Locked
Discussion interactions are currently paused.
USPS Ground Advantage
I was wondering if anyone else are having problems with USPS Ground Advantage. Recently it seems to be longer delivery time than normal. I ship same day unless it is purchased after normal shipping hours. My margins are tight on some items, and I have to ship the most cost-effective carrier. So, I had two items that I shipped to "repair shops" and they contacted me saying they had not received their item and their customers were upset. I tracked the items and saying in transit. I shipped a replacement to both buyers Priority Mail and they got it in 2 days. Now for the original packages still have not been delivered (shipped 3/18). Any ideas or help would be appreciated. BTW , that is 5 shipments since 3/18/24 And yes I did contact USPS with no help. I filed a claim on one of them.
kh-shakhib
·1 year agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
kristianm7
·1 year agoYes, I need to stop using ebay - everybody is using "ground advantage" and the last 4 things I have ordered have taken 2-3 weeks to Boston, one was lost, one I just ordered took 2 days to go 50 miles in NC - I don't expect to see it for another couple weeks. We are seeing why Bezos is a billionaire. I have a priority pkg coming from Montana that will take at least 5 days. Used to be overnight +1 day. Those days are long gone and I need to realize it.
tvconehead
·1 year agoAs a buyer anymore I am staying away from sellers using GA. This is no better than USPS parcel post. It seems like the distribution centers throw it aside and only process it if they have time. One purchase I made from a seller in OK took 4 days to get from the local post office of the seller to the Oklahoma City distibution center. From there it took over a month to get to arrive. 2 times the seller had to open a request to search for the package. As they go woke go broke. Go GA and go broke sellers!
pastimpressions
·1 year agoI find on average absolutely no difference in handling time between USPS Ground Advantage & Priority.
I occasionally upgrade to Priority for a long-time or repeat customer as a courtesy or "bonus" if you will.
Used to ship everything Priority years ago when I last sold regularly on eBay (10 or so years ago) & when I returned to selling in July of 2024 I reflexively deferred back to Priority. Free boxes, fast shipping & reasonable cost.
Costs were just too darn high now for Priority & I am in a category where the excess shipping cannot just be passed along without sacrificing sales. On average, it also is not as fast as it used to be either.
I switched to Ground Advantage. Transit times are no different.
If there are any issues, it's with USPS in general & not a specific service product they provide. I might guess that if there are systemic issues with USPS in general, they are quite specific to certain facilities/regions.
In any event, all of this makes it a PERFECT, FORTUITOUS & WONDERFUL time for eBay to commence with advertising in BIG BAD BOLD LETTERS right on the price point of my listings how all my items will arrive in world record time. Nice!
Customers are already waiting a little longer than before as the "new normal" & you want to gaslight them that it's a rocket ship to the Moon?
Great.
Who do you think the customer will blame if they are disappointed by the gap between normal shipping time & the fantasy eBay forces on your listing without your consent or knowledge?
The eBay wonk that justified their salary with this smooth move or the innocent seller?
One guess.
Is that timing or what?
lukaishi
·1 year agoGround advantage is just a terrible service that is much more commonly delayed. Do a quick google search and you’ll see many complaints of lost packages, packages stuck in hubs indefinitely, and packages delayed for weeks to months.
as a buyer nowadays I’ve never noticed the advertising, just that more sellers use GA and it takes way longer. I always ask for priority
carlmarxx
·1 year agoEbay doesn't set the estimated delivery date's ! It is USPS that does it. There is difference between Ground Advantage and priority mail ,Because priority mail goes by air unless they get missed packed in ground shipping container which does happen . Ground advantage has a lot of unexplained delays and bouncing around to wrong sorting hubs and PO's. . Just recently I had two Ground Advantage parcels that where shipped from PA. in same container which was interesting and once they arrived to the Phenix AZ. Main Sorting USPS center 6:28AM 3/6 and processed through and end up in separate trucks to San Bernadino Ca. Sorting center that sends mail to my neck of woods to Victorville Ca. the first arrives to San Ber. at 3:10 pm 3/7 ,the second one showed up at 3:33 pm . they are processed same day. However I get the 3:33Pm parcel Saturday 3/8 but not first one also ,That one I got on Monday 3/10 .
mattcasdorph
·1 year agoI have highly considered leaving natural feedback for late packages shipped as "Ground Advantage". Every package now that ships USPS is that type of service and every single package is delayed everytime. I'm going to leave neutral from now on if they are late. That is really our only option to teach these sellers to stop using such garbage shipping options. It may be "convenient" for the seller so they can save a buck but its always the buyer that suffers with late/delayed packages.
