Mailing a package isn’t like it was in the good old days
By: John Bispala 12/01/2007
How much postage should I put on this letter/package? It used to be real simple. You could just weigh the envelop or package, and if it was within a broad set of dimensions, and 12-ounces or less, you affix enough stamps to cover the first ounce plus the second ounce postage rate per ounce over the first ounce. Then drop it into any blue U.S. Postal Service box for stamped mail, and off it went first-class, at the next mail pickup.
Not so easy anymore, though! A couple of times lately I’ve wanted to mail one music CD in a jewell case and cardboard mailer. Because it was under 5-ounces, I attached $1.81 postage. I reasoned that was equal to $1.13 for the first ounce for a first-class mail package, plus $0.17 per additional ounce, thus 4 times $0.17 = $0.68 plus $1.13 =$1.81.
Well, I wanted to be sure, so I took it to a post office to double check on my calculations. And the verdict was—I had applied too much postage for a large envelope. All I would have needed was $1.48 because it easily slipped through a 3/4-inch slot!
The next time, I packaged a CD the same way but did not affix postage yet. I took it to a different post office and was charged $2.13 because it was a “media package.” Now I don’t know what to do the next time! I’d like to do the whole packaging at home myself, apply the correct postage and drop it into a mail pick-up box without having to take time to go through the line at the post office—just like “in the good old days!”
John Bispala
Webber-Camden