Splitcoaststampers.com - the world's #1 papercrafting community
You're currently viewing Splitcoaststampers as a GUEST. We pride ourselves on being great hosts, but guests have limited access to some of our incredible artwork, our lively forums and other super cool features of the site! You can join our incredible papercrafting community at NO COST. So what are you waiting for?
Usually I just put a stamp on my cards and put them in the mailbox for my carrier to pick up. Yesterday I went to the post office because I had other things to mail and when I handed the card to the lady she said I needed another .20�. (The card only had an eyelet on it with 2 layers) She said if there is "anything" on the card other than paper, there is a .20� surcharge. Has anyone else run into this before? Now I am wondering if all of my cards have made it to their destination? :confused:
It really depends. When I take questionable cards in, the clerks usually try to bend it, and send it through their little test slot... If the card is uneven in height (which is what a brad or button will do) or if it keeps the card from bending, you may get hit with the non-machinable surcharge. And sometimes, it is the sorting machine that kicks it out because the embellishment keeps it from going through the sorter.
A lot of people will take their chances, and those who have never gotten hit with the surcharge AND have had their mail successfully delivered with no postage due are lucky.
From USPS.com:
Quote:
•A letter will be charged a nonmachinable surcharge if it’s a square letter 5" x 5" or larger, it doesn’t bend easily, has clasps or similar closure devices, has an address parallel to the shorter dimension of the letter, is lumpy, or the length divided by height is less than 1.3 or more than 2.5.
There are regs for what needs to be hand canceled. As Emily says, they have a slot to slip it through and if it doesn't slide through easily it requires extra postage. It can't be too thick and it has to be able to bend a little bit to go through the machines. Some clerks will make a judgment call on flexibility. And some clerks (ours has retired - yay!) are extremely strict and have a very low level of tolerance for anything out of the ordinary.
Our (now retired) clerk who was very strict (a pain in the you-know-what honestly), would make a remark to me if I was reusing a priority flat rate box! She'd let me, but she'd comment on it - "Oh... you're reusing this... okaa-a-aay..." :rolleyes: Then one day I was picking up a flat rate box and there were a couple of different clerks there - I wasn't sure if what I wanted to send would quite fit in the box, and the guys said, "Well, just fill up the box, and then shove it the other way into another flat rate box and tape it all up.. that's fine." LOL One extreme to the other!
I would bet you that there is NOWHERE in the regulations that reads, if it's anything except paper it requires extra postage.
I just keep some .10 or .20 stamps on hand and if I have any doubts, add it and write "hand cancel" on the envelope.
I have successfully mailed lots of cards with just an eyelet or brad, or even something popped on a thick dimensional. Hmm...
Yeah, me too.
But I would never take a card in. If it slips by the postal clerks, my cards usually make it okay through the machines. I send tons of cards (with brads - so there is lumpiness) to my sister's home, and when I visit her, they are all there. Only once did the envelopes have "postage due" stamped on them, and my sister said that time, no one collected on it.
A few years ago, my mother mailed out Christmas cards with buttons on them. I think she said she sent out 30-odd cards. 3 came back to her needing more postage because of the lumps. The rest went thru no problem.
The problem is that the postal regulations are interpreted differently depending on who is at the counter at the time. My SIL sent me something thru the mail. She mailed it from the post office to make sure the postage was correct. I received it with $2 postage due, because my post office decided that it was a package, not the large envelope that her post office called it.
A nice postal worker gave me one of those plastic cards with the slot through which the card should go through. I usually use that to test the card. I mostly concern myself with if there is a bump on the card. If there is I usually add a sheet of cardstock covering the bump. I'm not aware of problems with this. I'm hoping the card recipients aren't getting hit up for postage!?
I buy 66� Stamps and if I have a pearl or something obvious, I put that stamp on the envelope. Ribbons sometimes lay flatter. I always make sure the bumps are at the bottom of the envelope. If I have a doubt, I do the extra postage, but many times I send them and they always reach their destination. You can add a top piece of card stock to cover the bumps as long as it will fit through the slot. Even with pearls, mine fit through the slot, but I won't take a chance if you can feel those pearls.
A nice postal worker gave me one of those plastic cards with the slot through which the card should go through. I usually use that to test the card. I mostly concern myself with if there is a bump on the card. If there is I usually add a sheet of cardstock covering the bump. I'm not aware of problems with this. I'm hoping the card recipients aren't getting hit up for postage!?
