*HOT* Ship FIRST-CLASS & MEDIA-MAIL USPS for no monthly fee

hotwls13

hotwls13

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I'm not sure if this is where to post this but here goes.

I got this from Slickdeals. Thanks davidwlam!

*HOT* Ship FIRST-CLASS & MEDIA-MAIL USPS for no monthly fee

So How do I ship using Pitney Bowes for FREE????

Simple....you probably have a Paypal account right? If so you've probably used their shipping when you sell stuff. But what about those outside-of-eBay-or-paypal purchases?? (Like ones on half.com or Amazon.com?).

Its quite simple. Using your Paypal Account all you have to do is log in, and use this link: Linky

If you aren't particularly computer-saavy, you are probably wonder why this allows you to ship stuff without having received a payment. Simple...if you click the "ship" button in your account, you'll notice this exact link, but with a &info=somecrazymessofletters&numbers. That &info is the pre-filled out form information that allows it to fill out the address for you. By removing it, it simply doesn't fill it out and allows you to fill it out manually.

It works perfectly and bills through your paypal account. You can select it to take the payment from your paypal balance, a credit card or a bank account (if you are trustworthy enough to add one).

Pro's & Con's to this "Free" way of shipping

PRO:
1: Now you can ship all of your First-Class and Media-Mail stuff WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY SOME NONSENSE MONTHLY FEE!
2: You don't have to use USPS.com's confusing & chaotic website to ship Priority Mail & Express Mail
3: Easy-to-use Paypal interface doesn't require special software or sticker-labels. Just shove a peice of paper in your printer and it prints fine, no issues!
4: You don't have to go to the PO and wait in line on your Lunch Hour!

NEUTRAL (could be a pro or con, depends on you):
1: You HAVE to pay a $.13 delivery confirmation fee for First-class & Media-Mail, its required. In my eyes, this is a benefit since I would purchase it anyways from the post office. You never know what kind of people try to BS you and say they never received the item you shipped them. Thus using delivery confirmation can prevent someone from defrauding you. At the US Post Office it costs 55 cents to buy delivery confirmation for media mail or first-class mail, so 13 cents is a real savings!

CON:
1: You can't ship to Canada, UK, etc, only within the United States
unless you ship WITH UPS SHIPPING This means you'll still have to wait in line at the post office when you have to ship outside of the US.

Edit seems you can now ship international!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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[quote name='hotwls13']I'm not sure if this is where to post this but here goes.

I got this from Slickdeals. Thanks davidwlam!

*HOT* Ship FIRST-CLASS & MEDIA-MAIL USPS for no monthly fee

So How do I ship using Pitney Bowes for FREE????

Simple....you probably have a Paypal account right? If so you've probably used their shipping when you sell stuff. But what about those outside-of-eBay-or-paypal purchases?? (Like ones on half.com or Amazon.com?).

Its quite simple. Using your Paypal Account all you have to do is log in, and use this link: Linky

If you aren't particularly computer-saavy, you are probably wonder why this allows you to ship stuff without having received a payment. Simple...if you click the "ship" button in your account, you'll notice this exact link, but with a &info=somecrazymessofletters&numbers. That &info is the pre-filled out form information that allows it to fill out the address for you. By removing it, it simply doesn't fill it out and allows you to fill it out manually.

It works perfectly and bills through your paypal account. You can select it to take the payment from your paypal balance, a credit card or a bank account (if you are trustworthy enough to add one).

Pro's & Con's to this "Free" way of shipping

PRO:
1: Now you can ship all of your First-Class and Media-Mail stuff WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY SOME NONSENSE MONTHLY FEE!
2: You don't have to use USPS.com's confusing & chaotic website to ship Priority Mail & Express Mail
3: Easy-to-use Paypal interface doesn't require special software or sticker-labels. Just shove a peice of paper in your printer and it prints fine, no issues!
4: You don't have to go to the PO and wait in line on your Lunch Hour!

