Did the Flat Rate Postage Increase? Find Out the Latest Update!

[heat123]

I just went to the post office to drop off my host paks and found it it has gone up .15c since monday of last week. Old price that just seemed to have changed was $4.80 flat rate envelope. +15c increase currently.
And another overall postal increase is happening in March or May my postal worker said? :grumpy:Just FYI!

 

[mscharf]

yikes, soon it will be cheaper to take it yourself!!

 

[raebates]

You'll save a bundle if you do your postage online at USPS.com. You can print your label with postage on plain paper and tape it to your package. I can't remember exactly how much I saved the last time I sent stuff to our son, but it was substantial--like over $1 for one and about $0.75 for the other.

 

[pampered.chris]

If you go to usps.com you can pre-print and pay for your hostess packet mailings for .15 cents less. Which would make them 4.80 again. My postal people keep telling me that is what I should do instead of going to the post office. You can also put the packets in your mailbox and not have to go to the post office at all!!

 

[heat123]

If you go to usps.com you can pre-print and pay for your hostess packet mailings for .15 cents less. Which would make them 4.80 again. My postal people keep telling me that is what I should do instead of going to the post office. You can also put the packets in your mailbox and not have to go to the post office at all!!

I have heard you cannot put in your own mail box and need to take it to a post office to drop off??? And these envelopes Do not fit in my mailbox!

 

[vwpamperedchef]

Do you think the PO knows we are in a recession?? UGH! Everytime I mail a package over seas to my husband it is over $10! I mail one at least once a week, sometimes twice.

 

[princessmeshelle]

If you go to usps.com you can pre-print and pay for your hostess packet mailings for .15 cents less. Which would make them 4.80 again. My postal people keep telling me that is what I should do instead of going to the post office. You can also put the packets in your mailbox and not have to go to the post office at all!!

they wouldn't fir in my mailbox either, but at least i might be able to just drop them in the big blue boxes outside and not have to drag the kids inside and stand in line... i may have to remember this with another deployment coming... that way i can send flat rate boxes like last time but not have to deal with 2 small kids in long lines.... thanks for the tip! does anyone know if you can schedual a pick up? i heard you could do that but wasn't sure...

 

[PampMomof3]

I have heard you cannot put in your own mail box and need to take it to a post office to drop off??? And these envelopes Do not fit in my mailbox!

I do print my postage and send it out but we just bought a new mailbox and I had to put a priority envelope inside. Well, much to my surprise it fit flat inside! I was SO excited!!!

 

[princessmeshelle]

Do you think the PO knows we are in a recession?? UGH! Everytime I mail a package over seas to my husband it is over $10! I mail one at least once a week, sometimes twice.

i used flat rate boxes for the last deployment. if what you are sending can fit in them i highly recommend them. especially if it is heavy! i usually ended up sending 3 or 4 at a time but then i was good for a few weeks... or a month....

 

[heat123]

Does anyone know or can you confirm if we can just Drop them in one of those Blue mailer drop off bins-box?

 

[pampered.chris]

I think if your postal person is willing they may pick it up from you.

I was told that yes you could put it in the mailbox to have them pick it up. It won't fit in mine, but it will certainly be better than standing in line!!

I hope this helps you all!! I think you can also order your stamps online too!!

 

[pampered.chris]

Does anyone know or can you confirm if we can just Drop them in one of those Blue mailer drop off bins-box?

Yes you can!!! I was told you could put them in your mailbox too, but now I am not so sure. But you can absolutely put them in the big blue mailboxes!!

 

[pamperedlinda]

I thought that if it was over 1 pound that you had ot personally hand it to a USPS employee....anyone? I'll ask at the PO next time I'm in there.

 

[Jules711]

If over a pound, you aren't suppose to put them in the public mailbox. You CAN put them in your personal mailbox for pickup b/c you can schedule a pickup online. You mark that it's safe/not liquid, etc. If it doesn't fit in your mailbox, you just indicate where you will leave it. It IS cheaper and you get free tracking!

