Stupid Human tricks

I can't believe you guys! You screw around trying to print things on window envelopes, buy double-window envelopes at Wal-Mart, waste more time trying to fold everything precisely, buy a new printer, and waste two days trying to get your billing done. All because you're too cheap to order preprinted envelopes!

Actually, the trick is to call an envelope company, not your regular printer, and to order at least 2500 single-window envelopes. You'll find you can get your envelopes printed exactly the way you like them for about $125.

When you figure in the cost of blank envelopes, the cost of inkjet ink or laser toner, and the cost of your time screwing around with printing them, I think you'll find it's way cheaper to let the professionals do the printing for you.

It's just like alarms. Let the professionals do their jobs, and quit trying to be a DIY printer!

Bob La L> >

Of course. Take a look at just about any bill you get from a large company: phone, electric, credit card, and so on. Is there a return envelope? Hell yes, there's a return envelope! It looks small-time and cheap not to include one. It pisses off your customer when they have to find their own envelope, and then copy down your address.

And no, they don't expect you to provide a stamp. The bank, phone company, and other businesses don't provide stamped return envelopes. You pay the postage to send them a bill, they pay the postage to send you a check.

If you use preprinted return envelopes with bar codes, you'll find you even get your money a bit quicker. And as I said in a previous message, buy the envelopes in bulk, and they're not that expensive.

Bob Worthy wrote:

Lets see now, Jim R buys double window envelopes at $.05 each at Walmart and folds them so both addresses show through the windows. Once it's set up in the print commands and you learn where to fold ........ it's just a routine.

You buy single window envelopes (?), preprinted with return address for $.05 and (did you figure in shipping charges?) fold them so one address shows through the window (?). Or, how do you get the customers address on the envelope?

.......... that doesn't sound like a big difference.

DOS....the good ole days....... with a quick edit command...you could make the world turn......

Norm Mugford

I enclose a single window envelope as the return envelope. The customer tears off and encloses the payment slip from the bottom of invoice which has the return address on it the same as a phone bill or credit card statement. When sending out the invoice I use a double window envelope which seems to work well, the invoice gets folded on the perforation for the payment slip and everything aligns OK, there is a tolerance of about 1/2" (1/4" up or down) so exact alignment is not that critical.

Doug L

you have to fold them anyway...so why buy expensive pre printed envelopes??

| > Actually, the trick is to call an envelope company, not your regular | > printer, and to order at least 2500 single-window envelopes. You'll | > find you can get your envelopes printed exactly the way you like them | > for about $125. | >

| > When you figure in the cost of blank envelopes, the cost of inkjet ink | > or laser toner, and the cost of your time screwing around with printing | > them, I think you'll find it's way cheaper to let the professionals do | > the printing for you. | >

| > It's just like alarms. Let the professionals do their jobs, and quit | > trying to be a DIY printer! | >

| | | Lets see now, Jim R buys double window envelopes at $.05 each at | Walmart and folds them so both addresses show through the windows. Once | it's set up in the print commands and you learn where to fold ........ | it's just a routine. | | You buy single window envelopes (?), preprinted with return address for | $.05 and (did you figure in shipping charges?) fold them so one address | shows through the window (?). Or, how do you get the customers address | on the envelope? | | ......... that doesn't sound like a big difference. |

That was part of my point.

Isn't it easier to buy a double window envelope locally the next time you go to the store, with out having to go to the trouble of ordering and paying shipping etc, for preprinted single window envelopes? You have to fold the bill anyway and both cost $.05. But we don't even know if shipping was included in the price. So the preprints may cost more ......

Anyway, it's a moot point.

i tootally agreee

i only use my purty envelopes to make money...like for proposals, etc.

Crash Gord> you have to fold them anyway...so why buy expensive pre printed envelopes?? >

That was part of my point.

Isn't it easier to buy a double window envelope locally the next time you go to the store, with out having to go to the trouble of ordering and paying shipping etc, for preprinted single window envelopes? You have to fold the bill anyway and both cost $.05. But we don't even know if shipping was included in the price. So the preprints may cost more ......

Anyway, it's a moot point.

Yah i guess...but I personally had a problem with auto withdrawls by a credit card company (fraud..by the merchant processor) took me over a year to get rid of the withdrawls. The bank wanted 30 bucks to block the withdrawl...ok did that...the next month it's back...all they had to do was change the amount by 1 cent! Oh, yah says the bank...you have to watch for that. Well you can close the account...that would solve the problem...shit what a pain. Anyway, I don't like autowithdraws.

"Jim" a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...

if your time doenst count..its ok..but i know the value of my time...and its not worth it...leave it to the pro in there job..and if it isnt right you can call them back and ask for a refund..wich you cant do if you did it yourself..

>

Wel..l..l..l..l......I guess you could avoid the problem totally and only do automatic bank withdrawals. That's all I do and it saves on envelopes (not counting the overhead costs in time......)

Just another thought....

RHC

i only use my purty envelopes to make money...like for proposals, etc.

If you want to DIY your invoices, here's a method we used which worked well, cost very little and gave professional looking results.

