Number of stamps needed?

[deadlyblade21]

I have 120x180x50 (all in mm) bubble padded pags. I want to ship a bracelet thats approximately 50g in weight. I know that the maximum allowed for letter delivery is 20mm in thickness. This bracelet is 19mm in thickness. How much $$ worth of stamps do I need to place on the bubble padded bag before I ship? Btw, I only own 70c stamps currently.

[cherry*135]

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@deadlyblade21 wrote:

Thankkkk you guys!! so much!

So it's 2x 70c ones 🙂

Btw I do live near a post office, but I've heard that they are really strict when it comes to sending through letter delivery, and try to look for every way possible to force you to use the parcel delivery service, although the item is clearly well suited for letter delivery. So I wanted to do it on my own, using those red boxes. Anyway thankks guys 🙂

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If the package is more than 20mm in height, even though you have posted it with enough stamps to cover letter rate, you could still get an underpaid postage notice.. requiriing the difference between what you paid and $7.20 (parcel rate) plus a $1.50 admin fee.

Just because you stick mail direct in the PO Mailing boxes doesn't mean they aren't checked for weight and height, correct postage is attached further down the track.

I don't  find the PO staff strict, they do what they are paid to and that is to follow the postal charges regulations.

[cherry*135]

I use printed address labels. I bought a small Label writer machine with software, this year (which prints labels one at a time, not like using sheets of labels inserted in a normal printer). 

[thecatspjs]

Oh dear the posting poster police have arrived ....

I find most of the Post Office staff I have dealt with over the years great, but my goodness there are some that are clearly in the wrong job and are very unhelpful.

[aps1080]

Strict ?

It depends on which po you go to.

One near me is by the book, whichever is higher in price.

The other one is flexible as far as they can.

[goaussies1]

This is how i work out my costs:

auspost.com.au/apps/postage-calculator.html

Works for pretty much everything. and you can work out which postage options are cheapest for your particular item. This would show you:

Large Letter

Up to 260mm x 360mm x 20mm and up to 125g

costs $1.40

Provided your bag is within the dimensions, it usually counts as a letter. Just keep the braclet flat.

[cherry*135]

Maybe particular customers attitudes irks them and and they have a momentary lapse into unhelpfulness and then appear to be in the wrong job.

I got an underpaid notice for an item I posted in a padded bag, which must have been about 1mm to high, so they can get checked after they are placed in a street side box. (it's was a very light item, wouldn't have exceeded the postage rate on the bag)

[cq_tech]

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@aps1080 wrote:

Don't know exactly but I posted a DVD the other day for $1.86 as a letter in one of those white padded bags.

That was 125 to 250 gm

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Why $1.86? That's a rather strange amount to be paying for stamps to go on a large letter.

Most single DVDs come in at around 118g and can be sent in a PB1 padded bag for $1.40.

However, double DVDs exceed 125g by a few grams and you need to use 3 stamps (i.e. $2.10).

Incidentally, you can send 2 x DVDs (single or double) in a PB2 with 5 stamps for a total of $3.50.

[curraone]

I tried to reply to this and it did not "take" - have I been naughty?

[aps1080]

cq

I don't know, but it was over 125gm so that might have made a difference.

I charged $3 for postage so I was covered for everything.

[cq_tech]

I can't see how. As mentioned earlier in this thread there are only 3 levels of large letters; up to 125g (2 stamps), between 125g & 250g (3 stamps), and 250g to 500g (5 stamps). Beyond that becomes parcel post. If your DVD weighed over 125g it should have cost you $2.10. There are no intermediate amounts so where $1.86 comes into the equation is completely beyond me.

As over 95% of my items are sent via large letter, I keep 3 different types of envelope, depending upon the type of item being sent. Most DVDs go in a PB1 with 2 or 3 stamps, depending upon their weight, but if thickness is an issue I use a standard C5 manila envelope without padding.

For some heavier items I use prepaid C5 envelopes which I buy in bulk from my LPO in packs of 10 for $17.10 (singly they cost $1.80 each) and for items weighing up to 500g and which are less than 20mm thick, there is simply no cheaper method of postage available.