On sending seeds

[GreenThumbGal_07]

I haven't sent seeds much, but when responding to international requests, I've used the U.S. Customs form to be added to the envelope as a label, and checked "gift" and wrote "seeds" on it.

For domestic shipments, I've used bubble wrap. On taking it to the Post Office, I find that using bubble wrap makes it "oversized" and I have to add extra postage.

I sent out a bunch of seed envelopes (many of them out of the country, a couple of them overseas) and I know I added adequate postage, I hope they make it through all right and in a reasonable amount of time.

GTG

[michael johnson]

They sure did- got mine yesterday, thanks,

The majority of the seeds I receive from overseas, usualy come just in a plain envelope, wrapped only in one sheet of paper and folded, with no customs sticker whatsoever on them,just like a normal letter- and they all arrive safely-and the seeds usually germinate and produce well, postage is simply the same as a normal air mail letter. about 70c to a $1.00 depending on the weight.

[lakshmi]

Hi GTG,

I received seeds from the US and they came in a bubble envelope (vs. wrapped in bubble wrap which makes them bulkier) for the regular charge of 63 cents. There was no customs label. Your envelope may either have been too thick or too big (WxL). I find in Canada the small sized bubble envelopes fit under regular mail if you don't let them get too thick. These are the regular sized envelopes for USPS:

Height 3-1/2" - 6-1/8"
Length 5" - 11-1/2 "
Thickness 0.007" - 1/4"

If your envelope meets these dimensions and is below 1 oz, it should only be 39 cents within the US.

Lakshmi

[michael johnson]

Personaly- I wish I could find a supplier in the uk- of those tiny little one inch square zip lock baggies,- we can get heaps of the bigger ones about two and a quarter inch square, but not the very small ones, I have often received seeds from the US and Canada in those smaller ones and wondered wher they came from, it effectivly reduces the weight by half

[bugsy]

you can try craft stores like Michael's (national chain)

[carolyn137]

I don't think that bubble wrap is at all necesary and have never used it and won't.

But here's the specifics.

I can send 6 packs of seed with about 30 seed/pack in a small business envelope for 39 cents. I can send 12 of the same in the larger size business envelope for 78 cents. I use #1 coin envelopes for seeds and from experience will not use anything else, especially those small plastic zip lock dealies which I detest.

Only with my SSE requests if a person requests more than 12 packs do I then use bubble wrap mailers.

Since about 1990 I've sent out thousands, yea, thousands of envelopes with tomato seeds and never once have they been crushed or reported back to me as damaged in any way whatsoever.

I don't write anything on the envelope as to seeds enclosed, handle with care and all that stuff b'c machines can't read.

In my most recent seed offer, which was here at Tville, there were about 200 folks who requested seeds, and as I recall, it was four packs/person. So that's 800 packs that I sent out and again, no one reported any problems and I wouldn't expect them to.

When sending to other countries, it depends on which specific countries I'm sending to as to how I send the seeds.

Australia and the Netherlands are the two most strict as regards importation of seeds. Actually the Netherlands prohibits entry of tomato seeds, no doubt b'c some of the largest tomato hybridizing companies in the world are located there.

So for Australia if I'm sending just a few packs I'll use a stiff greeting card and tape the packs to the inside, with no customs label used.

If I'm sending many packs to one location in Australia I'll use a larger bubble wrap mailer and put a green customs label on it; they want L. esculentum as the proper name for the seeds that you write on the customs label. I put all the packs in a plastic baggie before putting it in the mailer, and slip into that baggie a really lovely note to customs listing the varieties in the pack. A few of my larger packs have been opened, but no seeds have ever been confiscated. Maybe they like that personal note that I address to customs.

When sending to Canada, again, if it's just a few packs, I do nothng special and just slap a 63 cent stamp on the envelope. If it gets to be lots of seeds to one location I will use a bubble wrap mailer and put a customs label on it.

And since about 1990 I've sent tomato seed to many many countries, primarily through my SSE requests and not once have I ever had a problem.

Just thought that sharing this might help someone.

Oh, last year I did send one small business envelope that was returned to me for extra postage b'c it was too thick. But that's b'c the SSE person sending to me xeroxed the request slip on heavy paper and also had included a heavy paper personal note which I had to return b'c it had some specific questions on it. But that was the only time that ever happened.

I always return the SSE request slip with seeds sent back b'c you'd be surprised how many folks forget what they ask for. I do the same when doing seed offers elsewhere, like GW and here, b'c in the past there are always those who say........I didn't want that one, I wanted this one.

When doing seed offers here , as I posted in my seed offer, I let the overseas folks e-mail their requests and then store those e-mails for a couple of months until I know the seeds have been received.

I thought perhaps how I handle sending seeds might be of use to some others.

And I'm sitting here musing whether or not I should return to sender a SSE request that came Friday with no required SSE request slip. it was for one variety with the enclosed cash money. Ic ould either return what was sent and ask the person to resend it with the proper form, and I could enclose, or not enclose a stamp for that person to use.

Or I could just go ahead and send the seeds.

So why am I even mentioning this? B'c I know this person is not a listed member, that I can determine from the current Yearbook, but I don't know if the person is even an SSE member. Although there is a price differential for seeds for listed and unlisted SSE members that is suggested, I ask the same for both in the blurb next to my name, so that's no help at all.

Cutting to the chase, and I've mentioned this here at Tville before, the person could well be using an older SSE Yearbook found in a library, which happened one time, or be part of a group of folks that are sharing ONE Yearbook, which has also happened, and while I don't give one whit about money and SSE requests, I don't like to see folks make requests and not be members, b'c to me the membership monies are important in helping to support the SSE mission of seed preservation.

Because the older I get the more mellow I get I think I'll just send the one pack to this person and write a nice note pointing out that on page so and so of the 2007 SSE Yearbook, it states............la de dah!

[GreenThumbGal_07]

Thanks, Carolyn.

I will keep these things in mind next time I mail out seed envelopes. I have not yet heard back from all the people to whom I've sent seeds.

GTG

[nctomatoman]

I just sent out dozens of seed samples for the Dwarf project and use small manila coin envelopes in a regular white mailing envelope....no problems at all, ever (I've been doing it this way since I started saving and sharing seeds). I've put as many as 15-20 packets into an envelops (and am sure to weight it!)