I'm getting ready to mail my invitations. Apparently it's going to cost us around $1.30 to mail each invite.
The guy at the post office told my fiance that our only option was to get several stamps that would add up to $1.30.
That sounds crazy to me. I swear I've never seen a wedding invitation with 5 or 6 stamps all over it. Is that right? Does anyone know how I'm suppose to mail 140 invites that are above the normal postage amount?
Wow, 1.30 is pretty high! Are they boxes or something? But anyway, I know they sell $1 stamps at least. Check usps.com- they have a list of all the current stamps. At the very least you could do something like a $1 stamp and a 41cent stamp or something like that.
Or if you bring them to the post office, they can just print off a sticker for the amount. It's ugly, but it might be better than a bunch of stamps. That's what they do for packages and such.
peihan is right. the post office has $1 stamps and they can also print you the exact amount (it's on a white label) but honestly, NO ONE will look at your stamps to see how many you have OR what they look like. don't buy into the bridal hype and stress yourself out on this one!
They have the wedding stamp in $0.58 and $0.41. The 58-cent ones are pink; the 41-cent ones are a light blue/purple, but the colors are complimentary, and the design is identical....two pinks and one blue would add up to, let's see, $1.40....that's ten cents over, but it's a pulled-together look and just three stamps.
Ok, so now I'm thinking that he's trying to charge us more for the postage than we should be charged. I think he's telling us our invites weigh more than they actually do.
Ugh! This is so annoying. What can't there just be one fabulous stamp that can be used with all wedding-related tasks at the same rate?!!
Regarding your comment about how he is telling you your invites weigh more than they actually do-not sure if you were kidding or not but, he would have no reason to do this. He's a federal employee who's sole job is to set your mail on a scale and read back to you what it says. That said, I would highly recommend Zazzle.com. I had them do my RSVP postcards and they did a fabulous job! From what has been said on this thread and many other threads on this site, they do a great job on custom stamps too. Imagine this: in less than two weeks you could have $1.30 stamps made with one of your engagement photos. How cute is that? The only reason I didn't have stamps made was because my invites only cost $0.41 (how lucky is that?). If you do have the post office print your postage, no one will notice. One more option: buy vintage postage from eBay. Then tons of stamps looks awesome. I have seen that done in a couple of bridal magazines.
i'm actually right at that point where i'm trying to figure out my postage as well. i've been searching online at usps to find one that semi-matches (or really, just not clash) with my invitations.
partway into my research, i read something else that threw another wrench into my plan! did you know that usps postage rates are going up to 42 cents on May 12??? ok i did not know that, but it has put me in a complicated situtation...because although i can get my invites out before the rate goes up, the RSVP cards will be coming back to me AFTER mid may!! so currently i'm trying to find a two sets of stamps that semi match because i don't want my RSVP card stamp to clash with the outer envelope stamps! and it doesn't help the situation that the designs available on the 42 are limited and just not as cool as the current stamp designs.
so this may sound like a lot of babble, but i swear it all makes sense in my head. the main purpose of my comment is to make sure you knew of the rate increase...
Hi Domino - I'm having the same problem. I just sucked it up and bought the forever stamp - honestly, no one's going to notice! I figured there are way more things to stress out about but if you really want matching stamps why not make them at zazzle.com? Then you really have them match your invites!
For those who have used Zazzle for custom stamps, does the post office stlll put that horrible postmark on it? I'm also trying to figure out what to do for postage and I'm not sure if that's the way I want to go if it's going to be blacked out by the post office.
Also, don't forget about postage increases May 12 - so if you are sending after then, make sure you have the right amount! also, if you are going to have RSVP cards coming back, make sure those are going to work after the increase too!
jma19: I custom ordered my stamps for my invites from Zazzle and the RSVPs that came back were all stamped from the post office...with the exception of one or two (that I will be reusing! Yay!). So regardless of what stamps you use, the post office is still going to stamp them.
Domino- I had the same problem. I did the math and it was $20 total more for me to use the nice heart $0.58 stamp on the RSVPs so even though no one will notice but me, I spent the extra $20 and used the nicer stamp!
Thanks so much for all the help! I actually took my invite to a different post office today and they told us each invite will only cost $.97 to mail. So my advice to anyone out there would definitely be to get a second opinion on your postage if you think something isn't quite right. I think the guy at the post office that my fiance initially saw just didn't really know what he was doing. I know he wouldn't try to scam us or anything; there's no reason for him to do that.
So now we're going with either the $1 stamps, 2 of the Love stamps, or printing a stamp that costs the exact amount.
