USPS Ground Advantage as a buyer
I live in Alaska and have ordered many, many things over the years. Some are tiny little books to large computer cases and, years ago, I bought an old marine SSB transceiver. Each item pretty much arrived on time and within a timely manner.
Lately, I've noticed that most items are late or taking a really long time; the recent exception is a purchase of 2 hard drives that arrived within a few days. Invariable, I look at the shipping method and it's "USPS Ground Advantage".
This is horrible service. I do not think it's the seller's fault; what I'm trying to find out is if it's eBay's issue or the extremely hard to contact and uncaring USPS.
I don't know how much I'll order from ebay sellers as long as this is the service I'll receive.
8 comments
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoYes, the price advantage depends on package weight and also on Zone.
myangelandmyprincess
·2 years agoIf your items are things that usually would have shipped first class based on weight its understandable why sellers would use this option. Items under 1 pound are going to have a decent increase in price to go priority mail.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoThe estimated delivery dates are calculated by eBay, so if the estimate is wrong, it's eBay you should blame., not USPS because USPS acknowledges that Ground Advantage, being surface shipping, can take a long time to reach Alaska, Hawaii, and territories.
You can message a seller, before you purchase, to ask them whether they'd be willing to ship via Priority Mail if you pay for the extra cost.
rumor1170
OP2 years agoI always pick Priority Mail if it's available and wish sellers would put it in as an option more often. I don't take the time to ask if they would go out of their way unless it's something unique. I'll actually pay more for an item if it already has a Priority Mail choice than if it does not, especially lately. Or, I skip ebay altogether and order from Amazon or Newegg.
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·2 years ago"Late or taking a really long time" ... sorry but could you elaborate? I ask because... is "late" one day for you? Or several days? Or a week?
Very interesting overall, I do a couple hundred packages per month and ship exclusively via USPS, over 90% via Ground Advantage, remainder is Priority... and I monitor my outbound orders shipping progress. Every few days or so I scroll through and check for delivery statuses and those not delivered I peek at tracking info. I haven't seen any widespread shipping delays ...everything seems to be what was there prior to Ground Advantage.
Yes, I've seen week long delays, 3 week long delays, etc. But I also ship ~200+ pkgs per month... and I see delays of a week or longer maybe once every 3-4 months. Its not frequent.
So, are 1 day or 2 day delays the issue? Or is it more substantial?
Could it be an Alaska issue or your area issue? I dont ship to Alaska often, but I've been surprised by the speed of delivery when I do ship to Alaska... they clearly aren't sticking packages on Polar Bear's backs...
rumor1170
OP2 years ago"...surprised by the speed of delivery..." Was it Ground Advantage? Did your packages go by air from Seattle to Anchorage? Or, did they go by barge or truck?
The orders I've done lately have been Ground Advantage, without the possibility of Priority Mail, and, with one exception, have not gone as expected, meaning the packages arrived late. Previously, meaning before Ground Advantage, the late package was an exception. First Class Mail arrived faster than Ground Advantage and certainly was tracked better through the system.
For example, I received an item I ordered that prompted this question, 2 days ago. It took an extraordinary amount of time to arrive and the system did not show anything, really; I'm guessing that this is due to being shipped through Canada by truck (which RARELY happened prior to Ground Advantage, especially for such as small package). The USPS system had the item traveling all over the country, when it would update and then, it showed the item as "Out for delivery"; however, 2 hours later, it showed the item as "Pre-arrival preparation" or something close to that. I got it through my UPS box before anything was updated and finally received the email that it was delivered last night.
Something has changed at USPS, which is why I knew it something new called "Ground Advantage" was happening. After looking over the Internet, I've found that my experience is not unique. What I do not know is if ebay forces people to use Ground Advantage, through it being the default, or whether people choose it or if it is the USPS that needs to address this.
I live in a large city, I can only imagine what it's like for my relatives in small, remote villages have to deal with.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoeBay does not force sellers to use Ground Advantage, nor do they use it as a default. It's entirely up to the seller whether they offer Ground Advantage, Priority Mail, or both.
Unfortunately, too many sellers assume that all buyers prefer the cheaper option. Even more unfortunately, they assume that GA will always be cheaper than Priority even though that's sometimes not true due to the extra discount that eBay sellers get when purchasing Priority Mail shipping labels.
yuzuha
·2 years agoThat really depends on the weight of the package. I've found that anything under 2 lbs IS significantly cheaper with GA than with Priority, even with the discount.
For example, I'm shipping a 2 lb package to zone 8 today. GA will cost me $9.88. Priority would cost me $12.78.