7 News in Denver reports that a Colorado man has been officially warned that reusing a United States Postal Service “Priority Mail” cardboard box is a violation of federal law. We’re not even talking about mail fraud but simply reusing them for other types of shipping. Could reusing these boxes actually be a federal crime? Find out more about this outlaw…
Like many others, Gary Adler reuses these boxes after receiving them or sometimes just finds them near the dumpster. Typically, he turns the box inside out to so that it’s brown on the outside, then uses the box as a normal shipping box. However, the postal service says this is against postal regulations and if he does it again he could be charged with misuse of postal property. Nicole Reiter of the USPS said, “Our Priority Mail and Express Mail boxes are, bottom line, supposed to be used for that service. That is what they are intended for.” She also claims this regulation is actually helping the customer, “enforcing the no-recycling rule would keep postal rates low for everyone.”
We believe that a box is a box and if it’s clearly marked then why should it matter if it’s an “ex” priority mail box? Given the unholy volume of junk mail with which the USPS turns a profit, it’s no wonder that the postal service shows so little concern for the environment.
Reusing Cardboard Postal Boxes Illegal [7 News] (Thanks to James for sending this in!)
(Photo: 7 News)
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So is it really illegal or not? You kinda glanced over the whole point of the article.
@EndlessMike: Heh, when I worked at a TV studio we used to ship big 3/4-inch Umatic videocassettes in flat rate envelopes. You could just barely get the envelope closed after shoving the tape case in.
@freejazz38: If you were distributing those fliers into people’s mailboxes, you were breaking the law and he was right to yell at you.
That article is so misleading, he’s not RECYCLING the boxes. He’s stealing them from the post office dumpster, after they’ve been used, and REUSING them for non-priority/express purposes.
This is very very clearly against their rules, which are really simple to find (I think it’s printed on the boxes).
You may not like the rules, but you should still follow them unless you want to face the consequences of breaking them. People like this drive me insane. Stop griping that you got in trouble for breaking the law, please.
@DashTheHand: it is illegal to use priority mail or express mail boxes for ANYTHING other than mailing items Priority or Express. He was turning the boxes inside out and then using them to ship through cheaper channels, this is illegal. Plenty of people do it, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re not supposed to.
(For the record, I wouldn’t care if he had dumpster dived and used the boxes for moving or for packing up some personal stuff for storage. But using it for cheaper mailing is the bad part).
@wildness: Thanks for working to make priority mail more expensive for all of us who like to use it. I salute you, way to stick it to the man.
*sigh* The post office gives those boxes out free to be nice to the people using their expensive services. When you abuse it, it’s like stealing software, all it does is hurt other consumers.
Is it legal to order up a bunch of USPS boxes and turn them into furniture or clothing??
@oncewascool:
The postal service is worthless and outdated? What’s the matter with you?
Comment on Don’t Didn’t they do something like this in The Simpsons where Bart ordered
thousands of Priority Mail boxes and supplies and built a giant fort?
@APFPilot: that’s right. you have every right to re-use a USPS box if you pay for USPS services to ship it with. otherwise you are violating USPS policy and federal law for the courtesy of the free box.
well, I have done this. I sell on ebay and all I had left were priority. The buyer didn’t pay for priority, so they didn’t get it.
I hate my PO. The people are real bitchy and whine a lot. Problem is there is only about 500 people in our town, so it’s not like they are that busy.
Do what I do…. Pick up used boxes at dollar general, buy some sharpies, and since you can’t ship anything with writing on it… get high from scratching it all out!
@se7a7n7:
Same thing here. I received a box (eBay) the idiot sender sent Parcel Post. Took 3 weeks to get here. Priority Box turned inside out and a 30 cent additional charge *I* had to pay! Can’t remember whether the box was stamped or how I was told, but I was clearly told this was illegal and Priority USPS boxes are for use to send Priority mail ONLY.
For true recycling believers, why can’t we just return the boxes to USPS and they give you a choice of either “new” or “used” boxes for free? If we truly believe in keeping this stuff out of the landfill what’s wrong with a used box? (Just make sure to remove any identifiable addresses, etc from the box before returning to USPS.) Probably a liability issue…
Personally, I break them down and save them to reuse (as Priority).
BTW, I just heard the priority tape they used to give out for free is no longer free. Too many people abusing it.
So has anyone tried to figure out how to pay/print shipping labels online? What a disaster! I must be the stupidest person around if this makes sense to anyone else. I HATE going to our PO—no matter the day or time there is a half hour or longer wait.
I receive bubble envelopes in the mail sent First Class or Priority all the time and they cost around a dollar. I try to send the same thing using online postage and it ALWAYS comes up almost $5! They sucker me every time because I’m usually in a hurry and after trying multiple combinations it still comes out the same. After spending too much time, I just go ahead and spend the $5. Maybe that’s the point???
While I’m bitching, this new “zone” thing sucks! I’m on the west coast and it seems like almost everything ships from the Midwest or East Coast. I pay unreasonable (IMO) shipping compared to something being shipped from a closer destination. I know on the surface it probably makes sense, but with the volume they do, doesn’t it balance out? Hot Button!
This story is quite hilarious given the other stories I’ve read about people trying to figure out just how crazy of a thing you can send through the mail, like a Kleenex with an address on it.
