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Hi Folks - After spending the day toiling over making Christmas cards, I decided I want to send them in clear envelopes. I've received cards mailed like this from swaps and always loved seeing the beautiful card displayed like that. I know that I busted butt today and think my cards should be SEEN...lol
Does anyone know what the postage is to send in the clear envelopes? I keep a good stock of postage stamps here at the house and am hoping to get the labels printed and everything out tomorrow!! *fingers crossed* lol
Thanks - Wendy
clear envelopes are .20 cents extra because they are non-machineable.
( and if your cards are square but, flat that is also considered "over sized")
and that costs an extra .20 cents BUT, if they do not fit through the slot of the plastic thing at the po then they will also be considered parcels and be prepared with some smelling salts when they get to your grand total.
(that averages about 1.95 per card in postage...)
so far this year I have only had to leave my delivery lady .20 cents for one square but perfectly flat card that has arrived postage due.
I've looked this up previously. Stacy and Debbie are correct. There's an extra $.20 nonmachinable surcharge. It's covered on this page, section 2.1 :
Quote:
Criteria for Nonmachinable Letters
A letter-size piece is nonmachinable if it has an exterior surface that is not made of paper ...
In Lydia's case, USPS must have taken one look at the gorgeous cards inside her clear envelopes and decided they just couldn't bear to slap Postage Due stickers on them. ;)
I think the clear envelope would give a bad scan in the machine and have it spit out to be hand cancelled anyway. They have scanners to read all those addresses in the sorting machines and the solid color envelope would give it better contrast to read it.
I added the extra postage because it was a lrg number of Christmas cards that I wanted to get there for sure BUT I am going to try sending some with just regular postage in the near future ;)
I've mailed in clear too with no extra postage and the three demos I mailed to said there was no postage due because I asked because I didn't want them to have to pay if there was
I too use clear envelopes exclusively and only pay the regular .45 postage...I think that is the rate now...lol. It changes again in January.
blessings.
I stick a regular stamp on them and put them in the box. Always with a return label and have never had one returned or anyone tell me they had to pay extra postage.
It all depends on if the machine will read the address or if it gets spit out. Technically, the PO will charge .20 non machineable surcharge, but 9 out of 10 will make it without the surcharge. If you go to the window, they will charge you the extra. If you put it in a collection box, your chances of it not being tagged for postage due are greater. If it does get spit out from the machine, your chances for postage due increase. The best way to address these is with a sticky label (Avery 5160 or others) or putting the address on the inside.
The machines are getting better at reading through the plastic if you do put the address on the inside.
If the envelope is square, do add the extra postage. When in doubt, do it right the first time and get your card there in time.
Because the envelopes are plastic, they are a little more slippery than a paper envie. The glare of the plastic, makes it more difficult for the reader in the machines to read.
I am not sure about the clear envelopes but I didn't know that if you have a square envelope and a rigid object there is only one surcharge. So- if you do have to pay for the surcharge on the clear envelopes go ahead, make a square and add all the rigid objects that you'd like to add. Usps.com has the guidelines listed there. Just go to calculate postage. Also I agree with another poster who said you will be upcharged more at the post office. They also told me they won't hand stamp anymore on request. So I get around that by paying the surcharge and making squares.
i just had to add 20 cents extra and if the card is over an ounce, its 40 cents extra. my postal girl was pretty stressed yesterday. i dont think they like handstamping things.
Postage for Clear Envelopes?
