Vacuum packing to avoid postage rise?

repeatoffender

Following on from the postage rise threads and the many conversations at the counters - the woman in our post office suggested we vacuum pack items of clothing etc to beat the postage rise. She does this to send items large letter rather than parcel. Does anyone do this, it may be an old idea and i am not sure how you seal it or what buyers would think when they see a tight wrinkly packet shoved through their door.

soolin

repeatoffender wrote: »

Following on from the postage rise threads and the many conversations at the counters - the woman in our post office suggested we vacuum pack items of clothing etc to beat the postage rise. She does this to send items large letter rather than parcel. Does anyone do this, it may be an old idea and i am not sure how you seal it or what buyers would think when they see a tight wrinkly packet shoved through their door.

My first worry would be how much the vacuum bags cost?

RFW

soolin wrote: »

My first worry would be how much the vacuum bags cost?

I'm fairly sure you can still get packs of them in pound shops. There are some expensive ones too, but as they'd only need to be used once the pound shop ones would be ok. There have been some on Ebay too.

I don't have any need for them but had to source a load a few years ago, so they're probably still pretty cheap.

RFW

If you were using them I'd suggest letting customers know before hand. They never look pretty so could imagine getting lots of complaints if an expensive dress turned up in a vacuum bag looking like an old rag.
They usually end up perfect when opened but never look good when vacuum sealed.

hollyh

I do this with large freezer bags. Just seal it almost all the way and then roll it to get all the air out and seal properly. You don't need expensive vacuum bags. I do it with smaller bags too for other items.

laughingcow81

Might there be an issue with this if the bags punctured / damaged etc in transit, and became bigger? Would the recipient have to pay the postage difference?

hollyh

I didn't think of that, it's a possibility I suppose.