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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes

I was under the impression that the priority tape was not to be used with the free priority boxes...

I saw a postal worker at my local PO using the tape on a Priority box and i asked her about it...

She said "of course you can use the Priority tape on the Priority boxes!"  Is she correct about this?

 

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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes

The formal name for the "tape" is "Label 106" and yes indeed it exists in order to be used on plain boxes that are being shipped via Priority Mail, so they don't accidentally get handled as parcel post.  However, I've never seen any directive forbidding its use for other Priority-related purposes.

Message 2 of 14
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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes

You used to be able to get free priority tape right along with your free priority boxes~~all you had to do was order it.  Then they quit supplying it to the public~period.  USPS supplies it to the post offices for use but not to anyone else.  So yes~~the clerk had every right to use the priority tape but you don't. I have seen people come to the post office with their stuff, grab a box and pack their stuff up.  They always ask the clerk for tape and he gives them the priority tape to use.  Last year I found 4 rolls of priority tape at the thrift shop for 50 cents a roll.  The clerk at my post office asked me where I got it.  I guess tape isn't suppose to be sold even at a thrift shop where it was donated to~~USPS only wants the tape to be used at the post offices and it is no way suppose to be sold.

 

 

Message 3 of 14
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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes


@kattinsanity wrote:

The clerk at my post office asked me where I got it.

 


I called the USPS at their 800 number specifically inquiring about their tape ... and they sent me 4 rolls. I explained that I wanted it to use on my brown parcels and he further commented that yes ... using it on marked Priority Mail boxes was an "improper use" ... his words.

I'm ̶p̶r̶e̶t̶t̶y̶ ̶s̶u̶r̶e̶ certain the lunatics have taken over the asylum.
Message 4 of 14
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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes

I've never seen any rules for using the priority tape/labels other than they must be used on packages with paid priority postage.

Message 5 of 14
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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes

Maybe the guy you talked to should go to work for ebay cs?

Message 6 of 14
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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes

My post office gives me as many rolls as I want.

This is a posting/buying ID

My seller ID has over 50,000 feedbacks

Message 7 of 14
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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes

Yes you can, but priority tape is not packing tape.

It is just to mark a package as priority.

It is real thin, for packing you need quality tape.

Message 8 of 14
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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes

@roslynroadshow91  I order free rolls of their Priority stickers online but only use clear tape for packaging.

Best regards,
Mr. Lincoln - eBay Community Mentor
Message 9 of 14
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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes


@sockmonkeydave wrote:

Yes you can, but priority tape is not packing tape.

It is just to mark a package as priority.

It is real thin, for packing you need quality tape.


 

I don't know, Dave.  Don't think it is any thinner than the eBay branded tape.  I have a roll of each right now side by side. If I close my eyes, I can't tell the difference. 

“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent” ― Madeleine K. Albright

Great! 45.8% down over the same time last year with 2x+ items listed. Are you impressed? I'm certainly not!
Message 10 of 14
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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes

Back when the priority tape was free I used it for everything related to priority mailing.  It held the boxes safely sealed back then and it's the same tape they use today. 

 

I get the priority strips and the priority rolls of stickers free from USPS~~those are the ones I use to mark plain packages as priority.  I think if the tape is only meant to mark the package as priority they  would still be supplying it free of charge and doing away with the strips and rolls of stickers.

Message 11 of 14
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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes


@aproudparent2010 wrote:

My post office gives me as many rolls as I want.


Your post office is clueless about the proper use/distribution of postal supplies.

 

All offices were directed to stop supplying customers with the tape years ago.

 

Also as others pointed out, the tape is for marking the box, not sealing it as a packaging tape.

 

Misuse runs rampant.  At one office a Post Master used the older red, white, and blue Priority tape to repair slatted window blinds.  Misuse, and looked rather stupid where a piece of clear tape would have gone virtually unseen.

Message 12 of 14
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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes


@kattinsanity wrote:

 

 

  I think if the tape is only meant to mark the package as priority they  would still be supplying it free of charge and doing away with the strips and rolls of stickers.


What things are "meant for", and what they are used for are two entirely different thingsopen_mouth

 

 

 

Message 13 of 14
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Using Priority Tape on Priority Boxes

I've been using it to tape packages for probably 13+ years. Sometimes my PO even asks me when I go in if I need any more rolls of it.

This is a posting/buying ID

My seller ID has over 50,000 feedbacks

Message 14 of 14
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