TIP - USPS shipping program saves me money

[HRM]

I am posting this here for the benefit of anyone who ships smaller items and would like to have delivery confirmation without having to wait in line at the PO. It is also cheaper. This probably has saved me a couple hundred bucks over the years. In case anyone is interested, I want to mention a shipping program I use. It isn't advertised much, but I wrote a letter to USPS complaining that stamps.com offered the cheap confirmation service and the Postal service pointed it out to me. (You can Google it if you know the name)

The USPS offers a program called Shipping assistant that allows people to get delivery confirmation for $.18 cents on first class mail. Since most knives are less than 13 ounces boxed, I thought some here would like to use it and save money. A recent package took 2 days (same a priority going the other way) and only cost 2.16 with confirmation.

Also I should mention I find priority is not faster than first class. Plus first class is not farmed out like priority, so only USPS postal employees handle it, no outsiders (Who I would not trust as much) touch your stuff.

http://www.usps.com/shippingassistant/

ACCORDING TO USPS >>>
"USPS Shipping Assistant® is a free desktop computer program that combines all the functions you need to create labels (domestic, international, Merchandise Return and custom forms), ship packages, compare rates, calculate estimated delivery times, verify deliveries, request free Carrier Pickup®, and much more.

Shipping Assistant is the ideal tool for any size business that regularly ships with the U.S. Postal Service. It combines your mailing labels and package management operations in one convenient location."


You can also make labels for priority, and other classes.

WHAT IS NEEDED TO USE IT:
You need a printer, a scale ($15.00 or so from ebay etc. http://search.ebay.com/postage-scale ) blank labels for shipping (Free from UPS- they are not free from the USPS). You can get free shipping blank labels by opening a UPS account and requesting them. UPS is great for items that are a bit heavier so sometimes I use them too. I personally bought a bunch of stamps in various amounts so I can just hand them to the postman when he comes and it is all set.