UnBelieveable....

[SMKS]

Lots of Home brewing concerning rules at different USPS offices, My Local store keeps the little 3/4" cutout template right next to the computer and there not afraid to use it.

Yeah, I've heard offices do that, but none of my local ones do.

Also, I've heard of lots of people saying their post office believes FRE can't be more than 3/4" thick. If you google it, you'll find our that is wrong, but that would be a huge PITA if one of my local offices thought that was the case.

Hiball -

What do they use the cutout for? The only legitimate use I can think of is determining if a package should be charged the First Class rate for packages or thick envelopes.

 

[Original Man]

Cant lie I laughed at the pictures you posted. That's ridiculous.

 

[Lump]

Now I'm scared to death about my package sent yesterday. My son packed it for me at our office, and I checked it myself afterwards. It was 62 LBS of 3/4" drive sockets in a Large Flat Rate Box. He taped it all over the place, and then set it on my desk. But I picked it up and taped it some more...and yet some more. It's really heavy! Now I am worrying whether or not it will arrive ok for the buyer in Oregon. And I am nervous about the packing inside. I didn't see the package until he had it heavily sealed. I sure hope he did a good job...and I sure hope it will get there ok. The weight limit for USPS Large Flat Rate Box is 70 LBS, and this one was only 62 LBS. But I have nightmares thinking about postal workers throwing it around and dropping it on the floor, etc. Shudder!

Now you guys have made me into a nervous wreck!

JRod, please let me know when that package shows up on your doorstep.

 

[kc-steve]

Now I'm scared to death about my package sent yesterday. . . Now you guys have made me into a nervous wreck!

He-he, I almost hate to mention this, but up until a year ago or so my postman didn't even bother to pay attention to which neighborhood mailbox he would put a package. Some of my neighbors were good enough to bring me the letters and packages addressed to me, but there are at least 2 deliveries that never made it to me. The ONLY way I knew this was happening was when I received some of my neighbor's mail and one of my neighbors received letters addressed to me.

I sent a complaint letter to the local postmaster without getting any reply, but fortunately that guy has been moved to another job. My current postman knocks on my door to deliver flat-rate packages with tracking now.

Steve

 

[Boiler]

Nothing wrong with using 1st class shipping for tools, I use it all the time. The 3/4" rule i believe is only affect for Mailing envelopes, You can ship stuff 1st class using Boxes.. As long as its under 13 ounces. I prefer to use Small flat rate boxes when shipping valuable tools, Especially just to save a buck or 2. I factor shipping into all my Tool Sales and anyone who has ever done business with me knows its packed to withstand the USPS Donkeys. Even if i use a padded envelope, I figure im gonna put extra tape on it, So ive got $.50 cents in the Envelope, .25 cents worth of tape and then the 1st class charge. Im getting pretty damn close to the cost of a Small flat rate box..

I use bubble wrap and tape on both small flat rate boxes and on bubble mailers. But your prices ****! Gotta hit up Uline or somewhere similar for this stuff. I get my bubble mailers by the case for 15-30 cents each. small boxes for 20 to 40 cents, medium / long ones for 50-70 cents. 12 x 12 x 1/4 bubble wrap for about 9 cents a sheet and 12 x 24 x 1/2" for about 12 cents a sheet. Medium gauge, Uline brand tape for $1.69 per roll when you buy a case of 36 rolls. And a roll lasts me a couple weeks so maybe 50 packages. Typically for a single tool I'll have 1/2 to 1 sheet of 1/4 bubble wrap, a mailer, and some tape. I also buy my labels by the crapton from label universe. They provide the USPS with the exact same labels for about twice the price. I also figur in the price of inkjet cartridges! In total, I shipped a 3/8" SO ratchet at 12 oz for approx 3.99, and that included bubble wrap, mailer, tape, ink, & a label. Add all that to a Small flat rate and you're up to about $6.50+.

The poly mailers are incredible too. You can't tear them, and their adhesive is instantly permanently bonded.

After all this work and having supplies on hand to get my shipping price down, I STILL got hammered on shipping cost enough to lose my top rated seller status. So now I have to do free shipping & I just add it in to the price and do buy it now.

