American Stamps

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Re: American Stamps

by kimmylee » Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:40 pm

I always put $2 on my envelopes for several reasons.
Firstly, the usps.com guide confuses the heck out of me. I'm never sure if my "do not bend" marked envelopes carry a surcharge or not.
Second, if a celeb wants to add something, and it goes over the $2 weight limit, they only have to add a few cents (has happened once, and another time I am sure it was heavier than $2 would allow, but it slipped through the net :D )
Thirdly, most importantly, prices are always subject to rise and I want to be sure my envelopes will get back to me!

Re: American Stamps

by ScottishDan » Sat Sep 10, 2011 10:06 pm

HappinessStan wrote:
If there is no return address, the envelope will be sent to the addressee with a "postage due" sticker.
Even overseas? How would they collect the money?
I sent dollars for postage to someone in America once and they forgot to put stamps on the envelope so I got a "postage due" stamp on the front but I didn't have to pay anything, they just put it through the door and that was that!

Also I always put 0.98C stamps on my SASEs which are C5 and I've not had nay problems.. 8)

Re: American Stamps

by HappinessStan » Sat Sep 10, 2011 9:17 pm

If there is no return address, the envelope will be sent to the addressee with a "postage due" sticker.
Even overseas? How would they collect the money?

Re: American Stamps

by BossC » Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:20 pm

HappinessStan wrote:What happens in the UK if you don't put enough postage on is that they get returned to sender with a label to take to a post office to add postage up to the correct amount.

From what I can see looking on Google, the US postal service does something similar (although an American with experience of it would be helpful here to confirm!)

Unless the person you've written to has written their address on the envelope (which doesn't happen often in my experience) it won't get sent back anywhere and won't reach the addressee (as I understand it).

I'm sure that most C5 envelopes will come back just fine, just as at least half of mine come back with the stamps unfranked, but if I'm making the effort to write to somebody then I'd rather not take the risk.
If there is no return address, the envelope will be sent to the addressee with a "postage due" sticker.

I have a hard time keeping all the UK size envelopes seperate but 0.98 works for a small (and under an ounce) envelope to the UK. Larger sizes get MUCH more expensive.

BossC

Re: American Stamps

by HappinessStan » Sat Sep 10, 2011 2:17 pm

What happens in the UK if you don't put enough postage on is that they get returned to sender with a label to take to a post office to add postage up to the correct amount.

From what I can see looking on Google, the US postal service does something similar (although an American with experience of it would be helpful here to confirm!)

Unless the person you've written to has written their address on the envelope (which doesn't happen often in my experience) it won't get sent back anywhere and won't reach the addressee (as I understand it).

I'm sure that most C5 envelopes will come back just fine, just as at least half of mine come back with the stamps unfranked, but if I'm making the effort to write to somebody then I'd rather not take the risk.

Re: American Stamps

by Jaffer » Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:48 am

Sofia wrote:
Jaffer wrote:It's funny you should say that, I actually got a response back using only a .98 cent stamp with a C5 envelope.
It's not just you because I know of other people who have gotten away with it including me. That's why I thought .98 was enough.
If there wasn't enough postage though and they notice it (assuming there wasn't a return address on the envelope), wouldn't they deliver it and ask the recipient to pay the extra? Or are they as nice as that?
I know for a fact they should do that domestically. Whether or not it happens internationally is another question.

Re: American Stamps

by Sofia » Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:21 am

Jaffer wrote:It's funny you should say that, I actually got a response back using only a .98 cent stamp with a C5 envelope.
It's not just you because I know of other people who have gotten away with it including me. That's why I thought .98 was enough.
If there wasn't enough postage though and they notice it (assuming there wasn't a return address on the envelope), wouldn't they deliver it and ask the recipient to pay the extra? Or are they as nice as that?

Re: American Stamps

by Jaffer » Fri Sep 09, 2011 7:41 am

HappinessStan wrote:
Sofia wrote:For a C5/C6 sized envelope with 1-2 photos, the regular international stamp should be enough.
C5 is too big to go for the cheap rate and counts as a large letter.

It's only about an eighth of an inch in each direction, but nevertheless they do cost more.
It's funny you should say that, I actually got a response back using only a .98 cent stamp with a C5 envelope. It could be that they care more about weight then size? To be honest, I cannot picture most postal worker being petty enough to care. Additionally, one user on here uses Australian stamps instead of USA ones hahaha. I have sent some additional requests recently using a .98 c stamp, so I hope it was not just a one off mistake.

Re: American Stamps

by Sofia » Thu Sep 08, 2011 11:57 pm

HappinessStan wrote:I've looked high and low for fairly lightweight envelopes which are large enough for a 5" x 7" photo, but smaller than C5 to allow for the US post thing, but haven't had any luck so far.

I'm sure they must be out there somewhere!
I would imagine it possible to get them from the USA. Since the limit between regular and large letter is what it is, surely they have envelopes which just fit into the 'regular' category? You could also get them custom-made in the UK. I have found a couple of websites which allow you to decide exactly what size envelopes you want and they'll make them for you. But then, i haven't investigated further as to how expensive it would come out (whether it would just be cheaper to pay for the extra postage...).

Re: American Stamps

by HappinessStan » Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:52 pm

I've looked high and low for fairly lightweight envelopes which are large enough for a 5" x 7" photo, but smaller than C5 to allow for the US post thing, but haven't had any luck so far.

I'm sure they must be out there somewhere!

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