Comment by sudobash1

Comment by sudobash1 21 hours ago

19 replies

View on Hacker News

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.

petcat an hour ago

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

Reply View 1 reply
  • LeifCarrotson an hour 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.

    Reply View 0 replies
hatthew 21 hours 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"

Reply View 3 replies
  • hoistbypetard 19 hours 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.

    Reply View 2 replies
    • tempestn 7 hours 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...)

      Reply View 0 replies
    • pastel8739 11 hours 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

      Reply View 0 replies
dizhn 19 hours 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.

Reply View 6 replies
systemtest 3 hours 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!

Reply View 5 replies
  • mechazawa 3 hours ago

    afaik PostNL has to make a profit and the USPS can operate at a loss.

    Classic Dutch privatization

    Reply View 1 reply
    • systemtest 2 hours 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.

      Reply View 0 replies
  • astura 2 hours 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.

    Reply View 1 reply
    • systemtest 2 hours ago

      That is still very impressive from my European viewpoint.

      Reply View 0 replies