BMerTmWU1!~~_7.JPG "lotzofuniquegoodies"){kind=avatar}
w~~_7.JPG "pjcdn2005"){kind=avatar}
@fh991586 wrote:When you check the official price sheet for business or consumers, it clearly states that if you don't use a P stamps for lettermail up to 30gr, you must use $1.07 worth of stamps (for today's rate, which may change in the future).
https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/doc/en/support/prices/business-prices.pdf (p.14)
https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/doc/en/support/prices/consumer-prices.pdf (p.12)
Preface: I've worked as a Canada Post retail clerk for nearly a decade, including time spent in management.
There is no debate. As others have stated, the Lettermail rate (i.e. the cost to send a letter in Canada) is currently 92 cents. This is the cost of a Permanent stamp, one of which is needed to mail a domestic letter under 30 g.
I looked at both of the pages you linked to there. It does not anywhere say "...if you don't use a[sic] P stamps for lettermail up to 30gr, you must use $1.07 worth of stamps..." Could you please point out where it "clearly states" (your words) that?
What it does say is that the "Single stamp" rate is $1.07 and the rate for "Stamps [purchased] in booklets/coils/panes" is $0.92. It breaks the Lettermail rate into two distinct categories. When you go into a post office and ask for a single stamp you are sold a stamp with a value of $1.07 on it which is applied to your letter (see image below) - the 15 cents extra you pay is a surcharge for the time/labour involved in selling a single stamp (and also a way to try and entice you into purchasing a book of stamps). It's called a "single stamp" because they are sold individually (i.e. not in a booklet/coil/pane); this is why you can't buy them on the Canada Post website, because they are meant to be sold one at a time and only at retail.
Every other stamp you buy from Canada Post, or was bought in the past, was sold in either a book, a coil, or a pane. Hence, when not using a single stamp (i.e. a $1.07 stamp) you are effectively using a stamp that was originally from a booklet, coil, or pane, and as is specified in the pages/image you've provided, the rate when using those stamps originally from a booklet/coil/pane, is 92 cents. Including the single Permanent stamp which is worth 92 cents (and is sold by Canada Post in booklets, coils, and panes). If you find two stamps from back when stamps cost 46 cents, then those stamps were originally sold in a booklet, coil, or pane, and therefore applying two of them will add up to the rate for stamps in a booklet, coil, or pane. If you have 92 individual 1 cent stamps then those are perfectly fine to apply to your letter because they are only sold in a pane and therefore adhere to the rate for stamps in a booklet, coil, or pane.
@fh991586 wrote:If you put $0.92 worth of loose stamps on the letter, it might work. But consider this at your risk. Same thing for the advice to use 2 P stamps (worth $1.84) instead of $1.94 for the 100gr rate...
There were 2 files showing different informations on the previous thread, but no provenance was clearly stated, nor if public had access to it.
Those files you reference in the other thread were mine, and I clearly indicated where they came from and that they were my own photos I took with my own phone. I will post them below for posterity sake in case anyone in the future comes across this thread and is confused (click to expand size).
The first image clearly indicates what is to be considered fully paid for Standard Lettermail items (up to 30 g), and the second image shows that two Permanent 'P' stamps are sufficient for Other Lettermail (up to 100 g). As for 'provenance' these photos were taken directly from the Canada Post Retail Operations manual, an 1,100+ page tome that is supplied to all post offices in Canada and outlines all the policies/procedures that they are to follow. Every Canada Post location (including authorized dealers) are given a hard copy of this manual when they first open, and it is available digitally through the post office computers as well. Up until last year any updates or addendums to the manual were physically mailed to all post offices annually (now they just say to check online for updates in an effort to save trees). And no, of course this manual isn't available to the public, just as the training/operations manuals for most major companies aren't made publicly available. Canada Post makes information from the manual available (via their postal guides and on their website) as they feel is relevant and necessary for the general public.
@fh991586 wrote:I can say that when I asked questions about this to my local post master, they used the public information to answer me, which I could confirm by myself on the website. If they had another book to look from, they did not mention it, so its use as an official document is not confirmed.
If I had to take a wild guess I would say maybe 5% of the Canada Post retail workforce has flipped through the Retail Operations manual. Maybe 1% have read it all the way through. Less than 1% of new hires or seasonal employees are probably even aware of it's existence. Turnover at post offices is incredibly high due to the difficulty of the job and the sheer amount of knowledge that they are expected to know. This leads to the perpetuation of incorrect information from people that didn't know the correct answer in the first place.
You can go back to that post office and ask them to check their Retail Operations Manual if you would like confirmation about any of the information I've provided - I've indicated the sections and page numbers under each respective image. If the manager or employee you're talking to has no idea where to find the Retail Operations Manual (or worse, doesn't even know what that is) then I would take anything they have to say with a grain of salt. For the record, this also goes for all the customer service representatives you may talk with on the phone or on chat - I can almost guarantee that the vast majority of them have less knowledge than any employee at a retail location. They are reading off of scripts; many of them have probably never even set foot in Canada let alone know the intracacies of the Canadian postal system.
lol I like how you marked your own post as the "Solution" to the thread.
It seems like it's impossible to convince you of the truth, despite literally everyone telling you otherwise, including people who (a) have been selling on eBay for decades, (b) specialize in stamps, and (c) work for Canada Post. You're more than welcome to continue thinking that the rate to mail a single letter is $1.07 just note that you're effectively wasting 15 cents of profit every time you mail out letters without using Permanent stamps (not really a wise choice considering this is an eBay seller's discussion forum and the ultimate goal around here is to get the most profit).
I've probably shipped out thousands of items over the years with discount postage adding up to 92 cents (or whatever the Lettermail rate was previous to the latest rate hike) and have never had one returned to me for insufficient postage. I've provided knowledge and advice to customers at the post office for the better part of a decade on how to save money on shipping and have never once heard from one of these customers that their item has been returned for insufficient postage. Heck, there are people that have built entire businesses around selling old, discount postage in bundles that add up 92 cents - do you think these business would be able to continue operating if the foundation on which they existed was fundamentally incorrect?
@fh991586 wrote:The thing is, you actually had the answer to the whole debate right under your eyes, but highlited right before and after! It clearly states there that there are 2 rates for the lettermail up to 30gr, depending which option you use (permanent stamp OR single stamp(s), as you can read on the part I highlited.
The sections you've highlighted in green/pink in your image (I'll post it under this paragraph so people know what you're talking about) are under the heading "Examples" - meaning it's not a definitive list, just two examples of what would be considered fully-paid postage for a Domestic Standard Lettermail item (up to 30 g). Additonal examples are provided in the table below, including the note that I originally highlighted in yellow.
Featured Posts
