Visions of Sugarplums
Visions of Sugarplums was Originally Posted on November 23, 2010 by lavarock
While visions of sugarplums may dance in the heads of the kids, the parents may be standing in line at the post office. This does not have to be.
I am a great supporter and promoter of the USPS’s Priority Mail envelopes and boxes for mailing gifts and the like. The holidays are a perfect time to remind you about them. We find that they are the best way to ship things from and to Hawaii, yet they also save you time and money too.
The ads on TV remind you that “if it fits, it ships” and that’s true. We often ship 2 pounds of coffee in an envelope to anywhere in the U.S. In the small, medium and large boxes, as I said, if it fits, it ships for a fixed price.
The smallest box is the size of a PC disk drive and the envelope is large enough for a ream of paper. Both cost $4.90 or less. (There is a discount if you pay online and you get package delivery tracking free).
The next boxes are the medium ones which were the first in the series years ago. They are perfect for shoes, sweaters, food, electronics and so on. They are called FRB-1 and FRB-11″ x 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ or 11 7/8″ x 3 3/8″ x 13 5/8″ depending upon the box. The cost to ship these is $10.70 or less if you pay online.
The slightly larger box is the Large Flat Rate and measures 12″ x 12″ x 5 1/2″ with a cost of $14.50 or less. AFO/APO pricing is even less. You could ship a laptop or other items.
The boxes are free, self closing and as I said, if you create an account online to pay, you can print the label and postage right on your PC printer and save up to55 cents. You can save the recipients address in the address book and get delivery confirmation for free.
If you are not computer savvy (which makes me wonder how you are reading this), you can buy a stamp that you can stick on the envelope or boxes with your own hand-written label. You don’t get the extra tracking or price discount, however you DO get the yet unmentioned extra special attribute of the flat rate service.
Most post offices do not require you to stand in line with these boxes and envelopes! Think about it. All of those people standing in line at the holidays are trying to buy boxes, figure prices, having their packages weighed and buy postage. You have NONE of those issues!
My post office allows me to take my pre-labeled and postage-paid boxes and just leave them on the counter, nod to the counter person and head back out the door, much to the bewilderment on the others in line. The whole idea behind the Flat Rate items is that weight does not matter; they have postage and labels on them, so there is no need to wait for anything. No counter person is required to manage them except to take the item from the counter and place them in the proper outbound basket. Some post offices have a self-service machine, which can print the postage and accept the package from you.
There is nothing better than a quick trip to the post office to make the holiday season a brighter time of year. I do hope that the next time you stop by the post office that you pick up a box or envelope and talk with your clerk about how to drop it back off. With all the traffic, weather, lines and parking issues, the Flat Rate solution is painless! Take it from one who uses it all the time! Check out USPS.Com
Just as I wrote that last line of the blog, a USPS Flat rate commercial came on TV. What timing!