NEUTRAL (could be a pro or con, depends on you):
1: You HAVE to pay a $.13 delivery confirmation fee for First-class & Media-Mail, its required. In my eyes, this is a benefit since I would purchase it anyways from the post office. You never know what kind of people try to BS you and say they never received the item you shipped them. Thus using delivery confirmation can prevent someone from defrauding you. At the US Post Office it costs 55 cents to buy delivery confirmation for media mail or first-class mail, so 13 cents is a real savings!

CON:
1: You can't ship to Canada, UK, etc, only within the United States
unless you ship WITH UPS SHIPPING This means you'll still have to wait in line at the post office when you have to ship outside of the US.

Edit seems you can now ship international!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/QUOTE]

you might be saving some on that DC but your paying for it using your ink up
 
[quote name='slidecage']you might be saving some on that DC but your paying for it using your ink up[/QUOTE]

What have you been smokin? This is the perfect method for shipping when you do trades on here. (ie no paypal transaction to link shipping to)

Haha, I would gladly use my ink before driving 5-10 miles to the nearest PO, during my lunch hour, spending much more $$ on gas than ink. Not to mention starving due to a late lunch or missing it entirely.

Using this method, for those of us that don't have a huge mailbox at our house, (I have the multiple small mailboxes down the street) we can print postage/label at home, then schedule a pickup for the next day at USPS.com. I just put the packages by my front door in the morning.
 
If it is a small box or padded envelope, I just drop them in the mailbox on my way to work.
No waiting for the PO to open, or rushing home to get there before close.

Ink is cheap, I buy generic.
 
I'm gonna send my mom this info. She's selling stuff around the house all the time (my room remains off-limits (I hope!)).
 
[quote name='hotwls13']What have you been smokin? This is the perfect method for shipping when you do trades on here. (ie no paypal transaction to link shipping to)

Haha, I would gladly use my ink before driving 5-10 miles to the nearest PO, during my lunch hour, spending much more $$ on gas than ink. Not to mention starving due to a late lunch or missing it entirely.

Using this method, for those of us that don't have a huge mailbox at our house, (I have the multiple small mailboxes down the street) we can print postage/label at home, then schedule a pickup for the next day at USPS.com. I just put the packages by my front door in the morning.[/QUOTE]


can you get insurance.... see this is what i dont understand... you say you can get DC and just leave the packages by the door for the mail man to pick up and i have a major problem with that...

What keeps people from printing stuff off Saying they put the stuff buy the door (they never do ) they will say Ummmm i shipped the items and i have these DC numbers right here proviing it... Now i dont think someone would be stupid enough to try that cause Im sure the post office has a nice cell ready for Postal faurd. but just saying someone could try it

(i drive past a post office every day , that is why i think dropping off is easier : )
 
You can also use the USPS Shipping Assistant (free program) to create labels (w/ DC) and just use stamps for the postage. That's what I do. But this is a neat trick. Once it gets abused to hell PayPal will almost certainly close the loop.

I'd probably add a con that PayPal may decide to boot anyone found doing this...
 
Yes there is some risk involved putting packages on porch. Depending on the size, I too will drop the packages in a mailbox on the way to work. It's the larger packages that I have picked up.

Also, you can buy insurance as well, though if for some reason the Post Office doesn't receive the package (someone stole it off your porch) you are SOL.

I hope they don't close the loop, cause this will save me a bunch of time.

[quote name='slidecage']can you get insurance.... see this is what i dont understand... you say you can get DC and just leave the packages by the door for the mail man to pick up and i have a major problem with that...

