When I referred to Worldwide stamps, I was talking about UK stamps that I would buy, to put on a SASE coming back to me from the UK.
When "you're" mailing you just take whatever you have to your local post office, and they'll tell you how much it costs. There is more than one way to send it, I usually always send the cheapest way.
I have talked to USPS more than once about people ordering stamps from other countries, and asked if they can call toll free, and they said yes. They explained that they no longer sell to foreign countries online because there was too much fraud. I just called again and asked if people from the UK can use the same number that I do, and she said yes. You will need a credit card to place your order.
BUT first you need to go online and find out how much it costs to send your letter from the US back to the UK. You need to put in the size, and weight, of your "return" envelope only. That would be the photo, envelope (and cardboard if you want). You must get it weighed at your post office to get an "accurate" weight.
Here is the page you need:
http://ircalc.usps.gov/default.aspx?Mod ... &CID=10150
Then it will show you all the different ways you can send it and their prices. You will want to send the cheapest at the bottom. If you want to make sure the dimensions of your envelope are okay just click on dimensions at the top. You may need to use an online converter for grams to ounces, and inches to cms.
Once you have determined how much it costs you will then have to decide how many stamps you want to get---how many envelopes you are going to mail. You can buy them in panes (sheets) of various numbers. You can explain to customer service that you want to mail a letter from the US to the UK and it will cost you $? per letter. Then tell them you want to send ? number of letters, and you need to buy stamps for them. They should be able to find the demominations you require, for you. For example, I need $1.46 to mail my letters from the US to Canada (oversized envelope up to 3 oz.) Then they can tell me I can get a pane of $1 stamps, a pane of .41 cent stamps, and a pane of .05 cent stamps. I get panes of twenty. To mail the stamps to Canada is $6 shipping, and then I get dinged at the border for another $8.63 tax and handling!!! I had a friend that was sending them to me so it was only costing me $1 to have it mailed to them. But this last time they weren't available.
Here's the number to call:
USPS TOLL FREE NUMBER: 1-800-782-6724
For cardboard there are different types. Some people buy something from the stationary store to use. I just go to the local liquor store and ask if I can have their empty boxes, and they say yes. Or you can try grocery stores, or any place like that. I try and get the lightest boxes I can. Then I take a razor knife and cut them down so that they fit in my envelope. I always check them to make sure they fit properly. I don't want them to be too loose or too tight. I use 9"x12" envelopes (22.9cm x 30.5cm).
I also put a little note on my return envelope at the very end where the flap folds down to seal it. I write: "Please use the cardboard I've provided. Thanks!" Then when they seal it they message is covered.
It might not occur to some to use the cardboard, even though it is right there. And a few times they didn't. I am thinking the PA tossed it out before they handed the photo, and SASE, to the celeb.
Most of the time it protects the photos beautifully. They come back perfect. There have been a couple of times when the envelope was literally mangled. It was literally bent in every direction possible. One time it was bent in half. I was very lucky that the photo was on the outside of the bend and not on the inside. The photo only had a bend and not a crease.
Hope that helps! And I hope it also helps all those people that want/need to know, but haven't asked. {thumb2}
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