Snail Mail

Hello dear friends and fellow lovers of snail mail.  Here is some useful information I found and thought I would share.  Also, if you CLICK HERE you can see my Pinterest Board for Mail Art, & get a ton of fun decorating ideas for your packages & envelopes.

{Please keep in mind: If your mail has a delivery address parallel to the SHORTER side of the envelope {as featured in some of the art}, it will require a sur-charge.}





Sizes for Letters
You probably have a picture in your mind of what a "letter" is. Possibly you’re using a standard No. 10 envelope for your letter, so that’s easy to picture. However, if you decide to create a mail piece with its own special envelope or if you are designing a piece that will be folded to letter-size, be sure to keep in mind the following size requirements for letters:

Dimension Minimum Maximum Height 3-1/2 inches 6-1/8 inches Length 5 inches 11-1/2 inches Thickness 0.007 inch 1/4 inch

To be eligible for mailing at the price for letters, a piece must be: Rectangular At least 3-1/2 inches high x 5 inches long x 0.007 inch thick. No more than 6-1/8 inches high x 11-1/2 inches long x 1/4 inch thick. First-Class Mail letters that have one or more nonmachinable characteristics[1] will pay a non*machinable surcharge. Customers can be unpleasantly surprised that they must pay extra postage when, for example, they mail a square greeting card. The Postal Service charges extra postage because mail pieces that are rigid, square, or unusually shaped, often jam postal equipment and are difficult to process. This costs the Postal Service time and money—and may also damage your mail piece. Many mailers fold sheets of paper to form letter-size pieces or newsletters. Folded pieces, or folded self-mailers, can save time and money because you’re not paying for or stuffing envelopes. Folded self-mailers must be sealed or they will be subject to the non-machinable surcharge. We recommend that you use wafer seals or tabs[2] to close the open sides of folded mail pieces. Here’s some good advice on tabbing: Put the fold on the bottom (the side below the address) and secure the opening at the top with a piece of tape, a tab or a wafer seal. More about Folding and Tabbing a Mailpiece[3] There are special size requirements for mailing letters at automation prices. Contact your business mail entry unit[4] for more information. TIPS -0.007 inches? How do I measure that? As a guide, an index card is thick enough. If in doubt, contact a mail piece design analyst (MDA[5]) near you. MDAs have tools for precisely measuring thickness and can tell you if your mailpiece is thick enough. -What is high? What is long? Length is the side parallel to the address. Height is the side that is perpendicular to the length. Sizes for postcards[6] Sizes for flats[7] Sizes for parcels[8] REMINDER: U.S. Postal boxes (available free), MUST state the words FLAT RATE in order to get that FLAT RATE fee... not all the boxes have this and I learned that the hard way. ~Heather CLICK HERE FOR U.S. POSTAL LINK 13 OZ. OR LESS {CLICK HERE} This Pinterest pinner mails unusual items that are 13 oz. or less.  See USPS explanation below. First-Class Package Service (201.8.3) Maximum weight: 13 ounces, except for commercial plus presorted machinable parcels, which must weigh less than 16 ounces. A surcharge applies for parcels with the following characteristics: Unless prepared in 5-digit/scheme containers, presorted parcels weighing less than 2 ounces or that are irregularly shaped, such as rolls, tubes, and triangles. Non*presorted parcels must include a unique Intelligent Mail package bar code with a postal routing code to avoid a surcharge. HAPPY MAILING!!! ~Hugs from Heather~