to my closets friends and believe me they would tell me if I owe them $.17. (And I would tell them they owe me money for the handmade card just to joke around).
Definitely would have them weighed if I were sending out Christmas cards since I do send them to casual friends. But I quit making Christmas cards with a lot of embellishments just for this reason -- cost too much to mail.
Its as bad in Northern Ireland too ... my sister in law (who lives about 10 minutes walk away from me) sent me a card recently but hadn't classed it as a large letter and it cost me �1.50 (almost $3) to retrieve my mystery package from the post office!
Needless to say, my Easter card was hand delivered!!
I've been adding the extra piece of cardstock when my card seems bumpy, too. Seems to help smooth it out so it doesn't get stuck in the machine. So far this has worked - knock on wood (knocking on head!), lol. Of course weighing it afterwards is important so it doesn't go over the 1 oz. weight
The postal clerk at one counter weighed my package, put the postage on the box, but his machine froze up. So he peeled off the postage and I moved over one counter to let the next clerk weigh it, and stick on the postage. There was like a fifteen cent difference. I didn't even touch the box, one postal clerk handed it to the other - and it somehow weighed more. Yet both said they had calibrated their scales....even the postal guys couldn't figure it out.
I haven't tried this, but I have a friend who turns the card inside out if it is a little too lumpy. She jots a note on a post-it so the receipient doesn't think she is crazy. She said it works all the time for her.
I sent out BRAK cards the other day, (all the same) and the one in state came back (needed .17 more) the other ones went out of state and they went through no problem. I couldn't believe it, I got a envelope in the mail from the postmaster saying I owed them .17 cents!! I asked them about this, sending all the same cards couldn't figure out why only 1 came back and all she could tell me was, you must have got a picky postmaster!!! It's a guessing game I guess.
I finally gave up and bought a little postage scale at Sams ($20.00). Its great that I can weigh before I make a bunch of cards that will need extra postage. So far nothing has come back and no one has owed extra postage.
The PO makes me crazy!! LOL
They get SO confused when i try to do a swap- and i have the pkg weighed first- then tell them i need that same amount- plus two more stamps for the return trip...it takes them FOREVER to get it right!
__________________ nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Luke 8:17 ~Sara~
I am also thinking of purchasing one of those postage scales. However, it could weigh more at the post office since it seems their scales are off too as with frosted_gorilla's experience.
I haven't tried this, but I have a friend who turns the card inside out if it is a little too lumpy. She jots a note on a post-it so the receipient doesn't think she is crazy. She said it works all the time for her.
It's usually not the weight they complain about (at leat at my p.o) it's the puffieness that they always seem to have a problem with. It always fits through the "little slot" thing they check but they always say well....it can't go through the machines with the puffiness. It is funny though because it doesn't always happen and as I said earlier what's even funnier is sending more than one of the same card out, and for some reason some are ok and other are more....CRAZY!! It makes it hard when you send a lot of cards, you always want to do more to them but you never know how much it will cost .17 cents doesn't seem like much but man....it adds up when sending a lot of cards.
LOL too funny!!! I irony in that!! Go figure!!! :shock:
How about this one: I go to the PO with the package ready to ship have it weighed so I can tell the seller how much first class postage wil be I'm told from the postal worked while it's on the scale that it's $1.45 okay no problem. Okay so now..I go back to the PO with the SAME package nothing's changed it was already addressed and sealed up I come back to buy postage and mind you I put $1.45 in the corner of the package when I left so I'd remember and they tell me now that it's $1.63???? What??????? I told the PO man that I was just here yesterday and had it weighed and the price was $1.45??? It was too funny and NO I still had to pay $1.63..I think my package must've eaten something the night before and gained like 5 ounces!!! lol
LOL! maybe the stamps put your package over to the next price level!
With the new regulations, anything that is not COMPLETELY flat can be charged additional postage. It isn't just a matter of weight any more. At work we have a postage meter, with an extremely accurate scale. But we can weight pieces all we want to, if there's a bump, it may - or may not - come back for extra postage due. My favorite story is the piece that went out with two sheets of paper that were stapled in the upper corner. It came back b/c of the bump the staple caused!
I always buy a sheet of regular stamps and a sheet of .17 cent stamps and put one of each on everything I send out.. I used to slap two stamps on each one, til one day I asked and all the cards I was sending just needed the .17 cent stamp.. Pam
__________________ "The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."
We have a postage scale at work, too, but face the same problem--bumpiness. There are several factors that can trigger the extra postage: over size, over weight, over thickness, too *bumpy*, too *stiff.*
I called our local postmaster and asked about postage if an envelope met MORE THAN ONE of the extra postage criteria, i.e., over thickness AND bumpy. He claims that EACH thing can cost an extra 17 cents. According to him--and I am not sure I believe him--if you send a card that has bumpy embellishments AND so many layers that it makes it too stiff, you would have to pay an ADDITIONAL 34 cents a card--for a total of 75 cents. Add too heavy to that and it bumps it up even more!
USPS -- I had to laugh