What keeps people from printing stuff off Saying they put the stuff buy the door (they never do ) they will say Ummmm i shipped the items and i have these DC numbers right here proviing it... Now i dont think someone would be stupid enough to try that cause Im sure the post office has a nice cell ready for Postal faurd. but just saying someone could try it

(i drive past a post office every day , that is why i think dropping off is easier : )[/QUOTE]
 
Just a word of warning, I got burned on an ebay trans awhile ago. I sold a DVD set and put ins and dc on it, plus it was over $50 so the carrier was supposed to get a sig too. Well they didn't and the buyer claimed it was never delivered. I filed the claim with the PO and was denied because it was shown as delivered, didn't matter that the carrier should have gotten a sig but didn't, if you don't buy sig conf. they won't pay if it shows delivered.
 
[quote name='puternerd']Just a word of warning, I got burned on an ebay trans awhile ago. I sold a DVD set and put ins and dc on it, plus it was over $50 so the carrier was supposed to get a sig too. Well they didn't and the buyer claimed it was never delivered. I filed the claim with the PO and was denied because it was shown as delivered, didn't matter that the carrier should have gotten a sig but didn't, if you don't buy sig conf. they won't pay if it shows delivered.[/QUOTE]

If it showed delivered, that should be enough as proof that you delivered the DVD. If it was me and buyer says he/she didnt get it and the DC says delivered then I would say the buyer is full of shit.
 
If someone steals your stuff of the porch, then you sol even if you bought insurance. The carrier has to pick it up before the protection kicks in.
 
Nice. I've been using either the USPS Shipping Assistant or asking people to send me 1 penny so I can use PayPal to print the shipping label. I know its just asking for a token payment so I can get the "ship" label but still seems awkward and I have to explain it. I'll try this and hopefully I won't have to ask for the penny anymore.

Also, if this interests anybody - if you sign up with UPS (don't have to ship, just register), you can get free self adhesive sheets that are half page size, so you can print 2 PayPal shipping labels each. The thing that makes them good is that unlike USPS and FedEx, they are pretty much blank, except for a small line at the bottom which has the UPS logo, which can be easily trimmed with a paper cutter or pair of scissors. The supplies are free and the shipping is free.
 
[quote name='brianmoy']...

Also, if this interests anybody - if you sign up with UPS (don't have to ship, just register), you can get free self adhesive sheets that are half page size, so you can print 2 PayPal shipping labels each. The thing that makes them good is that unlike USPS and FedEx, they are pretty much blank, except for a small line at the bottom which has the UPS logo, which can be easily trimmed with a paper cutter or pair of scissors. The supplies are free and the shipping is free.[/QUOTE]

I haven't used the UPS labels, but I think the FedEX Laser labels are perfect for Paypal shipping, they are only one label per a sheet but the label part is completely blank and is the perfect size for a PAYPAL label, and the shipping record prints on the bottom half. Also available for free if you have a FedEX account.

 
am i missing something? where do you put the person's email so the DC# can be sent directly to them? isn't that what happens during paypal payments or ebay transactions?

EDIT: Thanks OP
 
I don't get it. I have something that is 3.8 oz. Thats what the scale at the post office said. Since there are only incriments of 1 oz. Am I supposed to put 3 for the oz's or should I round up and put 4?
 
Round up, when you pay for shipping it's usually listed as "no more than" 3 oz or something so you pay for between 2 and 3 oz at the 3 oz rate, between 3 and 4 oz at the 4 oz rate, etc.
 
Just a word of warning about sending international using this method. There is no tracking available and you still have to go to the post office and fill out the customs forms. Don't forget about that and just print the label and drop it in the box or neither you or your recipient may ever see the package again. This goes for military addresses too! US Territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, Vrigin Islands) do not need additional customs forms.
 
so where do you drop these things off? Theres about a million places at the post office that I could stick these at and I'm not sure where to put it.
 
[quote name='takingchase']so where do you drop these things off? Theres about a million places at the post office that I could stick these at and I'm not sure where to put it.[/QUOTE]

Stick it in the mailbox if it fits, if not then schedule a pickup, it's free.
 
[quote name='takingchase']so where do you drop these things off? Theres about a million places at the post office that I could stick these at and I'm not sure where to put it.[/QUOTE]

Just take it directly up to the counter(even if there is a line). They'll take it no matter if they're helping someone.

