Monday

Priority Mail Shipping Tricks of the Trade

I have used Click-N-Ship since the first year it was available and love it! If a customer is willing to pay the $4.80 for one pound of product or less then this is the way to go!

Sign up and get a business account at www.usps.com. When you log on go to top right corner next to Help and click Sign up. Then follow the steps. You will be able to give them a credit card or your Paypal account to pay for your purchase of postage.

Once your account is setup you can log in, fill out the customers mailing labels, print the labels (be sure and put the correct date you want item shipped), pay, then print the scan form (this is scanned by the post-person when they pickup your package or when you take the package to the post office. You can request a pickup at no charge, as they are required to come get it the day you request. Of course, you have to request pickup for the next day or any day in the future.

I happen to have a wonderful postman who comes to my door everyday because I have him trained to expect packages everyday!

Most of my products are easy damaged so I need a stiff box to protect the items. I order priority boxes in several sizes including the flat rate boxes for larger and heavier orders. I seldom use the envelopes except for fabric or items that will not be damaged easily.

Priority box # 1097 is the smallest priority box that is rectangle. I take this box and cut it in half then score the cut edges about 1 1/2 -2" from the edge to make smaller boxes. Cut the corner down to the score line then just fold and make the box. It won't have the sticky strip of paper but you can tape the box closed. Then put your label on it and it is ready to go.

I also get orders that will fill 4 or 5 of the #1097 boxes, so I tape them all together and ship as one package.

The post office excepts the "home" made box and the group of boxes taped together.

Build a rapport with your post-person and they will take care of you! On days when I run errands I leave the packages (already labeled with click-n-ship) and the scan form in an ice chest and my wonderful postman checks there if I don't answer the door!

The post office use to give rolls of priority tape to customers who shipped priority mail but most do not anymore. But if you live in a small town and know your post people they will usually give you some.

Now if they would only let me print first class labels I would be madly in love!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good idea! But is illegal to alter or reconstruct USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes in any way.
Tried it years ago and packages were refused.
I'm sure at some point someone at your local PO will catch this and that will be the end of that.

hi said...

Thanks for the awesome post! I just signed up at USPS.

My only question is...there's so much stuff you can order - what do you really NEED?

Betty said...

Anonymous,

That is not true that it is illegal to alter their boxes. I cut a size down to fit my products and I pay the same amount in shipping as if the box was the bigger size.

I have shipped Priority Mail with these cut down boxes for over 16 years in at least two different states and 5 different cities and never had one rejected.

I did have a post office in Delaware send back 4 boxes I had taped together and said I could not do that. I contacted their Postmaster and he contacted his superiors and they informed him he DID have to accept the boxes taped together.