Before they leave here, every box I pack is silent: nothing moves inside. I'd love to see how all of these things arrive but I get great feedback so I assume all is well.

 

[Hiball]

Yeah... I was just ball parkin on stuff, the important part I was trying to get across was the seller in my case spent $4 bucks to ship my ratchet in a ******** envelope and he could have used a flat Rate box and only spent $5 buck or probaly could have got away for $3 bucks using 1st class package. I really don't Buy too many packing supplies I get most from my Mother in laws employer. I do buy bubble mailers by the case for my rebuild kits. I normally ship around 30 packages a week with the majority being rebuild kits.

I use bubble wrap and tape on both small flat rate boxes and on bubble mailers. But your prices ****! Gotta hit up Uline or somewhere similar for this stuff. I get my bubble mailers by the case for 15-30 cents each. small boxes for 20 to 40 cents, medium / long ones for 50-70 cents. 12 x 12 x 1/4 bubble wrap for about 9 cents a sheet and 12 x 24 x 1/2" for about 12 cents a sheet. Medium gauge, Uline brand tape for $1.69 per roll when you buy a case of 36 rolls. And a roll lasts me a couple weeks so maybe 50 packages. Typically for a single tool I'll have 1/2 to 1 sheet of 1/4 bubble wrap, a mailer, and some tape. I also buy my labels by the crapton from label universe. They provide the USPS with the exact same labels for about twice the price. I also figur in the price of inkjet cartridges! In total, I shipped a 3/8" SO ratchet at 12 oz for approx 3.99, and that included bubble wrap, mailer, tape, ink, & a label. Add all that to a Small flat rate and you're up to about $6.50+.

The poly mailers are incredible too. You can't tear them, and their adhesive is instantly permanently bonded.

After all this work and having supplies on hand to get my shipping price down, I STILL got hammered on shipping cost enough to lose my top rated seller status. So now I have to do free shipping & I just add it in to the price and do buy it now.

Before they leave here, every box I pack is silent: nothing moves inside. I'd love to see how all of these things arrive but I get great feedback so I assume all is well.

 

[treasureseeker]

Now I'm scared to death about my package sent yesterday. My son packed it for me at our office, and I checked it myself afterwards. It was 62 LBS of 3/4" drive sockets in a Large Flat Rate Box. He taped it all over the place, and then set it on my desk. But I picked it up and taped it some more...and yet some more. It's really heavy! Now I am worrying whether or not it will arrive ok for the buyer in Oregon. And I am nervous about the packing inside. I didn't see the package until he had it heavily sealed. I sure hope he did a good job...and I sure hope it will get there ok. The weight limit for USPS Large Flat Rate Box is 70 LBS, and this one was only 62 LBS. But I have nightmares thinking about postal workers throwing it around and dropping it on the floor, etc. Shudder!

Now you guys have made me into a nervous wreck!

JRod, please let me know when that package shows up on your doorstep.

I would have double boxed it.

 

[treasureseeker]

I got a shipment where they used an envelope like the priority mail flat rate envelopes but it was brown and the SL80 handle was hanging four inches out of the package from the handle piercing the edges. I was surprised the sockets weren’t lost and you will never guess who sent it. They are the company that no longer puts USA on their ratchets.

 

[treasureseeker]

Lots of Home brewing concerning rules at different USPS offices, My Local store keeps the little 3/4" cutout template right next to the computer and there not afraid to use it.

My post office said the ¾” rule is over along with the one piece of tape deal from unhappy customers with the changes.

 

[treasureseeker]

The PFL envelopes are fine if you use them properly. I have sent hundreds of tools out in them, with zero problems. These tools include wrenches, screwdrivers, and even 1/2 drive ratchets.

It's actually a lot of work, and so I am looking for alternatives when I sell these days.

I use all priority mail items to pack my tools going into the priority mail flat rate envelopes. For padding I use the tyvek bags and wrap the items separately than collectively. There is a priority mail box non flat rate that is a little larger than the small flat rate box. I put two of them together overlapping the long way. It’s about five minutes to wrap and works best with the bubble flat rates envelopes. I then tape the Hell out of the envelope so even if it tears the box wil remian with the envelope.

