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 Posted - May 12 2007 : 10:08:03 PM
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 [B)]The U.S post office decided it was time for an increase in rates[:(!]. Just a reminder that all first class letter mail goes from 39-41 on monday 5-14-07. I do not know the other rates-some actually decreased and others went up. BEWARE of ebay sellers as many appear to be cashing in on overinflated shipping this week until everyone catches up with new rates. Capitolism at its best again----[B)
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Posted - May 13 2007 : 12:27:16 AM
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| Thanks for the heads-up...I hear that they will be charging extra for odd shaped packages, too.
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Posted - May 22 2007 : 6:24:08 PM
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The rates went up but they are still reasonable. I'm happy I can ship a few box cars 1,000 miles away for under $5, not bad.
What I don't like is the fact that when I sell and use paypal to print the postage at home, I now must enter package dimensions. Very time consuming.
Sellers are definately taking advantage of this and it won't subside for a while I'm afraid.
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obtrey
Little Six
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Posted - May 22 2007 : 8:20:37 PM
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And my wife advised me that a "Flat Rate" box that was $8.20 is now $9.50.
A flat rate is anything you can fit in the box no weight restriction but it must fit in the box, or so the PO says.
Bob
In Malfunction Junction:
When all else fails get a bigger hammer.
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Posted - May 22 2007 : 9:37:51 PM
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You have to be careful with those flat rate boxes! That's gotta be the biggest money grab the PO ever came up with. How often do people send things that are really that heavy? People are just lazy. $9.50 is outrageous for what most people ship.
Case in point: I reuse shipping boxes when possible. So I sold a lot of about a dozen boxcars that by weight and destination, was only going to cost just over $5 to ship Priority. So that's what I charged the buyer. I had about a dozen other lots to pack and I just grabbed whatever box was handy and fit and did them all at once.
Well that $5 lot, I inadvertently packed in a "flat rate box" but didn't realize it till I sealed it up and taped the paypal shipping label and everything. "No problem," sez me, "I'll just cover up ALL the stupid little 'Flat Rate' logos and it should be clear that it's intended as standard Priority Mail."
Well, the postal clerk set that one aside and said "yeah, looks like someone tried to cover it up but this is still actually a flat rate box by its size, so that will cost you another $3 to ship".
WTF?! if it doesn't SAY flat rate, and is metered by weight...???
Wasn't going to fall for that. So I took it back home, opened it up, broke the seam, turned the box inside-out and shipped it out that way. Try THAT one on for "size"! (worked like a charm!)
I note that it's no coincidence either, that the most useful sizes of Priority Mail boxes, are all "flat rate"....
Edited by - GoingInCirclez on May 22 2007 9:41:08 PM
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Posted - May 22 2007 : 10:26:31 PM
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quote:And my wife advised me that a "Flat Rate" box that was $8.20 is now $9.50.
A flat rate is anything you can fit in the box no weight restriction but it must fit in the box, or so the PO says.
Bob
Originally posted by obtrey - May 22 2007 : 8:20:37 PM
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The flat rate box I see listed is $8.95, not sure what it was before, I thought it was $8.50. Either way the increase isn't as bad as it sounds.
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obtrey
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Posted - May 23 2007 : 12:15:20 AM
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yeah I learned that also.
It is cheaper to send priority mail + ins than to send flat rate + ins.
I only forwarded what my wife told me, she sends stuff to my son in Okinawa flat rate more packages now since baby was born.
Their FL boxes are a different size than Priority and I sent the boxes of parts to Hypoponera (2 boxes) 1 FL the other priority as the parts were broken up into 2 different piles. I used the FL on 1 because of the weight and that seemed to work well. So heavy is a good one for FL I think. I know the postal clerk asked me if I wanted to insure the packages and I told him, "What? they're parts, what's gonna happen you gonna make em more parts?"
Bob
In Malfunction Junction:
When all else fails get a bigger hammer.
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