recycling a box just cost me 50c
OhioGuy
I got a package in the mail last week, and I put it up on the shelf,
intending to reuse it in the future. I rarely have to buy a box because I
tend to reuse those that have been sent to me in the past.
Anyway, this particular box was a priority mail box. As I've been taught,
I used a black permanent marker to mark out all of the writing & such on the
box. Then I logged in to Paypal, entered the address & such, and printed a
mailing label. Total shipping cost was $5.90
Since the box was too big for my mailbox, I took it to the downtown post
office to drop it off. I wasn't sure if I could just walk up and leave it
on the counter, so I waited for the couple of folks in line.
When I got up to the counter, I explained was just dropping it off, and
it was prepaid. She told me I would not be allowed to mail it parcel post,
because it was in a priority mail package. I told her to look at it - it
was slightly beat up, and you could see the edge of the old address sticking
out - obviously it had been used before.
Then I reasoned, "You are telling me that you are going to CHARGE me to
recycle a box instead of throwing it away?" She said yes - their policy was
that priority mail boxes could only be used for priority mail, even if they
were obviously being reused, and even if all the writing on the box was
marked out.
I ended up having to pay an extra half dollar to "upgrade" to priority
mail.
What should I have done? Should I have just left it there and walked out?
I guess next time I'll paint the outside of the box white or something!
Zuke
You probably should have done what you did--pay the $.50 and chalk it
up to "live and learn".
max
> > Then I reasoned, "You are telling me that you are going to CHARGE me to
> > recycle a box instead of throwing it away?" She said yes - their policy was
> > that priority mail boxes could only be used for priority mail, even if they
> > were obviously being reused, and even if all the writing on the box was
> > marked out.
> >
This is a reasonable position for the post office to take. Your box is
one of hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of priority mail boxes
that get processed every day. It's a distinctive design on purpose, to
allow such packages to be identified at a glance, amongst other crap,
from a distance, with great assurance of provenance.
You are _actively _fucking_up_the_system_ by attempting to dilute this
engineered sorting property of priority mail packaging.
It's similar to industrial safety practice where red padlocks, and red
padlocks only used for safety lockouts of equipment and for no other
purpose.
It's the same reason that only Stop signs are red octagons.
Your position is unreasonable, and your reasoning is selfish and it is
clear that you haven't given this the slightest bit of thought.
.max
--
This signature can be appended to your outgoing mesages. Many people include in
their signatures contact information, and perhaps a joke or quotation.
Samantha Hill - take out TRASH to reply
>
> What should I have done? Should I have just left it there and walked out?
>
> I guess next time I'll paint the outside of the box white or something!
Or turn it inside out and re-glue or re-tape it so it can't be
recognized as a priority mail box.
RodSpeed,_dividends_and_cash_flow_are_bubblicious
<fleetfing...@TRASHgmail.com> wrote:
> Or turn it inside out and re-glue or re-tape it so it can't be
> recognized as a priority mail box.
Yep, that will work.
I save padded mailers I get from Ebay purchases and re-use them for
mailing. I cover the mailer with a brown grocery paper bag so the
mailer does not show when I mail it.
Bob F
"Samantha Hill - take out TRASH to reply" <fleetf...@TRASHgmail.com> wrote in
message news:47c835ba$0$84184$742e...@news.sonic.net...
Or, wrap it first in the paper from a grocery bag.
Melissa
"Samantha Hill - take out TRASH to reply" <fleetf...@TRASHgmail.com>
wrote in message news:47c835ba$0$84184$742e...@news.sonic.net...
The PO has also cracked down on that practice. Priority boxes are free and
can only be used for Priority mail. You can't even use the free mailing
labels for anything but Priority.
Work within their system or pay the price. No pity here.
Melissa
SpammersDie
"OhioGuy" <no...@none.net> wrote in message news:fq94ml$mh7$1...@aioe.org...
> Ok, so 50 cents isn't a lot of money,
That never stops you from complaining.
> What should I have done?
Recycle the box for some other purpose where the box design won't gum up an
assembly line system. There must be a dozen uses for old boxes.
Much as I hate USPS, this is simple common sense.
Rick
Good tip - thanks. I hate throwing out bubble mailers that could be
reused, if trying to remove any labels & existing postage stickers
didn't destroy it in the process. Just eliminate the problem. 8-)
Rick
Al Bundy
Ah ha, but Ohio Guy is not a reasonable person is he? If he can screw
somebody out a a comic book or whatever, he will do it regardless of
who else pays to repair the system.
They say the guy who tries to save the most ends up spending the most.
I suspect this is the case with this person, although he would never
admit it. Some of his posts reveal it though.
OhioGuy
people from reusing priority mail boxes. I guess this is because they give
the boxes away, and they don't want folks using them for media mail, parcel
post, etc.
