I’m shipping a manuscript to Toronto this week, and the classy thing to do is to include return postage in case of rejection.
I tried this once before, asking our local PO about a return rate, and got the answer, “How do you expect us to know that? We’re the USPS not the Canadian PS.”
A second PO told me about international return coupons, which if I understand the usps website, are $1.75 per letter.
My package is roughly 3 pounds. I could guess the postage and buy a bunch of coupons or I could ask you guys:
Has anyone included return postage on a package to Canada and how did you do it?
This seems like a no-brainer to me. Go to http://www.canadapost.ca/ and look up their rates for parcels to the US. Then weigh your package (if you don’t have your own scale, the post office will be happy to oblige) and include sufficient Canadian postage, or the equivalent in international reply coupons (IRCs), with your package. You can buy IRCs from your local post office; if you want to buy Canadian postage you’ll have to order it from Canada Post.
Of course, in your situation, I simply wouldn’t bother with the SASE. Send a copy of the manuscript (not the original) and indicate in your cover letter that it is disposable.
I was hoping to help, but after searching the Canada Post site I am left with only a hijack. In the US you can bring the post office to your computer and print out your own postage. Is such a service unavailable in Canada?
I assume your manuscript is a printout of a computer file, not a unique typewritten or handwritten MS. What I’d suggest is not including anything except a single international reply coupon (along with a self-addressed envelope), & just tell the recipient in the cover letter to put the MS in their recycling if they reject it. So instead of pointlessly mailing you back a hefty parcel all they need do is just enclose (in the event they don’t accept the MS) the rejection slip in the envelope. Saves everyone a lot of hassle & postage.