I have gotten into the habit of having them send me a list, if it's not a 'my choice' type BEAP. It's so much easier than having to dig back through several emails. I do the same when I respond to a BEAP offer... and any trade. A list of what I'm sending as well as a list of what I'm looking forward to receiving from them. At least in a trade, I take care of the recap and that list myself. When I'm offering a BEAP, I stress to them that if I have the list in front of me with their BE when it arrives, I can generally get their seeds packed up and back in the mail by the next day. As much as I hate to say it, I have to use 'rules' when I make an offer: 1. Post here (so I can determine who was 1st, 2nd, etc) 2. Email me, including your GW ID in the email (so I know who I'm dealing with) 3. Use a Bubble Mailer (if it's just a BEAP offer where they can choose, depending on the number of choices they make, I may specify a BE size) etc.. In the course of the emails with them, I may find other seed that is on their wants list that I don't have offered in the post, so I may offer it. Or they may have something I'm interested in and we'll turn it into a trade, even if it's an uneven one. As long as we're both happy, right? :) If it's a seriously uneven trade, with the bulk going out on my side and I feel it may need some extra postage to mail to them (though I can sure stuff a lot of seeds in a BE for .84!) there have been a few where I'm sending them a lot of bulky veggie seed (from a BEAP offer)and asking for some marigolds that I don't have in return, so I'll ask them to include an extra stamp. And I'm more than happy to do the same if the trade is seriously uneven on their side too! That stamp is either used on their return package or it is returned to them in their BE. Sorry, got a little off track. The main thing is, I enjoy being generous, but this is suppose to be for my enjoyment as well as for theirs. If they don't use a BE, I will email them and make sure they understand that I'm not sending the seed, especially the larger, more bulky (any thus, more easily crushed) ones without padding. And if they come to me that way and are crushed, then I let them know and expect that they will make it right and use a BE this time. Wendy, I agree about taking your name and address off of your trade page, hon. Because several of those that are mailing you have probably not done so from an actual offer you've made, but rather just "cold mailing" you. That makes it really difficult to keep up with things. And I'd set some rules for the exchange-whether it's from an offer you've made or a trade you're working. I understand some folks wanting to go more green- like Trudi. But Trudi is very experienced in making sure those seeds are well cushioned and will arrive in viable shape. I've also received seeds from some of the more experienced traders in a plain envelope. And I do send some that way for the Birthday Card swap I'm in. However, I always literally wrap those seeds in bubble wrap and make sure they are secured to the middle card so that they can't shift. Though I do use a BE if they are the more bulky seed. It's the time of year when we are getting an influx of newbies, and we have to teach them to be good traders. Sue's suggestion of listing their first name and state is a great idea. Hopefully you'll be able to get it sorted out, Wendy. If it becomes stressful, then something needs to change and change quickly. *BIG HUGS* Hehe... how about this, Sue? And I haven't even had my first cup of coffee yet! Thought my son was gonna make it for me, but he's watching some movie :( So I've gotta go do it myself. Kathy

