I’ve been having an internal debate on whether to use postage or shipping labels. I would love to not use shipping labels because Canada Post is so expensive for shipping internationally and to the US, and I don’t want to have to charge my customers shipping fees that are worth more than the products they buy. But at the same time stamps are just very finicky and I can end up spending more on stamps than needed.

I saw that postage meters existed so if anyone has any experience on that it would be greatly appreciated.

As someone who has a small but growing business and occasionally launches products on Kickstarter, I sometimes have to ship out a handful of small bubble mailers, or a larger 1-2lb package domestic or international. Through Paypal I can get great rates when shipping first class on those lightweight bubble mailers internationally ($2-3), but I get raped on shipping the larger packages ($20) and if I try to ship either internationally though the USPS website they don't even offer the lower cost first class shipping, so the prices are insane.

But at the same time, Paypal doesn't appear to allow you to just ship anything and everything with multi-order shipping, from what I can tell it has to be orders placed through their website. So it's no good when a Kickstarter campaign ends and I have 100-200 bubble mailers to ship all over the world!

Oh and it's a huge pain in the ass printing these international labels on my dymo label printer I have to go through a five step process to position and resize the label in adobe reader to get it ti print correctly.

So I was thinking about getting a postage meter to avoid these issues, but the smaller one on Pitney Bowes for $20 a month seems shitty and the larger $40 a month one it's not clear how it prints labels for packages and bubble mailers or how much the labels cost or the ink... But the main thing I'm wondering is if it's worth it... Am I going to save money on postage with this thing, or is it just a labor saving device? Manually entering addresses is a pain in the ass to be sure, but $500+ a year every year on a postage printer is a tough pill to swallow at this point in my business. But, if it cost $10 to mail those small international packages instead of $20 each then it becomes more realistic to pay that much for the machine.

We are looking for participants for a remote, July 19th study who:

• Use a software shipping solution (e.g. FedEx Ship Manager, Stamps.com) AND/OR owned or rented postage scale (unfortunately we've maxed out on Pitney Bowes users for this study, sorry)**

• Have decision making or at least influence over what shipping solutions your company uses.**

• Are looking into possibly changing shipping solutions in the next 6-12 months.

The study is a one-hour GoToMeeting, and you will need a webcam to participate. You will receive $100 in exchange for your time.

Please PM if interested.

A local charity is in need of some bulk stamping for their mail outs, about twice a year they need to put stamps on about 300 envelopes so I'm trying to find somewhere in Ottawa that provides a stamping service or rents out postage meters.

If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

I’m super confused, I’ve sent hundreds of letter mail (untracked just with a stamp, for sticker orders) and this is the first time it’s happened. not too sure why, though. This particular envelope weighs less than an ounce and is not thick. Should i just add another stamp and put it out for my mailman? Or should i repackage it? I don’t know what to do :(

Got multiple packages dropped off today... Weights nowhere near accurate... Priority packaging but not priority postage... Dimensions not accounted for...

Someone's going to have some angry customers soon.

Hi all, I'd really appreciate your help on this one - I've been googling for awhile, but because I don't know the exact term for the type of postage I'm referring to, I can't find one answer that isn't contradicted elsewhere!

I printed this kind of postage at the kiosk in the post office lobby. It ended up not being what I needed (I was doing this after hours, or I'd have just gone to the counter for help at this point), so I still have them. The Date of Sale on them is November 14, 2021.

Can I still use them, or do they have to be used on the sale date? If so I'm a little annoyed because the kiosk gave me no info about what I would be getting back - I assumed it'd be regular stamps! Though at least now I know better!

If they're invalid now is there a way to get them refunded?

Also for future googling, can anyone tell me what this kind of postage is called? Is it indicia or metered or something else?

THANK YOU so much for any info! Stay safe out there.

For those with small firms, how do you best handle your postage needs?

Online service like stamps.com or usps.com?

Or do you rent a postage meter?

We are trying to be streamlined with an efficient, economical and easy method without unnecessary equipment.

Any feedback or recommendations appreciated.

Hello horological community!

My name's Steve Pick, I'm a watchmaker based in the United Kingdom, I've been providing my services for the last 4 years now. Generally speaking I can service anything you require, but I do not look at or repair quartz/ kenetic or spring drive mechanisms.

Please message me and I will provide information on how to pay/ where to ship to. Please (and I can not stress this enough) include your name plus name on Redit and full return address with your watch, for added peace of mind please if you can, include your phone number and email. On the note could you also list the works you require carrying out by myslef.

