What is up with the ridiculous priority shipping prices???

[skeletonstore]

A 13 oz package cost over $8 to ship regular and you only save less than $1 shipping flat rate envelope?  You pay that much for a service that will take almost a week but sometimes more to arrive?   Don't say I could have shipped it 1st class. That wouldn't have saved much anyway(less than $3).  How are they getting away with this nonsense? Where is congress?  We shouldn't have to pay for all their mistakes and scandals.  

[lja440]

I work for USPS. WE ARE VERY SHORTHANDED and have been for the duration of the pandemic. Our office has 7 routes 2 city and 5 rural. We have one sub and a trainee who is pretty well winging it as she cant ride with us due to covid. She is running packages in town with her own car. We have one carrier out with Covid, he got it from his wife who is a school teacher. Our Postmaster, a clerk and our only fully trained sub have been splitting up his 7 mile long walking route.

As a rural carrier in an area very light on retail shops (seriously our clothing options are Walmart, and Kohl's and Morrice's in the mostly empty mall), I always have had a lot of packages. Roughly 100 a day. NOW though if I only had a hundred I'd be doing a happy dance but spend the night worrying about how hard we would be hit the next day. It is common now to have to leave some notices instead of delivering because I just can't fit another package in my Jeep. 

In addition to USPS packages we also deliver FedEx SmartPost, UPS SurePost and Mail innovations and Amazon. Friday and Saturday this past week Amazon sent 2 trucks. Saturday we sorted 4 Amazon pallets to the 7 routes in my office and with where mine were going and the sizes of the packages (woohoo no one needed a mattress delivered), I thought I could fit them all in. Then we hear the "beep beep" of a truck backing to the dock. Amazon brought 2 more pallets and a Gaylord with around 3 feet of small soft packages piled inside. 

I usually attend a local auction after work on Saturdays and acording to the gallery for this week there were a lot of things I could make money on going up for bid. The auction starts at 6 and is a hour away from work. I pulled in at the Post office 5 MINUTES before the 5 oclock dispatch truck. According to evaluation and what I get paid for I work from 7:30 to 3:30. Currently to handle the load all of us are showing up to work by 6:30 at the latest and I'm never done before 4 and usually 4:30. On top of that I was not the last one in Saturday, Scott (city 1) was pulling in when I went back out for my empty trays, and Mike (rural 1) was still out. 

Needless to say I was too tired to go to the auction.

So we are not just twiddling our thumbs and raking in the bucks.

[bigdeals.etc]

This isn't anything new. They've always been ridiculous and many people never realize it. Priority Mail has been close to 7-8 dollars for that weight for a very long time now. Welcome to the club. 😞

[importparts123]

why are you complaining? you had the option to save $3 by shipping first class but choose not too because $3 is not much of a savings. So what do you want then? USPS charges what they charge, if you don't like it, find a different shipper or don't sell on ebay. You really think congress cares about people complaining about USPS prices? America can't even get help from the coronavirus, you think they are gonna help with USPS shipping prices?

[pooh333piglet]

Lately 1st class getting delivered faster than priority. So you could of saved money and actually have your package delivered closer to on time. 

[pooh333piglet]

Thank YOU for your hard work. This should be copied to every post where people are complaining. 

[moparfan2010]

I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, thank my carrier, USPS, fed ex, ups, no matter who...during good times this is a difficult job, with the holidays it always got harder, now with covid and the highest ever on-line purchases, (requiring shipping), Holiday season, these people are working as hard as they can!!  

So here again I will say it... THANK YOU!! I KNOW YOU ARE WORKING AS HARD AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN, and making sacrifices daily to get the job done!!

Wonder how many people would finish a day at the Post Office, see what is ahead of them the next day, and not return? 

Hope everyone can get a break and remember perhaps what this season is REALLY all about!!

Thanks for listening.

[1tuna]

general reply.............

if it was me I would be sending rope by 1st class.I mean its not gonna break.

[toysaver]

Three dollars is almost 30% of 8 dollars.  I'd be good with that much of a discount but there isn't a free box nor insurance included. 

When I look at the price of shipping anything weither I am the buyer or seller I consider how much it would cost if I went out and physically spent the time to get the item, shipping is almost always cheaper.   Time is money.  The average American wage is $20 an hour.   It also cost money any time I crank the engine on my car.

[powell-memorabilia]

Just ship with FedEx or UPS.  Problem solved.

[lja440]

---

@moparfan2010 wrote:

I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, thank my carrier, USPS, fed ex, ups, no matter who...during good times this is a difficult job, with the holidays it always got harder, now with covid and the highest ever on-line purchases, (requiring shipping), Holiday season, these people are working as hard as they can!!  

