I just sold a couple of items on eBay and was calculating the combined cost at eBay of mailing the package. Nothing there seems to have changed. However, when I went to the USPS web site, the only options that came up for both a large envelope and a large package were Priority Mail and Media Mail. None of the other traditional non-Priority options are showing up. Is this a change in available USPS services that eBay hasn't implemented yet? Or just a problem with the USPS site?
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"I no longer collect, but will never abandon the hobby"
Just tried on the postage calculator page and the first class rates are still there. You get a page with the priority options up on top and several rows of blue with other options. To see the first class rates you must click on that option.
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"Just one more small collection, hun, really! LoL "
No. Those options don't show up in the USPS calculator. I've tried large envelopes of different weights up to 3 pounds and large packages of varying sizes and weighing up to 3 pounds. In every case the only non-Priority Mail option that shows up in that calculator is Media Mail under "Other Options." I even tried clearing my browser history, but that made no difference.
I've already printed the mailing label at eBay. So this isn't terribly important. It just came as a surprise when I was double-checking to see how the USPS calculator would differ from eBay's. Big difference!!!
If USPS hasn't dropped a bunch of non-Priority Mail options, then there must be a technical glitch somewhere.
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"I no longer collect, but will never abandon the hobby"
I didn't think a large 14 x 12 photo mailer would necessarily be considered lettermail, even below 13 ounces. Regardless, my tests with weights of that size mailer between 1 and 2 pounds didn't give me any non-Priority Mail options other than Media Mail. I was puzzled. So I experimented with a package of various sizes and various weights up to 3 pounds and got the same results. I think my largest test package was 14 x 12 x 6 and I got only the Media Mail option aside from the Priority Mail options. At eBay, I was getting those other typical parcel options for my 14 x 12 mailer at 1 pound 11 ounces. I didn't do any other tests at eBay.
I just tried again to get other USPS options to show up. I used various package weights up to 7 pounds and box sizes up to 16 x 16 x 24. Aside from the Priority Mail options, I only get the Media Mail option in every case. None of the USPS check boxes are checked for "live animals" or "nonrectangular" etc. The site behavior is not normal. I updated Firefox yesterday and it changed my color management settings within the browser back to the defaults. Maybe there is something else going on with Firefox 43.0.1 that I don't understand.
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"I no longer collect, but will never abandon the hobby"
The dimensions and weights that you were experimenting with are outside of the parameters for First Class Mail.
There are three categories of First Class Mail, not including post cards:
- FIRST CLASS LETTERS:
Maximum weight = 3.5 ounces (over 3.5 ounces and it is classified a large envelope)
Maximum size = 11.5" long x 6.125" high x 0.25" thick
Also, non-machinable letters are subject to a surcharge.
- FIRST CLASS LARGE ENVELOPES (used to be called "Flats"):
Maximum weight = 13 ounces (over 13 ounces and it is classified Priority Mail)
Maximum size = 15" long x 12" high x 0.75" thick, OR a letter exceeding any one or more maximum physical dimensions
- FIRST CLASS PARCELS:
Maximum weight = 13 ounces (over 13 ounces and it is classified Priority Mail)
Size = large envelope exceeding one or more maximum physical dimensions, but combined length plus girth cannot exceed 108", except when shipping ground only the maximum length and girth cannot exceed 130"
Also, letters and large envelopes that are rigid, non-rectangular, contain bubble-wrap or not uniformly thick are also classified as parcels.
See Pages 1 and 67 of the USPS Notice 123 (see link to the document in a prior response).
Note that eBay has a special contract with the USPS that makes an exception to the First Class maximum weight for large envelopes and parcels to 16 ounces. Note that if you are using eBay system to print pre-paid shipping labels that often in the over 13 ounce weights Fed-Ex may be the cheaper way to ship. Also, in some lower weights, the eBay pre-paid shipping costs may be higher than USPS.
OK. I did some more experimenting at the USPS site just now. Yesterday, I was using a zip code from Indy to Iowa. Today, I got the same results as yesterday with that zip code. However, using a California zip code brought up a new "Retail Ground" option under "Other Options." This is in addition to the usual "Media Mail" option. It shows up whether I'm identifying my mail piece as a large envelope, package or a large package weighing between 1 and 2 pounds. This "Retail Ground" terminology is new in my experience with USPS. I didn't think I had been living under a rock, but maybe..................
I did the same experiment with a Chicago zip code and got the same results as yesterday with the Iowa zip. Only Priority and Media Mail options are available. I have long expected USPS to eliminate non-Priority options to simplify their system and raise revenues, but it appears they've been making changes while I was hiding under that rock.
I haven't mailed much, if anything, over a pound in the past year or more (most has been under 13 ounces), and I was unaware of a distance factor being involved in determining my USPS mailing options.
Michael, I focus on using USPS because they're slightly more convenient than FedEx and UPS (not to mention being near the Dairy Queen!).
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"I no longer collect, but will never abandon the hobby"
please note that over 13 ounces, one is forced into priority mail, which is just a name, although it comes with additional benefits over first class. One can choose other classes, but none are equivalent to first class/PM and, while cheaper, are generally slower.
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
"please note that over 13 ounces, one is forced into priority mail, which is just a name,"
Note that Priority really doesn't get you anything. When last checked the USPS website and asked for rates for both Priority and First Class mail, BOTH said delivery in two days -- no guarantees.
Once in a similar discussion on the model car board, we sent two parcels across the country, one Priority and the other First Class. Identical boxes. Both were delivered in the same delivery!
Every year there is one vendor at my model show who sends his response / payment by Priority Mail. No reason to do so, he had plenty of time but I guess he perceives he is getting something extra (maybe just tracking?) Difference is 47 cents for first class and $6 something for Priority. Pretty much just a donation to USPS
Thanks, Michael! The answer is January 17, 2016. That's when this new "Retail Ground" terminology was officially introduced into the system and that explains why it was new to me.
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"I no longer collect, but will never abandon the hobby"
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