As for the price increase, like emilie01<span class="postby"> we ended up sucking it up and doing the Forever stamps.
Whoa, $1.30 vs. $0.97 is a big difference...much as I despise the postal system, I'm sure they wouldn't intentionally mess with you. BUT since you got 2 totally different amounts, I'd ask a third person just to be sure.
A difference that big is probably NOT due to weight (oops, finger on the scale, miscalibrated scale, etc.) -- it's more likely that one clerk computed based on a different service class (First Class vs. Priority) or added in some extra surcharges that you might actually need (nonmachinable b/c of shape, etc.).
If you put your own postage on it, it could get rejected at your main postal facility...and come back to you (and likely in yucky condition). (If you have the ugly USPS postal stickers, they might suck it up and let it thru b/c a postal employee weighed, posted and accepted it.)
I'm totally with you - I hate paying extra money for postage - but I'd recommend you do one more check and make sure you've got the right amount.
That is a great idea princesskittyHI. I'll take an invite to a different post office tomorrow and see what they come up with there. I would hate for them all to come back to me yucky and messed up!
You know when you go and ship a larger envelope and the print the stamp/sticker thing off right there? Why can't you just have that done? Ask when a low time would be to come in to avoid holding up lines...it;s not an awesome adea, look-wise but it's better then a zillion stamps on your pretty envelope.
Definitely go to more than one post office. The first office I went to said that I need $1 something (I forgot) to mail mine because I used wax seal to seal them and they have to be hand cancelled. The second post office said that it will be 58 cents. I mailed mine through the second post office (they hand cancelled them for me) and all of them arrived perfect.
I'm getting ready to mail my invitations. Apparently it's going to cost us around $1.30 to mail each invite.
The guy at the post office told my fiance that our only option was to get several stamps that would add up to $1.30.
That sounds crazy to me. I swear I've never seen a wedding invitation with 5 or 6 stamps all over it. Is that right? Does anyone know how I'm suppose to mail 140 invites that are above the normal postage amount?
Thanks!
posted by missminij 42 posts 7 months agoWow, 1.30 is pretty high! Are they boxes or something? But anyway, I know they sell $1 stamps at least. Check usps.com- they have a list of all the current stamps. At the very least you could do something like a $1 stamp and a 41cent stamp or something like that.
Or if you bring them to the post office, they can just print off a sticker for the amount. It's ugly, but it might be better than a bunch of stamps. That's what they do for packages and such.
posted by peihan17 222 posts 7 months agoYou could order custom stamps from zazzle.com or a similar vendor-- costco offers 25% off on custom stamp orders!
posted by alissa07 73 posts 7 months agopeihan is right. the post office has $1 stamps and they can also print you the exact amount (it's on a white label) but honestly, NO ONE will look at your stamps to see how many you have OR what they look like. don't buy into the bridal hype and stress yourself out on this one!
posted by Amy 209 posts 7 months agoThey have the wedding stamp in $0.58 and $0.41. The 58-cent ones are pink; the 41-cent ones are a light blue/purple, but the colors are complimentary, and the design is identical....two pinks and one blue would add up to, let's see, $1.40....that's ten cents over, but it's a pulled-together look and just three stamps.
posted by maryalison 105 posts 7 months agoOk, so now I'm thinking that he's trying to charge us more for the postage than we should be charged. I think he's telling us our invites weigh more than they actually do.
Ugh! This is so annoying. What can't there just be one fabulous stamp that can be used with all wedding-related tasks at the same rate?!!
posted by missminij 42 posts 7 months agoHmm, 140 invitations x $1.30 postage = $182. I'd probably avoid anything that would cost more =P Ask the postal people to print you the stickers!
posted by peihan17 222 posts 7 months agoThanks so much for all your help. You've certainly helped to calm me down. I think we're going to have the post office print us the postage stickers.
Mucho thanks!
posted by missminij 42 posts 7 months agoRegarding your comment about how he is telling you your invites weigh more than they actually do-not sure if you were kidding or not but, he would have no reason to do this. He's a federal employee who's sole job is to set your mail on a scale and read back to you what it says. That said, I would highly recommend Zazzle.com. I had them do my RSVP postcards and they did a fabulous job! From what has been said on this thread and many other threads on this site, they do a great job on custom stamps too. Imagine this: in less than two weeks you could have $1.30 stamps made with one of your engagement photos. How cute is that? The only reason I didn't have stamps made was because my invites only cost $0.41 (how lucky is that?). If you do have the post office print your postage, no one will notice. One more option: buy vintage postage from eBay. Then tons of stamps looks awesome. I have seen that done in a couple of bridal magazines.