Oh My goodness...She is so clueless and doesn't know how to do her job and (imho) should be fired! If you mail a Bubble Envelope, regardless of the size or the thickness, it will be charged at the Parcel Rate of $1.22 and up. She said they don't use the device at the counter for measuring a Bubble envelope for thickness, it automatically gets charged the parcel rate. If the Bubble envelope of any size, even empty goes through their machines, it comes out ruined, so they have to put all the bubble envelopes through a different system. She is so wrong! She has been wrong ever since Shape Based pricing went into effect in May 2007...so those employees have ALL been OVERCHARGING now for going on to 4 YEARS! When will this madness end? In order to attempt to get her properly trained (isn't it sad the customers are trying to train USPS supervisors?) I suggest you print out this bulletin...First-Class Mail Fact Sheet At the bottom of it under First-Class Mail Quick Tips, it says"For padded bags (e.g., ReadyPost "cushion mailer"), when the thickness is 3/4" or less and the item is flat-size and somewhat flexible, the item should be classified and priced as a large envelope." Why is that so hard for postal employees to understand? I think even a caveman could understand that! She said that if you put the seeds in a long white envelope, with a small amount of padding in it, and if it is under an ounce, you can put a $.44 cent stamp on it and ask for the 'non machinable' rate. They would charge you another $.20 for that and so the total cost of your envelope would be $.64. hmmm...and we ALL know how well seeds do in regular envelopes with bubble wrap in them. The envelopes end up torn up and the seeds destroyed, if the envelope and seeds even make it to their destination and aren't totally destroyed. What about those who live in the rural and don't have the convenience of getting into the PO very often? What about those that get dropped into the blue mailboxes? Does she think that every envelope is read and sorted by hand so marking something Hand Stamp will be seen? Give me a break. I asked about the little gadget to measure the thickness of the envelope and she said they don't give them out, but they keep one at the counter, but they don't use it to measure bubble envelopes. It seems strange that some of were able to get them from our post offices without any problems. Would you mind posting her name and telephone number here along with her address? I will personally contact her superior from the list at the link below that lists all Vice Presidents and District Managers. It shows the zip code areas that are covered by each one. Imho, she needs to be reported littleonefb, Fran I really don't think anyone associated with the PO is reading this or is attempting to get anything done. I sure wish I could get NBC, CBS, or one of the major networks to pick up on this stealing that has been going on for almost 4 years. A lot of folks should be fired for not knowing how to do their job correctly. In the private sector, a lot of these employees would have been fired long ago. Here is a link that might be useful: USPS Management-it is an 11 page pdf file that will need to load

You know, it's crazy that so many traders are willing to be overcharged. Perhaps, they don't know they can do anything about it and never visit this side of the forum? I even wrote one of the ladies as it was insane what one packet of seeds cost... it was over $1.50! She never even responded. I was trying to help her. (ugggggh) Anyways.... Here's my responses to your questions: Was that where a member guessed it needed that much and just put additional stamps on it, or were they postal tapes? I was thinking I really should keep track in a notebook or write a list or something. I am a very new trader, so I was really suprised seeing so many being overcharged. I should have kept better records, so I could tell you exactly. I am sure that many of them had postal tapes. I think most of them did, but I can't swear to it. I'll try to keep better track from here on out as this is good information to know. Where did you buy them (bubble mailers that are under 1/4" thick with seeds)? I'd like to buy some too, for those instances where it was just a really small trade of really small seeds, in a small quantity. I found them at Wal-Greens. The are Scotch brand from 3M. They are #0 size, 6x9 inch. They were in a bin that had a bunch of other bubble envies that were bigger. This one was priced 3 for $1.98. I did take note that they could be cut in half lengthwise and put inside a regular envy as padding very easily and fit almost perfectly. Even so, if you don't get these back in from trades that you can reuse, then you're still spending 33 to 66 cents for each trade before factoring in postage. It would be neat to see if they have just the thinner bubble wrap itself (not a bubble mailer) available somewhere. And, yes, I couldn't agree more... We all do need to address the postage issue with our own postmasters and stand up for not being overcharged at the counters as well. I wish more people were able to confront the issue rather than just not saying anything at all, paying more than they should, and just walking out. My biggest factor is that I do not want to have to go in to the post office as this costs me gas which far outweighs what I spend on postage. Plus, it's a toss-up whether I'm going to get the guy that overcharges behind the counter or the lady who charges correctly at my post office. I think like most everyone else, I'd rather not have to tell them that they've charged me incorrectly and argue with them with a line a mile long behind me, but I WILL do it, whereas many other people won't... ~Angela *who has no idea if she's going to stay away from this thread, but still has to pack and get ready for her trip to Dallas*

Just happened to come across this post. I'd say 95% of my peppers were grown from store bought fruits. They have been productive and haven't given me much problems except for when I brought them outside from indoor growing. One of my sweet bell peppers is fully loaded, it has 6 or 7 giant fruit on it and 1 of them is starting to turn colour now. Here is a picture of my scotch bonnet also grown from store bought fruit.... Unfortunately I didn't put it in a good location because it's surrounded by green beans and a couple corn plants and fava beans.... The good news is the fava beans are almost ready so they'll be gone within a week, two max.