Any bubble mailers over 1/4 inch (which is all of them) is a minimum of $2.32. Sometimes others will slip through, but you risk pissing off your recipient. A few days ago I received a mailer with only one stamp and I had to pay $1.83 in postage due. There were only 2 small packs of seeds inside. After having to pay my shipping and their shipping, the trade was a bust for me.

anyway the short answer to the OP question is - a few years ago it was .88 cents for a small thin bubbly weighing less than ounce. that was when stamps were .44 cents, and so was still 2 stamps.

but see the above for extended confusion that got really bad since they upped the price of stamps and postage last!

another link describing the physical dimensions of "flats /large envelopes"

a. More than 11-1/2 inches long, or more than 6-1/8 inches high, or more than 1/4 inch thick,.....

b. Not more than 15 inches long, or more than 12 inches high, or more than 3/4 inch thick.

Here is a link that might be useful: physical standards of flats

This post was edited by leilahamaya on Tue, Jan 6, 15 at 23:08

Leila -- That is certainly interesting. I guess I have the a'hole postal workers in my area. I'm constantly getting "postage due" packs, but it sounds like I've been getting ripped off. I was even told directly by a postal worker, back when I used to go into the PO, that those small bubble envelopes were considered parcels. I've bookmarked your link, so that I can keep it handy.

yes, sounds like you have one of the overcharging postal people! that sucks!

i can relate, my postal people suck too. i moved here almost two years ago, and i went from mailing my thin bubblies at the proper rate on the coast where the post office charged the correct amount for flats (and even having a hottie kind post man =)!!!seriously my mailman was a cutie =)), to being charged at least 2.32 (parcel rate) even doing the thing with bubble wrap inside the regular envelope.

i argued and argued. not at first, i was polite a few times, insisting they were overcharging, but then paying it and shutting up. then getting bubble envelopes with proper postage, but getting the postage due stamped on it and having them be grouchy with me for getting mailed something without proper postage (only, it was proper postage, but not their incorrect idea of proper postage!)..

it sucked...and i paid and shut up, or would just say it..".ok...youre overcharging me again today, but i suppose i will just pay it and shut up" because my earliest arguments didnt go over well. but eventually i had to keep calling them on it and then finally bring in all the things i printed out at the official post office site, the physical standards for "flats/large envelopes" and the current prices. it was kinda dorkjy and i felt a bit weird about it, but i kept at it and kept at it.

now i have worked it out. i toldthem i was going to weigh every piece of mail and do my own postage with stamps. i write on it what it is exactly , how much it weighs and if its at flat/large envelopre rate...i write that all on it and then put the real actual postage on it. at first they were returning them, but i brought in all the stuff and insisted, and they finally somewhat gave in!

now they said...well we will pass it along to the main post office, but dont come crying to me when it gets returned. so thats ok, if they want to save face like that and still insist that they werent overcharging, or whatever...thats fine. but now i have beenable to pay the right postage (usually .98 - 1.40) for small thin bubblies...and everyone has been getting theirs fine on the recieving end with no problems.

Thanks so much to everyone who replied! I really appreciate it! I wrote down all the measurements and will keep them with me so I can show them to the post office when I need to.

I do have a nice postoffice lady who will go out of her way to do the right thing but unfortunately there are alot of rules noone taught her when she started and she is still learning. After all, she did charge me the right amount today and I can show her my notes thanks to you guys. :-)

I abandoned THREE local Post Offices for over charging, and go to a fourth one out of town, and TELL them what the postage should be.

This IS a "large envelope" and should be no more than 3 regular stamps.

When It was actually lower than that once, I asked why.

He said that postage is based on DISTANCE, as well as HEIGHT and MEASUREMENTS (length & width), and WEIGHT.

So, in essence, there is no flat rate for any mail, except "standard" First Class mail, aka, standard sized envelopes, like you find in boxes, that DON'T have a "triple fold" thickness, and are not bumpy, or too ridged, and Priority Mail, of which the lowest rate is $6.95, for a VHS "video" box, then the price jumps too about $12.95.

The 3 Post Offices I abandoned, had sloooow lines because they spent so much time trying to come up with ANY reason to charge people more. Virtually everyone had to pay more, that was there.

They try and get people to use the Priority mail boxes, and repack their stuff.

That's why I had to make a note in my postes, that any seeds that were not tomatoes, lettuce or a tiny seed like Tansy, had to be mailed at the $1.50 postage rate.