 

[pcchefjane]

If it weighs over that 1 pound, they will send it back to you and put a sticky tag over the stamps to hand personally to a postal employee! UGH!

 

[chefann]

And that cutoff is actually 13 ounces, not a pound. But, paying for postage online (I know using PayPal has this feature) eliminates that requirement. When doing that, though, you have to specify which post office (zip code) you're dropping it at or specify home pick up.

 

[pampered.chris]

So you can leave the hostess packet in your mailbox for pick-up then?

Sweet!!

 

[princessmeshelle]

i'll have to confirm with the local PO but hey, it's better than the lines any day!

 

[candiejayne]

We don't have mail delievery here, so I have to go to the post office myself anyways. Good thing for me though is that its less then a tenth of a mile!

 

[wadesgirl]

I have never had them return a host packet to me! I keep crossing my fingers that they won't. It sort of defeats the 24 hour automated postal center if I cannot mail it when I'm there.

 

[heat123]

I thought that if it was over 1 pound that you had ot personally hand it to a USPS employee....anyone? I'll ask at the PO next time I'm in there.

Yeah, that is what I thought too!?

 

[murkey]

Only for stamped mail. If you do labels pre-printed through paypal or usps.com it is allowed.

 

[heat123]

Only for stamped mail. If you do labels pre-printed through paypal or usps.com it is allowed.

Is there no extra fee for doing your own printing online? And what kind of labels do you use to print out on for these flat rate stamps?

 

[chefann]

Is there no extra fee for doing your own printing online? And what kind of labels do you use to print out on for these flat rate stamps?

There's actually a slight discount if you print through PayPal, on some postage classes. The postage prints on standard paper, then you tape it onto the envelope. It prints a large block, much like those produced by the Automated Postal Center at the PO.

 

[heat123]

There's actually a slight discount if you print through PayPal, on some postage classes. The postage prints on standard paper, then you tape it onto the envelope. It prints a large block, much like those produced by the Automated Postal Center at the PO.

What area of paypal do you purchase stamps? I just browsed and did not see mailing center or anything of that nature?

 

[chefann]

It's the Multi-item shipping, or something like that. It's not very intuitive, but that's where you do it. If you frequently ship things that are the same size/weight, then you can set up a profile for those items. That way, you don't need to enter the details every time.

 

[Dianneskitchen]

If you print your postage online, you can either put it in your own mailbox or in any postal mail box, and the weight doesn't matter. That is because if you have an online account, they can track it back to where it came from if there is any problems with it.

 

[raebates]

My local postmaster told me that they really prefer that anything over 1 pound be either picked up or presented to a postal employee. No need to stand in line if the postage is already on it. Just get someone's attention when you place the item on the counter (for instance, at an unoccupied window).

 

[Get_Pampered]

Oh great. I just mailed some cattys to my aunt in WI with a little gift inside. It probably weighed a pound and has already been picked up. I hope I didn't waste all that postage. I think I need to get a scale!

 

[raebates]

Just be careful about the scale. I received a shipping scale for Christmas. I was really excited. I got two packages ready to send to our baby boy. When I took them to the post office the postmaster and I got talking about the savings with usps.com. She weighed one of the packages to figure out how much I saved, then turned to me and said, "The weight's off on this by, like, 1/2 pound." Same with the second package. I took the scale in and exchanged it (the giver told me where it was purchased). I placed four pounds of butter on it, and it registered 2 pounds 13 ounces. Not good. That was a Royal scale. I'll be returning it and getting a different one.

 

[ughubug]

This increase will keepp me inspired to keep meeting with my hosts in person instead of mailing host packets for SURE!

 

[princessmeshelle]

i prefer to meet anyway. that way i can see if things are clear to the host. my 1st host(a friend who had never hosted a show before) looked at me like i was speaking greek the 1st time i went over it with her. after that i figured face o face was best!