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<blockquote data-quote="JohnNephew" data-source="post: 2724891" data-attributes="member: 2171">Yeah, I have a huge stack of International Reply Coupons sitting in my desk, waiting to be taken to the post office for me to stand in line for half an hour and exchange each one for an 80 cent stamp...Even with IRCs, there are problems.&nbsp; For one, there are different classes of postage, and different limitations for different countries.&nbsp; Global Priority Mail is one good method -- so for instance, we could have people send in 12 International Reply Coupons, which would be enough for a large flat-rate Global Priority Mail envelope.&nbsp; Unless you're in Canada, in which case it would be 9 coupons.&nbsp; But GPM doesn't go to every country, so people in Italy, for example, would have to be excluded.&nbsp; Or I would have to offer the option of Airmail Parcel Post for Italy and other non-GPM countries.&nbsp; A up-to-three-pound parcel to Italy, via Airmail Parcel Post, require 22 International Reply Coupons.&nbsp; If you wanted the slightly faster Airmail Letter Post, that would take 23 coupons.&nbsp; Of course, someone would object that they don't need such fast service; after all, surface letter post would only require 11 coupons to Italy.&nbsp; (To Australia, it would require 12 coupons.)&nbsp; Of course, surface mail can take months to arrive, and in my experience I start getting the e-mails after about 2 months, asking whether I'm sure I sent the package and when it might show up (which, for the cheaper classes of mail, you pretty much can't find out).&nbsp; This is all before the issue of customs forms...Basically, I had to draw a line, so I drew it where the whole project is kept really, really simple for me.&nbsp; I have no idea if I'll get 10, 100 or 1000 people responding to this the way it's written -- but I think I can handle any of those numbers, since all I have to do is place the SASE on the postal scale, add some books, check to make sure it's still under 3 lbs, seal the envelope, and put it in the front hallway for the mailman to pick up.&nbsp; If I found myself having to fill out 1000 customs forms, and engage in e-mail debates with people over classes of mail service available to their countries (or why their country is excluded while a neighboring EU country is not), it would be a lousy birthday present for me.&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue&nbsp; &nbsp; :p"&nbsp; data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="JohnNephew, post: 2724891, member: 2171"] Yeah, I have a huge stack of International Reply Coupons sitting in my desk, waiting to be taken to the post office for me to stand in line for half an hour and exchange each one for an 80 cent stamp... Even with IRCs, there are problems. For one, there are different classes of postage, and different limitations for different countries. Global Priority Mail is one good method -- so for instance, we could have people send in 12 International Reply Coupons, which would be enough for a large flat-rate Global Priority Mail envelope. Unless you're in Canada, in which case it would be 9 coupons. But GPM doesn't go to every country, so people in Italy, for example, would have to be excluded. Or I would have to offer the option of Airmail Parcel Post for Italy and other non-GPM countries. A up-to-three-pound parcel to Italy, via Airmail Parcel Post, require 22 International Reply Coupons. If you wanted the slightly faster Airmail Letter Post, that would take 23 coupons. Of course, someone would object that they don't need such fast service; after all, surface letter post would only require 11 coupons to Italy. (To Australia, it would require 12 coupons.) Of course, surface mail can take months to arrive, and in my experience I start getting the e-mails after about 2 months, asking whether I'm sure I sent the package and when it might show up (which, for the cheaper classes of mail, you pretty much can't find out). This is all before the issue of customs forms... Basically, I had to draw a line, so I drew it where the whole project is kept really, really simple for me. I have no idea if I'll get 10, 100 or 1000 people responding to this the way it's written -- but I think I can handle any of those numbers, since all I have to do is place the SASE on the postal scale, add some books, check to make sure it's still under 3 lbs, seal the envelope, and put it in the front hallway for the mailman to pick up. If I found myself having to fill out 1000 customs forms, and engage in e-mail debates with people over classes of mail service available to their countries (or why their country is excluded while a neighboring EU country is not), it would be a lousy birthday present for me. :p [/QUOTE]

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