Going To The Post Office

[+UOTrackers]

I am planning to go to the post office Monday and was curious if there is any sort of protocol for sending out a bunch of packages? I'm really uncertain of the shipping costs so I planned to let them weigh and post them and pay at the end. Any tips? Thanks

[+nielsenc]

Sometimes the postal employees forget they are their to serve the customer. I know of some post offices which send people to the back of the line after 10 shipments.

 

IMHO, the best thing to do is pre-weigh them, put stamps on and take them in. Go to your local Staples/Costco and pick up a small postal scale.

 

International will require you to wait in line.

 

Good Luck .

[+Evil Chicken]

One thing my post office appreciates is having the packages divided by how many coins are in it (if you are shipping coins of identical weight). So, I give them a stack of envelopes containing 1 coin each and say, "These packages are identical." They weigh one envelope and mark that envelope on top with the appropriate postage and move the whole stack aside. I then give them the next set of envelopes with 2 coins in it and the process gets repeated. It is much easier for them at the end to use simple multiplication: 10 envelopes at .63, 18 envelopes at .87, 12 envelopes at 1.36, etc. I pay for the postage, they keep the stacks separated and put the postage on when they are not busy.

 

ETA: If you haven't done this already and have international shipments, grab a bunch of customs forms ahead of time (if they don't have them out, ask at counter) and fill in and attach the forms prior to going to the post office with them. If you are using global priority, get those envelopes ahead of time as well.

Edited July 9, 2006 by Evil Chicken

[+UOTrackers]

Oooh some good stuff, thanks. I have a couple packages going to Canada and a couple to the UK. I sent one once to UK (I think) and they didn't have me fill out anything but asked a bunch of questions. Do you know how much makes the change in price? Most packages have a single coin wrapped in bubble wrap, but some also have a sig item in them, the up 2 and 3 also some with sigs. Unfortunately I can't go get a scale just now, we're low on funds and sending the coins is taking the rest of the money for right now. But I do have a kitchen scale...will that work? It measures ounces. Oh well, luckily both my husband and I just got new jobs!

[+GBOTS]

Anything except the overseas shipments can be sent on the automated postal center. I think most post offices have one now and they are available 24/7.... Very easy to use, too

[+Evil Chicken]

Oooh some good stuff, thanks. I have a couple packages going to Canada and a couple to the UK. I sent one once to UK (I think) and they didn't have me fill out anything but asked a bunch of questions. Do you know how much makes the change in price? Most packages have a single coin wrapped in bubble wrap, but some also have a sig item in them, the up 2 and 3 also some with sigs. Unfortunately I can't go get a scale just now, we're low on funds and sending the coins is taking the rest of the money for right now. But I do have a kitchen scale...will that work? It measures ounces. Oh well, luckily both my husband and I just got new jobs!

 

Do yourself and the people you are sending to a favor -- get the customs forms and go ahead and fill em in. I write "Novelty Token" where it asks for what it is (some countries dont allow coins to be sent through the mail and your post office has to refuse it by law) I justify it because they aren't monetary units or function as such. For the declared value I use $1.00 to avoid the potential of the other person having to pay customs duties on it. I also check off "Gift" for the same reason.

 

One coin generally costs .63 (as you probably already know) unless you use alot of packaging. Every additional ounce costs .24 If you have a kitchen scale that weighs in ounces, you should be just fine (just round up if it's a half ounce!)

[+Haughton's Hunters]

I don't think I'd trust a kitchen scale unless you know it's accurate. The last thing you want is to send a coin to someone and have it arrive 'Postage Due'. I know I'd be really annoyed if someone did that to me.

 

As for GBots comment, I agree that most postal centers have the APCs now, you know, the automated postal center where you can do all the work yourself. Obviously the employees would prefer you use that, but I don't know if you can get away with using it for International. Any time I ship International, I stand in line.

 

And if you go at a slow time for them, even better, they don't feel the looks of annoyance of the other customers because they've been helping you for 15 minutes and they are the only teller open.

[+Mauison]

All of the above is very good info such as try using the APC machine. It'll weigh the package for you and print out the postage. The machines around here do not work for international packages so you have to stand in line. And fill out the green customs form 2976 before you get to the counter. I usually grab a handful and fill them out at home before I get to the PO. I also use "Token" and $1.00 on the customs form.

 

Also, if I have to stand in line to mail out intl packages, I never go to the PO on Monday, because the lines are very long, especially during lunch.

 

Good luck!

Edited July 9, 2006 by Mauison

[Parrolet]

Don't mark them $1.00. Do $2.00 or $3.00 each for the international declared value. I just experienced that my packages were being held up in Germany customs because I did declare them for $1.00 and customs was suspicious of the value being declared. It took a month or more for a global priority flat rate package to arrive to it's location.

