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I hope somebody can shed some light on this subject... I've been a collector for quite a few years now, but am always perplexed when sending to another country, such as Great Britain. I always send my large envelopes as packages within the United States, because it's only a few cents difference to do so. But when I send overseas, it's the difference of five or six dollars… So, I was wondering what everybody else's take was on it? The post office has told me themselves that the only way to guarantee an envelope, like mine (with a hard piece of cardboard in it), to get there is by sending it as a package. Is that true? I ask that specifically, because each and every time I send my letters as a large envelope to another country, it seems to get lost about 99.9% of the time. Thanks!

Anyone?

Huh. That makes no sense to me. Why would a large envelope be at such a high risk of getting lost? :neutral:

CrimeofPassion wrote:Huh. That makes no sense to me. Why would a large envelope be at such a high risk of getting lost? :neutral:

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. But the first reason they gave me was that customs will rip open a large envelope when it is not sent as a package and not put it back together. The second is that the overseas post office will immediately assume it's a small package (which requires quite a bit more postage, even though it's the same size) and they'll just throw it away, as you didn't put enough postage on it. Mind you, they may very well be lying to me. But out of a collective amount of, roughly, 25 letters I've sent to the UK over the years, I've only ever gotten one back... so that makes me wonder if the post office is indeed telling the truth?

Hmmm. Were the people you wrote to known for responding to their fanmail?

CrimeofPassion wrote:Hmmm. Were the people you wrote to known for responding to their fanmail?

Yeah, most of them were. Even if it's an AP or PP response. Do you personally send out your envelopes, with cardboard in them, as "Large Envelopes"?

The first time I tried sending what was technically a large envelope as a package, the postal office said I had done it wrong (I put my own stamps on it). They said it was a large envelope, NOT a package. I was sending it to the UK.

But maybe I'll try sending these next two as packages, just to see... I think I'll be using Endicia, so I won't have to deal with the PO folks.

Yeah, give that a try. But keep in mind that it is much more expensive to send it as a package, since you have to fill out a customs form.