Tracking???

Bobby... sorry you feel that way...
but the fact is... I AM RIGHT...
not 100%, but 100,000% R-I-G-H-T...
I own a company, and I have been
shipping from it for over 10 years...
this is the way the system works...
if you choose not to believe in
the system, or what I explain to
you as A PROFESSIONAL SHIPPER, and
not a single shipment has EVER been
upgraded to Priority on over 100,000
shipments... then that's your choice...

I've given you information to help
you and everyone else... you can
either use it or disregard it...

disi123....bobby131313....
I did it like you said Randall.
It worked fine.
What I dont need is a customer to have his shipment
held hostage for additional postage.
--------------------------------------------
I was just trying to find a way to add tracking
so I can save FVFs at ebay.
Guess I will have to ask the Postmaster tomorrow.

KL

Kevin... it won't be held 'hostage'...
you paid $1.93 versus $.49 (assuming
1oz) and sent a legitimate 1st class
PACKAGE and paid the proper rate for it...

ok I did not know this either my clerk told me I had to send it priority that they do not have tracking on letters and she put my letter in a priority mail envelope and charged the priority rate.

i just printed this out- humm seems right now I can only hope they do not send it back or charge the recipient more but as you can see $1.93 with a tracking number! cool...i will send in my mailbox with the flag up and see what happens hope the route carrier don't get freeked

Larry... you're good to go...

Additionally, you can hide the
amount of the postage on the label...

Stamps.com, a real professional shipper.

Bobby is technically correct in that according to the letter of the law, parcels should be at least 3/4" thick to avoid being upcharged. In actual practice, however, I have been sending and receiving multiple "parcels" per week under 3/4" thick, in both regid and padded envelopes and mailers, and have never had any upcharged to Priority rate.

I'm not saying it can't happen, but in my experience it does not happen. It's one of the many cases where either the USPS turns a blind eye to the regulation, or it's too complicated for them to take the time to figure out.

Bobby... (and everyone else)

1. You can add Signature Confirmation
for $2.35 in the same shipping screen...
2. You can send to ALL APO AND FPO...
3. You can send to ANY U.S.A. Possession
for the same rate $1.93... Puerto Rico,
U.S. Virgin Islands, Guarm, Saipan or
Paulau...

Lastly, if you should CHOOSE to go with
Priority, it's $5.20 to any U.S.A. destination
including Alaska, Hawaii and ALL OF THE ABOVE...

Final note... after you print the label, USPS
sends your buyer their tracking number, and it
is also automatically inserted into the ebay
and Paypal transactions...

Stamps.com ~~~> LOL

When you ship with ebay (or Paypal)
you have more flexibility, as I have
outlined for all of you, as well as
a 15% to 20% discount on your rates...
this also includes if you ship by
either UPS or FEDEX... there are
discount programs linked to ebay as
well...

I'm done...

You get all the same flexibility and discounts through Stamps.com and Endicia. In fact they had it LONG (years) before eBay/Paypal did and you can do blind postage through them which I don't *think* you can do through ebay or Paypal. Not positive on that though.

http://community.ebay.com/t5/The-Fr...d-p/17058395
http://community.ebay.com/t5/Archiv...aq-p/7576573
http://community.ebay.com/t5/Shippi...q-p/19247131
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipp...d-p/16914835
http://community.ebay.com/t5/Archiv...aq-p/7305937

There's hundreds more....

Much ado about nothing... Use a rigid mailer (flat) and it will qualify for the first class package with tracking rate in ebay or PayPal. Of course, you cannot legally send normal sized (or business sized) letters as first class packages with tracking - duh. This tracking business is confusing - you obviously do not want to spend $1.93 on a glassine containing a single stamp worth a couple of dollars, but, then, it can always go lost if you don't do tracking, and using a rigid mailer with tracking in that case is dumb. As a seller, you just have to decide what risks you feel comfortable with. John

Tracking is only available for first class PARCELS, not flats or envelopes. That being said, you can print (and pay for) a first class parcel and slap that label on a flat/envelope and they may (or may not) actually scan it on the other end and you may (or may not) end up getting tracking on that shipment.

However, if you do that you're paying a lot more to ship than you need to -- and may not end up getting the tracking after all (I receive flats/envelopes w/ tracking labels on them all the time - sometimes the tracking is crossed out and entering the number in the system will show it wasn't scanned.) That sender paid the more expensive first class parcel rate and got no tracking = waste of money. I've never seen a case where something like that has been returned (or upcharged the Priority rate.)

The "Delivery Confirmation" DMM link posted above is old (from the archive) and no longer accurate. It USED to be that parcels needed to be 3/4" thick in order to qualify for tracking, but that was only when the service was called "Delivery Confirmation." That is no longer the case. The current service is now called "Tracking" and it's different. A rigid mailer (or anything else that formally kicks a first class mailing up into "parcel" category) is now eligible for tracking. The threads that mention 3/4" minimums are usually old, back from the days when it was delivery confirmation...

I went around and around on this with people pretty high up the USPS ladder when the service changed from Delivery Confirmation to Tracking and several relevant DMM sections were completely rewritten. I'm quite sure what I posted above is accurate, although many current USPS employees (including those working the counters) still do not understand the change(s).

BTW, you can also print USPS first class parcel labels (with tracking) using the USPS Click-N-Ship desktop software. That allows you to use stamps and still get tracking on first class parcels (or any Priority or Priority Express shipment for that matter.) You don't get the reduced prepaid rates offered on USPS.gov or eBay/PayPal, but with discount postage often selling <70% of face, it's easy to offset that extra cost.