I honestly can not fathom how USPS even has shipping this consistently awful. It's a "it'll get there when it gets there" type of service and honesty it's pointless to even have a tracking number as it doesn't even update half the time. Then comes to my capital city where it should be sent to my local Post Office for delivery the next day, but it tends to leave the state altogether and bounce around a couple more states before coming back to the same city. It is 💯 horse crap and these sellers are going to learn if I have anything to do with it. I'm well within my rights to leave bad feedback if its delayed because the seller chose the worse economy shipping available
707productions
·1 year agoI agree with you. I will also be leaving neutral feedback for late packages. Ebay needs to remove USPS Ground Advantage from their shipping options. I think I will stop ordering from Ebay and order from Amazon that has 2 day delivery. I have been waiting on a package that has been to more places than a Rolling Stones tour.
gloss111-us
·1 year agoI hate ground advantage!
We in hawaii get punished.
Everything goes by barge!
3 weeks I wait for all my orders!
msha3839
·1 year agoWell, seller shipped package from NH to Florida on December the third with usps ground advantage and it still nowhere in sight…government facilities at work…
cwh5150
·2 years agoi call it Ground adventure. even our post employees laugh. they go for a ride with ground adventure
joplin33355
·2 years agoI’m waiting on a package from Denver to Miami. It’s been 12 days!!! Still has not arrived. Last scanned in Miami post office early morning 2 days ago. No scan since that time. I spoke with postman. He said it’s the cheapest way for business to ship. 10 to 12 days isn’t unreasonable, even though USPS claims 2-5 business days.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoNote the word "Ground" in the name of the service. Are you aware that farther north in your state there have been two hurricanes in the past 12 days? The Miami sorting center is probably overwhelmed with arriving packages that were delayed enroute by weather.
techiegirl.1
·2 years agoground advantage is why I stopped buying on Ebay and the sellers that use it.
stricker49
·2 years agoAside from the longer shipping time, the cost is has doubled for me going from first class package to ground advantage (i.e. 3 oz small package is now around $4.70 with GA vs $2.35 with FCP).
deserdog
·2 years agoI have been selling a long time. When was a 3 ounce first class package only $2.35? I was looking at some old labels:
kalyoth
·2 years agoSpecifically with Ground Advantage - No. With the USPS in general - depends upon where its going or coming from. Certain parts of the USPS network are horribly mismanaged or subject to intense criminal activity. Two large examples are USPS volumes moving by train car in California region - Los Angeles & also in Georgia.
It is known limitedly in the public plus in US Congress. USPS is working VERY HARD to hide this as much as possible. The service in certain areas is VERY unstable or dependable. Multiple issues people have named are changes made by current postmaster, apathy by workers, lack of workers, equipment failure, replacement equipment coming on line with issues, failure to receive residential delivery for weeks, failure to follow established postal law in regards to receipt handling / scanning of postal volume, etc. etc.
The train car theft is related but separate in that outside of law enforcement agents, theft is not a carriage failure.
notanothercamera
·2 years agoThis is causing buyers and sellers on eBay a lot of grief. USPS should be working very hard to correct these issues, not hide them. Don't they realize that they may start losing a lot of business to UPS, FedEx and other more reliable carriers? Sure it may cost more, but I for one am willing to pay a premium for better service!
gadam2222
·1 year agoUSPS Advantage sucks !!!
notanothercamera
·2 years agoInitially, it was a good, reasonable cost option. Lately it's been horrible. I have two packages incoming to the Charlotte, NC area. One from Wisconsin was due Monday, still in transit. Another from Florida was due today, it's now in Sacramento, CA!! From Florida!!?? An outgoing package I sent to the Lockport NY area was dropped at the PO on Tuesday. It has yet to show up on USPS tracking. What is going on??
