4 ms·

I feel I should point out that USPS has a lower rate for postcards (currently $0.61), so the threshold might be a bit lower. I know that this is tongue-in-chee

I feel I should point out that USPS has a lower rate for postcards (currently $0.61), so the threshold might be a bit lower. I know that this is tongue-in-cheek and would be pretty funny to receive, but it isn't an apples-to-apples comparison. The experience of getting a little message printed on receipt paper is nothing like the experience of receiving a note or card in the mail. Through the mail you receive something physically from someone with their handwriting and some personality to it. Getting the Amazon message is more like printing out a text message on crummy paper. Also, I don't have Prime, so it definitely isn't cost competitive for me anyway.

hatthew 9mo ago
I agree in general, but as a one-off thing I'd very much enjoy getting a lime with a message saying "this was cheaper than sending a letter myself"
- hoistbypetard 9mo ago
  I've started sending paperbacks instead of greeting cards when someone I know needs a get-well-soon card. In stores around here, greeting cards are often $7ish + postage. I can frequently ship a paperback with a gift receipt for $5 total. I include a gift message on the gift receipt, and choose a book I think someone might like to read while they're out of commission. I guess it's a bit like postal arbitrage, if I accept the cost of greeting cards themselves as part of the cost of the activity. To the extent that anyone has commented much, those who have commented had very positive reactions to what amounts to a book recommendation and a copy of the book I'm recommending along with a little note.
  - pastel8739 9mo ago
    This is a good idea, but I also want to point out that a regular piece of paper makes a perfectly good greeting card
    - hoistbypetard 9mo ago
      It absolutely does! I like the addition of the thing to read (in the case of the book) or the thing to look at (usually a funny or interesting picture in the case of the greeting card) but I agree that the purchased thing is not truly necessary.
  - tempestn 9mo ago
    Haven't done it in a long time, but years ago I had a similar realization that picture frames were cheaper than cards. So you can frame a little note, either with a picture or just suggest they can reuse it if they like. Buying greeting cards always felt like kind of a waste. Lately our kids' schools have been doing a thing each year where the kids do some art and then you can buy cards (and other things) with it, so we've been using those as they're at least a bit personal. Once that's done, maybe I'll give picture frames again (or paperbacks or cans of tomato soup...)
dizhn 9mo ago
Reminds me of the old collect call trick. Rather than state your name when prompted you transmit a short, perhaps even coded, message. Then the receiving party declines the call.
- LeifCarrotson 9mo ago
  "You have a collect call from MomWe'reAtTheArcadeCanYouPickUsUp? Would you like to accept the charges?"
  - intrasight 9mo ago
    Ahh, the 70s. Good memories.
    - tempestn 9mo ago
      I recall using this occasionally in the 90s even. There was also a period where I would regularly "one ring" my parents as code to call me back. IIRC that was because my cell plan had unlimited (or at least more) incoming minutes.
      - account42 9mo ago
        It will never stop being weird to me how US mobile plans make (or made) you pay for incoming calls and texts.
      - dizhn 9mo ago
        Collect calls would have been a thing until cell phones got very common because you had to use pay phones when you were outside and you somehow never had quarters.
- School-Cotton 9mo ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JxhTnWrKYs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JxhTnWrKYs
systemtest 9mo ago
How can it be that low? The Netherlands has a stamp rate of €1.40 for 20 grams and you can traverse that country in three hours. 20 to 50 grams is €2.80. If you have to cross a border that goes up to €4.22 Can you send a letter thousands of miles for only 61 cents? That's amazing!
- mechazawa 9mo ago
  afaik PostNL has to make a profit and the USPS can operate at a loss. Classic Dutch privatization
  - systemtest 9mo ago
    PostNL is a private company that used to be government owned. PostNL currently operates at a loss for mail delivery. They are mandated by law to deliver mail and that is something they can't get out of. There is not a maximum what PostNL can ask for stamps but the ACM (Authority Consumer & Market) can step in if they raise prices too much. So it appears to be privatised but with strict government regulations.
- astura 9mo ago
  >Can you send a letter thousands of miles for only 61 cents? Letter, no. 61 cents is the post card rate, so you can send a post card thousands of miles for that. If you introduce an outside envelope its 78 cents to mail that thousands of miles, up to 1oz.
  - systemtest 9mo ago
    That is still very impressive from my European viewpoint.
    - astura 9mo ago
      It's impressive to me too, as an American. Especially when you consider that rates include from the east coast of a continent to the west coast, faraway islands (Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa) as well as closer islands (Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands).
petcat 9mo ago
Not to mention that I would much rather give my $0.61 to a public service like the Post Office than to Amazon.
- LeifCarrotson 9mo ago
  Eh, if the post office - which is a pretty efficient operation - thinks it costs $0.61 to mail a postcard, it probably costs Amazon more than $0.25 to ship someone a lime.
- gosub100 9mo ago
  If they weren't the #1 purveyor of junk mail I would agree with you. It costs $0.71 to send a card to a family member, but much less than that for a scammy marketing company to mass mail junk that will go straight to the trash.

