Oh No.......POSTAGE DUE!

I like PWE trades as much as the next guy and I think its kind of an art for me at this point because I do a lot of them and I think they work unless traders aren't telling me otherwise. Anyway, real simple rule to know about the 1oz letter vs. the 2oz letter. The 1 oz letter requires a forever stamp (which is now 49 cents), if you happen to get bumped to the 2 oz category which is easy to do protecting your toploader (not a GU toploader) with cardboard, newspaper, etc. just slap an extra 20 cents (or maybe its 21 cents) stamp on there for the 2nd oz, still way cheaper than a bubble mailer and you don't end up stiffing your trading partner with a cheap but annoying "postage due" stamp on your envelope.




Also, another tip...we all know top loaders don't fit the length of an envelope. If you want to decrease your chance of damage and getting hung up in the auto-sort machines they have, fill your entire length of the envelope to make it rigid and you wont get one end of the envelope dog-earing as it goes through the machine.

By the way, I used my new Beach"al"bum here on the Bench for my pic. I didn't know about albums until the other day when Peter put his shout-out about this feature, easy and cool, thanks for the tips!!!

I do PWEs sometimes but not too often. I don't have stamps on hand so I stop @ the PO & pay .80 cents for non-machinable. Still as cheap even though my personal preference is bubble mailers with DC. Always good to cover my fanny!

Thanks for the tip on pwe! Normally do bubble envelopes but with the fifth jump in 7 years. The cost of trading is killing the trading business...so if its one or three cards...I'm doing the pwe route to save mailing costs. Still doing bubble envelopes on larger trades or on trades were the card is worth more than the base cards. Best regards, David PS I normally .70 cent....one forever stamp and one 21 cent stamp.

Each additional ounce is now $0.21

The P.O does sell .21 stamps, cheaper than putting 2 forever stamps

.70 compared to .98 that's .28 savings per mailing.

Champs96ws said:

Each additional ounce is now $0.21

The P.O does sell .21 stamps, cheaper than putting 2 forever stamps

.70 compared to .98 that's .28 savings per mailing.

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Thanks for confirming...I was thinking that since I owed 21 cents instead of the usual 20 cents this time..I need to pick up more of these anyway, only have 3 20 cent stamps left.

Here is what I use. I think I have sent you a few like this Beachbum.

1) Buy business sized PWE's (the long ones)
2) If you drink Pepsi products, buy the 24 packs. In between the layers of cans, there is a nice piece of white cardboard. If you tear the perforations off the ends and cut it in half lengthwise, it fits the business envelope perfectly.
3) Use semi-rigid toploaders when possible, scotch taped to the cardboard.
4) After sealing the envelope, tape over the V.
5) ALWAYS pay the extra (I think it's 35 cents now) for "NON-MACHINABLE" and write "NON-MACHINABLE" on the envelope.

Ever since I started doing that, never had a complaint. Can usually fit 18 cards (3 to a semi-rigid, 6 semi-rigids) in an envelope, though I rarely do more than two or three semi-rigids with no more than two cards.

NOTE: If you are REALLY wary of the machines, you can add the thicker, heavier, clear packing tape around the borders, but it adds weight, meaning the difference between 1 and 2 oz.

Joebing said:

Here is what I use. I think I have sent you a few like this Beachbum.

1) Buy business sized PWE's (the long ones)
2) If you drink Pepsi products, buy the 24 packs. In between the layers of cans, there is a nice piece of white cardboard. If you tear the perforations off the ends and cut it in half lengthwise, it fits the business envelope perfectly.
3) Use semi-rigid toploaders when possible, scotch taped to the cardboard.
4) After sealing the envelope, tape over the V.
5) ALWAYS pay the extra (I think it's 35 cents now) for "NON-MACHINABLE" and write "NON-MACHINABLE" on the envelope.

Ever since I started doing that, never had a complaint. Can usually fit 18 cards (3 to a semi-rigid, 6 semi-rigids) in an envelope, though I rarely do more than two or three semi-rigids with no more than two cards.

NOTE: If you are REALLY wary of the machines, you can add the thicker, heavier, clear packing tape around the borders, but it adds weight, meaning the difference between 1 and 2 oz.

