B+P tutorial/ FAQ

[Philly··D]

Hey all and welcome to weeklydavespeak.com's B+P tutorial. this will answer all your questions about B+P's as well as explain the process it takes to perform a B+P. so to get started

What is a B+P?
A B+P is a way for traders to help others out. Known as BLANKS AND POSTAGE, B+P's are used by many as ways to receive a show that they want. You send discs to a B+P’er, and they will receive the discs, burn the show, and send it back to you.

How do I find a B+P?
Most likely you can find a B+P in the "under the table and trading" section of this forum. The title will contain B+P, showing you that you may be able to sign up for it. When looking for a B+P it is best to wait until a show is put up for B+P by a trader, not asking someone to do a B+P for you. But B+P's are set for a specific amount of people that can sign up for them, so if you do sign up for a B+P and make it within the limit your set. DO NOT ask for a B+P after it is full or closed. You must also follow the TWO WEEK RULE, which states to never ask for a show until at least 2 weeks after its date.

The Format in which you sign up for the B+P
When signing up for a B+P what you want to do is tell your information that the trader so they can contact you. Unless said by the trader in the B+P post, you should sign up in this format:

#(the number that you are when you signed up. like if you are the first, forth, or tenth to sign up for the offer)
Your name(can be your username or real name, preferably your real)
Your email address (so the B+P'er can contact you after the offer is closed)

This is very helpful to the B+P'er when he is sorting and getting all the information out to you, the receiver.

I signed up for an offer, now what?
Depending on the trader, what usually happens is the B+P'er will send you an e-mail (or another way to contact you they had chosen) telling you all the information you need. This includes his/her name, address, how many discs, etc.

The B+P process
Now that you have found a B+P offer and the trader has contacted you and you have all the information necessary to ship out your package (the B+P'ers address, number of disc, etc) you must send out your package. When doing so you have to follow specific directions, or the B+P'er will be disadvantaged in the postage. when signing up for a B+P you must remember the B+P'er is doing you a favor, so show gratitude and follow the correct rules, and must follow right constraints in materials. So to get started, go to your local office store and pick up some materials that you will need to ship out your discs.

Materials
1. An outer envelope. This envelope will be used to hold a smaller envelope in side it as well as the discs. Usually a 9x12 envelope is fine to use, with either adhesive or clasp attachments to close the package.
2. The returning envelope. This is the package that will come back to you. It is usually a 6x9 envelope and must be a self sealing bubble lined envelope.
3. The discs that you will be sending to the B+P’er. The number of disc’s you will be sending depends on the offer. The type of discs to send also depends on the offer, like if it’s a DVD B+P you will need to send either DVD+R format discs or DVD-R format discs. This depends on what type of DVD burner the B+P’er has (which he/she will tell you, and if they do not it means they can burn either type). If it’s an audio B+P you will need to send CD-R’s. The brand name of the discs depends on you, but you do not want to send poor quality discs to a B+P’er. Good CD-R’s as well as DVD-/+R’s to buy are brands such as Fuji, TDK, Verbatim, Sony, Maxell, and Phillips. Although they are pricier than the generic brands, they are the best thing to go with because of their higher quality (especially with the DVD’s) they bring your shows to be of better quality, and give you a better chance of the burn to be successful. With lower quality discs the burn might not work, and you will be out of luck.
4. Sleeves to send your discs in. these are also important because if you send them in another material they can be scratched on their way back to you. Sleeves are found anywhere, and they are very cheap. And if you do not send them in sleeves and they do get scratched it is nothing but your fault because they were not shipped properly. Also do not send your discs in jewel cases. This only increases the amount of money you will have to spend to ship your discs and is not appreciated by B+P’ers.
5. An index card or piece of paper that you can write a note to the B+P’er saying your name, email, and show that the B+P’er will be burning on those discs for you.

