Freeware by the PC Consultant
eBay id: valkyriebiker
Current Release Date/Time: 24-May-2002 07:42
PMZone displays the zone rates for Priority Mail, saving you from reading the zone charts.
Effective June 30, 2002, The USPS Priority Mail service is zoned for all parcels over one pound. Parcels up to and including one pound are still flat rate, costing $3.85 to ship anywhere in the US. Parcels over one pound are zoned. This means you must lookup the proper rate on USPS provided Zone Charts. This is a major pain for eBay sellers who have come to rely on PM's flat rate for parcels weighing five pounds or less. Well, no more!
There are two charts you must consult.
Zone Chart (#1)
The first table, called the Zone Chart, is specific to your zip code.
This chart contains all the three-digit zip code prefixes in the US and their
respective zone, relative to your zip code. You'll lookup the
target zip code (the ship-to zip code) on this table to obtain it's zone.
Rate Table (#2)
The second table is called the rate table. This table is not zip code
specific. This table contains the postage fee for all zones at weights
between one and seventy pounds. Using the zone you obtained from the first
table, you'll locate the postage price that intersects the weight and the zone.
It's not hard, but it's tedious if you have a lot of rates to lookup because you
must reference both charts for each parcel.
What PMZone does
Like I said, the tables are easy enough to use but they are tedious. PMZone
does all the work for you.
Using PMZone all you do is select your ship-from zip code from a drop-down box (after a quick setup), type in your ship-to zip code then click "Lookup".
PMZone displays the postage rates for parcels weighing up to ten pounds on the main window. You can click a button ("More") to see rates up to seventy pounds. You don't have to refer to any zone or rate charts. Cool, huh?
The rates displayed are for basic postage only. Any additional service such as insurance cost extra.
Hint: Did you know that you can print your own Delivery Confirmation labels for FREE using a link on the USPS web site? Don't pay the local PO forty cents! Get it free at http://www.usps.com/cgi-bin/api/shipping_label.htm When you take your parcel to the PO, don't let them charge you for Delivery Confirmation. It's free from the web site. Note: The barcode is not scan-able at the local PO. So if the window clerk tries to scan it and finds it doesn't work then you can explain this to them.
Setup
Zip code specific zone charts are not included in PMZone because there are
literally hundreds of them. PMZone uses a wizard to help you add zip code
specific zone charts to your installation of PMZone. You need to add a
zone chart for each unique zip code that you ship from. Adding a
zone chart requires an active internet connection. PMZone needs the
internet only to add a new zone chart. Once added, PMZone no longer needs
the internet.
The wizard walks you through the process for adding your zone charts.
When you first run PMZone, you must go through the wizard to add an initial zone chart. After that, you can add additional zone charts as necessary.
Technical Support
PMZone is freeware, so technical support is at my whim. I am, however,
interested in providing a stable and reliable product -- even if it's
free. So if there's a problem, please email me.
email me at rkr@pcconsultant.com
Thanks and enjoy.....