As for the guy that was bitching about DC saying it was delivered but the buyer never got it. Did the guy have a apartment address? I've had ones before where it said was delivered and found out the apartment's office was holding the damn package the whole time and never told him about until he asked.

I also know that from experience too with a christmas present this past december. Apparently some mail men are too damn lazy to fill a slip out saying "pick it up at the PO" and just delivers to the apartment's office expecting them to tell you about it.
 
[quote name='takingchase']so is it going to be a problem if I use this method to ship to Canada?[/QUOTE]

I think somebody mentioned this for international shipments (even though canada doesn't really seem international, but it is) you still need to fill out the customs forms, so you'll have to go to the PO for those.
 
If you send to canada, paypal will print out about 5 forms. You keep one, bring the rest to the PO and they'll sort them out for you and put them into a sticker window on the box.
 
Man, i've been using this method for like 2+ years now.
Works great.

A couple points i need to make though that may help some people out:

1) Self Adhesive Labels. I bought a box of like 4000 labels off Ebay for less than $10 shipped!!! Like a previous poster stated they have a very small "ups only" mark on them that is barely noticable. These labels are also great for re-using the packaging you get from trades.

2) The label sheets are the same size as regular printer paper but have 2 labels per sheet. When printing at Paypal the actual postage label is printed to one sheet and a receipt(worthless/waste) is printed to the other. There's a box you can check in the "printer options" link or what i do is Cut the sheets in half and feed them to the printer since no matter what i do it still prints reciepts.
 
[quote name='captaincold']Man, i've been using this method for like 2+ years now.
Works great.

A couple points i need to make though that may help some people out:

1) Self Adhesive Labels. I bought a box of like 4000 labels off Ebay for less than $10 shipped!!! Like a previous poster stated they have a very small "ups only" mark on them that is barely noticable. These labels are also great for re-using the packaging you get from trades.

2) The label sheets are the same size as regular printer paper but have 2 labels per sheet. When printing at Paypal the actual postage label is printed to one sheet and a receipt(worthless/waste) is printed to the other. There's a box you can check in the "printer options" link or what i do is Cut the sheets in half and feed them to the printer since no matter what i do it still prints reciepts.[/QUOTE]


You can get them for free if you sign up at the ups website. Or you can get them for free from dhl, at dhl you can only order 50 at a time but at ups you can order tons and tons of them. I probably have upward of 4,000 labels at my house. I used to order lots of them and use them for stencils and graffiti. At the dhl site you can also order bubble mailers and stuff for free. I ususally just black out everything that says dhl and send it out through usps.


heres the link to the supplies page on DHL. you want form 1239 for the shipping labels.

http://sbw.dhl-usa.com/SupplyOrder/SupplyOrderList.asp?nav=OrderSupplies
 
A huge thanks for all those who contributed tips and advice to this thread. The link and the free DHL stuff has already saved me lots of $ and time. I just wish I knew about this a few years back.
 
Hey, just wanted to thank you for this post.

I had found it a month ago & went into a panic when I needed to use it again today, but I finally came across it again...better believe I bookmarked it this time!

There's another PRO to using this...you can hide the dollar amount on the postage. I don't like people knowing what I spent on the postage, because there's more than postage to shipping items.

I tried using usps.com's postage center...complete disaster. Due to some mix up, the item got there over a week after it was supposed to (priority) and I don't think I ever actually paid for it...forget about online customer service with them...no one has a clue & they refuse to actually read anything you ask.

This has lots of great uses...returning merchandise, shipping packages to relatives...list is endless. And you can just go to your paypal account to track it. The 14 cents is nothing. If usps lets you track it (they change their rules every other day) its at least 40 cents to do delivery confirmation...so this is cheap.

Thanks again for the great tip!
 
I remember someone posting this somehwere like a year ago or was it here dont know, anyways I can ship from out of Canada I think too as I remember last time.
 
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