[+pdxmarathonman]

I have always declared $5 value, and no-one has ever said they had to pay any charges upon recieving the coins (Canada, Germany, Holland, Australia, England and more).

 

You can get a Word template that prints onto Customs Forms. Whether you do that or fill them out by hand you should go grab a stack to have on hand (it's encouraged by the p.o.)

 

1st ounce is $0.39

each additional ounce is $0.24

 

2.1 ounces is the same price as 3.0 ounces (i.e. $0.87)

[+Damenace]

Don't mark them $1.00. Do $2.00 or $3.00 each for the international declared value. I just experienced that my packages were being held up in Germany customs because I did declare them for $1.00 and customs was suspicious of the value being declared. It took a month or more for a global priority flat rate package to arrive to it's location.

 

Well as of yet, I have never had a problem but I very seldom use a customs form . Some would say I am, pressing my luck but I have been pressing my luck for over a year . What I usually do is write token all over the envelope. To eachs own .

 

I agree with using the APC, I used it all the time prior to signing up with Stamps.com. I usually went in the middle of the morning literally. I work graves so when I was switching my sleep around in between shifts I would visit the PO. If my memory serves me right, I was able to ship to Canada using this service but anything other than that you had to go to the counter.

[+Team JSAM]

Go early in the AM you will get the best service.

[+ozymandiasism]

I was told once that you can print out your own postage up to 16oz without having to deal with a live person in the post office (drop them in the box).

 

If you want, do a dry run... mail packages with different quantity of coins.. and write down the actual cost of the shipping at the post office. Next time when you bring in a huge stack of packages... you can sort them as mentioned by a previous poster to make the lives of postal workers easier,

[+pghlooking]

Sometimes the postal employees forget they are their to serve the customer. I know of some post offices which send people to the back of the line after 10 shipments.

And some customers forget that they are not the only ones who need served. Even alot of banks have a 3 transaction limit. This is to make sure ALL the customers have a chance of being served.

 

When we shipped the PA coins we used the automated machine in the lobby so as not to tie up the line with 300 packages getting weighed. The internationals we had to go to the window of course, but they were more than happy to open a line for us once they saw that we were trying to be courteous to the other customers by doing everything we could on our own. We made sure we had all the forms filled for each package to speed things up. Went rather smoothly.

[+The Blind Acorn]

Be careful with oversized envelopes if you use the Automated Machine. I wound up w/ one buyer having to pay extra postage for his coins. All is well though.

 

RE: alot of transactions, even our automated postal machine kicked me out after 10 transactions.

 

Definitely do the customs form and do them early.

 

Do you have a small post office? Perhaps they would let you set up a time to come and do your packages...seems like someone mentioned that on here before.

 

Good Luck, and have fun!!! Repeat trips to the post office are fun. (KIDDING!)

[+UOTrackers]

Thanks again everyone for all your advise. The most mail I have sent before was wedding related, invitations and thank you's and those I seperated by state and they liked it. I'm not sure if our PO has an automated machine, I've never really looked. Forms at the post office always confuse me, but I will go on monday and take a look around to find the ones needed for international shipping. Hopefully this will go over pretty smothly, and lucky for me I don't have too many packages, only about 35 or 40. Thanks aghin this has been very informative!

[+Thorny1]

The automatic postage centers allow you to do international, too. I use them regularly for domestic and international and find them very easy to use and there is never a line to use them. I use the small green custom form on everything I ship international, it saves time in the long run (I had packages returned from Canada and Germany when I was supposedly within the limits - now I take no chances). Don't forget to put the blue Air Mail stickers on both sides when shipping international.

 

I think the largest shipment we did at one time on the APC was 340 packages - it took somewhere around 2 - 2 1/2 hours to process everything, even though the machine does spit you out after 10 transactions and require you to reinsert your credit card. I use the "00" and "000" size padded envelopes usually which allow it to go under "mailing a letter". To send certified mail it has to be done under "mailing a package". The oversized envelopes are considered packages - just make sure you read the size requirements, there is a ruler on the front of the machine to help you with the sizes of the envelopes you are shipping.

 

The first time I used the APC one of the postal workers showed me how, which was very helpful. Now I use them for everything, I can go there 24/7 (being a night owl and on the road a lot makes that real convenient) and never have to wait. The only thing you can't do on them is send to APO/FPO addresses, that has to be done at the counter.

 

Good luck!

 

T1

[+BadAndy]

I live in a very small town. There is almost never a line at the post office window, many times you need to ring the bell for service.

 

My mailman is a geocacher.

 

25% of our local police force are geocachers.

 

Life is good in Rural Idaho.

