Office Depot and some Wal-Marts carry the 14x14x14 sizes. I ordered mine online in a lot of 25. They were cheap, and I was able to get a size smaller than 14x14x14 (but still on the approved list of sizes,) which costs less to ship and ensures I stay under the reimbursement.

@ValG wrote:

The guidelines state that you can block the addresses. They only need to see.the two zips. I placed small pieces of paper over the addresses before taking the picture. I submitted yesterday so I should know within the week if they were accepted. LOL

I wrote only the two zip codes on the box before taking the picture. Then I would fill in the rest of the addresses.

Staples and Office depot also carry those sizes regularly

Call me cheap, but I'm always getting smallish boxes from Amazon or somewhere, so I just slit them where they're glued, then glue them back together wrong side out. That means there is absolutely no marking on the box, not even the size. It also gets rid of all the boxes I get and saves me money.

thanks for the website...great idea. Marj1912

@sallychattin wrote:

Call me cheap, but I'm always getting smallish boxes from Amazon or somewhere, so I just slit them where they're glued, then glue them back together wrong side out. That means there is absolutely no marking on the box, not even the size. It also gets rid of all the boxes I get and saves me money.

I'm even cheaper than you. I purchase new boxes so I can make 1% back on my credit card.

@sandyf wrote:

My guess is that the msc as a proxy for the post office is trying to ascertain that you are sending the correct package out...based on the scenario you are using and that it meets the requirements. They are probably also trying to prevent a shopper from taking one or two "correct" box pics and then just using any box with markings etc on it when they go to the post office. ...I am sure there are some shoppers out there that try to get away with incorrectly done packages. So they are making it harder to do that.

I remember with the old MSC I would have several boxes with out of date CD's in them wrapped securely (for weight) The exterior of the box was wrapped in clear packaging tape and I printed a label "FROM" (a friend of mine just in case the package was returned to sender by the post office) and "TO" ME so I can reuse it again and again and again just by removing the "to/from" label and stamps and stickers the Post Office puts on the "to from" shipping label Sometimes the Post office puts stickers on the back and sides but because the box is wrapped completely on all sides with clear tape the tape and stickers come off easily. I do not have to open the box I know what is in there. They do not have those shops in NJ anymore to my knowledge.

When we had to use a mailer the box would fit in easily. I would open the mailer remove the box and reuse the contents another day again and again and again.

They sure do have those shops in NJ. I do the same thing and reuse my boxes often.

Piled high...and thatt worked? Couldnt the MSC tell that you had mailed the package to yourself? It seems that the receipt would indicate that you were mailing a package to the same city you were actually mailing it from? I like your idea though cause then you wouldnt have to involve others by receiving bogus packages. Plus you would have the box and contents back to use again. But, i think they could easily figure out what youre doing? What do you think guys and gals, would this work?

It is a novel idea (mailing the package to yourself) and people often actually do this if they are away somewhere and do not want to drag whatever they acquired around with them on their trip and/or when far away do not want to pay for the airline charge for an extra luggage. Or perhaps they are out of town and are mailing a gift to their spouse who is at home???

@COMystery wrote:

Piled high...and thatt worked? Couldnt the MSC tell that you had mailed the package to yourself? It seems that the receipt would indicate that you were mailing a package to the same city you were actually mailing it from? I like your idea though cause then you wouldnt have to involve others by receiving bogus packages. Plus you would have the box and contents back to use again. But, i think they could easily figure out what youre doing? What do you think guys and gals, would this work?

I could not evaluate the post office in MY town as the zip code has to be different But I can go to any other town and mail the package to me. The return address is not me as the post office would question why I am mailing a package to myself. The return address is a friend's address who knows if they get a return for any reason (which never happens unless the package is damaged) they should just hold the package for me.

I always got my packages back and I always reused the boxes. I did not have to reweigh them. All I had to do is remove the mailing label and any stickers the post office applied and make it a bare box again.

If they are the same shops that I do, you cannot mail the package to yourself UNLESS you are zone 1 or more out. Which, for me, would be too far a drive to do for a max of four shops/day. I sometimes do it while travelling, though. I believe that this is the reason they are asking for a picture of the package and to show the zip codes.

Here in Los Angeles area I can drive five minutes and be in another zone. I send about 80% of the packages to myself. My problem is my postman is starting to ask questions about why I get so many boxes. While he hasn't mentioned that they are the same boxes over and over from short distances away, I'm sure he's noticed and I don't have a good excuse.

@wwin wrote:

Here in Los Angeles area I can drive five minutes and be in another zone. I send about 80% of the packages to myself. My problem is my postman is starting to ask questions about why I get so many boxes. While he hasn't mentioned that they are the same boxes over and over from short distances away, I'm sure he's noticed and I don't have a good excuse.

Oh I collect name something bizarre and am in a group that trades them. I am in a swap for clothes, books, recipes, etc and we operate this way. It's so much fun - blah blah.

Liz

I too often ship boxes to myself. I have some very well traveled driveway gravel in 1 pound packages. I reuse the box until it starts to look shabby and then I transfer the contents to a new box.

I do wonder what my mail carrier thinks though, I live rurally and whenever we get a package she gets out of her car and carries it to our door. I think I will have to bake her cookies or something lol.

@wwin wrote:

Here in Los Angeles area I can drive five minutes and be in another zone. I send about 80% of the packages to myself. My problem is my postman is starting to ask questions about why I get so many boxes. While he hasn't mentioned that they are the same boxes over and over from short distances away, I'm sure he's noticed and I don't have a good excuse.

