Any time you have to deal with USPS in person....

[holsteinatlanta]

I've been selling these CDs loose for a while now.  I found out if I mail just the disk in a cardboard mailer without tracking it will be about 80 cents then I have to pay extra for non-machineable which bring the total to $1.27 if I mail it in person or $1.24 if I print the labels on Shipstation.  There is no tracking and I have to just refund if the buyer claims INR.  (This is a question for another day) So far I had to refund twice.  

One of my local post offices the clerk won't take them and said 'pay first class package or else'  Yesterday she said pay first class or go to another post office and not mine.  So a complaint and 45 minutes on hold and finally reaching someone at 800-ask-usps  I was informed I was right and the clerk was wrong.  Today same problem different post office.  She went as far to pull out this cardboard template thing and said 'for you to mail first class not not first class parcel it has to go though this hole without issues or get stuck'.  She did it 3-4 times it went through  the hole easy with no issues and again she said it will be a parcel.  I said I do not understand it went though your template and still you want to charge me extra?  She finally said something like 'I don't really care' and agreed to send it first class mail.  The total came to $1.27 and she printed a $1.27 barcode stamp from the machine.  So to be proactive it said I wanted to buy 10x stamps of $1.27 today the clerk said we do not have that denomination. I said give me loose stamps so I can mail 10 envelopes of $1.27 each. She had no idea how to do the math. I was there forever. The stamp denominations and number of stamps was all messed up and when I was ready to pay she said the total was $23.45. I said the cost should be no more than $12.70.

**Oh the reason I'm now buying postage in person as opposed to Shipstation is I signed up for LetterTrack.  It give me some peace of mind that the items are in the buyers vicinity and they will have a harder time with INR.  I signed up for 50 barcodes and will see how that works for me.

[buyselljack2016]

2 forever stamps, and a 1 cent stamp. ...............................................    (and these people get to take a paycheck home every 2 weeks) 😂

[holsteinatlanta]

Hmmm. I didn't know a first class cost 63 cents.  That would have been so much easier!  I got 10 stamps that are worth $1.03 each and a bunch of 10 cent and  4 cent stamps!  What a mess

[richard1rst]

In my post office there is a kiosk in the lobby that lets you buy stamps. You enter WHATEVER amount you want and get a barcode type valid postage stamp. No need to mess around with multiple stamps.

[92958steph]

Stories like this make me happy to live outside a small town and go to a one window post office.  With the same guy behind the counter every day. 

Life is good. 

[mike_jayroe]

That postal clerk has all the right qualifications for the job. Just like the post master general. "NO BRAINS AT ALL".

[1786davycrockett]

The cardboard mailers which you are using probably are not flexible enough to pass rapidly through the high-speed roller systems used by USPS.  Some of these roller systems require that the envelope bend nearly in half -- if the envelope is too stiff, it clogs up the machinery, and will become re-classified as a USPS First Class Package.

Better be prepared for some "insufficient postage" complaints from your buyers.

[holsteinatlanta]

that’s what the $.40 extra for Not machinable is for

[deserdog · Accepted solution]

If you are having a problem with a clerk that is giving you incorrect information, look it up in the DMM.  The DMM spells out exactly what a non-machinable letter is. Print that portion out and have it with you. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@1786davycrockett wrote:

The cardboard mailers which you are using probably are not flexible enough ... if the envelope is too stiff, it clogs up the machinery, and will become re-classified as a USPS First Class Package....

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You are making the same error as the clerk.  If the piece can go through the 1/4-inch test slot, and if it's within the other dimensional limits for a letter ("Not more than 11-1/2 inches long, or more than 6-1/8 inches high, or more than 1/4-inch thick.") then it can be mailed as a letter no matter how rigid it is, they just have to pay the "nonmachinable surcharge."  You might be thinking of the third type of First Class Mail, flats (AKA Large envelope) which must be flexible.

[holsteinatlanta]

 

I bought this gauge for $1.49. Correct me if I’m wrong but it looks like it says that it is 2 mm thick. I’ll have to go to the DMM and figure out how thick it could be. Does this look like 2 mm? Am I reading it correctly?

[1786davycrockett]

@nobody*s_perfect 

"You are making the same error as the clerk. "

You seem to be comparing apples to oranges -- just because your package can fit easily between the 1/4 inch test slot is no indication that it is flexible enough to rapidly and smoothly stream through the USPS roller systems.

I could easily fit a 1/4 inch piece of sheet metal through the 1/4 inch test slot; but obviously it would not be flexible enough to be shipped as a first class letter.

The USPS issue is flexibility -- not width.

That extra 40 cents "non-machinable charge" is generally applied to thicker greeting cards, rather than USPS First Class Packages. 

And I'm quite aware of the difference between USPS First Class Flat Envelopes, as opposed to USPS First Class Packages.  I've been shipping mail order since 1965 -- so "not my first rodeo," as the saying goes.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@1786davycrockett wrote:

@nobody*s_perfect 

"You are making the same error as the clerk. "

You seem to be comparing apples to oranges -- just because your package can fit easily between the 1/4 inch test slot is no indication that it is flexible enough to rapidly and smoothly stream through the USPS roller systems.

I could easily fit a 1/4 inch piece of sheet metal through the 1/4 inch test slot; but obviously it would not be flexible enough to be shipped as a first class letter.

The USPS issue is flexibility -- not width.

That extra 40 cents "non-machinable charge" is generally applied to thicker greeting cards, rather than USPS First Class Packages. ...

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 You can mail your piece of sheet metal as a nonmachinable First Class letter.  If the piece meets the dimensional criteria for a letter, but it is not flexible enough for the machinery, that's where the "Nonmachinable surcharge" comes in.    

[1786davycrockett]

@nobody*s_perfect

 " You can mail your piece of sheet metal as a nonmachinable First Class letter.  If the piece meets the dimensional criteria for a letter, but it is not flexible enough for the machinery, that's where the "Nonmachinable surcharge" comes in. "   

USPS will definitely disagree -- as do I.

[1786davycrockett]

• @nobody*s_perfect

This is from the USPS First Class Mail Fact Sheet:

• The nonmachinable surcharge applies only to First-Class Mail letters. It does not apply to postcards eli­gible for the card rate, large envelopes, or packages.
•  

The OP has clearly stated that the mailing container being used is a "cardboard mailer," and NOT a simple paper envelope -- thus the difference in USPS interpretations.