GB2266289A - Post paid greetings card or gift - Google Patents

Abstract

A postal product which makes easier the sending of a greeting card or gift by post comprises the card (1) or gift, an envelope (2) or other container in which to post it, which envelope or container bears an indication (3, 4) which authorises the postal charge or confirms that the charge has been paid, and an outer wrapper in which the card or gift and envelope or other container are sealed.

Description

"Postal product1, The present invention is a novel postal product which is a means for enabling a greeting or gift to be despatched by post.

It is frequently desired to send at short notice a greeting or gift by post.

For example, it may be desired to send a birthday card or gift with little time remaining in which to send it, or to send a greeting or gift on impulse, such as when the sender.is on holiday or otherwise away from home., However such sending by post inevitably entails purchasing one or more postage stamps. Such stamps are usually available from only a strictly limited number of outlets since they are a valuable commodity of which sales must be controlled.

If all such outlets are closed at the relevant time, then it may be impossible to send the greeting or gift. If a newsagent or other retailer authorised to sell postage stamps happens to be open when a stamp is required, it is nonetheless usually necessary to buy several stamps, for example a book of stamps.

Alternatively, it may be necessary to purchase one or more stamps at a post office, in which case buying even one stamps may entail undesirable waiting to be served, among customers conducting more time-consuming business.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a means of overcoming some at least of the foregoing problems, in the form of a novel postal product.

The postal product according to the present invention comprises a greeting card or gift, an envelope or other container for enclosing the card or gift when sending it by post, which envelope or other container bears an indication authorising or confirming a charge for its carriage by post, and an outer wrapper containing sealed therein said card or gift and said envelope or other container.

As can readily be appreciated, the postal product of the present invention provides the purchaser with all that is required to send the card or gift by post without the need to find an outlet selling stamps which is both accessible and open and thereby avoiding the chore and potential delay which would otherwise be entailed. He need only unseal the outer wrapper and remove its contents, place the card or gift, if desired with an added message, inside the envelope or container and, without having to lick the stamp, deposit the package in a post-box.

The item to be sent by post, that is, the. greetings card or gift, may be of a wide variety of types. For example, the card may be a birthday card, a Christmas card or any other card acknowledging a season, event or greeting. It may be a simple folded card of four pages, a more elaborate card or even a flat picture postcard. The gift may be any item small enough, and perhaps inexpensive enough, tt; be sent safely by normal post.

Typical such gifts may be brooches, pens or any of the range of small souvenirs normally sold in holiday resorts and other visitor venues and marked with the name of the resort or venue. However, the invention is of particular value in its application to greeting cards.

Also included within the postal product of the present invention is an envelope or other container in which the card or gift is to be posted. Most commonly. the container will be an envelope, in particular one which is adapted in size and possibly colour to the card to be posted in it. When included with a gift, the container will typically be a small rectangular box, which may for example be less than say 10 cm. in each of its dimensions.

It is an essential and important feature of the invention that the envelope or other container bears upon it an indication authorising or confirming a charge for its carriage by post. That is, it may bear an acknowledgement that the relevant postal charge has already been paid or it may have an indication upon it whereby the postal authorities are empowered to make the necessary charge. By way of example, the envelope or other container may carry embossed and/or printed thereon a symbol such as that used by the United Kingdom Royal Mail as an indication that the user has already paid the postal charge; the symbol may include the words "post paid" and/or equivalent wording in a language other than English.As a less-preferred alternative, the envelope or other container may simply have postage stamps to the appropriate value affixed thereto before its inclusion in the sealed outer wrapper.

In a further alternative form of the present invention the envelope or other container may be marked with a bar-code or other authorisation, whereby the postal authority can identify the person or organisation, for example the publisher of the card or seller of the product, which accepts in advance responsibility for meeting the postal carriage charge.

Whatever the form of the indication adopted to. authorise or confirm the postal carriage charge, it may relate to either first class or second class delivery, or indeed to any other selected delivery service, for example air mail delivery1 which the relevant postal authority may offer.

