All Narfed Up words and photography by Bryan Villarin

Posts Tagged ‘USPS’

Don’t fear USPS First Class or Parcel Post

In Business, Life, Money, Review on 10 April 2010 tagged mailing, shipping, US Postal Service, USPS with no comments

I returned a pair of shoes to 6pm.com a few days ago. It hurt because of the return shipping cost, but at least they’re not sitting at home, unused.

I opted for USPS Parcel Post ($11.57) for the 3 pound, 15 ounce box, along with Delivery Confirmation for $0.80. The website estimated its arrival in 7 days.

Here are the tracking results:

• Acceptance, April 07, 2010, 2:29 pm, TEMPLE CITY, CA 91780
• Arrival at Unit, April 09, 2010, 8:51 am, SHEPHERDSVILLE, KY 40165
• Delivered, April 09, 2010, 9:15 am, SHEPHERDSVILLE, KY 40165

It traveled 2,100 miles and arrived at its destination in 1 day, 18 hours, and 46 minutes.

In comparison, USPS Priority Mail would’ve been $15.30, or $3.73 more than Parcel Post.

My point? If you’re mailing something that isn’t time sensitive, you don’t need USPS Priority Mail.

Side note: USPS offers free Priority Mail supplies. But, is the difference saved – when using First Class Mail or Parcel Post – negated when buying your own supplies? I suppose you would save money if you’re reusing boxes. Keep that in mind.

Confirm mail delivery on the cheap

In Life, Money on 10 February 2010 tagged Certified Mail, Delivery Confirmation, mail, snail mail, USPS with no comments

Last week, I worked on getting my college transcripts sent to a couple four-year universities¹.

• Pasadena City College (PCC) was the easiest. They offer TranscriptsPlus.
• Bakersfield College was a little more difficult. They also used TranscriptsPlus, but made me fax my signature before they would proceed.
• Citrus College and Cal Poly Pomona² were the worst. They make you print a PDF form, fill it out by hand, then send it to their office by mail³. Why can’t they get with it?

Rather than drive to each college to deliver my transcripts by hand, I opted for mail. I’d save on fuel/time, take one day to get there, and I’d be well ahead of my deadline.

That brings me to my mom. Whenever she sent a letter through USPS and wanted to know when it arrived, she added Return Receipt ($2.30 as of this writing) along with the required Certified Mail.

But, if she didn’t need a signature, she wasted money for that extra service.

When you use Certified Mail, you receive a receipt stamped with the date of mailing. A unique article number allows you to verify delivery online.

If you don’t need that signature, mail your letter First Class with Certified Mail.

P.S. Save your comments if you’re going to say “duh.”