Postage Hints for Swap Hostesses

[knitnoid]

I host a centralized birthday swap on another board. The ladies send me the FQ for everyone and then I sort them and send them back out on the ladies' birthdays. As a result, I have FQs sitting in my sewing room for over a year, as they start arriving in May and the last package doesn't go out until the last week of June.

Part of the instructions are to send me the return postage as cash, check, money order or paypal. If they send stamps, I have to go to the PO during the day, as any stamped package weighing over 13 ounces has to be handed to a postal clerk. I've also had some folks try to pay for the return postage using meter strips or APC stickers.

The meter strip was the hangup today. The strip had a June 2008 date on it and the post office would not honor it.

When pressed for an 'expiration' date, they told me it was to be used 'immediately'.

Most of the swaps I've seen here, don't last as long. Also, if all the packages are going out together, the trip to the post office is not so bad. The folks in line behind you aren't too excited, but it's better than having to go to the post office a couple of times each month. I've since figured out how to purchase postage on-line and arrange for pick up. So now I only go if I have a package to Canada or if I've gotten behind and don't have the extra day or two needed for carrier pickup.

Pam