The Ground Advantage loop
Summary: billak14 expressed frustration with USPS Ground Advantage, claiming that packages often get damaged or lost due to automated processing and slow transit across multiple states. eoma689485 countered that all USPS services utilize the same sorting machinery and suggested packaging issues might be to blame. Other participants shared mixed experiences, with some agreeing with billak14 and others reporting successful deliveries and satisfaction with Ground Advantage. The discussion included concerns about packaging quality and considerations of alternative shipping options.
Everyone is missing the point on usps ground advantage please quit using it!!! The problem is hundreds of sorting centers have been closed and will never reopen! Unlike other shipping options Ground Advantage is automated there’s no human involved it all automated your packages are trapped in a “ advantage loop” high speed scanning equipment can’t read the bar code and your packages end up sent to multiple states to end up smashed,missing!!!! Something small or fragile will end up with 600 pounds of weight on top of it! Quit using ground advantage is junk shipping the buyer is paying for shipping at least give them another option I bet none of them will pick ground advantage.I personally had 45 smashed packages this year ,I mostly buy collectibles Iam tied of rare items gone forever.
warrenshobbies
·1 month agoIf I received 45 smashed packages in a year, I'd be looking at my local post office first. There is one common group of handlers of your mail.
stainlessenginecovers
·1 month agoJust another thread started that has NO Truth!!
Took 9 days and 12 days for PRIORITY to get 2 to 6 states away. It's JUST the 'Mail System' and has NOTHING to do with Ground Advantage.
christworks
·1 month agoIs there a full moon?
@billak14 Hundreds of sorting centers have not been closed. Some operations have been consolidated. Local post offices that used to handle mail sorting no longer do. That phase out has literally been going on for decades.
While some sorting facilities have been consolidated into nearby centers, the number is not in the "hundreds."
Thounds of package sent. Only one or two have actually be lost.
But, hey, ship with whomever you want to ship with. I use FedEx, too. I also do not have any issues with them.
deserdog
·1 month agoI sell and ship hundreds of items every year. This year about 82% by ground advantage. No damaged or lost packages. I sell fragile and non fragile items. I pack everything with an eye on protecting the item.
Some of my smaller ground advantage items shipped in shipping envelopes or poly bags arrive in 2 or 3 days. This is to zone 8.
Got nothing to say bad about ground advantage.
shado-x
·1 month agoIt is time for the price-gauging USPS top brass to be raided by the Feds, or the USPS suffers the inevitable collapse along with the Stock Market.
tools*
·1 month ago · EditedWhy, did the top brass at the USPS say something critical of T****?
monroe67
·1 month ago"I personally had 45 smashed packages this year ,I mostly buy collectibles I[ ]am tied of rare items gone forever."
While it may be possible for heavier packages to be placed on top of smaller, lighter packages,
I think your sellers may have lacked appropriate skills in packing your delicate collectible items.
As my selling ID, I've begun to sell some of my grandmother's collectible glassware and porcelain items, which are nearing 90-100-plus years since they were made.
I ship everything via USPS Ground Advantage.
I create small boxes for those items, cut from larger corrugated cardboard boxes, with lots of bubble wrap and reinforced, strapping tape. Then I ship them in larger boxes with even more bubble wrap and crumpled paper.
None of those items have been returned to me after having been smashed in the shipping process. Nor have any of the buyers left me less than positive feedback.
You, as an eBay buyer, are allowed to leave negative feedback for eBay sellers whose inability to to pack their items for safe delivery results in destruction.
You are also allowed to file an Item Not Received (INR) or Not As Described (NAD) case through eBay's Money Back Guarantee (MBG), for any smashed item.
billak14
OP1 month agoI give up
shire123
·1 month agoProbably best you do give up and not waste your time. You will get little or no sympathy here because the vast majority of sellers have very few problems with USPS GA (ground advantage/Not Georgia).
shire123
·1 month agosorry. But about 60% of my sales go by USPS GA and haven't had any issues for years. As long as my buyers are satisfied I will continue to use that service.