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I always wonder even though i write on some PWE's i mail out NO MACHINE and pay the extra $0.21 that it still is sent through the sorting machine

dragonslayer913 said:

I always wonder even though i write on some PWE's i mail out NO MACHINE and pay the extra $0.21 that it still is sent through the sorting machine

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Its a good question but I see so few people doing 2oz letters that I can't say that I remember the last time I saw one to even check if it was sorted through a machine.

Joebing said:

Here is what I use. I think I have sent you a few like this Beachbum.

1) Buy business sized PWE's (the long ones)
2) If you drink Pepsi products, buy the 24 packs. In between the layers of cans, there is a nice piece of white cardboard. If you tear the perforations off the ends and cut it in half lengthwise, it fits the business envelope perfectly.
3) Use semi-rigid toploaders when possible, scotch taped to the cardboard.
4) After sealing the envelope, tape over the V.
5) ALWAYS pay the extra (I think it's 35 cents now) for "NON-MACHINABLE" and write "NON-MACHINABLE" on the envelope.

Ever since I started doing that, never had a complaint. Can usually fit 18 cards (3 to a semi-rigid, 6 semi-rigids) in an envelope, though I rarely do more than two or three semi-rigids with no more than two cards.

NOTE: If you are REALLY wary of the machines, you can add the thicker, heavier, clear packing tape around the borders, but it adds weight, meaning the difference between 1 and 2 oz.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips...I normally only use scott tape around the ends to prevent the ends from break open....still save 70 cent to 92 cent....as brought the forever stamps when they were only 46 cent......still saving $1.40 from the bubble envelopes and I can live with that! Best regards, David

This is exactly what I do. You must pay the $0.21 surcharge for NON-MACHINABLE. My mailings cost me $0.70 and I go in and hand them to the clerk, because if you just drop them in the box, they don't get sorted out as non-machinable. This is what I was told. I was also told I was pretty much wasting my $0.21 when I add it to TTM return envelopes, because of this very reason. If they don't hand them to the clerks, they will be run through the machines. And I have seen that on 99% of my return envelopes that I get back.

Joebing said:

Here is what I use. I think I have sent you a few like this Beachbum.

1) Buy business sized PWE's (the long ones)
2) If you drink Pepsi products, buy the 24 packs. In between the layers of cans, there is a nice piece of white cardboard. If you tear the perforations off the ends and cut it in half lengthwise, it fits the business envelope perfectly.
3) Use semi-rigid toploaders when possible, scotch taped to the cardboard.
4) After sealing the envelope, tape over the V.
5) ALWAYS pay the extra (I think it's 35 cents now) for "NON-MACHINABLE" and write "NON-MACHINABLE" on the envelope.

Ever since I started doing that, never had a complaint. Can usually fit 18 cards (3 to a semi-rigid, 6 semi-rigids) in an envelope, though I rarely do more than two or three semi-rigids with no more than two cards.

NOTE: If you are REALLY wary of the machines, you can add the thicker, heavier, clear packing tape around the borders, but it adds weight, meaning the difference between 1 and 2 oz.

Click to expand...

tglg said:

This is exactly what I do. You must pay the $0.21 surcharge for NON-MACHINABLE. My mailings cost me $0.70 and I go in and hand them to the clerk, because if you just drop them in the box, they don't get sorted out as non-machinable. This is what I was told. I was also told I was pretty much wasting my $0.21 when I add it to TTM return envelopes, because of this very reason. If they don't hand them to the clerks, they will be run through the machines. And I have seen that on 99% of my return envelopes that I get back.

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When you were dropping them in the box in the past did you write "non-machinable" on it? I've seen people write that on the envelope and not pay the extra and I know for sure that doesn't work but I wonder if you did both if that would work??

tglg said:

This is exactly what I do. You must pay the $0.21 surcharge for NON-MACHINABLE. My mailings cost me $0.70 and I go in and hand them to the clerk, because if you just drop them in the box, they don't get sorted out as non-machinable. This is what I was told. I was also told I was pretty much wasting my $0.21 when I add it to TTM return envelopes, because of this very reason. If they don't hand them to the clerks, they will be run through the machines. And I have seen that on 99% of my return envelopes that I get back.

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I hear you...but theres a clerk at my post office.....that claims she should be charging the parcel rate ($2.32) for the pwe with the words do not bend on it.....she finally agreed to only charge me 70 cent and added..don't be surprised it comes back to!! The pwe got there and there were no problems. Best regards, David

I write Please: Do Not Bend and Non-Machinable on both the front and the back of all envelopes in a sharpie to make it stand out for the regular pen I use to address the envelopes.

