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Non Machinable surcharge ??? . . . when using the USPS
#1
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Non Machinable surcharge ??? . . . when using the USPS
Hey my fellow hobbyist. Just wanted to share this with you all (y'all). As always for years, I either sell or trade cards. When I ship them, I package the card with a soft sleeve, then into a hard sleeve, then into a team resealable bag with the invoice wrapped around the card and into a standard 3 X 6 envelope, weight the package with my digital kitchen scale and put on a nice USPS baseball 45¢ Forever stamp on it and ship it.

Today, I had a card returned to me in red all over the envelope with sayings of . . . "Needed More Postage" , "Return To Sender" (w/ the hand pointing to my return address), and "NON MACHINABLE". Never seen this before, so I looked it up.

New postage rates became effective January 22, 2012:
If your letter exceeds any of the above letter dimensions it will be classified and priced as a large envelope (flat). All First-Class Mail non machinable letters are subject to a 20-cent non machinable surcharge.

I mailed about hundred of cards a month in the last 2 years and this is my first time and ever heard of this. How do you know what's machinable and non machinable? That's our good ol' USPS working hard for us . . . I guess.
WANTED: Pete Rose / Dale Murphy before 1981 / BUY or TRADE

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#2

RE: Non Machinable surcharge ??? . . . when using the USPS
This is not official, just a guess from info I remember from another thread that sounds similar. I think if it is 1 inch or maybe it's as low as 3/4 of an inch thick it is not able to go through a machine. People put a little extra padding or 1 foam peanut to make it thicker to avoid the machines. Again, this could be way off, but that is my guess.
[Image: badtime.jpg]
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#3

RE: Non Machinable surcharge ??? . . . when using the USPS
At the Post Office they have a plastic template with a slot cut into it. If your envelope can pass through the slot and bends easily (No Toploaders) then it needs $0.45 in postage. If it is too thick to go through the slot or it won't bend easily it will jam their automatic sorting machines. Therefore it is classified as non-machinable and requires a $0.20 surcharge. This is why there is so many horror stories about people using a PWM and receiving an empty envelope. The machine jams and the envelope gets ripped up because it won't bend around the corners in the machine.

As for the other question, If you send as a First Class Mail/Parcel as a Package or Thick envelope (PayPal Shipping $1.64) there is a minimum thickness of 3/4". A toploader and several cards in a bubble mailer is less than 3/4" so I wrap some extra bubble wrap around it to thicken it up.

Ray
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#4

RE: Non Machinable surcharge ??? . . . when using the USPS
that charge is nothing new and has been in place for years only the price they charge for it has went up over time. that service update you posted is not about machine-chargeable being a new fee, it is just stating "there is a fee if" tacked onto the end of the first part of the update.


means the envelope has to be hand-sorted and not just fed through automated machines (as mentioned above because a) it can absolutely shred the package b) jam up their machines - requires more manpower to sort those by hand - thus the surcharge.

if you drop it in a box with a stamp on it - you have just got lucky they haven't started getting returned earlier - or that the person receives it with postage due.

if you bring it to a counter to pay for it, its rare they won't charge you for it - and for most items I send in PWE (stickers/patches through our record label) I'd rather pay the 20 cents and it be sent properly rather than save 20 cents and risk screwing up the package (they do a good enough job mangling our stuff on their own LOL)

Jonny Venters - Super Collector
Overall Collection (113/157 72% Complete)
base/parallels (85/85 100%)
1/1's (28/72 39%)

always looking for venters 1/1's and 2008/2010 low numbered refractors
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#5

RE: Non Machinable surcharge ??? . . . when using the USPS
It is a sorting machine issue for sure.
PWE is always a risk of placing in machine and crushing or tearing envelope.
Some PO are really sticklers about this, they feel the envelopes, others toss them in and away they go.
I have 2 POs close by, one will always accept PWE for regular postage and the other ALWAYS does not.
I use Paypal and bubble envelopes for most items...Avoid the problems all together when possible and practical..
I reuse the bubble envelopes I get to keep costs down.
Also, on Paypal postage the DC is free..
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#6

RE: Non Machinable surcharge ??? . . . when using the USPS
If it does not bend it will not go through their machine and it need .20 cents more. It has been that way for several years now, it is just that they started being more stickler about it.
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#7

RE: Non Machinable surcharge ??? . . . when using the USPS
(09-26-2012, 06:35 PM)raylon Wrote: Hey my fellow hobbyist. Just wanted to share this with you all (y'all). As always for years, I either sell or trade cards. When I ship them, I package the card with a soft sleeve, then into a hard sleeve, then into a team resealable bag with the invoice wrapped around the card and into a standard 3 X 6 envelope, weight the package with my digital kitchen scale and put on a nice USPS baseball 45¢ Forever stamp on it and ship it.

Today, I had a card returned to me in red all over the envelope with sayings of . . . "Needed More Postage" , "Return To Sender" (w/ the hand pointing to my return address), and "NON MACHINABLE". Never seen this before, so I looked it up.

New postage rates became effective January 22, 2012:
If your letter exceeds any of the above letter dimensions it will be classified and priced as a large envelope (flat). All First-Class Mail non machinable letters are subject to a 20-cent non machinable surcharge.

I mailed about hundred of cards a month in the last 2 years and this is my first time and ever heard of this. How do you know what's machinable and non machinable? That's our good ol' USPS working hard for us . . . I guess.
Hi everyone,

I know that this is an old thread but does anyone have any information on what's a "non-machinable" size for international mails? I was mailing a few holiday cards to my friends, who are located outside of the US, and some of my cards got returned as "non-machinable" and "need to add stamps" while the others seemed to have gone through. I do admit that they were of a slightly different size, but it was not even half an inch.
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#8

RE: Non Machinable surcharge ??? . . . when using the USPS
I'm fairly certain it's about thickness. When I'm at the USPS in person, they often slide my smaller card packages through something to see if the machine will be able to process it.
I appreciate Chicago players that begin competing within the city's sports organizations and stay with these teams throughout their careers.
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#9

RE: Non Machinable surcharge ??? . . . when using the USPS
Actually even if the package can be "Machinable" you can prevent that from happening. People send photos etc etc that cannot go through the sorting machines. If the package is clearly marked with "DO NOT BEND" they will skip that process and place it in the proper bin.....I do have these stickers for sale
[Image: rm1_zpsecc24267.jpg]
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#10

RE: Non Machinable surcharge ??? . . . when using the USPS
When I ship I usually do it in bubble mailers but on occasions when I DO use PWE I will always go to the PO & tell them I want non-machinable which is like .70 cents but definitely better than replace a bent or creased card.
PC=Giancarlo Stanton, Kemp, Longoria, Tulowitzki, Griffey Jr, Pujols, Jeter, Randy Johnson, Helton, Biggio, Bagwell, Chipper Jones, Votto..
I trade for similar cards.

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