Sending from UK to USA??? PLEASE ADVISE!!

[emdramaqueen]

Hello all

Please help with my dilemma. I am wanting to start posting requests to USA from England but I have no idea what to do to pay for return postage. Will sending a $5 note be enough? Or do I need to purchase stamps somehow? I've worked out on a US Postal site that my average letters will cost $4.78 to return to me. What stamps do I need then?? A single first class USA stamp is 44c, so surely I dont have to put that many stamps on each envelope (about 11 stamps it would be!) ?? Is there an easier way?

Please advise!! I wanted to send to someone VV and didnt think they would reply if I just sent dollars?

Many thanks!! xx

[RYAN-J]

You can purchase $1.00 stamps and those should work just the same as the regular .44 cent, but that way you wouldn't have to use so many smaller stamps. although, $4.78 does sound a bit high, but it may be right considering price differences bewteen the USA and UK. It only costs me .98 cents to send a letter to the UK.

RYAN-J

[Tabby]

You can purchase $1.00 stamps and those should work just the same as the regular .44 cent, but that way you wouldn't have to use so many smaller stamps. although, $4.78 does sound a bit high, but it may be right considering price differences bewteen the USA and UK. It only costs me .98 cents to send a letter to the UK.

RYAN-J

Please don't say "only." That actually gets really expensive.

[HappinessStan]

That seems very high for return postage, what are you sending?

An A4 envelope with two photos and a thin piece of card to stop them bending weighing in at under 100g will come back with just under three dollars postage. I can't remember the exact amount needed, but I put either 3 x 98c or 6 x Forever Stamps on and get them back reliably.

I would try to get stamps if you can, especially if you're sending VV. You can find Forever stamps on eBay, or possibly someone on here will trade or sell you some.

I would definitely double-check that postage amount though, and if it really is that heavy you might want to consider sending something lighter or smaller.

[dfreely]

As others have said, the pricing you came up with seems unusual. That's the price for a large envelope weighing up to 5oz (or roughly 140g). You would need something along the lines of 4 photos in a hard photo mailer to hit 5oz in weight.

An A4 envelope with two photos and a thin piece of card to stop them bending weighing in at under 100g will come back with just under three dollars postage. I can't remember the exact amount needed, but I put either 3 x 98c or 6 x Forever Stamps on and get them back reliably.

That would actually cost $3.91, not under $3.

[HappinessStan]

Yes, you're right. The envelopes I send with contents actually weigh 2oz, which is $2.17, while 3oz is $3.04 - I think I'll add another stamp from now on!