<p>I am trying to get ready all of my envelopes for my guidance counselors and teachers and I am having a huge problem figuring out postage! I went to the post office as soon as I got off work to weigh a sample 9x12 envelope (it shouldn't have more than 10 sheets of paper in it) but of 3 different places I went all of them were closed. I have to give these to my teachers tomorrow already stamped, and I'm worried I won't have enough postage. I've tried the USPS website but since I don't know the weight of my envelopes it doesn't help much. I thought this might have been answered somewhere on CC before but for some reason everytime I search the archives CC says the server is too busy and shuts down. As I'm sure that many of you parents have mailed many things in your lifetimes, can ANYBODY help me estimate how many stamps to put on these 9x12 envelopes?</p>
<p>What I did, was I went to one of those mailbox etc-type stores that ship things out and explained my dilemma of not knowing exactly how much postage to use. They put 10 sheets of paper in it and weighed it for me, and based on the addresses, were able to tell me how many stamps to be safe. Those places are open well after the post offices close...</p>
<p>Stamps are cheap. Put four on each envelope and ship 'em. You will probably be giving the USPS an extra 40 or 80 cents, but who cares?</p>
<p>We went to <a href="http://www.usps.com%5B/url%5D">www.usps.com</a> and mailed all of my son's each in a priority mail flat envelope. It cost a few bucks per application, but if you do the label online (you can print postage here too) you get free delivery confirmation. So he was able to go online and enter the tracking number and print off confirmation that his app had been received. For us, it was worth the nominal cost over first class postage to know that the apps arrived okay.</p>
<p>It's been a while, but I believe my D's guidance counselor told us to affix 3 stamps per envelope. I would take WashDad's advice though and use 4.</p>
<p>I took a 9-by-12 manila envelope, put 10 pieces of white printer paper in it and added four paper clips (just in case), and weighed it on my postal scale. It came out to 87 cents.</p>
<p>Ask your neighbors!!!</p>
<p>We also just used 3 1st class stamps, as recommended by the HS counseling office & had no problems. Didn't bother tracking the docs & none were lost for the 9 schools S applied to last year. I figured we're already paying enough on app fees anyway, but I always did send important docs via fax or certified mail (e.g. acceptance deposit, scholarship confirmations, housing deposit).</p>
<p>Here's the scoop:</p>
<p>If you have 1 ounce or less in a 9 X 12 you need a .39 and a .13 stamp.
If you have between one ounce and two ounces you need .39 plus a .24 stamp.
If you have between two ounces and thress ounces you need .39 plus TWO .24 stamps. Every additional ounce (or fraction of) you need an additional .24 stamp.</p>
<p>Some examples of weights:</p>
<p>A 9X12 manila envelope with:
1 sheet - .8 oz (stamps .39 +.13)
2 sheets - 1.0 oz (stamps .39 + .13)
3 sheets - 1.2 oz (stamps .39 + .24)
4 sheets - 1.3 oz (stamps .39 + .24)
5 sheets - 1.5 oz (stamps .39 + .24)
6 sheets - 1.7 oz (stamps .39 + .24)
7 sheets - 1.8 oz (stamps .39 + .24)
8 sheets - 2.0 oz (stamps .39 + .24 + .24)
9 sheets - 2.1 oz (stamps .39 + .24 + .24)
10 sheets - 2.3 oz (stamps .39 + .24 + .24)</p>
<p>I do a lot of mailing because I have a home business - I weighed all these on a postal scale. Here is a good web site to help you out:
<a href="http://www.usps.com/tools/calculatepostage/welcome.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.usps.com/tools/calculatepostage/welcome.htm</a></p>
<p>When in doubt, put on a lot of stamps!</p>
<p>i just mailed some grad school applications via priority mail envelopes. each was $4.05.</p>
<p>likewise, we've gone the expensive priority mail route...$4.05 every time, no matter how much you need to stuff in the letter-sized envelope. Also add on the delivery confirmation (web check only) so we can sleep at night knowing that the package arrived.</p>
<p>I'm sending my D's docs by 1st class mail, certified.
Cost: 1st class postage + $2.40 for certified.</p>
<p>At our post office there is a machine, so no waiting, pay by credit card, and delivery can be confirmed online using the tracking number.</p>