If you are found to constantly need Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express or even USPS forms en masse, you should be able to order them online and not have to pay a single penny to get certain supplies - right from the USPS. This article will explain how to do this, and still remain within the USPS system and within the legal boundaries of the system.
Steps
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1Visit the USPS website and login to your account. Use your USPS.com credentials. If you don't have an account, you will have to sign up to order these supplies and track your order.
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2Find the Free Shipping Supplies page. Although you can meander through the site looking from link-to-link, the quickest way is to go right to the shortcut link found here .
- You can also hover over Shop and click "Shipping Supplies". Locate the Filter options on the left side of the page and click the checkbox to the left of "Free Shipping Supplies" and let that re-populate the list.
- On the mobile website, you need to look for this list which you must tap. It is labeled "<Filter/Sort" to the right of the Shipping Supplies section label-header, just below the tabs for all the other mobile website services they provide. However, the link provided above is a quicker way to get there.
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3Learn what freebies they have. All Flat-Rate envelopes are available, as well all the USPS mailing boxes (and Flat Rate boxes), shoeboxes, and the like. Freebie forms are also available (certified and return receipt, registered mail, and similar), as well as sticker tapes to mark packages as being under a service (such as Priority Mail or Priority Mail Express stickers).
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4Read what items they have and the details they provide. USPS provides names for its boxes, as well as its USPS product number and the quantity inside the package. They provide sizes of the boxes and envelopes (including width, length, and depth, if finished space is an issue.)
- The dimensions of boxes are the finished dimensions after the box has been opened and readied for use. It is not the beginning dimensions of the boxes before getting them ready for packaging.
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5Click or tap each individual item you'd like to add to your checkout cart.
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6Look for and click to customize the packages a little. While box packages may come in bigger sets of 25 (versus the default option of packs of 10), envelopes and forms will not have any different package amounts. If available, click the Pack of 10 or Pack of 25 "tabs" in the right-hand sidebar. Then continue reading below it.
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7Quantify how many packs are needed for the item. Use the up and down arrow buttons on the screen to select your quantity - or you can click the box and type your selected amount.
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8Double-check your price. It should be marked as a bolded $0.00 below the quantity line next to an unbolded "Total Price". If it isn't, you might have clicked something that wasn't free, because something was missed along the way.
- USPS also sells some shipping supplies such as packaging tape and cardboard-colored packaging boxes that are a little bigger, as well as stamps - right through their website. Be advised of these accidental misclicks.
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9Click the "Add to Cart" button just below that line. The words and shopping cart icon will be written in white, with a green background.
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10Tell USPS what your next option will be. USPS asks if you'd like to "Keep Shopping", "View Cart" or "Checkout Now" and you will need to click one.
- If you click "Keep Shopping", you will be taken back to the product page. If you don't want any more of that product, click the "<Back" button to go back to your search results with the filter turned on.
- If you clicked "View Cart", you'll be taken to your USPS supplies Shopping Cart provided here .
- If you click "Checkout Now", you'll be getting yourself ready to get those supplies mailed to you.
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11Review and revise your cart, if necessary. Go to your shopping cart. (Link provided above). Read the information about the items and read-across. Click into the "Quantity" box and revise the quantity if necessary. If you want to remove the item completely, click "Remove". If you'd like to check how many are in the pack, click Edit. To completely start over, click "Clear Shopping Cart".
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12Provide your Shipping Address. Your USPS will ask for at least one address to keep in your USPS address book. This is where these packages of supplies will be coming to.
- Note that most supplies won't fit into P.O. boxes, but you can ask at most clerk desks inside the post office doors.
- You may need to click "Create a Shipping Address", if this is your first time here. If not, you can click an address's radio checkbox to the left of the address.
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13Click the "Ship to this Address" button below to proceed to the next step.
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14Double-check that the receipt will total $0.00. If you selected something that requires payment, the next page will ask for your payment details and billing address. Read the Order Summary to ensure the "Total:" reads $0.00 .
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15Click the "Place My Order" button below the "Order Summary" information.
- If you'd like to place this order later, you can click the "Save Cart for Later" link below this button.
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16Wait to receive the email saying that your order has been placed. If you later decide you want to cancel the order, you can do so - only within the PC/Mac web browser version, by hovering over your name in the top right corner then clicking "Activity History", finding the order, and proceeding to the options. Inside each order, you'll see the tracking details of these packages.Advertisement
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Tips
- The USPS Mobile app is pretty basic and doesn't provide any options to shop for supplies. However, their mobile version is responsified but provides some basic functionality with some workarounds to the process, which are all noted above.Thanks
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