I Say Letter, You Say Parcel

I always thought that if something was in an envelope, it was a letter. If it was in a box, it was a parcel.

But no . . . apparently that’s not the case.

I mail CD’s of photographs to my clients. I place the CD in a cardboard sleeve, write a letter full of pleasantries, and place everything in a 6 x 9 envelope. And it usually costs about 60¢. But the other day when I went into the post office, the clerk charged me $1.35 – more than twice as much money!

I asked her why, and she explained that if the envelope is not bendable, then it’s a parcel, even though it’s an envelope. And how it has to do with the machinery used to process letters, and they’ve been enforcing this for a year, and it’s so confusing for everyone, etc. etc.

Hmmm. So the next time I go into the same post office to mail CD’s, a different clerk charges me . . . 60¢. Apparently it is confusing for their own employees.

So I found this little pop-up on the USPS website. Yes, envelopes that do not bend easily incur an extra charge, as do square envelopes or envelopes that contain pens (?). But I don’t know why that clerk charged me the parcel price, instead of the extra 20¢.

Not that I usually get bent out of shape over 75¢, but who wants to pay more money when they don’t have to?