General Forum

Thought I would start a forum about this. Basically, a what to do & not do. That makes things easy for all. two things to start it off That I can think of..

1. Write the trade ID number, either on a piece of paper in the envelope or on the back of the envelope. With people not using their given names here. I have to click down my trades list to find out what one I've received. as I imagine we all do. It is called an ID# for a reason, to help all to identify. :)

2. Don't write "do not bend" on a PWE. It's sad to say but they always show up, all bent up. Is it just encouraging the postman to bend it? A little joy for them in a boring job. Tell something not to do something and they will and from what I've seen, it looks like they do.  :(

nonmalleable mail has to be, hand sorted and cost more to send. Don't poke the bear. 

I know I am a bit of a knucklehead, but, what is a PWE?

Plain White Envelope

Gotcha, thanks!

Thanks for the tips.  Out of 30+ packages received, I have seen exactly one, very recently, that wrote a note including the trade ID number.  Some guys write a short note, 'thanks for the trade' and the like, and many don't, instead sending just raw (usually well-packaged) cards, and I'm fine with that too.  I usually include a short note and now I'll adopt the practice of writing the trade ID number as well.

Now... can I write NON-MACHINABLE conspicuously on the envelope, pay the extra 15¢ using the butterfly stamp or equivalent, hope they actually sort the thing by hand and then it has a shot at arriving intact?  In other words, your original message was specifically to avoid writing DO NOT BEND on a 1 oz first-class stamped (55¢) envelope and expecting the added care for free, am I understanding?

In summary they will treat my mail better if I pay extra... at least that is the hope.

With the rate change it actually cheaper to send a non-machinable PWE. Yeah, okay, by a whole penny. Best to just have them put a non-machineable label on it. Delivery people for years have taken the Do Not Bend handwritten note as a challenge to see how mangled they could really get it. I just had a trade where the sender put a Do Not Bend and a regular stamp on the envelop. It was sent back to him due to lack of postage. I've sent all my PWEs non-machinable and have never heard a complaint about condition.

I write non machinable on each one I mail, and pay the extra fee. I have done so for years.

With the new upgrade to the mail kiosk, it asks for complete address when mailing which takes more time...but....I am hoping that with the new bar code that prints that the non machinable surcharge I paid for is handled in their machines as far as kicking them to an exception belt or something

mark

The ID thing is a nice idea and I may try to remember that one but how many trades do some of you have going on at one time? I think I have had maybe 4 or 5 in progress at one time but I have never felt it was a chore to figure out who a package was from.

DO NOT USE REGULAR SCOTCH (CLEAR, CELLOPHANE) TAPE. Especially NOT on toploaders, or card "savers" If tape must be used use painter's tape or a similar type of tape. If you do use tape do not overuse it either. Just enough to keep whatever closed. If you feel that a toploader needs to be taped use some regular paper to cover the opening and then tape the paper to the toploader, or wrap the whole thing in a sheet of paper and tape the paper shut. NOT the toploader.

clear tape for outside of envelope, and masking/painters tape for card holders inside