The new USPS shops - from someone who's done one
Where I live, this $5 bonus hasn't yet made a difference. There are still 100 locations still available.
@MW wrote:
Where I live, this $5 bonus hasn't yet made a difference. There are still 100 locations still available.
Same. 100 near work and 84 near home. It hasn’t changed since they posted. I never would have known that there was an extra five dollars on the shop had I not read it here. I’m guessing that most people won’t notice; they’ve just written it off at this point.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2024 02:45AM by BayShopper22.
Ditto. I did these shops because I could ship foodstuffs to a food pantry in a small town. The $12 sometimes went towards postage, but offset expenses. I'm still doing them to get rid of the extra boxes and food stuffs, but in the future, most likely will keep a few boxes around and ship if a location is convenient to where I am shopping.
The shopping window is 3 days usually, with one reschedule permitted. This deters me from signing up in advance.
The shopping window is 3 days usually, with one reschedule permitted. This deters me from signing up in advance.
Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
Just looked over the "insider info" once you actually accept a job. There is nothing there about the type of box to use. Can i now use a box with some markings on them or even a shipping vinyl envelope I used to use as the cost of those is 29 cents each where I buy them. So can i just cross thru markings left over from whoever sent the box out last> I bet many just left some of those arrows and other markings on the old boxes if they were not on the side of the photo anyway.
I honestly don't know. The guidelines say you can use:@sandyf wrote:
Just looked over the "insider info" once you actually accept a job. There is nothing there about the type of box to use. Can i now use a box with some markings on them or even a shipping vinyl envelope I used to use as the cost of those is 29 cents each where I buy them. So can i just cross thru markings left over from whoever sent the box out last> I bet many just left some of those arrows and other markings on the old boxes if they were not on the side of the photo anyway.
plain boxes, bubble mailers, CD mailers, padded mailers, poly mailers
but can't use:
any branded materials including USPS, priority boxes/envelopes, flat rate packages, media mailers, decorative mailers/gift boxes, priority labels or tape, duct tape, colorful paper tape or stickers, prepaid or return service labels.
Does that mean buying a Duck brand mailer with the Duck logo on it is unacceptable? I have no idea. They contradict themselves all over the place. How can a "CD mailer" be okay while a "media mailer" isn't?
They state, "If you have a box, use it – just make sure it does not have any markings besides the address you
are shipping to for this shop."
So, I don't know. Even if markings don't show in the picture, they'll be picked up on camera at the post office, and it's entirely possible that will be noted when QC rolls tape.
If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
I just sent an email to the contact listed for the project asking about boxes. She didn't reply the last time I had a question, so I'm not holding my breath to receive an answer. I'll let y'all know if I hear anything.
If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
Sounds like it is similar to the last msc rules for boxes. A CD mailer is very small. All you can fit into it is a cd and unless it is made of lead I cannot figure out how you would have a pound.
I guess i will use my poly mailers then. Thanks.
I guess i will use my poly mailers then. Thanks.
With the prior MSC, I used boxes that had markings/labels and just blacked them out with a marker. If I felt they were too "recycled", I'd wrap the box in brown paper and reuse it that way. I never had any issues with it, but again that was the old. All bets are off the table as far as what will fly with the new shops.@sandyf wrote:
Sounds like it is similar to the last msc rules for boxes. A CD mailer is very small. All you can fit into it is a cd and unless it is made of lead I cannot figure out how you would have a pound.
I guess i will use my poly mailers then. Thanks.
If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
Boxes can be turned inside out to hide printing. OR brown paper bags can be cut into patches and glued over markings.
I used to turn the USPS priority boxes inside out and ship them ground for non-shops. They eventually started printing "Thank you for using Priority Mail services" all over the inside, so that was the end of that. Without knowing how picky they'll be now, I'd be afraid a brown patch would be considered a sticker and, therefore, rejected. So many unknowns.@Rho* wrote:
Boxes can be turned inside out to hide printing. OR brown paper bags can be cut into patches and glued over markings.
If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2024 03:27AM by drdoggie00.
7 of the 100 in my area (within 25 miles) have now been taken. I can't easily determine how many have the $5 bonus. The two closest to me have the $5 bonus. $5 would barely cover the IRS mileage rate. Admittedly, in the past, I did these as parts of routes. I might decide to do one on Wednesday since I will be driving past it.
BTW, the number of available shops shows by default in the app. I don't know an easy way to determine that using the website.
BTW, the number of available shops shows by default in the app. I don't know an easy way to determine that using the website.
Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
I don't see how they could deny a box that's wrapped in brown paper when they sell brown paper at the post office.@Okie wrote:
When I used to sell products on eBay, I would cover the the USPS Priority Box with a brown paper bag. One post office didn't care, but another post office denied my package and sent it back to me.
Also, I don't know what I was thinking, but on the regional rate boxes, I would cover the "regional" with a USPS Priority Mail Sticker. Same result as above.
I've never heard of anything that's regional rate. Is that something they phased out?
If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
All of them I've checked have the same $5 bonus. metro looked at some out in BFE, Texas that used to get high bonuses....they're all $5.@myst4au wrote:
I can't easily determine how many have the $5 bonus.
If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
I seem to recall that long ago i read something on the post office site that cautioned against wrapping your box in additional paper due to the fact that a stray corner not taped down correctly could get caught in their machines. Probably most of the time, if this is a rule, the clerks miss it and just let the packages thru but once in a while you get caught.
I found some brown packing a sealing tape at CVS that was the same color of my boxes and used that to cover stray marks after I peeled off the labels.
I found some brown packing a sealing tape at CVS that was the same color of my boxes and used that to cover stray marks after I peeled off the labels.
-laughing- Sorry, Service. I sold my oversized shoes and rainbow-colored wig in a garage sale, but I kept my water-squirting lapel flower! -smiling while squeezing the bulb and spritzing you in the face- Happy Monday!@ServiceAward wrote:
@drdoggie00, want to make some money?
If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
Wait, Service Award, that sounds like a good deal. Double the money. Do you mean you will double the fee I get for the shop? Oh but I am not getting a fee. My postage and my box will use up all the money they are giving me so double, triple or quadruple the money and the math is easy. Zero.
So then I ask, if you are not allowed to wrap your boxes with brown paper, why do they sell it in the post office? Is there some other use for it postal wise?
So then I ask, if you are not allowed to wrap your boxes with brown paper, why do they sell it in the post office? Is there some other use for it postal wise?
My point exactly! But I'm waiting for somebody to say they also sell wrapping paper during the holidays, which you obviously wouldn't use to wrap a package you'd mail, so.....@sandyf wrote:
So then I ask, if you are not allowed to wrap your boxes with brown paper, why do they sell it in the post office?
If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
-just stares at you- I'm going to start calling you Encyclopedia Awardica.@ServiceAward wrote:
You got it. Zero.
I believe the paper you are referring to is brown Kraft paper that is meant to be void filler in boxes. My local USPS offices do not carry it, but I have seen it at other USPS locations when I lived in another state. It isn't supposed to be used to wrap boxes. USPS does not ban the brown paper from being used, but their official rules discourage it and give the clerks discretion whether or not to accept the packages. They are definitely not supposed to go via Priority because that mail goes via air and 3rd party carriers (formerly FedEx, now UPS and some passenger carriers) handle air transport for USPS. That doesn't mean you won't have the occasional clerk who accepts it. Last week I shipped a single Li-Ion battery I sold and forgot to put the proper DOT label on the package. I'm legally supposed to do this. I did not realize it until I was dropping my stuff off at USPS and I handed the package over. I was going to take it back home and put the label on, but the clerk told me it was fine. She scanned my package, and I went on my way. My shipping label did state it was HazMat and ground surface transport only, but those things alone don't comply with Dept. of Transportation rules. My point is clerks tend to venture outside the rules from time to time, then there are some who are too strict. I'm lucky as where I live now I have good clerks that work with me. One messed me up a few months ago, but that issue got resolved.
Can you tell me how to get Alexa to start calling me by the correct name? -chuckles-
If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
Doggie hi
Or anyone have done the USPS instead using box and using mailer enveloped was the clerk offering to change it to a Priority Mail envelope? The shop been rejected by that offered by clerk? Please and let me know I am on my way to do a USPS. Thanks.
Or anyone have done the USPS instead using box and using mailer enveloped was the clerk offering to change it to a Priority Mail envelope? The shop been rejected by that offered by clerk? Please and let me know I am on my way to do a USPS. Thanks.
Sorry, I can’t answer that as I used a box, not any type of envelope/mailer. I’ve used them in the past, though, and never had a clerk attempt to switch them out to priority mail flat-rate packaging. Normally, they’d stamp it priority or use a priority sticker.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2024 04:14PM by drdoggie00.
If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2024 04:14PM by drdoggie00.
17 of original 21 all on the board in my area now have the $5.00 bonus. Not interested yet.
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