Also David, you can tell the clerk that there is a large card about the size of a sheet of paper there that each clerk's station has, and if it slides in the slot that is 1/4 thick, it is a letter. Never had a problem. And I put my cards in either a top loader or a semi-rigid depending on the amount of cards, tape to a piece of cardboard cut to fit (any part of a cardboard box, cereal, hamburger helper, soda 12 packs), and place in the envelope and tape shut. Then label both the front and back with what was said above, and I use sharpie to write that so it stands out from the ink used for addressing. Never a problem mailing like this. Only on return envelopes, as they don't get handed directly to the clerks.

Beachbum said:

When you were dropping them in the box in the past did you write "non-machinable" on it? I've seen people write that on the envelope and not pay the extra and I know for sure that doesn't work but I wonder if you did both if that would work??

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tglg said:

Also David, you can tell the clerk that there is a large card about the size of a sheet of paper there that each clerk's station has, and if it slides in the slot that is 1/4 thick, it is a letter. Never had a problem. And I put my cards in either a top loader or a semi-rigid depending on the amount of cards, tape to a piece of cardboard cut to fit (any part of a cardboard box, cereal, hamburger helper, soda 12 packs), and place in the envelope and tape shut.

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Very good point, the take away is spread the thickness out over the length of the envelope...you can do 3x3 (9 cards) very easily but it would never work stacking them up all 9 in a row.

I was so interested in getting better at PWE that I went out and bought a digital PO scale (up to 5 pounds). This cost me under $20 but I think it is worth it in time saved going to the PO and standing in lines. Paypal shipping is a huge help too!!!!!!!!!!!

Some PWE veteran tips:

- I always harp on this, but it bears repeating: NEVER send a game-used card or any other cards thicker than normal in a PWE, even if it's non-machinable. More often than not it will get creased. Either they will send it through the machine anyway, or it'll get squished in a mailbag or something. I can't tell you how many thick cards I have in my collection that have creases ranging from small to gigantic because of this...mostly from ebay, not this site.

- On the flipside, I can't recall ever getting a normal thickness card that was creased from going through the sorting machine. Just please put it in a toploader or cardsaver and make sure there's no way it can slide out. I've received plenty of cards that were damaged when they slid out of the holder and got dented or stuck to toploader tape.

- In my experience most of the time when sending a single card in a toploader/cardsaver in a PWE, anything above a forever stamp isn't needed. However, you will still once in a while get a really strict PO employee who considers it rigid and will slap it with postage due. You never know, I mean I sent out wedding invitations recently and as a frequent trader I knew to look up exactly how much it would cost (2 ounces, rigid non-machinable)...and everybody got theirs fine, except for one person where they said there was postage due. She she lived literally a mile away from somebody else who received theirs with no postage due.

- If sending more than one card, please just pay the extra 21 cents and send it non-machinable. I've seen them go through with a forever stamp pretty often, but you can't discount how annoying it is when one DOESN'T go through and I have to spend part of my Saturday driving down to the post office and standing in line. I can fit about 5 or 6 cards in a thick toploader and still send it at the one ounce non-machinable rate.

Richard

I just wanted to repost the pic!

Beachbum said:

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tglg said:

I write Please: Do Not Bend and Non-Machinable on both the front and the back of all envelopes in a sharpie to make it stand out for the regular pen I use to address the envelopes.

Also David, you can tell the clerk that there is a large card about the size of a sheet of paper there that each clerk's station has, and if it slides in the slot that is 1/4 thick, it is a letter. Never had a problem. And I put my cards in either a top loader or a semi-rigid depending on the amount of cards, tape to a piece of cardboard cut to fit (any part of a cardboard box, cereal, hamburger helper, soda 12 packs), and place in the envelope and tape shut. Then label both the front and back with what was said above, and I use sharpie to write that so it stands out from the ink used for addressing. Never a problem mailing like this. Only on return envelopes, as they don't get handed directly to the clerks.

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Shes one of those clerks that think they know it all and your just trying to get around the cost. But she fails to realize that she should be helping her customers by saving them money so ....they continue to use them!! Best regards, David

Beachbum said:

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I've always wondered what would happen if you didn't pay these little suckers?? Does USPS stop your mail eventually over 21 cents??