Trading seeds can still be economical, if...
1. bubble envelopes are reused (no cost for that)

2. paypal is utilized (saves sending stamps, an envelope to send them in,a return envelope (that seeds go in), higher postage to send an empty bubble envelope, and the waste of stamps and envelopes which usually end up in the trash or recycled. I shred mine, and till in the shreds for worms to eat.

3. several packs of seeds are sent, or the seeds are hard to come by, or a lot of seeds are sent.

Sending less than 25 seeds, usually isn't worth it.

Commercial packs are from 99cents (if you're lucky) to $1.29, to $2.50, to almost $4.00 at some retail sites.

I can get 10 packs of 25 plus seeds in one $1.50 reused bubble envelope, so I think it's still worth it to trade.

It's even more economical if small seeds like tomatoes, lettuce, Celosia, Tansy, etc are sent, because they're so flat or small, that they can be sent in a "card", without bubble wrap, and not usually be damaged. I still try to send these types of seeds in cards to save people some money.

I also pick up boxes of out of season greeting cards on sale for a dollar a box, to use to send these seeds.

If someone sends just an envelope, then I make "cards" out of cereal boxes and the like to use.

as far as i know, and i could be wrong, distance only matters with "parcels".
otherwise with flats (of course this is within the US, not international) it is only based on weight.
.98 = under 1 oz.
1.19 under two oz.
1.40 under three oz

but you also have to conform to the height and length requirements, but it is a large amount of variation of height and length. and in the wording above , flats are bigger than the stated minimum size in at least one way. either larger than 11 1/2 inch, or than 6 on the short side, or thicker than 1/4 inch (up to 3/4 inch).

the stated minimum size for flats is the maximum for regular letters....so it is bigger than a regular letter in at least one way. the minimum for "parcels" is the maximum for flats.

anywho what i am getting it is you can figure it out, it is not as complicated as they would like to make it seem. but even if you do, the post office has gotten used to exploiting people in what i find disgusting and underhanded way. they may just argue with you and try to overcharge you, you have to be insistant. it is really annoying that they (some of them anyway) make it so that the only way you get the service you are suppose d to get is if you pitch a fit. this is what they should be providing already, and not enjoying the confusion because it allows them to overcharge. this is a publically funded organization, paid for by taxes. that it forgets this and acts like a for profit business is disturbing.

if they wanted to straighten this out, they could easily.
just by making a category dedicated to bubble envelopes. a "small bubble envelope" would be as a "flat" price, and have whatever clearly stated measurement requirements, including less than 3/4 inch thick. a "large bubble envelope" would be at parcel prices and have it clearly stated as being bigger than 3/4 inch thick.
in this i am not asking for anything special, this is what its supposed to be. but then if you have to argue it, they make you feel like you are asking for something special and are being difficult, when it is their obnoxiousness that forces you into having to argue to get the service you always should be getting.
this would immediately clear up any confusion, but it seems they prefer the confusion and being able to push the clerks to overcharge whenever they can, in spite of the fact that it is supposed to be a public service and is paid for by taxes.

but i will admit, even tho it is not preferable, i have also turned to occasionally sending trades in regular envelopes, protected either by a napkin or a cardstock paper folded. with certain seeds this seems an obvious choice, if a trade is all tomatoes and lettuce, most herbs are really tiny, even strawberry...or whatever...these will make it fine in regular mail. although i tell people and why, that i sincerely think they will make it fine without bubble. i have not had any problems doing this selectively.

tho i have had people send me seeds that way that were cracked, passionflower is not a good one for this! nor is romanesco broccoli, which i was so psyched on, but got none because most of them were cracked by someone sending me these unprotected.

even other stuff that doesnt seem as obvious...some seeds have such a tough shell that they go ok in the mail..even though they are larger.oooo i better be quiet here, this feels almost like heresay here! hope you all dont start throwing rotten tomatoes at me for suggesting it!

but anyway i usually shoot for 50 - 200 + seeds per trade, unless is something large like squash, or something i just dont have a lot of (like a re trade since people send small trades). especially if its something that i know is difficult to start (more and more i am into stuff that gets low germination rates, like perennials and trees, etc- and thats ok, as long as you have a lot to play with, IMO).
i dont insist anyone else adopt this or anything...i know most people do small amounts. i am ok with that, especially with something i really want...but its definitely true that i usually send at least twice as much as what i get back...but i feel good about giving people larger amounts...just for the effort of trading...or whatever....also i am pretty good with starting seeds, so all i need are a few and then if it does well i can harvest my own seeds and have large amounts to share.

