Some of you younger folk are unsure on the best ways to mail out things-- nor the best way to package the materials. I'll show you how. I had plenty of trouble and I was always unsure on how to send packages out. The post office can be a confusing and intimidating place.

There are three major companies/organizations that will deliver your packages. The USPS, run by the government, UPS, and Fedex.

The easiest way to send out a few tapes or DVD's is to go to one of those mailing places. They will tell you the cheapest way to mail out some things, but usually, the cheapest will always be USPS. I recommend a mailing place like Mailbox Etc (I go to the "Postal Annex"-- but try to find a local small business, they will appreciate your business) as you won't have to stand in a long line. The UPS store or a FedEX store is fine, but both are corporate entities that in many ways are less friendly.

The procedure is to wrap your DV tape or item with some kind of padding (like wrapping it with some newspapers), then stick it inside a padded envelope. You can get these padded envelopes anywhere for less than a dollar. Grocery stores, your local office depot or staples will all have this envelope. The best ones are padded and will self-seal without any tape. If you are sending a DVD, consider using a DVD mailer. If you go to a mailing place, you can get all of that there, but they will charge you for all of that.

Anyhow, use permanant marker and print your name and address on the upper left, and the address of the person you are sending to in the middle. If you send it via UPS or Fedex, they will print out another label and stick it on top, but it's a good idea to have everything sealed and stuff and ready to go.

Go to a post office or a Mailbox Etc, or any of those places, and ask the kind person working there to mail it out for you. They will tell you how much it would cost. For something like an envelope with a DV tape in it, it should cost no more than 5-7 dollars with full tracking and all of that stuff through USPS-- and that's with a hundred dollars of insurance on it.

Don't worry, you will become a pro in no time.

USPS http://www.usps.gov
Fedex http://www.fedex.com
UPS http://www.ups.com
Mailbox Etc. http://www.mbe.com/

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