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Author Topic:   On the Topic of Mailing Cards (USA)
Dusty129
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 posted September 19, 2013 05:35 PM   Click Here to See the Profile for Dusty129 Click Here to Email Dusty129 Send a private message to Dusty129 Click to send Dusty129 an Instant MessageVisit Dusty129's Homepage  Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote View Dusty129's Have/Want ListView Dusty129's Have/Want List
Hey, I just sent off my first cards in the mail in over 10 years. One envelope had 3 cards in 2 top loaders; the second envelope had 2 cards in 1 top loader.

I sent them through the post office, and talked to the worker there. For each envelope, he charged 20 cents extra because it wasn't "machineable" since the envelopes wouldn't bend. Without paying the 20 cents, each envelope would be sent through the sorting machines and "be destroyed since they wouldn't bend with the machine.

Have any of you guys run into anything like this? I know that using top loaders is ideal to protect cards in transit, but I don't remember there being a chance of destruction if the envelope goes through their machines. I plan on dropping future envelopes in my mailbox, and want to know if the standard postage stamp will cover the cost of shipment.

 
jbark
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 posted September 19, 2013 05:39 PM   Click Here to See the Profile for jbark Click Here to Email jbark Send a private message to jbark Click to send jbark an Instant Message Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote View jbark's Have/Want ListView jbark's Have/Want List
I always pay the extra 20 cents. Its worth them being hand sorted. Less chance of being lost and less chance of destruction. And yes the machine can rip the cards out of the envelope. I have received some this way.
 
Dusty129
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 posted September 19, 2013 05:44 PM   Click Here to See the Profile for Dusty129 Click Here to Email Dusty129 Send a private message to Dusty129 Click to send Dusty129 an Instant MessageVisit Dusty129's Homepage  Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote View Dusty129's Have/Want ListView Dusty129's Have/Want List
Ok, so. Without requiring a visit to the post office each time I send cards through the mail, should they know not to machine-sort if I slap an extra stamp on each envelope?
 
chaos021
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 posted September 19, 2013 05:51 PM   Click Here to See the Profile for chaos021 Click Here to Email chaos021 Send a private message to chaos021 Click to send chaos021 an Instant Message Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote View chaos021's Have/Want ListView chaos021's Have/Want List
No. They usually have a stamp specifically for that. If you overpay for postage, you just overpay for postage. Now if you write "Do Not Bend" on it with extra postage, I'm not sure what they would do with that. I'd ask someone at your post office.
 
Vegas10
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 posted September 19, 2013 07:53 PM   Click Here to See the Profile for Vegas10 Click Here to Email Vegas10 Send a private message to Vegas10 Click to send Vegas10 an Instant Message Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote View Vegas10's Have/Want ListView Vegas10's Have/Want List
If you pay the extra postage and write "do not bend" on it, it is not suppose to go through the machines, I do this all the time and have yet to have an issue but just like anything could one fall through the cracks from time to time and get in the machines, yes it does happen, but that can happen if you bring it in and it accidently gets put in the wrong spot as well. I am a USPS mail carrier by the way and I'd say almost every letter I get that says don't bend on it I get by hand and not by machine, but have I seen some get machined yes, but that doesn't mean it gets damaged either, the machines very very rarely damage envelopes much less what is inside of them.
 
Atahualpa
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 posted September 19, 2013 09:24 PM   Click Here to See the Profile for Atahualpa Click Here to Email Atahualpa Send a private message to Atahualpa Click to send Atahualpa an Instant Message Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote View Atahualpa's Have/Want ListView Atahualpa's Have/Want List
Also, try putting a cover letter in the envelope and taping the toploader lightly to the centre of the cover letter. That will stop the toploader from falling side-to-side in the envelope and keep the sides of the envelope flexible. I do not know about USPS sorting machines, but I have been told by postal worker friends of mine in Canada that their machines handle the envelopes by the middle portion and only the sides need to be flexible.
 
mm1983
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 posted September 20, 2013 12:56 PM   Click Here to See the Profile for mm1983 Click Here to Email mm1983 Send a private message to mm1983 Click to send mm1983 an Instant Message Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote View mm1983's Have/Want ListView mm1983's Have/Want List
quote:
Originally posted by Dusty129:

Hey, I just sent off my first cards in the mail in over 10 years. One envelope had 3 cards in 2 top loaders; the second envelope had 2 cards in 1 top loader.
I sent them through the post office, and talked to the worker there. For each envelope, he charged 20 cents extra because it wasn't "machineable" since the envelopes wouldn't bend. Without paying the 20 cents, each envelope would be sent through the sorting machines and "be destroyed since they wouldn't bend with the machine.

Have any of you guys run into anything like this? I know that using top loaders is ideal to protect cards in transit, but I don't remember there being a chance of destruction if the envelope goes through their machines. I plan on dropping future envelopes in my mailbox, and want to know if the standard postage stamp will cover the cost of shipment.

Yes, it passes for weight but the toploader is what the post office calls to be "too rigid" for the sorting machines. I've been told it causes the sorting machines to jam up if you send cards this way in an envelope in a toploader and only pay the .46 instead of .66. In my ebay dealings I used to send all of my purchases that required just an envelope and a top loader with a .46 stamp but then one day I got a whole stack of them sent back to me due to not enough postage so since then I've been shipping everything out within the US with a .66 stamp

 
Sovarius
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 posted September 20, 2013 02:05 PM   Click Here to See the Profile for Sovarius Click Here to Email Sovarius Send a private message to Sovarius Click to send Sovarius an Instant Message Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote View Sovarius's Trade Auction or SaleView Sovarius's Trade Auction or Sale
I never send non-machineable. I put the toploader in an envelope then into another envelope. Pretty tough to get corners caught that way.
I used to send bubble mailers as letter mail, too. I don't get lucky like that anymore though

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