This post was edited by leilahamaya on Wed, Jan 7, 15 at 17:08

Well said leila! :-)

Btw. to make things more difficult with mailing the said envelope, it included canna seeds. :-)

There is no reason to it. I mailed some seeds, in a small bubble mailer, to someone in Texas. I took it to my local Colorado Post office and paid the proper postage and he wad charged extra by his Texas postman.And i thought it was the US postal service!

that sucks! and then theres weird feelings potentially between people because they may feel a bit cheated, even tho you actually did put the correct postage on it! so frustrating!

i have also gotten those. thats about when i figured this was all gone too far, got a little mad at myself for not standing up for myself better at first, and going along with their overcharging....and when i got more serious about making sure i kept arguing it...i got one that was obviously paid at the post office, correct postage amount in their official stamp...and they wouldnt let me have it till i paid to bring it up to the distorted idea of "all bubblies are parcels" postage amount.and i AGAIN told them they were incorrect, it already had the proper postage on it, and they had been overcharging me for more than a year, as i had told them many times.

i mean i tried to argue it at the very first, and every time they overcharged. but theres only so far i would go, i do believe in being respectful to people and being polite to people in service jobs. and it would get into this "no it isnt" "yes it is" back and forth...which is just ridiculous.
and ultimately i couldnt leave without paying whatever amount they demanded. then when i decided to get all the rules printed out and do my own postage in stamps with my own scale, they started returning my envelopes, with notes saying this isnt enough postage....then i had to go in there three times with the correct postage prices and everything i printed out from the website....

thats when they finally, annoying and without being very respectful to me....agreed to forward the mail i put in the box with my own postage...but saying "dont come crying to me when it is returned for postage due"...not even being willing to acknowledge it even after showing them all the printed out material from the official mail manual. and none that i have sent out with proper postage have had any problems...so possibly they will notice that and realize they were wrong the entire time.

but at least...i have saved myself a lot of money from now on...
but theres the still the weird...do i put proper postage on it or other peoples incorrect idea of proper postage...just to make sure no one on the other side gets the dreaded postage due...because of this mistake, intentional or otherwise...

right now i am doing the correct postage...and hoping for the best...so far it is fine...

Erica, your postal workers... I don't know about them! I will mention that every time I get a bubble envie from you, the stamps are never cancelled. I just re-use the envie, stamps and all. Maybe I should send you some stamps. Or send you your BEAPs right back atcha with some seeds!!

Even in this po-dunk Mississippi post office, I mail bubble envies as flats unless they really bulge. I have yet to hear from recipients saying they owe postage when the BEAP arrives.

Katie

Well I mailed one 2 days ago and it should have cost $1.19. It weighed 1.4 oz but was charged $2.32. This was my last bubble envelope and will use regular envelopes with a bit of bubble wrap around the seed baggies from now on. I am fed up with it.

Katie,

I occasionally receive bubble envelope trades that aren't cancelled. Those are the best! I always save and reuse the bubbly. I definitely have some crap postal workers here. More and more lately I'm trying to print postage online. Knowing that the small bubble envelopes are flats and not parcels is definitely helpful.

There are 4 post offices I can go to. The closest is 15 minutes away. The rest are 30+ minutes away and not the easiest to get in & out of. No matter the size of the bubble envelope or what is in it-empty or swollen full-each lf these post offices charge $2.50.

Thank you for everyone who posted in this! I've been trying to figure this out for the longest time. I think the best way to go about this is to just NOT go to the post office. (Thank you Lelia for posting the information so I can just weigh things myself!) I've lived in five different places (in five different states) in the last year, and ALL of the post offices seemed scammy :( What happened to the post office people being there to help you?

back to having serious problems with my post office. now its at the point where they hold nearly everything i get and charge postage due, and many of them are flats. its kinda making it even more than obvious, like it already should be...whats more likely...that 90% of the mail i get has incorrect postage, or my post office workers have no clue what they are doing, (or worse do know what they are doing) and are now singling me out and making up extra charges, as well as refusing to even acknowledge the printed out price and size requirements i keep having to present to them...to no effect, frustrating!