So here again I will say it... THANK YOU!! I KNOW YOU ARE WORKING AS HARD AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN, and making sacrifices daily to get the job done!!

Wonder how many people would finish a day at the Post Office, see what is ahead of them the next day, and not return? 

Hope everyone can get a break and remember perhaps what this season is REALLY all about!!

Thanks for listening.

---

I have been without my own sub for over 2 years. Rachael our fully trained sub is actually attached to rural 4 so that is what she works every Saturday, she covers my route (5) every Monday, rural 1 on Tuesday, and rural 2 and 3 are smaller routes meaning the carrier only gets a day off every other week, so she will work them Thrusday or Friday. She also closes the office and does the end of day paperwork on Saturdays.

During this time the sub job for my route has been posted time and time again. When they find out they would have to work every Saturday and provide their own vehicle they bolt. The closest we have gotten was a guy that got a DUI between getting hired and reporting for training. 

Rachel is in no hurry to have the position filled as she is a single mother with 5 teenage boys but with a carrier out with covid it's getting close to being unmanageable. She often has to come in after finishing one route and go out to do part of our smaller walking route if the clerk and Postmaster couldn't do  it all.

[redlmc]

I feel sorry for the carriers.  As with most businesses, the issue starts at the top.  You carriers and handlers that actually "handle" the mail are the ones that are absorbing the extra work and stress.  

USPS has had upper-management issues for years.  I do not know what the solution is, but many customers are upset.  I admit I question the increase in prices, but the decline in service.  For example, I sold an item, shipped it last Monday.  It left my post office that day, but has yet to arrive at a location in my state 150 miles away.  I paid around $13 for Priority Mail.  

I always use Priority due to the insurance provided.  However, I have not had a good experience with insurance this year.  I had one package I received that was damaged (marked clearly with the USPS sticker) and had items missing from the packages.  Despite providing detailed photos, I was asked to bring it into the post office for THEM to look at.  Our office experiences lines in which you have to wait anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes.  

Another package I mailed had an item broken; I refunded the buyer and filed a claim.  Again, exceptional pictures and details; same issue.  I was not going to ask the buyer to take it to the post office for them to examine; she had already discarded the box.  

We sellers are having to reach out to our buyers and keep them posted regarding the progress of the delivery of their package (I do this daily, but I do not sell as many items as most sellers do).  

Regarding the OP's suggestion that Congress step in; not sure what they can do other than the suggested influx of money.  

Again, I feel sorry for the ones that actually do handle the mail, but not so sorry for the ones that never get out of their offices......🚛

[lja440]

I invite anyone to ride along with me after the pandemic is over. Of course I may have to strap you to the top of my Jeep for the first few hours, bring goggles.

[valkseller]

@lja440,

We know it's not your fault.   

You have eloquently laid out the reality of what is going on and causing the massive delays.

But I have a massive issue with the post office top management.  Since everyone at the post office from bottom to top is well aware of these massive delays can you enlighten ebay sellers as to why:

1.  USPS.com still shows 12/19/20 as the last day to mail Priority packages for pre-Christmas delivery.  That gives 4 days.  None of my packages have gotten through the first sort facility in 4 days.  There is no way that an acceptable number of packages are getting delivered in 4 days.

2.  USPS.com quick tools, calculate a price for priority mail still shows 2 or 3 day delivery on most continental USA inquiries.

3.  When I print a USPS Priority shipping label it shows 2 or 3 day delivery right on the label, and that I  believe is the basis for ebay's expected delivery dates.

USPS knows how to raise their rates online, why can't they increase their published delivery times when they know without a doubt that Priority mail is not going to be delivered in 2 or 3 days?  As you can see this is the hot topic on the forums right now, and it is because of the dishonest delivery times published by USPS that ebay sellers are getting INR claims against them.

What happened to the old business axiom, 'Say What You Do, Do What You Say'

USPS is saying Priority mail delivery in 2 to 3 days, but USPS is not Doing It.

What USPS is doing is 10 to 12 day delivery.  Since 10 to 12 day delivery is the best USPS can do, that is what USPS should be saying.

[lja440]

That's true the Alert Banner on the web page just flat out doesn't cut it.

ALERT: USPS IS EXPERIENCING UNPRECEDENTED PACKAGE INCREASES AND LIMITED EMPLOYEE AVAILABILITY DUE TO THE IMPACTS OF COVID-19. WE APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE AND REMAIN COMMITTED TO DELIVERING THE HOLIDAYS TO YOU.

And this falls squarely into tRumps Toady DeJoys lap. If the man had a shred of decency he would resign from the position. But I honestly think that he is lacking that shred.