hatthew 9mo ago

I agree in general, but as a one-off thing I'd very much enjoy getting a lime with a message saying "this was cheaper than sending a letter myself"

hoistbypetard 9mo ago
I've started sending paperbacks instead of greeting cards when someone I know needs a get-well-soon card. In stores around here, greeting cards are often $7ish + postage. I can frequently ship a paperback with a gift receipt for $5 total. I include a gift message on the gift receipt, and choose a book I think someone might like to read while they're out of commission. I guess it's a bit like postal arbitrage, if I accept the cost of greeting cards themselves as part of the cost of the activity. To the extent that anyone has commented much, those who have commented had very positive reactions to what amounts to a book recommendation and a copy of the book I'm recommending along with a little note.
- pastel8739 9mo ago
  This is a good idea, but I also want to point out that a regular piece of paper makes a perfectly good greeting card
  - hoistbypetard 9mo ago
    It absolutely does! I like the addition of the thing to read (in the case of the book) or the thing to look at (usually a funny or interesting picture in the case of the greeting card) but I agree that the purchased thing is not truly necessary.
- tempestn 9mo ago
  Haven't done it in a long time, but years ago I had a similar realization that picture frames were cheaper than cards. So you can frame a little note, either with a picture or just suggest they can reuse it if they like. Buying greeting cards always felt like kind of a waste. Lately our kids' schools have been doing a thing each year where the kids do some art and then you can buy cards (and other things) with it, so we've been using those as they're at least a bit personal. Once that's done, maybe I'll give picture frames again (or paperbacks or cans of tomato soup...)

dizhn 9mo ago

Reminds me of the old collect call trick. Rather than state your name when prompted you transmit a short, perhaps even coded, message. Then the receiving party declines the call.

LeifCarrotson 9mo ago
"You have a collect call from MomWe'reAtTheArcadeCanYouPickUsUp? Would you like to accept the charges?"
- intrasight 9mo ago
  Ahh, the 70s. Good memories.
  - tempestn 9mo ago
    I recall using this occasionally in the 90s even. There was also a period where I would regularly "one ring" my parents as code to call me back. IIRC that was because my cell plan had unlimited (or at least more) incoming minutes.
    - account42 9mo ago
      It will never stop being weird to me how US mobile plans make (or made) you pay for incoming calls and texts.
    - dizhn 9mo ago
      Collect calls would have been a thing until cell phones got very common because you had to use pay phones when you were outside and you somehow never had quarters.
School-Cotton 9mo ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JxhTnWrKYs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JxhTnWrKYs

systemtest 9mo ago

How can it be that low? The Netherlands has a stamp rate of €1.40 for 20 grams and you can traverse that country in three hours. 20 to 50 grams is €2.80. If you have to cross a border that goes up to €4.22 Can you send a letter thousands of miles for only 61 cents? That's amazing!

mechazawa 9mo ago
afaik PostNL has to make a profit and the USPS can operate at a loss. Classic Dutch privatization
- systemtest 9mo ago
  PostNL is a private company that used to be government owned. PostNL currently operates at a loss for mail delivery. They are mandated by law to deliver mail and that is something they can't get out of. There is not a maximum what PostNL can ask for stamps but the ACM (Authority Consumer & Market) can step in if they raise prices too much. So it appears to be privatised but with strict government regulations.
astura 9mo ago
>Can you send a letter thousands of miles for only 61 cents? Letter, no. 61 cents is the post card rate, so you can send a post card thousands of miles for that. If you introduce an outside envelope its 78 cents to mail that thousands of miles, up to 1oz.
- systemtest 9mo ago
  That is still very impressive from my European viewpoint.
  - astura 9mo ago
    It's impressive to me too, as an American. Especially when you consider that rates include from the east coast of a continent to the west coast, faraway islands (Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa) as well as closer islands (Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands).

petcat 9mo ago

Not to mention that I would much rather give my $0.61 to a public service like the Post Office than to Amazon.

LeifCarrotson 9mo ago
Eh, if the post office - which is a pretty efficient operation - thinks it costs $0.61 to mail a postcard, it probably costs Amazon more than $0.25 to ship someone a lime.
gosub100 9mo ago
If they weren't the #1 purveyor of junk mail I would agree with you. It costs $0.71 to send a card to a family member, but much less than that for a scammy marketing company to mass mail junk that will go straight to the trash.