billak14
OP1 month ago69% of what USPS? Iam referring to only ground advantage I’ve and 45 smashed packages this year has nothing to do with packing there smashed from 100 of pounds stacked on top and going to half a dozen out of state hubs, to day right now went from PA to Youngstown to Akron “my post office” to Tennessee left came back to Tennessee to Indianapolis I tired posting the usps tracking they would not let me post just give me other options priority mail is don’t the same 2-4 days travels by air in most cases ground advantage is just that ground
shire123
·1 month ago@billak14 Did you not see my "USPS GA" GA stands for ground advantage
billak14
OP1 month agono all I seen was Georgia
billak14
OP1 month agoOn the Way
Arrived at USPS Facility
AKRON OH DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 5, 2026 9:12 AM
In Transit to Next Facility
September 5, 2026 6:47 AM
Departed USPS Facility
INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 5, 2026 6:40 AM
Arrived at USPS Facility
INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 4, 2026 1:02 PM
In Transit to Next Facility
September 4, 2026 12:00 PM
In Transit to Next Facility
September 4, 2026 3:55 AM
Departed USPS Facility
NASHVILLE TN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 4, 2026 2:02 AM
Arrived at USPS Facility
NASHVILLE TN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 3, 2026 11:24 AM
Departed USPS Facility
NASHVILLE TN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 3, 2026 10:56 AM
Arrived at USPS Facility
NASHVILLE TN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 3, 2026 10:41 AM
Departed USPS Facility
CHATTANOOGA TN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 3, 2026 8:52 AM
Arrived at USPS Facility
CHATTANOOGA TN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 3, 2026 12:57 AM
Arrived at USPS Facility
AKRON OH DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 2, 2026 7:51 AM
Departed USPS Facility
YOUNGSTOWN OH DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 2, 2026 6:28 AM
Arrived at USPS Facility
YOUNGSTOWN OH DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 2, 2026 6:09 AM
In Transit to Next Facility
September 2, 2026 5:16 AM
Departed USPS Facility
WARRENDALE PA DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 2, 2026 4:58 AM
Arrived at USPS Facility
WARRENDALE PA DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 1, 2026 9:59 PM
Departed Post Office
PITTSBURGH, PA 15224
September 1, 2026 7:14 PM
USPS in possession of item
PITTSBURGH, PA 15224
September 1, 2026 4:58 PM
Shipping Label Created
PITTSBURGH, PA 15221
August 31, 2026 9:35 AM
Pre-Shipment Info Sent to USPS
August 31, 2026
billak14
OP1 month agoPlease scroll down go from the bop there my latest tracking this is all the time don’t matter how well it’s packaged it smashed every package
eoma689485
·1 month ago · EditedAnd now the reality is...
"Advantage loop" Reality - All USPS services—including Priority Mail and Ground Advantage—pass through the exact same automated sorting machines. A package loops only if the barcode is damaged, smudged, or placed on a curve, making it unreadable by scanners.
The 600-Pound Weight Reality: Ground Advantage travels by truck, where packages are stacked in large containers. Heavy items will crush fragile items if the seller uses cheap, single-wall boxes or inadequate padding. Priority Mail face the exact same physical risks in transit.
The Cost Factor Reality: eBayers frequently choose Ground Advantage because it is significantly cheaper than Priority Mail. For lightweight items, it includes up to $100 of insurance and tracking just like Priority Mail, making it the most economical choice.
Substandard Packaging Reality: Collectibles require rigid, double-walled boxes and heavy bubble wrap. If a seller ships a rare item in a thin box or poly mailer, it will be crushed by heavier freight.
In all my years on eBay - one smashed and damaged item - and yes, that was my fault due to substandard packing - My Bad.
Forgot to add this - "hundreds of sorting centers have been closed"
Reality: When a local facility stops sorting mail and transfers that job to a larger regional hub, local community groups or online forums often panic and report that their facility is "closing forever." In reality, the building is usually repurposed into a different tier of the network, such as a Local Processing Center, so no, hundreds are not closed or closing.
billak14
OP1 month agoI should have said consolidate facilities and you are correct but sellers need to start giving other shipping options buyer is paying for it
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 month agoThis could be considered nit-picking, but the long haul shipping for GA is not necessarily by truck. UPS provided long haul transit for USPS (having replaced FEDEX, some years back). UPS has always made heavy use of rail shipping. Often one sees faster transit times between the coasts than to other destinations. A good explanation would be that rail is faster than trucking.
billak14
OP1 month agogood point I know there’s private expeditors that have box truck contracts, I knew a driver from Akron to Columbus he would get there 3 in the morning sit 3 hours because no one had the key to unlock the truck.