HOLD ON! Most of you are making assumptions! The boxes we RECYCLED already
had been USED, sent Priority Mail & paid for! The outer portion of the boxes
had postage & mailing labels attached. The employees at 2 local post offices
have been saving USED boxes for our nonprofit for years. The recipients of
these boxes emptied them, leaving them in the garbage. These are USED Priority &
other USED boxes left in the lobby of the post office for trash. Some were
even given to us by local merchants. USED postage labels were removed for
privacy of the recipients & the boxes turned inside out for reuse. NO ONE is
stealing new, unused postal service boxes,or taking them by the stacks! The
postal regs states that these priority and express boxes can only be utilized to
ship priority & express mail, however the regulation does not state that USED
boxes in the GARBAGE can’t be REUSED. IN FACT-the boxes are clearly marked
“PLEASE RECYCLE”. The postal service got their Priority money on the box the
first-time around, and were receiving additional money the second-time around.
By the way, edited out of the news story was the fact that the postal
service opened 2 boxes in transit, (one first-class, the other air-mail), shipping
paid for by us, returned by them, and not refunded, (as they refused). The
postal service felt the boxes were suspicious as they looked like the same size
as their priority box, so they opened them and returned them. We researched
their regs and could not find anything stating that they can search sealed,
accepted over-the-counter, paid shipping, solely to check out the “BOX”.
Yes, we are eBayer’s, selling sports related goods to raise funds for
charity. Check out our eBay store at Pro Players Association Sports Plus.
After viewing the news story, several postal employees have shared their
thoughts with us. All of them stated the issue is idiotic and suggested we
continue recycling the boxes by wrapping brown paper around them.
We’re a nonprofit, and would rather use our donations to help charities,
mentor youth, provide sports clinics for at-risk kids, hold holiday parties for
the disabled and seniors, provide financial assistance to military families
in need, then spend the funds buying new boxes.
Pro Players Association will continue to do our part in Recycling USED boxes
to help save our environment.
Gary R. Adler
President & CEO
Pro Players Association – National
_www.proplayersassociation.org_ (http://www.proplayersassociation.org)
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As many have stated… a box is a box is a box. Now if you are using
their materials to ship through them regardless of the shipping method
should not be illegal. Now I understand sticking a media mail or parcel
postage on a box that clearly states priority might cause conflicts and
may sneak by as a higher rate service. But as it clearly states on the
USPS website that boxes can be reused as long as all previous labels,
postage etc are removed or covered. If it is such a problem why dont
they offer plain mailers for people to use for parcel or media rates?
Also if you were to look at shipping supplies on the USPS website and
search for ‘media’ they have a media mailer listed that is not intended
for media mail postage. So in my opinion it is that the well paid
monkeys at the USPS are sorting packages based on box size, shape, or
familiarity rather than the postage clearly stated on the shipping
label. Solution: Get employees that can read and take the time to sort
by postage paid and not by what they guess it is. It seems to me that
the extra couple dollars to ship a 1lb item media mail compared to
priority is all in the cost of their packaging if you use it or not.
Because I have shipped both media mail and priority on same weight
packaging and it seems to get there when they get around to it. Not to
bash the government but these people and this service is paid for by us
not only in taxes but in postage and they still find ways to be a pain.
UPS, FedEx, DHL, and others…. lower your rates on lower weight,
smaller packages and make our government employees actually work for
us. If you dont agree.. I dont care.
I had a disagreement today at the post office about using an old priority mail envelope with “Priority Mail” blacked out by a marker. I spoke to a supervisor. Later, I called a postal inspector.
Now I have discovered that when you order free boxes on-line from the USPS website, here is what you have to agree to -
“Terms of Agreement
“I understand that Express Mail, Priority Mail, Global Express Guaranteed, Global Express Mail and Global Priority Mail packaging is the property of the United States Postal Service and is provided solely for sending Express Mail, Priority Mail, Global Express Guaranteed, Global Express Mail and Global Priority Mail. Misuse may be a violation of federal law.”
The key phrase is “packaging is the property of the United States Postal Service.” This is similar to the old days when the phone company owned your phone.
However, I never “agreed” that the envelope I tried to use today is not my property. I received it in the mail and consider it to be mine.
What if I pick up the free boxes from the post office without “agreeing” that I don’t own them? There would be no contract. The boxes have nothing written on them regarding who owns them.
The solution to this is simply for the USPS to STOP GIVING AWAY BOXES.
6.1 Express Mail and Priority Mail Packaging
Domestic Mail Manual 601:
“Express Mail and Priority Mail packaging provided by the USPS must be used only for Express Mail or Priority Mail, as applicable. Regardless of how the packaging is reconfigured or how markings may be obliterated, any matter mailed in USPS-provided Express Mail or Priority Mail packaging is charged the appropriate Express Mail or Priority Mail price. “
As stated by others, boxes are shipped FREE to customers with absolutely no charge for Priority Use only. The boxes are not free of cost for the USPS and are recognizable, even turned inside out.
As far as privatization, do you really want to pay the charges other shipping companies charge? Others charge more than USPS in almost all cases, and many times they charge over ten times what the USPS charges for the same service.
Can you get your package to its destination at the same cost without the USPS? Just something to think about.
The USPS has to limit use of the boxes, the lowly untrained postal worker would get easily confused if their little minds saw what appeared to be a Priority mail box sent as some other service. This question is all moot, as the USPS does NOT STOCK anything other than flat rate at their post offices any more. Several window agents have told me they receive their flat rate supply orders, but the general, non-flat rate supplies never show up. The USPS is trying to throttle customers into paying for the higher flat-rate service. So I just order 4 times what I need off the web site. Oh, the stupidity, the waste. It makes me feel just like one of them!
Uh-oh, last time I went to the USPS, I took one of those priority bags and turned it inside out right in front of their faces. The ladies behind the counter, who spoke with very heavy Chinese accents didn’t mutter a thing.
Odd, though, my package never made it to its destination and wasn’t returned.
Down with the USPS!