The card or gift and the envelope or other container are together contained in a sealed outer wrapper. The sealing of the wrapper is not intended so much to render access to its contents difficult as rather to provide evidence of any tampering with the product before it is sold. It is particularly preferred that the outer wrapper be transparent, so that its contents may readily be examined without the seal being broken. For example, the outer wrapper may be of a transparent cellulosic material (for example that sold under the trade mark "Cellophane") or of a transparent synthetic polymeric material.

In an alternative form of the invention, the outer wrapper may contain two or more cards or gifts and a corresponding number of envelopes or postal containers, each of which carries the necessary postal carriage marking. For example a set of several identical or different Christmas Cards may be sold in this way. Particularly in this form of the invention, the outer wrapping may be a rigid, non-transparent wrapping such as a cardboard box.

Advantageously, the card or gift or the sealed postal product may itself carry one or more bar-codes. The bar-code would normally indicate to a reading machine at the sales point the selling price of the product but an additional bar-code, or more preferably a further feature of the single such bar-code, may separately indicate the relevant postal charge, for internal accountancy purposes and/or to enable provision to be made for a charge yet to be received from the postal service.

Preferably the postal product according to the invention carries a prominent marking to indicate that it is of the "post paid" type and to distinguish it from other greetings cards or the like which are not of that type.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates, in exploded view, one preferred embodiment of the postal product according to the present invention.

The illustrated product includes a greetings card 1, bearing a greeting and optionally a picture on its front surface, an envelope 2 and a label 5. These three components are sealed within a clear outer wrapper (not shown) made of the cellulosic material sold under the trade mark "Cellophane", so that the front of the card is clearly visible through the wrapper.

The envelope 2 carries two markings 3, 4 printed and/or embossed thereon. The marking 3 is a representation of the Queen's head such as is used by the United Kingdom Royal Mail to indicate its approval and a further marking 4 confirms that postage for carriage of the envelope has already been paid, at the value appropriate to firstclass delivery.

The label 5 is folded over the top of the card 1 and the envelope 2 and prominently marked, for example in yellow lettering on a red background, to indicate to the potential purchaser that the contents have been. pre-paid for delivery at the first-class postal rate. The other foldeddown face of the card, clearly visible from the back of the pack (not shown), gives details of the greeting to be found within the card.

Under current U.K. postal regulations, the "post paid" symbol would be printed on the envelope by a printer authorised to do so by the Royal Mail and the card publisher would then, with the approval of the Royal Mail ,assemble the pack and distribute it to retail outlets. It would then not be necessary for the retailer to obtain from the Royal Mail authorisation permitting him to sell the "post paid" envelopes.

Claims (14)

CLAIMS.

1. A postal product comprising a greeting card or gift, an envelope or other container for enclosing the card or gift when sending it by post, which envelope or other container bears an indication authorising or confirming a charge for its carriage by post, and an outer wrapper containing sealed therein said card or gift and said envelope or other container.

2. A postal product as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said card is a birthday card, a Christmas card or a picture postcard.

3. A postal product as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said gift is a brooch, a pen or a souvenir identifying a resort or venue.

4. A postal product as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said indication,' upon said envelope or other container comprises an acknowledgement that the relevant postal charge has already been paid.

5. A postal product as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said indication comprises a symbol authorised by the relevant postal authority and/or the words "post paid" and/or the equivalent wording in a language other than English.

6. A postal product as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said indication comprises postage stamps.

7. A postal product as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein said indication upon said envelope or other container comprises an authorisation whereby the postal authorities are empowered to make the necessary charge.

8. A postal product as claimed in Claim 7, wherein said indication is a bar-code.

9. A postal product as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said indication upon said envelope or other container includes an identification of a particular class of postal delivery.

10. A postal product as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said outer wrapper is transparent.

11. A postal product as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 9, wherein said outer wrapper is a cardboard box.

12. A postal product as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said outer wrapper contains two or more said cards or gifts and a corresponding number of said envelopes or postal containers.

13. A postal product as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the card or gift or the sealed postal product itself carries one or more bar-codes.

14. A postal product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawing.