Putting a USPS Small Flat Rate Box inside a Flat Rate Envelope: ethical or not?

[anneecakes]

I just went to ship something in a flat rate padded Priority envelope and discovered I was out. Decided to try to make a cardboard flat rate envelope work. I set out to find something to add protection before loading the item in the regular flat rate and decided I needed a little box of some sort. I found the perfect one, but (here's the dilemma) it was a small flat rate USPS Priority box.  Shipping the box on its own would cost me about $7.50 to mail... but if I put the small flat rate box inside the flat rate envelope, that would cost me roughly $6.95 to mail.  Moments ago I found an old gift card box that will work just fine (so I will go with that and snap out of this quandary), but WWYD?  (If it makes any difference, the USPS small flat rate box I was about to employ was a USED box.)

[lja440]

It does not matter if a priority box is used or not, as the Post Office doesn't care about that.

But to answer the question, it's a loophole that USPS allows. You can put a SFRB inside a FRE. You can not put a SFRB inside a generic envelope and ship using another class of mail unless it is shipping Express.

[orangehound]

It is a loophole.  Obviously, it is not the intent of the USPS for you to put a SFRB inside a FRE, but

1. It does work and it is a cheaper method of sending a SFRB
2. I haven't seen a notice from the USPS that prohibits you from using multiple Priority Mail supplies on a single Priority Mail shipment, so long as you don't expand the size of a Flat Rate product.

Doing things like using PFRE's for packing fill inside a Priority Mail shipment, or the technique you mention, do not seem like they violate the limitations that the USPS puts out ... but because the USPS owns those supplies and it is a clear violation of their intent,  it could be viewed as an ethical violation.

That said, I have no problem with using multiple Priority Mail boxes (non flat rate) to construct larger boxes ... e.g., using two tube boxes to make a longer tube.

[fab_finds4u]

Go to the PO.  Approach a clerk with the empty FR Envelope in one hand and the sealed  FR Box in the other and ask if it's OK to mail the FR Box in the FR Envelope because it ships cheaper.

[itsjustasprain]

In cases where I want to add some extra protection to something thats going in a padded envelope - I cut a strip of scrap cardboard and form it into a ring large enough to encircle the item. I then staple the ends together to surround the item and it goes into the padded mailer that way. Works like a box to prevent crushing but weighs less.

[anneecakes]

Thanks, everyone. As I mentioned, I pushed through and found another used box that would work inside the regular Priority FRE for what I was trying to accomplish.  I've now come to understand I wasn't the first to stumble upon this loophole. 😉  (I wasn't comfortable doing it --thus my continued search for a different box to use on the interior -- it just caught me off guard that it was even a "thing!")

[oaklandmaryland]

Different PO clerks seem to have their own rules which are not always correct. For instance my daughter's PO says flat rate envelopes have to be absolutely flat.
FYI I have done this lots for years and never get in trouble. Sometimes you can see a negative comment on the community because the writer feels it is unethical to do so.

[orangehound]

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@oaklandmaryland wrote:
Different PO clerks seem to have their own rules which are not always correct. For instance my daughter's PO says flat rate envelopes have to be absolutely flat.

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There is still one of these clerks out there?  That battle has been fought and won more than 5 years ago ...

[a_c_green]

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@oaklandmaryland wrote:
Different PO clerks seem to have their own rules which are not always correct. For instance my daughter's PO says flat rate envelopes have to be absolutely flat.

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Sooner or later, someone is going to have to get that clerk's head on straight. Endlessly repeating something does not make it so.