Postage Question ?

tennesseebanker

Does anyone know if there is a certain time you have to mail a package after you have printed the postage? I had a buyer win an auction in my store on the 3rd, I printed the postage that night and have held on to the package until he paid this morning. I thought I remembered seeing something about having 48 hours to mail the item after it is printed, is that correct ??

itzagoner

i've had the Post Office clerks rag on me for bringing items in with postage printed the previous day, but they took 'em....you may be right about the 48 hr. limit, but the best place to get the answer would be 1-877-ASK-USPS

tennesseebanker

Thanks for the Phone # After waiting for about 10 minutes and then being disconected I finally just called my local PO. The nice lady told me they dont like for people to do it, but they will accept it.

itzagoner

uh, sorry for the hassle, what i meant was call 1-877-ASK-ANICELADY glad you got the answer ITZ

poppie

It is suppose to be the same day, but my post office lets it go most days 24 hours. Dont try it on Arpril 16th however, as they consider the IRS their Cuz !

MooseDog

I print out my own postage labels through PayPal.

I'm well know at my local PO so I have never had a hassle. Often I will print at night and forget to change the date to the next day. There are a couple of nearby branches that have hassled me but still they take the package. One of the offices that I contract at has a "by the book" carrier that will not take a metered letter that is even one day late. So, your answer is "it depends".

If you have a metered package there is no reason to stand in line and hand to a clerk unless it's so big it won't fit into a mail slot. You can usually just leave large packages on a counter.

I have NEVER had a package returned to me for a stale date.


PS. If you print through PayPal like I do keep in mind there is a short deadline for voiding or requesting a refund for a misprinted label. Found this out the hard way and burned a few $$$.

tennesseebanker

PS. If you print through PayPal like I do keep in mind there is a short deadline for voiding or requesting a refund for a misprinted label. Found this out the hard way and burned a few $$$.


I think that may have been the 48 hrs I was talking about. Thanks for the info

80sJunkie

Actually I use stamps.com and i have printed postage and mailed a week later and never had any one tell me it was not ok.

grote15

stamps.com is great, the printed label includes free delivery confirmation (for priority mail) and i think it's only like 13 cents for first class, and you can even insure packages right on line, too. it's a real timesaver and you don't have to worry about writing out addresses either or standing in line at the PO.

DaBigHurt

I've gone 3-4 days between printing a label and actually dropping the packages off at the PO and never had a problem. I always put the packages in the dropoff slots and never deal with the clerks. Never thought it was even an issue.