As much as I appreciate Canada Post’s patronage of Himself, I’m none too thrilled that they raised postal rates the day the stamp came out.  Having an Etsy store means shipping to customers, and that means fathoming Canada Post’s shipping rates.  The on-line rate calculator was most helpful as I tried different shapes – the rates are based on both volume and weight, so if you can reduce the volume you can reduce the shipping price. In the process I discovered that if you can make the item flat enough to fit in a large envelope such that it is less than 2cm thick you reduce the price considerably – like about 75%!

Roving compresses quite a bit without coming to harm, so I tried putting it in a ziplock bag and squeezing all the air out.  This made it quite flat and thin…but only for a little while.  At this point, I learned something new – zipper bags breathe.  This would be why things don’t keep in the freezer as well as I think they should and why, by the time I got to the post office the envelope no longer qualified as an “oversize letter”.  Back to the drawing board.

Thinking about it, I remembered seeing vacuum sealers at Costco.  Nana and I had considered buying one a while ago for improving storage in the freezer.  I stopped considering and went and bought one.  Thus, I present, flat packing for roving:

Roving to be shipped

Rovings in the Vacuum Bag

Flat as a Pancake

Well, at least flat enough to ship as an oversize letter once inserted into a large envelope.  The recipient reported that the roving arrived none the worse for its squashing.  I’m pleased because it allowed me to reduce the shipping rate a little bit.  The vacuum bag material costs more than zipper bags, but it’s worth it, both in reduced shipping cost and protection of the contents.  As an added bonus, food should keep better in the freezer now.

BTW if you are buying the vacuum sealer and/or vacuum bag rolls, the best price is definitely at Costco.