Are those the ones that they sell 3 for a dollar? I figured it was costly over time to use bubble envelopes so I ended up buying a roll of bubble wrap and packet of those long yellow envelopes. I jsut cut the envelopes in half and wrap the seeds in bubblewrap. All it needs is a bit of tape and it's fine. Maybe we should start a new thread for like tips on seed trading or something like that!

Yup..the three for a dollar ones. I try to recycle the ones that come to me as well by cutting them down, etc. I'm eyeballing the leftover scraps of solar blanket too...

Please, please, please, please, please do not skimp on the postage. Canada Post officially considers any sort of padded mailer 'oversize' and it requires $1.05 in postage. They are all too thick, even when empty, to meet the maximum width (5mm) allowed for the standard rate. Going through that thin slot on the card is all some outlets require to accept it, but if it gets a closer inspection they will discover the lack of postage.

It might still go through with 51 cents in postage - many times I have recieved them with insufficient postage, but it might get returned for postage due, or it might wind up with the recipient having to pay it. It has happened to me twice - most recently today. I had to pay the difference in postage and a surcharge because the sender did not use enough postage.

One thing you can do to cut down on postage costs when sending only one or two packets of small seeds is to use a small regular envelope and place a bit of bubble wrap inside. This will usually keep it in the acceptable limits and there won't be any hitches.

BP

Waah. Thought I'd found a good thing, but you're absolutely right Bonnie. I'd never want to put anyone out at the other end of a trade. So, I'll stick with the rules. (I might still carefully peel off uncancelled stamps tho!) ;-)

Some rules are made to be broken, and some rules have to be followed :-). I like those uncancelled stamps too - I reuse them all the time. I don't get them as often anymore though. I guess Canada Post is paying more attention to what goes through.

BP

BP, I usually take all my seed packets to the post office to mail and every time, the lady says 51 cents each so your total comes to 5.34 plus thirty somthing cents tax. I've asked her but she says that it depends on how thick the package is (like you said) and she told me some people like to put 1.05 stamps, but during her training she was taught that 1.05 is just for anything over 50g or those really big envelopes that you get your certificates in. I'm going to ask her again...and she wasn't the only one, I've sometime been there when her supervisor (so her tag says) is there and I've asked her and she says 51 is fine and asked me if I was sending seeds LOL! PB, I'm not saying you're wrong, just wanted to share my expriences so please don't take this offensively. Smile :) !

Don't worry - there's nothing offensive in your post :-) Canada Post is notorious for not knowing which end of the rule book they're looking at, making stuff up on the spot, inconsistent employee training and overall wierdness. I stopped going to one post office because they kept telling me that I couldn't send something 'like that'. 'That' being the package was some combination of too light/heavy/big/small/box/envelope and they couldn't find the price category in their computer. Idiots! The place I go to now is a stickler for rules, but I don't get a runaround. If the guys at your post office take it and cancel it, then you're off the hook for 'official' size and rate. They accepted it for a certain fee, they deliver it. You usually run into problems with dropping them in corner mailboxes - then you have a much higher risk to get the postage due crap.

I was getting different lectures everytime I asked at the crappy post office 'Is this enough postage'?, so I called Canada Post and asked (and then for good measure I hunted around on their website (not that easy to find the rules with a citeable reg#!)). Weight and dimension can combine in several different ways to give you different rates: Standard size letter with less than 30g is 51 cents, standard sized letter with 30-50g is 89 cents, and oversize envelope with any weight under 100g is $1,05. They all have max and min dimensions and if you are over that then you're in a different category (CalvinBall anyone?). Padded mailers are offically always oversize because of their thickness (+5mm, and squishing them doesn't count), it doesn't mean that you can't get away with mailing one for 51 cents, it just means CP's left hand doesn't know what their right hand is doing :-). If you've got a post office that accepts them like that, then great! Use it! Mine doesn't, and I get returned and postage due stuff. It's not a problem if it's something I sent getting returned to me, but I get a lot of SASEs from other people without sufficient postage and that has to come out of my pocket. It can add up! I get around it a lot by using small envelopes with bubble wrap - even though it's still padded, they don't see it as a 'padded mailer'. Go figure.

BP

Our post office must be using the #1.05 amount for dollar store bubble lined packages. I had two of those, one with slips, seeds & seedling & one was a SASE.
But the regular greeting card with 5 pkgs seeds encased in a thin foam wrap was thin enough for a 51 cent stamp!
I've accepted the increase to $1.05 as the price on brown envelopes.
I wonder when Canada Post is due to increase their rates again?
sam

My pet peeve is the odd price. Why not make the larger envelope the price of 2 stamps instead of 3 cents more? I guess that would be just to logical...

Susan

Here Here!!!! I agree with everything Bonnie has said . I am sooooo fed up with Canada Post at least in our area ..there is no consistency in regard to rates even at the same postoffice. Couple that with unknowledgeable rude staff and I wonder how they continue to operate . Any other business run they way they run Canada Post would have been history a long time ago. When I am the customer , I expect to be treated with something less than contempt but at our local postoffice, obviously no one has told them that the customer is important.

The topper for me is they offer "Fragile" stickers but dont cover replacement of "fragile" items and "express post" items supposed to take 2 days have taken as long as 9 days to get where they are going.

I too have had mail returned for postage due, and been billed for postage for items that have arrived with less postage than required.

I love trading but slowly the joy is going out of it for me thanks to Canada Post.

Signet

Ho my! I'm glad that I have read this post. I was so feed up with the lady at the post office by my house that I wouldn't go back so my hubby as been taking my things to the office and weighing them and sending them of. Good thing he as a postal meter and scale.In the mean time I sure hope I did not rip anyone of.You all have send me amazing seeds and I sure appreciate it. And I love trading to.
Dianne