Any time there is anything that would make the card not feel "smooth" when anyone runs their fingers across the envelope, I add a piece of cardstock to the "lumpy side", too. Never had a problem - with extra postage OR with it getting to its destination... Some items are definitely going to be a problem, though - like the corduroy brads - makes it too thick, so I avoid those and really fat buttons
My husband is a mail carrier for gosh sakes and he can't even tell me the correct postage so I usually make a trip to the post office. At Christmas I took a sample card and envelope in to the post office to check what the postage would be before I committed to making a bunch of cards that would break me on postage... after I got the postage amount I decide that though the price was a little high it was worth it to me to send out just 12 of these cards to special people. When it was time to mail them I took them to a neighboring post office and they came out $1.10 cheaper per card. Apparently the first post office considered them packages (due to the bulk and size) and quoted me that rate, while the second post office considered them over sized envelopes and charged me the other rate. So go figure.
Anna Lee
Any time there is anything that would make the card not feel "smooth" when anyone runs their fingers across the envelope, I add a piece of cardstock to the "lumpy side", too. Never had a problem - with extra postage OR with it getting to its destination... Some items are definitely going to be a problem, though - like the corduroy brads - makes it too thick, so I avoid those and really fat buttons
I save the bubble wrap from padded envelopes, cut it to size - unless that card is already quite thick. Sometimes I even "pop" the bubble over the brad to sort of even out the thickness. And I use button dies to create fake buttons - much less thickness! (Can you tell I dislike paying that extra postage???)
[QUOTE=stampinwithcarla;20496683She said if there is "anything" on the card other than paper, there is a .20� surcharge. :[/QUOTE]
I had to check what state you were in because my post office said the same thing...pretty much word for word!! I had twine on my Christmas cards...not in a bow, just wrapped around a few times...and I had to put $0.20 on each card. I was glad that I checked because I would have been mortified if my cards arrived postage due!! :eek:
__________________ "For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack" ~Rudyard Kipling my gallery
A nice postal worker gave me one of those plastic cards with the slot through which the card should go through. I usually use that to test the card. I mostly concern myself with if there is a bump on the card. If there is I usually add a sheet of cardstock covering the bump. I'm not aware of problems with this. I'm hoping the card recipients aren't getting hit up for postage!?
I read a long time ago (probably here) that the opening on the clear paper guide on some trimmers (Fiskars was mentioned) can be used for those that don't have the postal guide.
Unfortunately, the rule about uniform thickness is very subjective, and can vary wildly based on the mood of the clerk.
With small buttons, knots, bows or bling, I turn the front bumpy side of the card to the back of the envelope, and insert a cheap 5.25 x 4 piece of cardstock between the card and the envelope to even things out. Try to not have too much bumpiness on the bottom edge of the envelope, since that's where it would rest on a sorting machine track.
Last year I made wedding invitations for my daughter-in-law's cousin. My PO verified that they would be $.86 to mail. Her PO (15 miles away) charged her $2.07 each. She went ahead and paid it before telling me, or I would have taken them all to my PO and saved her a lot of money.
It really stinks that, even if the originating PO thinks an envelope is acceptable, the destination PO can slap a surcharge on if they feel like it. That said, I seldom add extra postage, unless I know it's over weight or won't go through the slot in my Fiskars cutter. None have been returned, and to my knowledge, none have had postage due.
I had to check what state you were in because my post office said the same thing...pretty much word for word!! I had twine on my Christmas cards...not in a bow, just wrapped around a few times...and I had to put $0.20 on each card. I was glad that I checked because I would have been mortified if my cards arrived postage due!! :eek:
Was the twine on the card (interior) or on the envelope (exterior?) Can't believe they'd charge extra for twine wrapped around a card. If that's the case, guess I'll be using more skinny ribbon vs baker's twine.
If I put anything on my cards I turn them inside out and put a sticky on the card to say "protecting the front of the card". never had any of them returned and people on the other end appreciate the beauty of the card. this past xmas, received a 1/2 christmas card, wherein the machine tore it. no way to know who it was from until I asked my mom if she had gotten the same type of card.
You can go to USPS.com for the mailing information. Card cannot be over 1/4 " thick or does not bend easily. I put the lumpy stuff to the backside of envelope and at the bottom, so the stamp cancelling machine can handle it. If you just put on correct postage and drop it in the box outside, they will all get delivered....no one to scowl at you for being artsy!
I do like others have said and place the card backwards in the envie--with the front of the card with the brads or ribbons facing the back. Then I add a piece of cardstock that have been run through my crimper and place that between the back of the envie and the front of the card. The crimped piece seems to "lie" flatter against the "bump" and helps to not have to pay the surcharge. I drop in the blue box or put in my mailbox and hope no one on the other end needs to pay. I did hear once someone did.............
I place a piece of light card stock in front of the card, so nothing sticks up. The few times I have asked the clerk about postage, I was told I had to pay extra. So I will say okay I have stamps at home and then drop in blue box somewhere in town. My cards have all reached destination w/o problems. When I do send a card that has more embellishments, I do add 66 cents postage. Now the postage going up-ugh!
Postage?