Where does the free money to give all of these boxes away come from? Is
it the US taxpayer?
I really think it would be a good idea for the post office to simply start
charging up front for the boxes. If they did that, then it wouldn't matter
if people reused them over and over at all. Why would anyone care, if the
cost was paid by the original mailer up front? (instead of subsidized as a
giveaway box)
clams_casino
> My point was really that the current USPS system actively DISCOURAGES
>people from reusing priority mail boxes.
>
You can must us/reuse them for Priority mail.
>I guess this is because they give
>the boxes away, and they don't want folks using them for media mail, parcel
>post, etc.
>
> Where does the free money to give all of these boxes away come from? Is
>it the US taxpayer?
>
>
You pay for the box in the Priority postage charge.
> I really think it would be a good idea for the post office to simply start
>charging up front for the boxes.
>
Then why not just buy your boxes? Better yet, why not simply collect
them at the grocer, etc & reuse them?
> If they did that, then it wouldn't matter
>if people reused them over and over at all. Why would anyone care, if the
>cost was paid by the original mailer up front? (instead of subsidized as a
>giveaway box)
>
>
>
The obvious answer is abuse - people like you would use them for Media, etc.
Rod Speed
> My point was really that the current USPS system actively DISCOURAGES people from reusing priority mail boxes. I
> guess this is because they give the boxes away, and they don't want folks using them for media mail, parcel post, etc.
> Where does the free money to give all of these boxes away come from?
> Is it the US taxpayer?
Nope, they are paid for by what they charge for priority mail.
> I really think it would be a good idea for the post office to simply
> start charging up front for the boxes. If they did that, then it
> wouldn't matter if people reused them over and over at all. Why
> would anyone care, if the cost was paid by the original mailer up
> front? (instead of subsidized as a giveaway box)
It can make it harder to sort them quickly.
Harder to see what that current address is and which type of mail it is.
Al Bundy
Then you'd be complaining that they would not let you use the old
Wheaties box you pulled from somebody else's recycling bin. (We all
know you would never buy Wheaties.)
val189
> What should I have done?
Waste gas and time to go home and repack it in a non priority box,
waste more time for return trip to the PO ...... Or see the reason
behind their policy, pay the 50 cents and chalk it up to experience.
Evelyn C. Leeper
I (and a lot of other people) understand the reason. We just wish there
were some way to be able to re-use the box instead of throwing it out.
Even recycling is a second-best to re-using.
I agree with the previous suggestion: the USPS should just stop giving
boxes away.
--
Evelyn C. Leeper
Heretic: someone who disagrees with you about
something neither of you knows anything about.
Gary Heston
> My point was really that the current USPS system actively DISCOURAGES
> people from reusing priority mail boxes. I guess this is because they give
> the boxes away, and they don't want folks using them for media mail, parcel
> post, etc.
Well, it appears people use them for media mail, parcel post, UPS, FedEx,
etc. by slitting them along one corner, turning them inside-out, and taping
the slit corner back together. That provides a box with a plain exterior,
unless the USPS decides to print the PM logo on the interior.
(No, I haven't done this, just seen it. I suspect the USPS considers it to
be illegal.)
Gary
--
Gary Heston ghe...@hiwaay.net http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/
We live in amazing times, when one person can invent both the Internet
and global warming, then get awarded a "peace prize".
Evelyn C. Leeper
> On Mar 4, 11:07 am, "OhioGuy" <n...@none.net> wrote:
>> My point was really that the current USPS system actively DISCOURAGES
>> people from reusing priority mail boxes. I guess this is because they give
>> the boxes away, and they don't want folks using them for media mail, parcel
>> post, etc.
> [ ... ]
>
> Well, it appears people use them for media mail, parcel post, UPS, FedEx,
> etc. by slitting them along one corner, turning them inside-out, and taping
> the slit corner back together. That provides a box with a plain exterior,
> unless the USPS decides to print the PM logo on the interior.
They do now (print the logo on the interior).
Evelyn C. Leeper
> "Evelyn C. Leeper" <ele...@optonline.net> wrote:
>
>> We just wish there
>> were some way to be able to re-use the box instead of throwing it out.
>> Even recycling is a second-best to re-using.
> few of the boxes to make recycling them, specifically, a worthwhile
> effort and surely the folks who recylce paper must already include
> priority mail boxes.
>> I agree with the previous suggestion: the USPS should just stop giving
>> boxes away.
> believe that the PS would do best to raise the fee for deliberate
> mis-use to something reasonably deterrent: Say, $500-$1,000 instead of
> pocket change. I have had the experience of returning a package for
> re-mailing because I was unwilling to pay the excess postage due on a
> Priority Mail container that bore because DIY Paypal media mail postage.
Well, what I meant was to charge an appropriate service charge for the
service, and a separate box charge for the box. Combining the two is
why people can't re-use the boxes.