Questions regarding to USPS

can I use stamps to send package?

Yes, but then you should give it to a postal clerk and not in the blue box.

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can I send international first class with this?

Yes, but you should probably mail it in person at the post office. I think you’ll need a customs form - Europe just started requiring forms for more things than before - and USPS has been concerned about larger envelopes since 9/11/01.

When in doubt, mail in person.

thank you for letting me know. I am asking that because I want to swap package with someone in the UK. Thanks

Both the postage for overseas mail and the need for a customs form pretty much depends on what you’re mailing. If the envelope is over a certain weight, or inflexible, or more than a quarter inch thick, it would be best, as keohusa stated, to mail it at a postal window. (I was unpleasantly surprised last week after sending a Postcrosser in England a small paperback book in a package whose total weight was one pound; it cost $28.00 to mail it via regular first class international mail).

the usa will not send mail to Russia again until they pull out of the Ukraine most likely. It is part of our embargo on Russia. you can check the postal monitor on the main page of Postcrossing it is inside one of the tabs at the top.

yes, it is the same thing…some clerks will comply and some will not. The moody clerk at my post office said it messes up the system…so they probably still run it thru the regular system and it could get 2 cancellations. the sorting plant does not like having to deal with pieces manually anymore and hand cancelling creates a forced manual handling at some point.

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Thank you! Will try sending a test card with hand cancellation to myself to see if it looks any better than the machine cancellation.

Correct fun and quick combinations:

$1 + $.53 (postcard) + 2ct
$0.92 (2 ounces) + $0.53 (postcard) + 10ct

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Thank you great suggestion

Fwiw, my preferred combinations for international postage at this moment are either:

  • Forever (68¢) + 2× 40¢ + 5¢ + 2¢; or
  • Forever (68¢) + 2× 40¢ + 4¢ + 3¢.

It allows me to highlight a specific Forever stamp while also providing a decent variety of readily-available, low-denomination stamps.

Hi everyone!

There’s a pinned wiki post for stamp combinations if you’d like to share some of the ones you are currently using! Thank you :slight_smile:


Anyone know how to send wooden cards?

Check this topic:

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I purchased a wooden postcard at a National park. The sales volunteer had worked for the post office and told me it was the same price as a regular letter. I think I may have put a little extra because I didn’t want to break up a set of postage. It arrived in China just fine. You could use the non- machinable stamp. I couldn’t find a pen that would work so I put labels on the one side. That may have helped hold it together. An episode of Exploring Stamps showed one that had broken in half.

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I didn’t think USPS allowed wooden postcards.

Minimum size is 3x5inches. I have seen smaller than that make it thru but it is really too small and can get lost. The maximum is about 12x15 inches. Both extremes incur a surcharge…smaller than 3x5 needs the non-machineable stamp or like postage added… makes it about $1.10 (postage just went up and i don’t have the current rate… it was 1.04) the cost to send something over about a half sheet size must be sent at a higher rate. It’s called a flat. The usps website has a price calculator…you input the destination zipcode or country, dimensions and weight and it tells you what the cost will be.

Is there any rhyme or reason to the delay in this delivery?

I ordered something from a small business in Michigan and they mailed it in a small padded envelope addressed to my office on January 9th. Here’s how it went:

1/10 15:42 USPS in possession of item in Troy, MI
1/11 02:39 item arrived at Detroit distribution center.
1/15 11:26 departed Detroit. 1/15 was the MLK federal holiday. Why it sat from Thursday, 1/11 until Monday, 1/15 and departed on a postal holiday is not clear.
1/15 18:38 arrived Chicago logistics center
1/16 02:10 departed Chicago
1/16 04:44 arrived Madison distribution center. That was quick!
1/17 06:10 out for delivery in Madison 53715. The mailroom at work has not seen it.
1/20 10:48 arrived Oak Creek distribution center (near Milwaukee, 90 miles east of Madison). Wait, what?!
1/21 01:07 arrived Oshkosh regional facility (100 mi NW of Oak Creek). Umm, why?
1/21 03:04 departed Oak Creek. How did it get back here?
1/21 05:06 arrived Madison distribution center. Ok, good.
1/22 n/t in transit to Next Facility. Uh, where would that be?
1/23 04:07 departed Oshkosh distribution center (90 miles NE of Madison). Not again!
1/24 03:38 arrived Madison distribution center. For the 3rd time.
1/24 03:57 arrived at USPS facility 53715. We’re getting closer!
1/24 04:57 arrived at Post Office 53715. Two blocks from my office.
1/24 08:17 delivered to PO Box. Not my PO Box. My company’s PO Box. Item was addressed to the street address of my office.
1/24 17:15 The mailroom at work didn’t have it. I went in person and asked the clerk to see if was still in the PO box. It was in a tote on the floor behind the counter at the PO two blocks from my office probably set to be delivered 1/25.

Fifteen days!!!
What a long strange trip it’s been! But, why?!
To go 440 miles which would be a 6.5 hour car ride. If someone had ridden their bicycle from Troy to Madison, they would have gotten here in just under 6 days.

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A friend mailed one of those NP wooden cards to me last summer and it arrived broken in half in a “we’re sorry” bag.

It sounds like they were trying to charge you for a large envelope/“flat” rate. They should probably be mailed as hand-cancel only and not put through the regular sorting process.