Thanks, Lynn! I'll try that again, and surely use it for Priority Flat Rate. I managed to forget that USPS.com was an option.

I checked my notes from several years ago. At that time, here is what I thought:
"Only Express, Flat Rate & Priority!! No Parcels or Flats or First class!"

At that time I was always weighing packages and sending as First Class Package / bubble mailer.

I also tried to squeeze things into padded First Class letters marked "non-machinable" and just thinner than 1/4", but that really annoys the USPS. It was explained to me that no matter how much you pay for "non-machinable" and "hand-cancel only", "THEY" still try to put it through the high-speed sortation / seed crushing equipment because "THEY"are lazy. That causes jams that tear up dozens or hundreds of FC letters.

I think prepayment presents a problem also. What would be the deadline to prepay, before the start of the swap? Then you would have to stop taking new sign ups at least a week before the swap starts, to give everyone time to get it in. Or else people would be joining a day or two before the swap and it would be difficult to get payment in time. If the deadline were after the swap started then it would defeat the purpose because they would have already start requesting and giving away seeds. At any rate that is a choice that should be left up to the host.

I would not be adverse to paying upfront , but I have never paid through the internet and well..don't intend learning or paying in that way . If it was a requirement I would seek another alternative or just sit out.

Good point about prepayment having its own set of problems, Jay.

Cinda, I'm sure you would have a lot of company as far as not wanting to pay over the internet.

gardengus said:I would not be adverse to paying upfront , but I have never paid through the internet and well..don't intend learning or paying in that way . If it was a requirement I would seek another alternative or just sit out.

I hadn't thought about that. I imagined that everyone would be fine with paypal or credit card.

Well... never mind that one then.

I am not saying it would not be a good option for the host or others, just not something I would do . However I would still have the option of contacting the host for possible alternatives

I do not think an Idea has to be taken off the table just because of one decenter.

I find it easy to pay through PayPal. But it would be great to have more than one payment option.
I do love PayPal. So quick and easy.

valleylynn said:I find it easy to pay through PayPal. But it would be great to have more than one payment option.
I do love PayPal. So quick and easy.

And there might not be all that many people who wouldn't want to do so -- it just seems like I know quite a few people who won't (but they aren't seed swappers anyway, so who cares? )

Or the people who don't want to pay online can send cash by Snail Mail if the host agrees. Those with a good trading history might be trusted, and those new to trading might have to mail their payment ahead of time.

Pre-paying and methods of pre-paying seem like good things to let the host decide for each swap, at least until we have some history of unannounced dropouts being a common problem or not-a-problem.

gardengus said:I am not saying it would not be a good option for the host or others, just not something I would do . However I would still have the option of contacting the host for possible alternatives

I do not think an Idea has to be taken off the table just because of one decenter.

I agree with this, because it is a good and sensible idea. I would also attempt finding alternate methods because I closed my PayPal account.

The final box arrived today! We'll get these put together over the weekend and get them all mailed back out on Monday.

Christmas coming early.

Yeah!!!
I have to agree that someone "forgetting" to put the postage in the box could be a bummer and pre-payment would solve that problem. I'm with ValleyLynn I love my Paypal. But people could send snail mail, the swaps are long enough to get it sent that way.

I apologize if I held up the swap. The postman picked up my "2 day priority" package on Monday. I mail a lot for work. Two day packages typically travel between my home and NYC in 1-3 days. I sent the tracking number, so the host knew it was on the way. I am surprised that the package didn't arrive until Friday. I didn't expect priority mail to be that slow. Holiday mailings and the resulting NYC area terrorism paranoia may have slowed things down on my end. I apologize.

As for payment for group swaps. I print out postage via usps.com. It is very easy and safe to set up a mailing account. You get free tracking with packages that way as well! I enclosed cash for the return postage. I didn't want Dave to have to bother with a check or money order. For future swaps, people can prepay by paypal or via their banks. My bank has a "surepay" feature. It protects both the sender and the recipient's identity. I log into the bank online, and send the money to an email or phone number. The recipient gets message with instructions how to transfer the funds. My bank doesn't charge a fee, unlike paypal. Another advantage is that it has less tax implications for the recipient than paypal.

I have been offline because I have work being done at the house. Gorillas are supposed to remove the old insulation from my attic and from one crawl space. They are also supposed to heat trace some pipes. I hung plastic to minimize dust and debris in my home. They have been crawling around and fiddling with pipes so far for days, getting "supplies" and generally wasting time.....If I weren't allergic to dust and mold, I could have had that insulation removed in a few hours and arrange for the new insulation to be done before the cold weather arrives - it has been a luxuriously late winter here.....I guess that is the difference between a woman and gorillas.

Andi no worries whatsoever. I'm not in the slightest worried about any delays and in fact it got here faster than the tracking originally said it would.

Really, this beta was and is primarily intended to iron out bugs and see what kinds of issues might arise. The concept of a late package is something that came up and I'm glad that it did because it raised some good questions and prompted some interesting thoughts about future swap ideas to help alleviate issues.

I am glad everything got to you. I would hate to hold everyone else up. It is nine days from winter solstice - a big day for those of us who like to wintersow seeds. One can keep wintersowing from mid December until February - snow and sleet permitting.

I should keep in mind the holiday rush and send things express mail instead of two day mail om December. Now the post office is used to me printing mail (I moved here a year and a half ago. I suspect that I was the first person at the local post office to print postage. Some of the things I send for work are insured for larger amounts than your average package). In rural areas, it may be a learning curve for both the mailers and the post office. In our area, the mail delivery people are part time independent workers, not postal office employees. I haven't seen a mailman in uniform or an official mail truck since I was a teenager!

It probably helps the host if people get tracking for their packages. It makes it easier to see what happened if packages go astray.

It is much better than the place where I used to live. Someone there was stealing packages. I had two mail order prescription orders stolen and two opened. Of course, my insurance company discouraged non mail order prescriptions. I was stuck with that company for a year. What a nightmare!

After printing my labels, as I was packing my seeds I decided to upgrade my internet computer from Windows 7 to Windows 10. Unfortunately, I didn't check to be sure that my laser printer and HP inkjet printer were supported in windows 10. My other computer is newer. It doesn't have an old fashioned connection for my laser printer, only usb connections. While multitasking, I microwaved a cup of tea. I was holding the hot handle of the cup with my sweater, heading to the desk and nearly tripped over Winston the pug. While making sure that I didn't burn poor Winston, I spilled tea all over my already printed labels. Good thing the seeds were safely in their jars on the other table and the already packed seeds were bundled together in their box on top of the bookcase. I cleaned up the mess, took a break and started to reprint the ruined labels with the Epson printer on the other computer. Good thing I had the foresight to backup my windows 7 computer to my "cloud" and to back up files to a backup stick. I was printing along on the epson printer (the backup inkjet printer) and I ran out of blue ink! That silly printer won't let you print in black and white if one of the colored cartridges runs out of ink. It won't let you use a syringe to add more ink in the cartridge either. It has a chip on the ink cartridge to make you buy only Epson ink cartridges. I ran next door to ask if I could print a few seed packets. Luckily, my neighbor is a gardener. In jest, he said I owe him tobacco and zucchini seedlings for the emergency printing. I seem to create crazy problems for myself. Other people's lives seem to run more smoothly than mine! I am back where I started on Windows 7 on this computer. Replacement ink cartridges are in the holiday mail somewhere. Humbug.

Hang in there Andi. We all have times like that at some point.

That's why I sacrificed neartly printed labels for handwritten. It would have taken me forever to print labels.