The United States Post Office offers sellers and other consumers free Priority Boxes for using the Priority Mail Service. They do not want these boxes used for any other purpose. According to what I have read they consider these boxes as still being owned by the Post Office even after they have been used!
A seller in Tampa, Florida just found out the hard way about this interesting detail when he tried using recycled boxes for international First Class shipments. Here is a link to the news story that was published on this seller's dilemma.
The moral of the story is only use the free materials for what they were intended. Do not try to disguise them, cover them, paint them, or use them for any other purpose. It will cost you or your customers who will not be happy!
Another thing to point out is if these boxes are misused, the Post Office can stop giving them out to sellers for free usage. This has already happened in the case of the Priority Mail Tape that the Post Office once gave freely to use.
It was used for everything under the sun which was NOT what it was intended. The Post Office started losing money on this product and stopped giving it to anyone.
I know some people think that this is OK if they use the USPS for their mail no matter how it is done. However let's think about this in the long run. You are doing yourself a disservice and a lot of other people as well by trying to save a few pennies now.
Let's make it fair and easy for everyone. Do what is right!
Early in my selling career, I had the bright idea to turn a Priority Mail box inside out, and reuse it for a non-Priority package. A quick cease and desist order from the USPS put a stop to that practice. I understand about the recycling angle, but until the USPS changes its policies, no amount of whining will make a bit a difference.
ReplyDeleteI, too, used to turn a Priority Mail box inside out. Before they started stamping the inside with "priority mail", the inside was blank. However, I had heard that USPS frowned upon this practice so I NEVER shipped them via USPS. BUT I did use them to ship via UPS. Stopped even doing that when the inside of the boxes started being marked. Having sais that, I still recycle the used priority mail boxes by using them when I double-box a fragile item. I didn't realize even that was against Federal law - I assumed they had made their money when it was first shipped so why would they care if I used it for something else - after all, it was trash to me! Very interesting post and video!
ReplyDeleteBTW, it'll take an act of Congress to change the law, since USPS is governed by them.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if the word "recycle" is the best for your post title - "reuse" would be much better. Since we can't reuse these boxes for anything else, recycling them is the best way to give them extra mileage! :-)
ReplyDeleteI guess that depends on how you look at it. In my humble opinion, recycling is using the item for something other than its intended original purpose. So in that context, it applies here.
DeletePriority boxes can be reused as long as they are used for Priority mail and their original intended purpose. USPS has no issue with reusing a box for that.