Mailing Something by Regular Parcel Using Stamps- How Much Do You Attach

So I want to mail a package by Regular Parcel with no insurance or other options, and I have a bunch of stamps I want to use up and stick it in the mailbox rather than go to the Post Office.

 

It's 24x18x6 cm and only weighs 78 grams, and the Canada Post website says to Saskatchewan it will cost:

 

Regular Price:    $12.44

Fuel Surcharge:   $1.43

Tax:                           $0.69

 

Since I've already paid tax on stamps, I always just put the regular price on when sending lettermail. When you're sending a parcel, though, do you attach just the regular price or the regular price + fuel surcharge?

 

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do I put the postage amount on, or postage + fuel surcharge?

 

I put parcels in the postbox with stamps all the time.

I put the exact postage on the parcel, no fuel surcharge, and (so far) have never had a problem.

Items in the postboxes go directly to the terminal where everything is automated.

A shipment would be stopped only if it won't fit through the machinery (over 2cm for letters), or is damaged in some way, or has an incomplete address.

The few clerks who actually look at the shipments are sorting for destination, not for postage.

You can't put a penny stamp on a 2kg parcel and not expect to have it come back to you, but on the whole it is not worthwhile to constantly adjust for a few pennies over or under. 

 

 

Regular Parcel is tracked within Canada.

You can take your parcel to the PO counter  and stick the stamps on there or stick them on at home.

Then the PO clerk adds a barcoded sticker and gives you a receipt for $0.00 (or for a few pennies if you have to add a bit of postage).

The last time I did this I was charged the fuel surcharge,which is not included in the price of stamps you buy .

But the sales tax had already been paid.

REMEMBER TO LEAVE ROOM FOR THE BARCODE!

You can dump the stamped package in the corner mailbox, but there will be no domestic tracking if you do that, and Regular Parcel is a domestically tracked service.

 

Currently, Expedited Parcel is the same price as Regular Parcel, and is faster and has some insurance.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1


@steveross wrote:

So I want to mail a package by Regular Parcel with no insurance or other options, and I have a bunch of stamps I want to use up and stick it in the mailbox rather than go to the Post Office.

It's 24x18x6 cm and only weighs 78 grams, and the Canada Post website says to Saskatchewan it will cost:

Regular Price:    $12.44

Fuel Surcharge:   $1.43

Tax:                           $0.69

 

Since I've already paid tax on stamps, I always just put the regular price on when sending lettermail. When you're sending a parcel, though, do you attach just the regular price or the regular price + fuel surcharge?


When you use stamps there is no tax to add. The fuel charge gets adjusted every month (so that may vary up or down depending on fuel prices).

...

But I am pretty sure you must take it to your postal outlet or post office to mail it.

The clerk will enter the info and they should see a place to subtract the amount paid with stamps from the total  cost.

-..-

you need to attach as many stamps as close to the guesstimate price, you will still need to go to the post office, they will print you a label for the difference, with a tracking code..

If you don't have a Canadapost Venture One account you can use this link to check your postage and apply the correct amount of postage.

 

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

 

With a Venture One account you would qualify for discounts on postage and is  very quick and painless to apply for and can be done at the Canadapost main website.

 

-CM

This has been an illuminating post. I will be sure to make use of this tactic one day when I have stamps on hand. It's been my intention to try using stamps for tracked shipments for awhile. 

Apologies for the lack of formatting in the above post. I think I've figured out what went wrong.

 

Of course, the issue of a buyer having to pay 4x what the item price is, just to get it mailed to Saskatchewan, is another issue that needs to be maybe taken up at a higher level than us eBay sellers. Chinese sellers get such a great deal on mailing stuff.

Hi all, Thank you for your lovely answers. I should probably clarify, though. What I want to do is not go to the post office. The item is a low-value thing that happens to be too thick for lettermail. I like to mail items the same day they are paid for, and for this particular one is such a low value ($3) that unless I have something else to do at the post office, it will cost me money in lost time. Taking 40 minutes to go back and forth to the post office, plus possible waiting in line time, plus going through all the rigamarole with the post office lady, is a huge cost, when you look at what you can earn doing other things. Tracking just isn't worth it for such low value items, unless you happen to be doing a whole bunch of things at once. I haven't been scammed by anybody claiming non-delivery, ever, but I suppose there will always be a first time. If that happens I'll just eat the cost and do a refund anyhow. I have a postal quality scale, so I know accurately what the charges are supposed to be. The prices I get using the weight & dimensions always corresponds to what I get charged at the post office.. Yesterday I talked to the lady at the post office, and she said that you don't have to mail regular parcel items at a post office, as long as it fits easily through the loader of a mailbox it's OK to stick it in the box with the correct postage, without tax. What she didn't know was whether you have to attach postage for the fuel surcharge, or just the postage rate. (BTW, trying to get through to Canada Post's helpline was hopeless yesterday, don't know why. They've given me wrong answers before anyhow.) So the question remains: If I don't care about tracking, and I want to mail a regular parcel using stamps and putting it in the mailbox, do I put the postage amount on, or postage + fuel surcharge?

Follow up to last post.

 

You can also bring your package to the post office and your stamps and they will confirm postage for you.

 

-CM

I don't actually know the answer to your question but I have a question of my own:

 

If you do it this way, you won't have tracking and then you'd lose any Item Not Received claims, so are you sure that's what you want to do?

 

What I think I would do instead is take my stamps to the postal counter and get that barcode for tracking but still pay with my stamps. I believe that is entirely doable. 

 

But others know better than me. Like @reallynicestamps for example. She has ALL the answers. 

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