mbksys2
·2 years agoEbay's ground advantage option SUCKS!!!!! They list one delivery date on the listing, and then after you purchase they change that date by at times 10 days longer!!! And ebay doesn't give a crap how much longer the buyer ends up waiting!!
dolcetreasures
·2 years agoMore than half of my packages are late or extremely late.
emporium-cabinet
·2 years agoSame thing is happening with me as well. Shipped on 3/31 to Chicago IL area and month later package still shows late "moving through network" with no updates since 4/9. I sent a replacement on 4/23 and now it is stuck as well with same messages, no delivery so far. I will submit claims to usps ground advantage but i'm now concerned on the reliability of usps.
deserdog
·2 years agoMany of my GA packages are arriving in the same time frame that priority would. Not all, but some.
selsa84
·2 years agoYou betcha. I have 15 open missing mail cases as of this morning, got to open 2 more today.
quanfo
·2 years agoThe "Ground Advantage" is horrible; it should be called "Ground Disadvantage" as packages sit days between hubs. Blame Louis DeJoy
loft_km
·2 years agoYes - having the same problems since beginning of this year. Have been using USPS for 4 years now and switched to Ground Advantage when First Class package service was discontinued. Over the last 3 months the delays have increased, the lost items have increased, and the service have declined. In the last month 2 packages completely lost and they don't know what happened to them and 2 more haven't had an update in over a week which is a sure sign they are lost as well. Significant number misrouted - and I don't mean a town away or a 100 miles, I mean going from AZ to Alaska and no update for a week on a package heading from AZ to PA. Another going from AZ to OR that's in Puerto Rico today. Several others have been cycling in and out of distribution centers without making forward progress in 5-6 days. Something's going on at USPS and we have to hope they will figure it out soon or they won't be doing much business with anyone. My late delivery rate last month with 92% with most package arriving 3-5 later than the projected latest delivery date. All I can say is be sure to submit the help request form as soon as the package is eligible, then do the same with the missing mail search and be ready with your claim paperwork as soon as the 15 day window has passed. They'll refund the purchase price plus what you paid for shipping for each lost item. Doesn't help with unhappy customers and that's a real issue for sellers on a platform like eBay.
selsa84
·2 years agoJust wondering if you have issues with the 85043 sorting facility. I'm in Phx and my packages sit here for weeks
crs619
·2 years agoMassively under-staffed and from speaking to my local post master today, they all dislike the new Ground Advantage platform. They 'lost' my very expensive item I sold, I did not adequately insure it, and it is a very expensive lesson learned. I will only be using Priority, moving forward. Ground Advantage has major issues.
robbie31415
·2 years agoMy item lost rate is higher with UPS than GA.
Lost items can happen with any service.
But honestly Ground Advantage is one of the best things the USPS has done and has stolen a lot my UPS business.
Before it USPS was only decent for items less than 1 lb. Parcel Select/Retail Ground was a bad joke. Over priced and took ages.
yng1998
·2 years agoI shipped something "priority express" and it arrived a week later not in 2 days so shipping priority should not make a difference. I have also had a couple other issues. The slow down has been in the news with governors of certain states looking into what is going on with people not receiving their mail in a timely manner. I have heard that if you are reusing boxes make sure all codes and upcs are blackened out. The newer machinery scans everything and may be redirecting packages because of it. If I am sending items to certain areas, I plan on being proactive and checking tracking after a couple days to see if it is traveling through the system the way it should. If it isn't I may do a missing mail search through the usps and possibly letting my buyer know.
tinsoldierunderground
·2 years ago+1 to dirk12955. My experience on the receiving end of GA, is that packages initially track with a delivery date on par with priority, but a few days, tracking comes up "in transit, arriving late".
dirk12955
·2 years agoThe answer is in your post.
Ship everything Priority. If the buyers are in that big of rush, They'd have
no reason to complain about paying more.
Give them a choice. GA by wagon train or Priority by Jet
chuckarelei-studio
·2 years agomy package is still sitting in los angeles for 5 days. go figure?
lukaishi
·1 year agoThis
Please please please give us buyers priority options. GA takes weeks to months for me. I always ask for priority and pay the upgrade at this point