Are You Aware of the New Postal Guidelines?
Mailing Greeting Cards Just Got Pricier
I found this out by accident when I went to my mailbox and found a slip saying I could pick up mail at the post office that had postage due. To my surprise, the mail was a regular-sized greeting card that required I pay $0.19 additional postage.
I thought perhaps this was a fluke until I mailed a greeting card of similar size just a few days ago. It was an average greeting card--nothing extra in the envelope and not marked by the card company as requiring extra postage (as they sometimes do when the card is large or weighty). Sure enough, the lady at the post office had to measure the envelope with a cardboard device that shows the clerks if the size is "unusual." I paid $0.59 to mail the card.
Thinking I knew a way to get around this new and unadvertised change in the postal code, I purchased a packet of blank note cards--you know, like the packets of party invitations you can buy. I can be content writing my own message on the card and not having to pay the additional postage. I took my card in its envelope to the post office and had it checked by the clerk. She told me that small card just missed being too big to have to have extra postage!
The new guidelines for mailing first class mail, as written on the USPS official website are:
* Postcards-may be 5 to 6 inches in length and 3 1/2 to 4 1/4 in height. Larger than that requires extra postage.
* Letters (up to 3.5 ounces--which they say is three sheets of paper and the envelope)-may be 5 to11 1/2 inches in length and 3 1/2 to 6 1/8 inches in
height..
The guidelines go on to say that "some shapes, such as tubes and square envelopes, may require additional postage."
I feel bamboozled by this change. I knew about the rate hike across the board for postage, but don't recall learning of what I consider to be a drastic change in how postage is figured. Christmas time and Mother's Day, not to mention the other card sending holidays could be a pricey undertaking if postage on them is going to be nearly sixty cents a piece.
Published by L.L. Woodard
Freelance writer/editor and freelance observer of life. Three decades of nursing experience in long-term care, from development of team care planning to hands-on patient care. View profile
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3 Comments
Post a CommentIf you're like me, maybe you're considering sending out letters to family for Christmas, birthdays, etc. instead of greeting cards to avoid the extra postage fees, Associated Content producer, jcorn, has written an article that you might find interesting. The article, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/898229/jott_and_fontifier_create_your_own.html?page=2&post=true&cat=15, is about a program that will take your handwriting and create a font for it. You can use it to personalize anything you'd like!
You're welcome, Tim. I've already talked with family members and close friends; we've agreed we'll be sending letters or postcards to one another. The price of greeting cards themselves is already high, let alone needing to pay extra postage to send them. Me thinks the greeting card folks need to get on the postcard-sized market for Christmas cards!
MY WIFE IS A RURAL POSTAL CARRIER, SO I GET ALL THE NEWS ON WHATS ...WHAT! BUT SHARING WITH THE PUBLIC IS THE WAY TO LET EVERYONE KNOW................THANKS FOR THAT INFO!