Crazy prices for mailing coin rolls

Hello I went to mail a roll of coins the other day and they wanted over eight dollars. It was a plain 5x9 grey poly bubble bag. That was more than the profit margin on that particular item. Any ideas of a better way to mail coin rolls? Breaking the roll down isn't an option in this case. Thanks everyone for your input.

 

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Hmmm, let ,me think .Ohh this is gonna be ugly .

 

How did you mail it?
USPS?
First Class?
Insurance?
Registered?

How much did it weigh?

 

Now you know why sellers are charging mailing fees.

 

Mail 20 rolls for less than that.

USPS priority small flat rate box.

 

What kind of roll? A roll of silver quarters or halves is over half a pound, and I think that's the break-point where you end up paying Priority rates.

Online price calculator says sending 8 ounces, non-uniform thickness, should cost $5 for First Class. 9 ounces goes to $5.75.

As @charlie123 says, you come out way ahead if you can bundle multiple rolls into a single small flat-rate box.

 

How about asking the post office what is the cheapest way to mail it?

 

Yeah, I think he's gonna have to use the flat rate box regardless. Better luck next time!

 

Add lots of filler paper or bubble wrap and send it via USPS "media" rate.

 

Sure, if you don't mind breaking the law, and voiding any insurance coverage you might have gotten, and slowing the package down, and maybe having it opened and inspected.

 

Yea It was a roll of pennies , and I think they were trying to charge me priority mail prices. It just amazes me as I see people on ebay selling one roll for 4.00 and free shipping. Once again how do they make anything. Mind blowing stuff. LOL

 

Not a good idea. As a retired postal worker I can assure you that this is a very bad idea. Any postal employee can open Media Mail. If the contents are not Media the addressee will be charged at the higher rate and that rate is determined by the post office. If the addressee refuses to pay then it's shipped back to the sender and they are charged. If they refuse to pay then the post office keeps it.

It sounds like a Priority price was quoted instead of first class.

It's always best to be honest.

 

Retail window prices are higher than online prices. A roll of pennies should cost about $3.50-$4 to mail first class using online postage.

The people selling on eBay probably know that the average person is not going to buy just one roll. The incremental cost to ship a second roll is extremely small.

 

Really? Seems unbelievable but I never worked for USPS. Wouldn't they need to get a supervisor to approve and oversee it? If I was a janitor at a post office, I'd technically be a USPS employee. Could I open any media package I wanted?
The fact that USPS would spend the time and money (sending it back etc.) seems unlikely they would randomly open packages, but like I said, I've never worked for them, and I'm not trying to doubt your experience, but would truly like to know. And I'm not advocating anyone take advantage of any business in illegal ways.

 

With the backlog in most post offices, somehow I don't think they will be randomly inspecting media mail. Also, there are cases on record where postal employees were opening all sorts of packages, not just those marked media mail. IMHO postal employees are basically honest and hard-working; but for the few dishonest employees I would think they would make it worth their while and go for the priority mail packages.

 

You should be able to get 2 rolls of cents into a first class package. A roll of us cents weighs approximately 5oz. You will still be under the weight limit of 13oz. It will cost ~$5 after calculating the weight.

I'd a betcha the the postal worker was using the wrong shipping option. My guess would be they applied flat rate parcel pricing which costs ~$8.

 

Media Mail can be opened by anyone, no manager or supervisor needed. All other types of Mail require a member of management.

Some janitors are not postal employees. They can not open anything but a janitor that is a postal employee can open Media Mail. My office had a janitor thst was a postal employee, now they do not.

Usually each office has the rule for opening Media Mail posted somewhere in the lobby. Not sure if yours does or not. I have seen managers open parcels and I've seen other employees open Media Mail. I'm sure a number of packages get through but when one doesn't, it's a mess. I know. Been there, done that and I don't recommend it.

As I said, if the addressee refuses to pay it goes back to the sender. So you paid to ship it and now you pay more to get it back. You still have it and it will cost you more to send it correctly to get it to them. Nothing like paying twice to get it there is there?

 

Thank you for that information. I had no idea, but then I've never tried to take advantage of the USPS.
I guess the government contracts out cleaning services, like other businesses. Not that that makes me all that comfortable, bonded or not.

 

In some offices they contract out, in others they are postal employees and in some office the clerks at the window are responsible for cleaning. It's a crazy world and a crazy outfit. Remember, they don't use taxpayer money and they lose over 8 billion dollars a year. I'm not sure how that works.

 

I'm guessing that since Media Mail is so ripe for abuse, they've wanted to establish an expectation that, no, you won't get away with cheating.

I have quite a lot of old personal-computer-related magazines that I'd love to sell on eBay, if only there were an economical way to ship them. There isn't. Media Mail specifically excludes any printed material that includes advertising. Wouldn't want anybody to get a discount rate sending out ads for those $3000 five-megabyte hard drives.