Guys, the postage has been constantly rising but only at $5 cents at a time... they have been doing this over the past few years.
For any large letters (less than 20 mm thick), here are the rates:
<= 50g - $1.55 to SE Asian countries ($2.25 anywhere else in the world).
50g < xxx < 125g - $3.10 to SE Asian countries ($4.50 anywhere else in the world).
125g < xxx < 250g - $4.65 to SE Asian countries ($6.75 anywhere else in the world).
My advice for you is:
- postal workers are extremely anal with postage charges, they will tell you stories like mail not getting delivered if you are caught cheating. They do this because this is their job.
- only use the post office to buy stamps and weigh your items, never do them at the same time because the postal workers will start asking too many questions
- it is best to have a scale at home, you can get one for $10. You can pack your cards to fit within the weight ranges to save good $2 e.g. take out some of the packaging, remove some fillers, make the envelope smaller, or even pack bonus cards in if you're nice.
- your packages will still be delivered most of the time even if it is slightly thicker than 20mm and it weighs more than the postage is paying for. You can only get away with this if you package it at home and stick the stamps on yourselves.
For this particular package that you have, you are about 13 grams above the official allowed weight limit for $1.55 postage. Maybe you can reduce the weight slightly by using a smaller and lighter bubble mailer, use thinner toploaders inside to wedge the cards. Once your packge is only a few grams above 50, just use one stamp because mail can get wet and increase in weight, so there is no way that anyone will come after you.