 

[Toolhorder]

I got a shipment where they used an envelope like the priority mail flat rate envelopes but it was brown and the SL80 handle was hanging four inches out of the package from the handle piercing the edges. I was surprised the sockets weren’t lost and you will never guess who sent it. They are the company that no longer puts USA on their ratchets.

Must have been "Mac" then because all the stuff I get from Snappy is overboxed and overpacked. They sent me a single socket once in a huge box full of brown paper and in the very bottom was a bag in a knot with a single socket inside. The box was like the size of a human head and the socket the size of a pinkie.

 

[nate379]

Snap On?

We had an order at work a while back for a 4 or 5 3/8" drive ratchets. I kid you not, a 3ftx3ft box showed up. For EACH ratchet.

I got a shipment where they used an envelope like the priority mail flat rate envelopes but it was brown and the SL80 handle was hanging four inches out of the package from the handle piercing the edges. I was surprised the sockets weren’t lost and you will never guess who sent it. They are the company that no longer puts USA on their ratchets.

 

[csmitty]

Shoot I had a replacement flex head ratchet come from corwell UPS and the end was open on, can't remember if i was a padded envelope or not, ratchet didn't have anything on it. I just pulled it out of the end. Was amazing it survived.

 

[05CarbonDRZ]

I have never had a problem with Snap-On shipping.The boxes are always 10x too big for the tool and sometimes multiple boxes for my order when all the tools would easily fit in one.The package always arrives in 2 days and I have never seen them ship anything in a envelope even very small items and sockets.

 

[plinker]

I've had two of those flat rate envolpes show up torn and one was missing a socket. If they were taped up good they may be alright, but it'd be faster using a box, IMO.

One person on ebay shipped some sockets in a tyvek type envlope/bag, no packing, and it got stuck in the post offices machine and showed up six months later.

It is pathetic how some people package things (insert head banging into wall smilie here).

 

[treasureseeker]

Must have been "Mac" then because all the stuff I get from Snappy is overboxed and overpacked. They sent me a single socket once in a huge box full of brown paper and in the very bottom was a bag in a knot with a single socket inside. The box was like the size of a human head and the socket the size of a pinkie.

I screwed up. It has Snap On Crystal lake listed as a return address but no pick list like Snap on. I buy more than I can keep track of.

My Bad

 

[meank20]

I just ship everything FedEx. It's nice to get a 75% discount.

 

[GoodoleBoy]

Funny, I use Padded and bubble wrap envelopes and use the extra thick MM clear packing tape to secure the packages for tools and almost everything i ship..This makes it almost puncture and tear proof, the thick tape that is..This is the $6 a roll tape not the cheapy $2 stuff. I wrap it twice actually.

In addition I am less likly to have anything get stolen becuase they fit inside the mailboxes..As opposed to boxes which carriers alot of times nowdays rubberband to the mailbox instead of dropping at the door, which is a high theft spot also.

This was the main motive for me to ship in envelopes..Boxes left on aporch will be stolen by opputunity, a person going througha mailbox and stealing is less likely and not an opputunity theft.

Eitherway, he may have done you a favor..Imagine a nice little Prioirty mail box sitting out at your door in some apt complex, vs.a envelope in cozy mailbox.

 

[Hiball]

Funny, I use Padded and bubble wrap envelopes and use the extra thick MM clear packing tape to secure the packages for tools and almost everything i ship..This makes it almost puncture and tear proof, the thick tape that is..This is the $6 a roll tape not the cheapy $2 stuff. I wrap it twice actually.

In addition I am less likly to have anything get stolen becuase they fit inside the mailboxes..As opposed to boxes which carriers alot of times nowdays rubberband to the mailbox instead of dropping at the door, which is a high theft spot also.

This was the main motive for me to ship in envelopes..Boxes left on aporch will be stolen by opputunity, a person going througha mailbox and stealing is less likely and not an opputunity theft.

