# Getting bac from Canada **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 17, 2000, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-bac-from-canada/7431 "2000-02-17T15:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-bac-from-canada/7431/1 "2000-02-17T15:21:00Z")
I was mailing something to Canada and wanted it returned back to me. The clerk attending me was too busy thinking about his next shooting spree to be of any help. He kept repeating, “They don’t accept our postage and we don’t accept theirs.” After 5 minutes of this, I asked for his boss,who informed me I needed to buy reply coupons. He couldn’t tell me how many, whether they needed to be affixed, if the coupons were used as actual stamps or cashed in for postage. I never got my post returned to me and now I have to do the same, but to England. Help me! ---
**Author:** ![Glitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/0ea827/32.png) [@Glitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glitch)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-bac-from-canada/7431/2 "2000-02-17T15:25:00Z")
They lied to you. I am originally from Canada and my wife I send stuff back home to family and friends very often. It is more expensive to send things to Canada from the states (IIRC, it is $.45 for an average letter, my wife actually handles most of the mailing). Keep complaining up the ladder, or try a different post office, I guess. Best of luck. * * * “Glitch … download” - Glitch’s final action. _sniff_ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-bac-from-canada/7431/3 "2000-02-17T16:28:00Z")
I’m not surprised your local Post Office was a bit clueless about International Reply Coupons (IRCs). They probably go for months between selling them (and years between redeeming them, but that’s another story). IRCs are redeemable for the basic unit weight of postage. I think that’s 1/2 ounce, so you’ll need two coupons for the average letter. The coupons themselves are little slips of green paper, maybe about 3"x 4". You enclose them in the envelope and mail. To return, the recipient puts the letter in an envelope and visits his local post office, hands the clerk the coupons, at which point the clerk (if not totally baffled), puts stamps on the envelope. * * * “What we have here is failure to communicate.” – Strother Martin, anticipating the Internet. [www.sff.net/people/rothman](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-bac-from-canada/7431/4 "2000-02-17T16:53:00Z")
It must be covered at [stamps.com](http://stamps.com), [trystamps.com](http://trystamps.com), [e-stamps.com](http://e-stamps.com) ? ---
**Author:** ![starfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starfish)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-bac-from-canada/7431/5 "2000-02-17T17:08:00Z")
Glitch You can send mail from the US, using US stamps, to Canada. To return something to the US, the person in Canada would have to buy Canadian stamps. The OP was for the original sending including return postage. They cannot just send US stamps. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-bac-from-canada/7431/6 "2000-02-17T17:20:00Z")
In my Catholic High School, one of our teachers, a Fransiscan order priest, mentioned that he visited some fellow Fransiscans in Canada every now and then. When he did so, they would always give him mail to put in a mailbox when he returned to the U.S. Apparently, this was much faster than Canadian mail. And the mail was usually going to places in Canada, so I take it the Canadian Postal Service isn’t exactly a pinnacle of efficiency and dependability. This was about eight or ten years ago, BTW. * * * –It was recently discovered that research causes cancer in rats. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-bac-from-canada/7431/7 "2000-02-18T06:27:00Z")
From the United States Postal Service web page, [http://www.uspsglobal.com/info/welcome.htm](http://www.uspsglobal.com/info/welcome.htm) > [@](#): > > Q. What are international reply coupons? > > A. International reply coupons (IRCs) provide a convenient method for you to prepay replies from foreign countries. You can send your correspondent one or more coupons, which may be purchased for $1.05 each. Your correspondent exchanges the coupon for postage in his or her country. > Q. Is there any way to prepay postage for a letter or other item sent from another country to the U.S.? > > A. Yes. In order to do so you must purchase International Reply Coupons (IRCs) from your local Post Office. One coupon in the United States costs $1.05 and is exchangeable in any other member country for a stamp or stamps representing the minimum postage required for an unregistered airmail letter. If you are sending something that requires more postage than a standard letter, you should inquire with the appropriate foreign postal administration about how many IRCs will be needed to complete your transaction. ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-bac-from-canada/7431/8 "2000-02-18T06:33:00Z")
Diceman said > [@](#): > > so I take it the Canadian Postal Service isn’t exactly a pinnacle of efficiency and dependability. You got that right, I can’t even remember the last time we had a decent shooting spree! * * * pweetman ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-bac-from-canada/7431/9 "2000-02-18T06:35:00Z")
Thanks All. Silly of me to go to the post office to try to get this info. I should have known to come right here to the Dope.