Posts by Donna Martinez95

Caught this at the Sundance Film Festival today—really lovely 😍

I won't spoil 🙂

All I’m going to say is: go Chloe Watson19 🎉 😁

The box goes out as a standard package. Shipping something under 11 pounds with a value of $33 will run you roughly $5.00 plus some change.
If you go with an envelope, you’ll want to send it via certified mail, which actually ends up being MORE expensive than just shipping a package. You can easily check the rates on the USPS website; just weigh your envelopes on a kitchen scale first to get an idea.

You'll need to fill out the details regarding the value and other specifics on the forms you grab at the post office—they have separate slips for certified mail versus standard packages.

Just type in whatever value you're looking for 🙂

It’s happened more than once, unfortunately 😢

You show up, fill out all their paperwork, and they give you the usual runaround—telling you they'll call whenever they happen to track down the package, as if there's some arbitrary deadline they actually follow. In my experience, the lady at the local UPS office always gave me a ring the second they located my parcel, letting me know exactly where it was sitting and what the status was; I don't think they've ever actually lost anything on me 🙂

I'm just hoping everything works out fine 👍

Yeah, because God forbid you’d actually find a practical reason to use them.

The girls have had high-value packages vanish into thin air before, and the company only bothers issuing a claim if you send it via certified mail or as a formal package. If you just send a standard shipment and it goes missing, you’re completely out of luck; a regular receipt won't mean a damn thing to them.
On top of that, my mail carrier tends to cram even the largest standard parcels into a tiny little slot, so I end up having to practically wrestle them out. Plus, the girls have dealt with those "nosy" neighbors who can't keep their hands off other people's mail. With certified mail or direct delivery, it either lands right at my door or waits for me at the post office. Because there's an actual paper trail, they actually take some responsibility; if something disappears, they keep better records to prevent it because they know they'll be the ones footing the bill to make it right.

Nah, they don't really have a say in the matter here. 🙂 You can send things however you want, but honestly, it's probably not your smartest move for a dozen different reasons...

Look, vividhawk65, I genuinely can't tell—are you the one receiving the package or the one shipping it out?

If you just go with the standard option, you're looking at roughly 5-$3.25 🙂

Honestly, just make sure you specify that you want the basic version and you'll be all set. 🙂

Yeah, when you opt for certified mail, the price scales right along with the weight, so don't act surprised when the bill hits 🙂. You probably sent it off as a certified letter.
Your best bet is to just send it as a small parcel under 11 pounds $33, which keeps your cost at $5.00. If you stick with certified mail for something under 9 ounces, you're looking at paying $5.00 instead.🙂

You think I didn't notice? Please. How could I miss that?

Laura Bailey3, just throw it in a plain brown box from Target and tape it up tight, or even a shoebox from Walmart—just wrap it in some standard packing tape from the corner store and ship it over to $1.75. Shipping via USPS should run you about $5.00 🙂
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I feel just as bad about this as you do, and I’ve added a few little things to make up for it 😢
I guess this is my first time trying to send a regular message and this is how it plays out...

Seriously though, let me pay you back. It feels wrong to let you end up stuck without your data plan and short on cash at the same time 😢

Send an email 😁

If you get $44 back from the USPS, just give them those $5.75 back and call it a day 🙂 They probably just misread your info and thought they were still dealing with some old-school mail system 🙂

Otherwise, you're in a bit of a 😢 I'm not sure if there's even a way to file a formal complaint about it...

Did you actually include the shipping in those $38 dollars? Because if you did, but then also marked it so the buyer covers the postage, she’s going to end up paying the shipping fee on top of that $115—meaning an extra $5.75 out of her pocket.

I feel like I'm explaining basic math to 😬
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Just head over to the USPS website; there’s a little house icon near the top where you can find the shipment calculator or something similar, so you should be able to track it there. 🙂

Lately, my mail carrier just drops everything right at my doorstep without ever asking for a single thing. 😍

I get 🙂. I never bother with certified mail; I always just go with registered shipping because it’s actually cheaper—it basically costs the same as a standard package anyway—plus you get the peace of mind from having a tracking confirmation.

My aunt used to work at the local USPS branch, and she told me to always send envelopes via certified mail, which turned out to be a bit of a wash $5.00, since you're capped at 20 pounds if you want that precious paper trail—which is basically the only thing that matters in this bureaucracy. If I’ve got something heavy, I just shove it into a box and ship it as a package. Honestly, it’s much easier to just pack it up than to get into a shouting match with the clerks; I’ve learned the hard way that every single post office seems to run its own little fiefdom with its own set of unwritten rules. For instance, at my branch, they might actually reject an envelope if you’ve gone and wrapped it in twine like I did
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Oh, and just a heads-up: when you're using an envelope, you fill out one specific form for certified mail, but if you move up to a box, you have to use the package form. They aren't the same document
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So, here's my question—is there actually a difference between certified mail and insured mail, or are they essentially the same thing?

Take a look at the first post in the thread; you can actually run the numbers there to see what shipping will cost across all the different service options 🙂

Otherwise, just head over to the post itself and ask them to give you a quote for the total 🙂