This topic could be placed in the trade section but I think many folks that aren’t trading could have input or would like to know. If this is in the wrong category let me know and I will move it. Until this year I have gone inside the post office to send my scions but this year I’m having second thoughts about getting unnecessarily exposed. My usual method is to send them first class and mark as fragile. My question is there other options to send the scions without exposure and be sure the scions get properly cared for during transit? All comments or advise is welcome.
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print postage at home and stick them in your mailbox
I use paypal to print postage at home, you need an account but it’s otherwise “free” as in you get the commercial base rate (cheaper than the rate at the post office counter). no need for it to be associated with a paypal purchase
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You can also print labels directly from the USPS and schedule a pick-up:
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A good. And timely question.
There is a certain size ( ? ) small envelope that can be mailed from your box. I mailed some , a single layer of scions, in a small padded envelope from my box earlier this year, with a note “,postage please “ and cash to cover it .
Hopefully some one can tell us what size can be sent.?
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When you print from the USPS site, you pay the postage and it’s included on the label. You have to measure and weigh it, but you can ship almost any size of package that way. I assume the same for the PayPal site.
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Good to know ,
But I have No printer . So cannot do that.
What is the biggest envelope one can mail from a mail box ?
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You can mail any size envelope, or box that will fit in your mail box. They will take anything that has proper postage.
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This is true, but if it’s more than 13oz in weight or larger than 108 inches in “combined length and girth” then you’re not supposed to use stamps and have to either print a label or go to the post office.
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If you have a UPS shipping center near you they’ll also ship USPS. You won’t totally avoid exposure but they see a lot less volume and are much more efficient.
I thought the topic was about avoid the broken postal system that keeps losing mail 
You went a different direction with it!
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You are using old metrics. I work at the Post Office as a sales and Services Associate. It used to be 13 ounces but it is now 10 ounces. Sometimes people will put boxes into outgoing mail and I never scan it in and just send it with outgoing mail because they did give me a chance for the hazmat question.
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It can’t be any heavier than 10 oz to be picked up. A package can go up to 130 inches in terms of girth if you go retail ground. Chances are you are not going to get a scion that big under 10 oz though. I have had customers just drop packages in my outgoing mail and what I do is I don’t scan them in because I never got to ask them the Hazmat question. How big it can be depends on what you are sending. If it is bendable and there is not a bump in the envelop it can be sent as a letter. Anything more than 6 inches to 12 by 15 inches needs to be sent as a flat. Anything more has to be sent as a package. If it is not bendable it has to be sent as a package. This is actually relevant because I have had people get photos sent as flats and I bent them and the customers have complained. I simply told them the seller sent it as a flat which is to be bendable. You almost certainly would not want scions to be bent so you will need to send it as a package.
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Untrue. It has to be less than 10 OZ. If it weighs more than 10 oz it is to be returned to you.
@elivings1
What is the largest dimensions of a envelope that I can send with postage from my mailbox. Without having to answer hazmat questions etc.
Obviously if you send as a parcel then it can be picked up from your home (if you schedule a pick-up) right?
And I got the 13 oz number from the current USPS website, so if it changed to 10 oz they should fix that!
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Uh, here in Montana, I can put any size envelope or package that will fit in the mailbox along with cash money to pay for the unknown amount of postage, and the mailman will take it, do whatever it takes at the post office, and leave the change in my mailbox for me the next day. I can then put the cash returned to me with the rest of that day’s mail in the oven as a process for sterilization.
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I always like to use the postage box machine in the lobby. It has a scale and ruler, you enter the address, accept the wait, and select your mailing options (to include flat rate, express, insurance, etc.) The machine prints the postage, you stick it on, and place it in the integral bin. Easy peasy! I then hit the sanitizer station on the way out. For some reason most people do not like to use the machine and they wait in the very very long lines.
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The highest a envelop should weight is something like 3 oz but like I said if a envelop has a bump then it should be charged the non machinable surcharge at the very least. A envelope can get up to something like 6 inches long for letter size but can be 12 by 15 as a flat and a flat can be 3/4 inch thick while a letter can only be 1/4 inch thick.
If you can’t use the machine or don’t want to use the machine there are manual offices as well. The big offices always stay busy but there is offices that only have one PSE Sales and Service Clerk that never have any customers. They are small offices so often times people don’t know about them.
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