posted by Niki 432 posts 7 months agoi'm actually right at that point where i'm trying to figure out my postage as well. i've been searching online at usps to find one that semi-matches (or really, just not clash) with my invitations.
partway into my research, i read something else that threw another wrench into my plan! did you know that usps postage rates are going up to 42 cents on May 12??? ok i did not know that, but it has put me in a complicated situtation...because although i can get my invites out before the rate goes up, the RSVP cards will be coming back to me AFTER mid may!! so currently i'm trying to find a two sets of stamps that semi match because i don't want my RSVP card stamp to clash with the outer envelope stamps! and it doesn't help the situation that the designs available on the 42 are limited and just not as cool as the current stamp designs.
so this may sound like a lot of babble, but i swear it all makes sense in my head. the main purpose of my comment is to make sure you knew of the rate increase...
let us know what you end up doing!
posted by Domino 26 posts 7 months agoHi Domino - I'm having the same problem. I just sucked it up and bought the forever stamp - honestly, no one's going to notice! I figured there are way more things to stress out about but if you really want matching stamps why not make them at zazzle.com? Then you really have them match your invites!
posted by emilie01 55 posts 7 months agoFor those who have used Zazzle for custom stamps, does the post office stlll put that horrible postmark on it? I'm also trying to figure out what to do for postage and I'm not sure if that's the way I want to go if it's going to be blacked out by the post office.
posted by jma19 364 posts 7 months agoAlso, don't forget about postage increases May 12 - so if you are sending after then, make sure you have the right amount! also, if you are going to have RSVP cards coming back, make sure those are going to work after the increase too!
posted by Janna19 343 posts 7 months agojma19: I custom ordered my stamps for my invites from Zazzle and the RSVPs that came back were all stamped from the post office...with the exception of one or two (that I will be reusing! Yay!). So regardless of what stamps you use, the post office is still going to stamp them.
posted by MissBlueBear 271 posts 7 months agoDomino- I had the same problem. I did the math and it was $20 total more for me to use the nice heart $0.58 stamp on the RSVPs so even though no one will notice but me, I spent the extra $20 and used the nicer stamp!
posted by Janna19 343 posts 7 months agoThanks so much for all the help! I actually took my invite to a different post office today and they told us each invite will only cost $.97 to mail. So my advice to anyone out there would definitely be to get a second opinion on your postage if you think something isn't quite right. I think the guy at the post office that my fiance initially saw just didn't really know what he was doing. I know he wouldn't try to scam us or anything; there's no reason for him to do that.
So now we're going with either the $1 stamps, 2 of the Love stamps, or printing a stamp that costs the exact amount.
As for the price increase, like emilie01<span class="postby"> we ended up sucking it up and doing the Forever stamps.
posted by missminij 42 posts 7 months agoWhoa, $1.30 vs. $0.97 is a big difference...much as I despise the postal system, I'm sure they wouldn't intentionally mess with you. BUT since you got 2 totally different amounts, I'd ask a third person just to be sure.
A difference that big is probably NOT due to weight (oops, finger on the scale, miscalibrated scale, etc.) -- it's more likely that one clerk computed based on a different service class (First Class vs. Priority) or added in some extra surcharges that you might actually need (nonmachinable b/c of shape, etc.).
If you put your own postage on it, it could get rejected at your main postal facility...and come back to you (and likely in yucky condition). (If you have the ugly USPS postal stickers, they might suck it up and let it thru b/c a postal employee weighed, posted and accepted it.)
I'm totally with you - I hate paying extra money for postage - but I'd recommend you do one more check and make sure you've got the right amount.
posted by princesskittyHI 297 posts 7 months agoThat is a great idea princesskittyHI. I'll take an invite to a different post office tomorrow and see what they come up with there. I would hate for them all to come back to me yucky and messed up!
posted by missminij 42 posts 7 months agoYou know when you go and ship a larger envelope and the print the stamp/sticker thing off right there? Why can't you just have that done? Ask when a low time would be to come in to avoid holding up lines...it;s not an awesome adea, look-wise but it's better then a zillion stamps on your pretty envelope.
posted by Sweeney2Be 1,488 posts 7 months agoDefinitely go to more than one post office. The first office I went to said that I need $1 something (I forgot) to mail mine because I used wax seal to seal them and they have to be hand cancelled. The second post office said that it will be 58 cents. I mailed mine through the second post office (they hand cancelled them for me) and all of them arrived perfect.
posted by indy 89 posts 7 months ago