Large letter shenanigans

[elusiveeditions]

Hi all, just a quick question, sounds trivial but please bear with me. I sell books (only a little on ebay but will probably increase it soon for lack of anywhere else to clear my stock) and often use large letter for small books, so no tracking and must be <20mm but it's nice and cheap.

Anything larger (like your standard 300+ page paperback) goes in a 500g satchel. These are overpriced as has been discussed here before, which must put buyers off cheaper stock, but you do get tracking which is great if the buyer claims INR.

I sometimes send books as parcels, but you can't accurately pre-price postage without knowing the destination. It's too messy to be refunding postage b/c I charged too much or taking a loss b/c I charged too little.

ANYWAY- as a minor test I bought a few cheap p/backs (well over 20mm.... one was closer to 60mm) to see how other sellers do this. Two of them arrived in A4 enevlopes, with 2 or 3 $0.70 stamps on them.

That's not a large letter is it? A 600 page book? They wouldn't have met the weight requirements for large letter at those prices, let alone the <20mm.

So- is it just a fluke that these got through and you're not really supposed to do this? It'd be great if I could send standard paperbacks for $2.10 but afaik you can't, and these sellers have just been lucky/don't realise/are trying it on etc. Is that right?

Apologies for longwinded-ness 🙂

[cherry*135]

A little tiny bit of resistance is ok (even on the drop test.. if you shake the board a tad it might fall through) but I err on the side of caution.

Not at my PO it isn't. If it doesn't slip straight through without touching the sides, it doesn't pass as letter rate.

They are quite strict about this, all the staff, not just one or 2. 

I usually pop letter rate items in the box outside the PO, but if I am in doubt about the height, I go in and get them to check it.

A question: If Seller sends a letter rate item to buyer, and by intention only puts 2 stamps (70c) on instead of 3 and the shortage is picked up by the sorting centre and the seller is sent a short paid postage invoice.. do the AP staff also mark on the parcel it is underpaid?

Just wondering if they do, then the buyer would know. If they don't mark it and buyer receives a book thicker than letter rate limit, then buyer wouldn't know whether seller has been sent a short paid postage invoice for that item.

[black*poppy]

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@am*3 wrote:

A question: If Seller sends a letter rate item to buyer, and by intention only puts 2 stamps (70c) on instead of 3 and the shortage is picked up by the sorting centre and the seller is sent a short paid postage invoice.. do the AP staff also mark on the parcel it is underpaid?

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Yes.  I have received a couple of those.

[harley_babes_hoard]

There is a large seller on here who sells business supplies. I purchased some satchels with free post. I received a 500 grm satchel but when I collected I had to pay excess postage. The seller posted 1.5 kilo in the 500 gm satchel. I contacted the seller and told them what had happened and asked for them to reimburse me the fine, He did but then also said they always post like that. They do not put any return addy on their parcels which is why I copped the fine. I no longer support their criminal ways and also reported them to my postal manager.

[van_werkhoven]

The post office is rediculous as far as the guage goes. The limit is 20mm, the slot is 20mm. If the package goes through the slot, even if it meets resistance, it is less than 20mm. I don't see anyone fitting a 22mm item through a hole which is smaller than the item is. So I never post at the post office. I have a guage and I run every package through it, if it goes through, even with some tugging, I post it. I always weigh things and post for the correct weight though. I don't feel any guilt over that, if it goes in the hole then it is smaller than the hole, the idea that it has to be 15mm, not 20mm, so it can go through without touching the sides is not what the regulations are and the post offices doing it make me really frustrated.

Having said that, your 600 page books sound like a total joke, no way they fit through the guage, they're just outright lying and hoping not to get caught.

I did get a bill once, and I suspect what happened with that one was that two items which had been side-by-side became loose and slid on top of one another, making the letter definitely oversize. As long as you attach a return address the bill goes to you, not to the buyer.

[dylan11235813]

Sometimes items puff out a little (because of trapped air) or if using a bubble mailer they can be about 5mm larger and an item can be forced through, which is why I assume they are doing the drop test. I totally agreee with the resistance (friction) thing if right on 20mm and if an items is very light it will not go through even if the item is within size (I assume those gauges are right on 20mm).

[digital*ghost]

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@van_werkhoven wrote:

The post office is rediculous as far as the guage goes. The limit is 20mm, the slot is 20mm. 

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The slot at the post office, on average, is actually around 18mm*, so they would reject quite a few packages that do in fact meet the large letter requirements.

*Different people have gotten different measurements from their AP gauges, but almost all of them have been under 20mm, and some of the wider ones were older / more used. 

[annies_fancy_dress]

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I did get a bill once, and I suspect what happened with that one was that two items which had been side-by-side became loose and slid on top of one another, making the letter definitely oversize. As long as you attach a return address the bill goes to you, not to the buyer.

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I use sticky tape to make sure items stay in place, works great.

[Anonymous]

i sell DVDs and post in a padded bag

All my dvds go as large letters. DVDs in a normal envelope will go through the 20mm slot comfortably but as i pack my items properly in a padded bubble bag the package still goes through the 20mm slot but with resistance.

My PO worker told me if i wanted to be safe i should pop some of the bubbles on the sides of the envelope and it will go through the slot easier.

I dont bother popping bubbles and always just post them the way they are. Yes there is resistance when going through the slot.. sometimes its a bit snug..

I mostly post into the red box but sometimes at my local PO

I have never had a problem. 

The only thing i do is check weight so i make sure i have enough stamps on them. DVDs are mostly 2x70c stamps unless its either a heavier case or a double disc DVD which is 3x70c stamps

Also its cheaper for me to send 2, 3 or even 4 DVDs sepatately than it is for me to send them together as a small parcel... stupid eh

[cq_tech]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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@van_werkhoven wrote:

The post office is rediculous as far as the guage goes. The limit is 20mm, the slot is 20mm. 

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The slot at the post office, on average, is actually around 18mm*, so they would reject quite a few packages that do in fact meet the large letter requirements.

*Different people have gotten different measurements from their AP gauges, but almost all of them have been under 20mm, and some of the wider ones were older / more used. 

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Upon reading the above, I immediately grabbed hold of my little-used official AP letter gauge which was given to me by my local LPO and checked the inside measurement with my digital vernier micrometer. The gap varied from between 19.185mm to 19.287mm, which as you quite rightly suggested is actually less than the maximum permitted width of 20mm. To say that I'm not impressed would be a gross understatement, and I'm now wondering just how (in)accurate their scales are. I'm also wondering how interested the Dept of Weights and Measures would be to learn of this discrepancy.

[cq_tech]

sjr1974 wrote:  Also its cheaper for me to send 2, 3 or even 4 DVDs sepatately than it is for me to send them together as a small parcel... stupid eh

I also sell DVDs and like you have found the same thing. However, if you're selling 2 x double or triple DVDs to the same buyer, instead of using 2 x No 1 padded bags @ $2.10 postage each for total of $4.20, it's slightly cheaper to send them side by side in a single No 2 padded bag for $3.50 postage. OK, it's only a saving of 70c but every little bit helps these days, especially when eBay have their grubby hands outstretched for a cut of everything.