1- Client satisfaction is my main goal, returning your timepieces working naturally, goes hand in hand with this. 2- However; in the politest way possible some of the watches I will be adressing here will be homage/ replica watches, and with the low price you pay for the watch, ( in comparison to the original of course) you subconsciously agree to several compromises. •Build quality- parts aren't manufactured to the same tolerances as their genuine counterparts so they're more likely to fail. •Quality control, unlike with the Swiss Japanise and German industry, the replica you purchased will have probably passed quality control by the skin of its teeth (or bezel!) Because of this you can expect issues to arise more frequently than the original watch, from parts failing to literally falling apart, it might never happen to your watch- but surely it's reasuring to know that if it does there's someone near at hand to get it back to working order?

Okay with all this out of the way;

The services I offer are listed below, they do not include shipping charges. Anyone local to myself is welcome to drop off and collect which will negate any costs associated with postage and insurance etc- If you aren't local and would like your watch returned with a specific courier with a specific level of insurance please let me know. Photographs will be taken of any works carried out especially full services, and a video of the watch on the timegrapher will be provided if the works required relate to the timekeeping of the watch.

SERVICES I OFFER;

£20 - Initial diagnosis. this fee is to be paid if, after a quote is given for works the quote is declined, the watch will be shipped back. Please note that this charge is fully negated if any further works are to be agreed upon and carried out.

£40- Bezel works. This includes bezel and bezel

Do your worst!

Show is scheduled to start 7:00 pm Pacific time (10 pm EST).

SET 1: [7:25 - 8:52]

Glide (5), Colonel Forbin's Ascent (6), Fly Famous Mockingbird (7), Trey thanks[1] (1), Wolfmans Brother (11), If I could (8), I Never Needed You Like This Before (6), Stash (18), Weigh (5), Bouncing Around the Room (4), Gotta Jibboo (8), Moonage Daydream (7)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SET 2: [9:25 - 10:54]

Soul Planet [2][3] (46) > The Final Hurrah (9), Theme From the Bottom (8), Axilla II (5), Tela (7), Harry Hood (14)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ENCORE: [10:57 - 11:07]

Fee (6), Wilson (4)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Notes:

[1] - Trey thanks people from Tahoe, fire fighters, fans, etc.

[2] - Mike pulls out the drill

[3] - Longest jam since Runaway Jim 11/29/97, and 3rd longest jam all-time

Biggest Bust-Out: Colonel Forbin's Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird (146 shows)

Axilla II (936 shows)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well pholks, I'm glad to join you all once again on our journey through the cosmic gumbo this evening. My brain is still in a puddle on the lawn at Deer Creek, if anyone gets the chance please scoop it up and return it to me, I can pay for postage. This tour has been fantastic so far, with some big jams and plenty of Phishy shenanigans. Also whatever effect Trey has been using to get that nasty, sub-octave synth sound... please use it even more. Whoa, it shocks my brain. Any gear-heads know what pedal he uses to get that sound? I haven't been able to figure it out.

Also, with the unique circumstances for this show, I can't help but feel we are in for something special.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Live Commentary:

[7:25] - Here we go!

[7:30] - Gamehendge already! Also I called that Forbin's

[7:38] - Page is melting my heart on this mockingbird

[7:39] - By the way I'm not sure why the setlist went down momentarily, sorry about that.

[7:44] - Trey thanking all the wonderful people

[7:56] - That wolfmans was funky. Now we're going into serene territory :)

**[8:05] - Hell yeah, INNYLTB is my favorite

It really does, I swear!

For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.

I said "hey look, an escaPEA"

No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!

Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂

The house behind mine (100+ feet away) keeps the party going. It’s like Fremont Brewery in their backyard, facing my place. They kept going until 4:30AM despite I requested them to keep quiet at 12AM.

They are a single-family home area in NW Seattle. They insist they are not loud, and seem to be regularly hosting parties with many people in their backyard.

Everyone around is either tolerating or deaf. I can hear their talking/laughing/music from nearly all rooms.

Requesting them to be quiet didn’t help as they kept going until 4:30, with a reduced crowd but the music was still audible.

They’re on standbi

Buenosdillas

I'm surprised it hasn't decade.

We are looking for participants for a remote, July 19th study who:

• Use a software shipping solution (e.g. FedEx Ship Manager, Stamps.com) AND/OR owned or rented postage scale (unfortunately we've maxed out on Pitney Bowes users for this study, sorry)**

• Have decision making or at least influence over what shipping solutions your company uses.**

• Are looking into possibly changing shipping solutions in the next 6-12 months.

The study is a one-hour GoToMeeting, and you will need a webcam to participate. You will receive $100 in exchange for your time.

Please PM if interested.

We are looking for participants for a remote, July 19th study who:

• Use a software shipping solution (e.g. FedEx Ship Manager, Stamps.com) AND/OR owned or rented postage scale (unfortunately we've maxed out on Pitney Bowes users for this study, sorry)

• Have decision making or at least influence over what shipping solutions your company uses.

• Are looking into possibly changing shipping solutions in the next 6-12 months.

The study is a one-hour GoToMeeting, and you will need a webcam to participate. You will receive $100 in exchange for your time.

Please PM if interested.