Need a cheap way to send a single pencil to someone.

February 12, 2008 3:43 PM

What is the cheapest way to mail a single pencil to someone? I'm talking US domestic to US domestic address. An ideal solution wouldn't require a trip to the post office (although the first one I send probably would be through a desk clerk to make sure it's ok). I want something I could stick in my mail box as the need arises. Looking for suggestions for packaging material as well as postage.

I'm planning on only sending one at a time to people, and probably no more than a dozen or two dozen different addresses. Not doing a bulk mailing for some direct marketing company or anything. Just something funny for a select group of friends. I don't have a scale to weigh them, or a postal meter or enough to get bulk discount mailing rates from the post office.

We're talking your standard #2 yellow pencil like you get in school (customized with a message).

posted by inthe80s to writing & language (22 comments total)

Why not just stick it in a #10 envelope and put two stamps on said envelope? Heck, you might not even need 2 stamps (but I would, since you don't have a scale).
posted by Sassyfras at 3:50 PM on February 12, 2008

A small Tyvek envelope. It won't rip.
posted by COD at 3:54 PM on February 12, 2008

I wasn't sure if the bulge in the #10 envelope would prevent it from going through the sorting machines properly.
posted by inthe80s at 3:55 PM on February 12, 2008

If bulges messed up the post office machines, they'd be in a world of pain. You can get away with far worse than a pencil in an envelope. I second the Tyvek idea. Because of the blunt edges on either end of a pencil, it's likely to rip through a regular envelope.
posted by pmbuko at 3:57 PM on February 12, 2008

i dont suppose taping it to a postcard would work? not sure.
posted by gcat at 3:57 PM on February 12, 2008

It could be an interesting experiment to find a dozen or so different ways of mailing a pencil and addressing them to yourself to see which ways work and which don't.
I would bet you could just put a few stamps on the pencil themselves, glue a mailing address on and it would get back to you. Albeit postal workers are a dangerous lot to irritate.
posted by JimmyJames at 4:02 PM on February 12, 2008

Do a trial run... Stick a stamp on it and write the address on it real tiny. Address it to yourself and stick it in your neighbor's box or a drop box or something. See if it makes it back! :) Lots of stranger things make it thru the mail.
posted by jwhowa at 4:02 PM on February 12, 2008

Back in middle school, for some reason or another, I mailed a pencil to one of my friends in Ohio. It wasn't a Tyvek, but the envelope arrived just fine. It was the pencil that found trouble. It was smashed to bits. Needless to say my friend was quite peeved that a bunch of woodchips fell to her floor when she opened the letter.

So I don't know if that'd work. Maybe a Tyvek would provide more support when the mail is stacked? (Is mail stacked?)
posted by MPnonot3 at 4:04 PM on February 12, 2008

Bulky items I doubt mess up postal machines, but I'm sure they mess up the envelopes as they are processed.

I was thinking of the stick a label and stamp on it and mail it route. That's a lot along the lines of what Wired magazine does with their mailbag (or used to, not sure I don't get it in the mail anymore). I figured it would get rather scuffed up though in the process, and the labels might not come off easily afterwards.

Mailing them to myself for test purposes might work, but I'm willing to bet that going through one sorting center is a lot easier than two or three.

tyvek envelope is probably the safest, albeit dull bet.
posted by inthe80s at 4:07 PM on February 12, 2008

MPnonot3. thanks for the anecdotal evidence which confirms one of my suspicions, that I might have to stick it in a tube or in between something rigid.
posted by inthe80s at 4:09 PM on February 12, 2008

About five years ago, I bought a stick of RAM from the cheapest place I could find on the net. It came in a slightly sturdier than normal envelope with a cheapo ballpoint pen inside to provide rigidity. It was fairly ingenious. So, the bulge shouldn't pose too much of a problem to the post office.
posted by zsazsa at 4:20 PM on February 12, 2008

Heck, you might not even need 2 stamps (but I would, since you don't have a scale).

Technically, you need to pay the non-machinable surcharge of $0.17 for First Class Mail. They even give pencils as an example: "Uneven thickness caused by items such as pens, pencils, loose keys, or coins."
posted by smackfu at 4:21 PM on February 12, 2008

I don't know about cost, but packaging may be important if you want it to arrive whole. Something like this might be a solution. Try here.
posted by blaneyphoto at 4:32 PM on February 12, 2008

You can also write "Hand Stamp" on an envelope as a way to reduce the likelihood of smashage.
posted by Stewriffic at 4:54 PM on February 12, 2008

Get some sturdy plastic tubing of not much greater diameter than the pencil from the hardware store, and cut it into sections of the appropriate size. Wrap a tissue or two around each pencil, enough to protect it, and slide it into the plastic tube. Tape either end with clear tape. Leave the ends of the pencil visible. Write or print the addresses on laser-labels, and write "Contains One Pencil" on the label to stop the post office messing with it. Take it to the post office, get it weighed etc, and find out how much postage is. Then buy a roll of sticker-type stamps so you can do it at home. Easy.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 5:23 PM on February 12, 2008

I like to mail things to my away at college daughter in clean, empty 2-liter soda pop bottles. I think a smaller water bottle would work well here. The pencil would be protected and it would be a fun container to receive.

When I send the soda pop bottles, I usually cut a U-shaped "door" to gain a bigger access to the insides. I then use a label to cover over the "door." I don't wrap the bottles or box them in any way. Things I send: a t-shirt, candy or samples (detergent, soap, deodorant, shampoo) or bagged snacks.
posted by daneflute at 5:37 PM on February 12, 2008 [7 favorites has favorites]

Don't worry about the postal machines: the very first sorting device in those machines is one that rejects everything that is even slightly non-standard and throws it in a bin for hand sorting.

I've never had any trouble mailing various small items between a couple pieces of cardboard (even a cut up cereal box will do). Just take two pieces, stick your pencil between them and tape around the edges with some packing tape. You could even take one piece and fold it aover the pencil and thus only have to tape three edges.
posted by ssg at 6:50 PM on February 12, 2008

a long narrow cardboard necklace box would probably do the trick.
posted by thinkingwoman at 6:59 PM on February 12, 2008

I'm pretty sure that for an item to be of mailable dimensions, it needs to be wide enough to fit a normal-sized address label, the stamp, and the return address on one surface. Technically, if a mailpiece is less than 1/4 inch thick (ie, not a parcel), it must be minimum 3.5 inches high and 5 inches long. (I used to do some work for the USPS.) It might make it through the system, as many of those Wired stunts do, but USPS won't guarantee it.
posted by amusebuche at 7:08 PM on February 12, 2008

I get one-off personalized pens and pencils mailed to me by prospective advertising specialty imprinters because I once ordered 1000 customized pens and ended up on a mailing list.

They always arrive in a regular sized paper envelope and are either taped or sticky-snotted (i dont know what the stuff is called) to a postcard.

That should work fine.

Also I just measured on my postal scale and one pencil, 2 indexcards and a regular envelope weighs just over 1 ounce, so 2 First class stamps should be plenty.

Good Luck!
posted by sandra_s at 7:12 PM on February 12, 2008

I like to mail things to my away at college daughter in clean, empty 2-liter soda pop bottles. I think a smaller water bottle would work well here. The pencil would be protected and it would be a fun container to receive.

Daneflute. Great idea. I doubt I will ever need to mail a pencil, but I will use your idea.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:19 PM on February 12, 2008

ugh, I didn't get back again last night to check the rest of the followups after I marked the first best answer... marked almost all the rest as well, since they're all excellent. Thanks to everyone who responded.
posted by inthe80s at 9:42 PM on February 13, 2008