Poly mailer via USPS First Class

[puravidadecor]

I am shipping a scarf and selected USPS first class and bought poly mailers to use for light garments. I am trying to purchase label and only had option of USPS Ground Advantage which is considerably more. Help please! 

[wastingtime101]

First Class Mail is for letters/flats and it's an untracked service. Items shipped using those services need to meet very specific physical qualifications. eBay does not sell labels for untracked services, though they do allow sellers to offer them since they work for many sellers' products. Those sellers ship without tracking and forfeit their seller protections on non-receipt claims.

For a tracked package service that ships in a polymailer, the least expensive option at that weight is Ground Advantage. Clothing items should be listed with Ground Advantage which is a package service, not with First Class Mail.

I suggest adjusting any active listings offering First Class and changing them to an appropriate package service like Ground Advantage.

Take this as a very inexpensive lesson and ship the scarf Ground Advantage.

You charged $4.01 shipping which is the rate for a 10 oz First Class Mail "flat." The range for a 10 oz Ground Adv package label purchased through eBay is $5.00 - $5.80 depending on buyer's location.

[kalyoth]

As of July 2023, First Class Parcels are now called Ground Advantage for postage. First class mail is now only letters / flats of similar design. There are no other lower cost options from USPS.

[nobody*s_perfect]

As noted in the other post, eBay does not sell postage labels for First Class letters and flats.  If your piece qualifies to be mailed as a flat, you have to take it to the Post Office, or just put stamps on it.

USPS flats (AKA Large envelope) must be flexible, even thickness (which USPS defines as a variation in thickness not over 1/4 inch), and "Not more than 15 inches long, or more than 12 inches high, or more than 3/4 inch thick."

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/101.htm#ep1002686

[1786davycrockett]

@puravidadecor 

Poly mailers are too thick to be shipped as USPS Flats, and must be shipped as USPS Ground Advantage for clothing items.

[wastingtime101]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

As noted in the other post, eBay does not sell postage labels for First Class letters and flats.  If your piece qualifies to be mailed as a flat, you have to take it to the Post Office, or just put stamps on it.

USPS flats (AKA Large envelope) must be flexible, even thickness (which USPS defines as a variation in thickness not over 1/4 inch), and "Not more than 15 inches long, or more than 12 inches high, or more than 3/4 inch thick."

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/101.htm#ep1002686

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But also:

"Mailers must secure nonpaper contents to prevent shifting of more than 2 inches within the mailpiece if shifting would cause the piece to be nonuniform in thickness or would result in the contents bursting out of the mailpiece of"

A scarf is likely to shift, especially inside a slippery polymailer, and because it must remain flexible you cannot use cardboard to secure the contents.

[nobody*s_perfect]

True. Securing a garment around a piece of card stock-weight paper would hold it in position while maintaining sufficient flexibility to meet USPS requirements.

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/201.htm#ep1096318

[fm2000]

What kind of scarf is it? If you are selling a thin item like a silk scarf, then you might be able to use first class letter or first class large envelope. If it is a knitted scarf, will have to send it GA because it is bulky. I have shipped thin clothing items like silk scarves and vintage stockings (pantyhose are too lumpy) via first class large envelopes wrapped around a board, it works fine and meets USPS requirements.

Someone who would be interested in an (inexpensive) silk scarf is unlikely to try and scam you by claiming it didn't arrive, so despite being untracked I would take the minor risk sending it this way.

The polymailer might be a problem when sending first class letter/large envelope. USPS does not like letter envelopes made of plastic (lots of warnings about it on the ESE page). Use a paper envelope, you can wrap the item inside in plastic if needed.