You have all your materials, now you must ship your package out by following these directions…

1. Gather everything you need (your 2 envelopes, discs, sleeves, card with info on it).
2. Take the bubble mailer and write YOUR address as the “mail to” address, and the B+P’ers address as the “return” address. Fill this envelope with your discs and the card. DO NOT SEAL THIS ENVELOPE!
3. Take the 9x12 envelope and fill the B+P’ers address as the “mail to” address and yours as the “return”. ALSO DO NOT SEAL THIS ENVELOPE!
4. This is very important to follow, because if done wrong you may not receive your package back. When you ship packages they are metered, which means they weigh the package and charge you a shipping fee due to the weight. If this changes the package won’t be sent correctly, so you must follow these instructions.
• Go to your local post office. (There is some way to do this at home, but it involves scales and printing labels and all kinds of processes I have no clue about, so I’m keeping it simple. Just go to a post office)
• Have the clerk weigh and stamp the bubble envelope with your discs and your information inside. Do not seal this envelope, leave it open.
• Put the bubble envelope into the next envelope. Have that weighed and stamped. Seal this envelope. Now pay for the postage and they will send it to the B+P’er.
• Send a e-mail, pm, im or however you are communicating with the B+P’er to tell them the package is on the way

Depending on the person, they might keep you posted on the B+P or not. But nonetheless you will receive your package back. The least amount of days it will be matters on how you shipped it and how fast the turn around time of the B+P’er is. If weeks pass and you have not received the show back don’t be discouraged, it will come. But if a person doesn’t contact you within 3 to 4 weeks and you haven’t received anything try to get a hold of that person. If nothing helps the problem find either an admin or someone who could help you. Other than that you can’t really do much else if your discs are taken, but make that person sound like the shittiest B+P’er ever. But if the person is good to you make sure you show gratitude toward the B+P’er. This person is taking time out of their day to help you, so be cool and if you can offer up B+P’s do that too. There’s nothing like gaining friendships with people you help out. With that said, that’s the end of the B+P FAQ/TUTORIAL. Any questions? Post away!

[Rob]

Phil, I'm going to make this into a full fledged page.

Great job.

rob

[Philly··D]

thanks rob!

[Alice]

in case anyone is new to the whole b&p process,i just wanted to take a moment to reiterate some of Philly··D's finer points to make the process easy for everyone! i recently received a package of blanks with no note, return mailer, or postage...

1 - make sure to include a note saying what show(s) is(are) being burned. the person doing the b&p doesn't want to have to go back and look up the original offer and match names, shows and whatnot. also, include your email address in case the person doing the b&p needs to contact you

2 - include the proper # of discs. also, you can save yourself $$ by sending your blanks in cd sleeves (like the ones computer software comes in - you can go to wal-mart and get 25 for under $3)

3 - include the proper postage on the return mailer. if you are unsure of how much it will cost, you can take your bubble mailer and cds (the ones that will be sent back to you) and have the person at the post office weigh it for you and put stamps on it.

[HLShivers]

This thread helped me alot...good info.

[bigazzu]

I'm just wondering if this B&P is also available for those who doesn't live in US or not. I've tried to sign up a B&P two times but nothing is confirmed from the offerer. I open my e-mail everyday but nothing is from the B&P offerer.
Is it about the stamps? Or what? Or is the B&P only for US-member? Please let me know what the problem is, so i'm not curious anymore. It's very difficult to find any DMB's CDs / DVDs here, so i think this B&P is the way to get them. I realize that my location is too far, but maybe we can find out how to solve this problem so that any non-US members can also do B&Ps.
I hope somebody here can help me out. Please.

[LibbyAnn]

Thanks for pointing this out, Charles - now I know where to direct people. But also noticed no answer for our Indonesian friend above!!

[Charles]

Well I never noticed his post but for Bigazzu I know most people Including myself find it very difficult to take some time out of their schedule to deal with cranky post office people.. I have sent a package as a freebie to a dmb fan over in Greece. I had soo many problems the first time around and this was back in 04 I had problems with the post office thinking it was something dangerous going over when infact they know i have done numerous bnps and they all know me and seen me put the cds in the package.. It was a big hassell. The only simple and easiest thing for you is to download shows if you are able. Its very simple. If you are not sure how to download a full show I can walk you through it if you like. But if your on dial up or not able to download complete shows (i know the feeling) then I can make sure you do get a few shows as a freebie. Just let me know via pm.

[DarkNasty]

So, do you just take the smaller envelope and have them weigh it and then put the smaller one inside the big one and weigh that one too? won't it be two different postage fees? how much are these usually?

[Charles]

yes two different weights and amounts.

http://nancies.org/boards/showthread.php?t=1678254535 this is accurate.