Eitherway, he may have done you a favor..Imagine a nice little Prioirty mail box sitting out at your door in some apt complex, vs.a envelope in cozy mailbox.

LOL.. I Not only ship 30 packages a week on average, I also receive about 10+ a week. I have a front porch and have never had anything stolen in 11 years of living here. You guys can spin this scenario however you want to but in the End it was a POOR shipping decision and im gratefull that its in my toolbox.

 

[Hiball]

Another Minor Issue, Really more of a Learning experience for anyone who does alot of shipping.

[/IMG]

The Sender will rename nameless because they have informed me that they are gonna take care of the Postage.

You Cant manipulate the Sealing edges of Flat Rate envelopes, The above picture is a Flat rate envelope that has been folded over and covered with Tape. Now obviously the Initial Post office didnt have any issues with accepting the package, but before it got to me they had added Shipping charges. I cant find the "Legal" print but if my memory recalls the sealed edge "Has" to close on its own, This doesnt mean that you cant put tape over the seam, but it cant be gapped. There is also some Language in the Flat Rate envelope section that states that Flat Rate envelopes arent designed for Bulky items and FRB's should be used. I know we have lots of members who use the Flat rate envelopes without problems, So it can be done but some caution has to be taken. I received the above box in perfect shape, It was wrapped with enough tape to keep it safe, but at the same time it was impossible to make out that it was a flat rate envelope initially.

 

[GoodoleBoy]

LOL.. I Not only ship 30 packages a week on average, I also receive about 10+ a week. I have a front porch and have never had anything stolen in 11 years of living here. You guys can spin this scenario however you want to but in the End it was a POOR shipping decision and im gratefull that its in my toolbox.

LOL Never thought of this as an isue of "spinning".LOL ..That (spinning issues) is reserved for stuff like politics not shipping envelopes vs. boxes...LOL


Anyway you hd good luck, some had bad and good like myself..I had a box of checks stolen from my front porch theives took over $3,000 in my checking account..Would it have been avoided if the checks were in the mailbox? Yes.

I prefer valauable stuff not to be left out in open, you dont wht kind of area you are shipping alot of times and leaving mail pacakges outside in urban area is not a smart thing.

 

[Skin]

I had a box of checks stolen from my front porch theives took over $3,000 in my checking account..Would it have been avoided if the checks were in the mailbox? Yes.

Hows that work? Did the stores not check I.D.? Seems pretty inept.

 

[Hiball]

LOL Never thought of this as an isue of "spinning".LOL ..That (spinning issues) is reserved for stuff like politics not shipping envelopes vs. boxes...LOL

3 "LOL's" in 1 sentence is Serious bizzness. Yes, I expect there are places where theft is a issue. This is the reason that Paypal requires "Signature" Confirmation on Sales over $250 bucks. If i lived in a Theft prone area i would simply pay the extra small fee requiring a Signature.

***** that someone got into your checking account.

 

[Hiball]

Hows that work? Did the stores not check I.D.? Seems pretty inept.

No Doubt.. I cant even remember the last time i wrote a Check, But everytime im behind someone that is using one its like watching a "Monkey F_ _ _ a Football".

 

[Lump]

Now I'm scared to death about my package sent yesterday. My son packed it for me at our office, and I checked it myself afterwards. It was 62 LBS of 3/4" drive sockets in a Large Flat Rate Box. He taped it all over the place, and then set it on my desk. But I picked it up and taped it some more...and yet some more. It's really heavy! Now I am worrying whether or not it will arrive ok for the buyer in Oregon. Now you guys have made me into a nervous wreck!

JRod, please let me know when that package shows up on your doorstep.

YAY! Jared emailed to tell me that my 62 lb package arrived safe and sound. WHEW!

 

[db130]

add this to the list of shame:

a 1/2" proto flex ratchet that almost escaped during a trip from GA to MA...

 

[warmpancakes]

fresh out of the mailbox

notice the ratchet poking out of the package
there should have been 2 ratchets
loosely wrapped in bubble rap, 5 cents worth of tape on the edges would have prevented this