Buy an HP 4050TN* laser printer with an envelope tray. I made a template that prints the envelopes along with my logo next to our return address plus the customer address. These are printed from one tray. The invoices are printed (alternating with envelopes) on standard 20-lb stock from another paper tray. Each invoice winds up in the output tray on top of the pre-addressed envelop.

Tick marks are printed just below one-third of the way down from the top of the invoice to guide in folding the page. You bring the bottom corners up to the tick marks and crease the page. Fold the top down over to the crease and you have a perfect tri-fold that looks like it was printed and folded by one of those Rube Goldbergesque machines from Pitney-Bowes. I did this years ago before I sold my alarm company.

*By now there's probably a newer model with cooler features but this is what I used.

What program are you using to print the envelops from?? What settings are you using in the printer dialogue window (you'll usually find that under "properties")? Have you tried configuring "page setup"?

Well I don't know what the situation is at your particular Post Offices' is but listen to this.

For years I used double window envelopes to send out statements and all was well. Then the Post Office upgraded their equipment and the statements started coming directly back to my box instead of going out to customers. Not a lot, just maybe 25 or 30 per month so you put another stamp on them and mail them again. After a while we noticed that the number started increasing and then it got to the point where more than half started coming back. So I ring the customer service bell at the Post Office to complain and it turns out that their new equipment simply reads the return address window instead of the lower address window and sends the mail back to me. In order for any of my mail to go out the Post Office people are putting tape over the top window on eash piece of mail so their crap equipment won't read it. The Post Office has a new standard for double window envelopes and it requires the little tiny upper window with a big blank space between it and the lower large window or they can't guarantee your mail will go out. At some point all of the Post Offices will get their equipment upgraded and you must use the new window envelopes OR you must print a barcode with each address. The equipment will read the barcodes and it understands that the first barcode is the RETURN address and the second barcode is the OUTBOUND address but they tell me you don't really need the second barcode as the equipment simply looks for the next address after it sees the first barcode. So in my case you can't just run down to Walmart and buy double window envelopes. Besides, my Epson printers can only print five or six envelopes at a time before they squash one and screw up the rest so I can cuss the darn thing for five minutes each time that happens. And everyone with an Epson printer knows exactly what I am talking about.

"Crash Gordon®" wrote in message news:b4ZAe.1642$ snipped-for-privacy@news.uswest.net... you have to fold them anyway...so why buy expensive pre printed envelopes??

"Jim" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com... | | | Dave wrote: | > I can't believe you guys! You screw around trying to print things on | > window envelopes, buy double-window envelopes at Wal-Mart, waste more | > time trying to fold everything precisely, buy a new printer, and waste | > two days trying to get your billing done. All because you're too cheap | > to order preprinted envelopes! | >

| > Actually, the trick is to call an envelope company, not your regular | > printer, and to order at least 2500 single-window envelopes. You'll | > find you can get your envelopes printed exactly the way you like them | > for about $125. | >

| > When you figure in the cost of blank envelopes, the cost of inkjet ink | > or laser toner, and the cost of your time screwing around with printing | > them, I think you'll find it's way cheaper to let the professionals do | > the printing for you. | >

| > It's just like alarms. Let the professionals do their jobs, and quit | > trying to be a DIY printer! | >

| | | Lets see now, Jim R buys double window envelopes at $.05 each at | Walmart and folds them so both addresses show through the windows. Once | it's set up in the print commands and you learn where to fold ........ | it's just a routine. | | You buy single window envelopes (?), preprinted with return address for | $.05 and (did you figure in shipping charges?) fold them so one address | shows through the window (?). Or, how do you get the customers address | on the envelope? | | ......... that doesn't sound like a big difference. |

Dude, thats sounds great but NOBODY wants to do automatic bank withdrawals. And, I mean nobody. There's nothing I would like more than NOT sending out bills because it does cost a lot of money to do it and it is a lot of time and effort. And I try and try and try to convert folks to ACH but businesses simply don't want to do it period - now some residential customers have shown interest in it because their bank charges them for each check but not for ACH transactions.

Mickeysoft Office Pro 2000. I've been through all the settings in both Office and the printer. Mickeysoft tells me this problem exists with a few printers and there is nothing that can be done about it because the printer drivers aren't compatible. I can print ok from Publisher, Quicken, Tax Cut, Peachtree and others. It's only Office that messes up. Also, when I'm in Office and I choose to print many copies of a document, it'll only print one at a time. Brother and Lexmark seem to be the ones mentioned most in the Mickysoft NG's as not being compatible with Office. Windoze 2000 had the correct driver, worked just fine until I upgraded to Windoze XP. Is it possible to copy a driver from the Win 2000 CD without installing Win 2000?

Bob

No, you don't want anyone else to control it, you do it yourself. The bank can set you up for very little money.

RHC

Yeah, I hear you. However, I guess it just suits my application because I don't do commercial accounts (they would never go along with it). All my customers are residential, and I don't take them on unless they agree with it right up front. Rarely do I get anyone who won't go for it. Most prefer it.

Might be a local thing, since most clients here in town are very high tech...

RHC

Windows XP and 2000 are supposedly of the same "family" in that they're both "NT" based. You might try copying a driver over, but it may be easier to set up a "2000 box" as a printer server. That would solve your envelope problem.