Just say, "eBay." It works pretty well.

@SoCalMama wrote:

@wwin wrote:

Here in Los Angeles area I can drive five minutes and be in another zone. I send about 80% of the packages to myself. My problem is my postman is starting to ask questions about why I get so many boxes. While he hasn't mentioned that they are the same boxes over and over from short distances away, I'm sure he's noticed and I don't have a good excuse.

Just say, "eBay." It works pretty well.

You must live just near the break between zones. I had checked zones when I first started this type of shop and found it was zone 0 for miles and miles around me in Los Angeles. I live near the ocean so perhaps I am in the far end of whatever zone 0 is....It is too far and too wet to drive to Catalina Island to drop my box off.

Some of you make this sound complicated....

Scale: Take a guess at the weight, you'll be close. If you are a little over and have to pay the difference, it might cost $2. You'll have it perfect for your next shop. I'll spend the $2 up front before I buy a scale..

Mailing Address: My work is in a different zip code from where I live. If I do a post office shop from outside my zip code, I just mail stuff to myself at home. If I do it from the same zip code as I live, I just mail it to myself at work.

Boxes: You have some variation in boxes. I have not had to buy a box - I found four or five at home that I was just going to toss. I wrapped them with paper grocery bags and was good to go. When I want to do another shop, I just tape a piece of paper over the previous post office markings (or peel off the stickers) and mail the same box to myself again. I have four boxes ready to be mailed now and am expecting another delivery today. I hope to mail one again tomorrow.

The instructions say You may ship to any zone EXCEPT Zone 0 (and to be fair does explain that zone 0 is within the same city you are shipping from.) but the USPS zone calculator and chart never show zone 0, even if you enter the same zip code for both origin and destination. In that case, it will say it's zone 1 and it's within the same NDC as the origin ZIP Code. I've always assumed that is what they meant by zone 0 but I hate assuming when I MS.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2016 11:07PM by wwin.

Rather than using the Zip Code Chart, I use this link on the USPS Website [postcalc.usps.com] and choose "Get Zone for Zip Code Pair." Then, I type in both zip codes completely.

If it is a Zone 0, it should say: The Zone is 1. This is a Local zone. The destination ZIP Code is within the same NDC as the origin ZIP Code.

If it is Zone 1, it should say: The Zone is 1. This is not a Local Zone. The destination ZIP Code is within the same NDC as the origin ZIP Code.

It has never steered me wrong. (*knock, knock*)

Edited to add another comment, then delete it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2016 11:35PM by meghan9262.

That's exactly what I do. I hate the assuming part, zone 0 isn't really zone 0 it's zone1 within the same NDC acording to the web site. In my area the south part of the city of Carson is actually in Long Beach NDC so I could follow the MSC instructions as written and most likely have my shop rejected (I haven't tried it). I wish the instructins more acurately represented the website info.

I just mail stuff to my sister. She lives 4 zones away....works for me!

@sallychattin wrote:

Call me cheap, but I'm always getting smallish boxes from Amazon or somewhere, so I just slit them where they're glued, then glue them back together wrong side out. That means there is absolutely no marking on the box, not even the size. It also gets rid of all the boxes I get and saves me money.

I do not do Post office shops as I can not find who offers them in New Jersey but I still have my boxes.just in case they come back. You only have to do this once. Take the box, wrap it completely in clear shipping tape. on all sides now it is water proof, label proof, sticker proof ( the clerk usually only puts the stickers on the mailing label) but it they put them anywhere else the stickers can be peeled off easily because they are on clear plastic tape.

I print a simple FROM: My friends address TO: My address If you want to take the picture of the shipping label before you write the address you can do that. If you have to buy a box or mailer at the post office per the guidelines put the box in a mailer you bring the shipping label to the post office with a roll of packing tape and tape the shipping label onto the mailer. It will come back to you because you mailed it to yourself.

I can go to any post office except your local post office(zip code) I mail it. The box comes back to ME. I take the shipping label off as it now has the postage and priority mail stickers on it. If the post office put stickers or tape on any other side of the box I remove them they come off easy from the clear tape surrounding the box. I got a naked box ready to get another shipping label from my printer. From: my friend to ME. when I mail it will get this dummy box back. over and over and over again.

That's what I thought, too. It has to cross zones, doesn't it?

The Type "A" shops do not have to cross zones, but do need to go to different zip codes. I regularly ship within Zone 1 (you can not ship to an address in Zone 0; there is another thread that discusses Zone 0). The HazMat and DimWt shops have to go to a zone 5 or higher address. Be careful about weight for all ships. Don't pick a large box size for "A". Be careful about size of the box for Dim Wt since higher zones will not reimburse the full cost of the larger boxes.

@StephanieGS wrote:

That's what I thought, too. It has to cross zones, doesn't it?

I purchased a baby scale for my former 30 yr old infant. That scale still works. It stays in the kitchen for weighing my food portion items for the freezer and cupboard. I used it for all of my shipping and mailings. Boy I sure do miss them. I am still going through the alphabet of sassie, prophet, etc to find them again....whew!

When you get to companies that begin with the 9th letter of the English alphabet, you will be in the right neighborhood.

@klike5421 wrote:

I purchased a baby scale for my former 30 yr old infant. That scale still works. It stays in the kitchen for weighing my food portion items for the freezer and cupboard. I used it for all of my shipping and mailings. Boy I sure do miss them. I am still going through the alphabet of sassie, prophet, etc to find them again....whew!