[Not So Lost Puppies]

If you accepted PayPal payments for them you can ship (domestic) direct from there if you know the package weight.

 

Though you need to make sure your envelope is 3/4" thick at its thickest spot, and it will add .14 for delivery confirmation. (the 3/4" is First class delivery conf requirement)

 

I've even used paypal shipping for trades... reuse a transaction (or send yourself .01) and change the address each time. Not very easy if you have alot of them to do though.

 

You can process them at your leisure. Drop them in a mailbox, at the counter or even have them picked up from your doorstep the next day.

[+Colorado Cacher]

I live in a very small town. There is almost never a line at the post office window, many times you need to ring the bell for service.

 

My mailman is a geocacher.

 

25% of our local police force are geocachers.

 

Life is good in Rural Idaho.

 

 

...Or really, really, really boring. Sounds like Deadville, Colorado. I mean Leadville, Colorado.

[+Colorado Cacher]

Sometimes the postal employees forget they are their to serve the customer. I know of some post offices which send people to the back of the line after 10 shipments.

 

IMHO, the best thing to do is pre-weigh them, put stamps on and take them in. Go to your local Staples/Costco and pick up a small postal scale.

 

International will require you to wait in line.

 

Good Luck .

 

Referance sentence #1: I agree I have seen them actually pull packaging tape, etc. supplies that are out at one post office for the customer to use on the counter, and then leave them alone at another post office on the counter.

 

One time I spent about three days inside a post office rekeying locks and I heard and saw alot from postal employees. It was amazing, and very interesting. Funniest thing I saw was people going to mailboxes (p.o. boxes), or mail stacks and "borrowing" magazines to read on their break time, then returning them to their original place of origin. And the complaining about next day packages sitting in bins for three days or more.

 

People will never cease to amaze (amuse?) me.

Edited July 12, 2006 by Colorado Cacher

[+BadAndy]

I live in a very small town. There is almost never a line at the post office window, many times you need to ring the bell for service.

 

My mailman is a geocacher.

 

25% of our local police force are geocachers.

 

Life is good in Rural Idaho.

 

 

...Or really, really, really boring. Sounds like Deadville, Colorado. I mean Leadville, Colorado.

 

Actually...it's more like fountain colorado when I lived there in the 80's. Close enough to the springs that theres plenty to do, but far enough away to avoid the garbage.

 

OT...I made a trip to the Post Office this morning and the line was longer than I've ever seen it. I was third in line and it took nearly 3 minutes to get to the window.

 

I did learn a few things while standing there. For instance...did you know that Jennies oldest girl just had her baby?

[+ODragon]

If people paid with pay pal, printing shipping labels with them is the best as you get delivery confirm for 14 cents verses 60 cents and you can drop most of the packages in any mail box without dealing with the PO itself.

[glennk721]

Question does anyone know if the paypal postage label can be printed on plain paper then attached with clear tape?? Reason I'm asking the P/O now offers a free CD-rom program (you just ask) ,, of USPS online postage plain paper printing. delivery confermation and at the door pick up etc etc,,Thanks in advance, Glenn

 

My thinking if the P/O program produces a code, clear tape readable, the scanners should be able to scan the paypal postage as well,, any experiance with this ??

[+ODragon]

Question does anyone know if the paypal postage label can be printed on plain paper then attached with clear tape?? Reason I'm asking the P/O now offers a free CD-rom program (you just ask) ,, of USPS online postage plain paper printing. delivery confermation and at the door pick up etc etc,,Thanks in advance, Glenn

 

My thinking if the P/O program produces a code, clear tape readable, the scanners should be able to scan the paypal postage as well,, any experiance with this ??

 

That's how i've been doing mine. Paypal print on regular paper, clear taping it onto the envelope. Remember not to tape the barcode!

[+Colorado Cacher]

I live in a very small town. There is almost never a line at the post office window, many times you need to ring the bell for service.

 

My mailman is a geocacher.

 

25% of our local police force are geocachers.

 

Life is good in Rural Idaho.

 

 

...Or really, really, really boring. Sounds like Deadville, Colorado. I mean Leadville, Colorado.

 

 

Actually...it's more like fountain colorado when I lived there in the 80's. Close enough to the springs that theres plenty to do, but far enough away to avoid the garbage.

 

OT...I made a trip to the Post Office this morning and the line was longer than I've ever seen it. I was third in line and it took nearly 3 minutes to get to the window.

 

I did learn a few things while standing there. For instance...did you know that Jennies oldest girl just had her baby?

 

RFLMAO. Yes, Fountain, Colorado. I believe it now glows in the dark, or something, due to Schlage Lock co.

Edited July 13, 2006 by Colorado Cacher