USPS Losing Packages at ALARMING RATE.. What is Happening??
I've been selling on eBay since 2002 and have done decent volume since 2014.. on average I open 2-3 lost item cases per year with USPS. I've NEVER had to open a case with UPS or Fedex. So far in 2025 alone (we're barely over a month in), I literally have opened 13 USPS lost package cases! I've been forced to refund 5 different buyers and none of those items were ever delivered.. looking at my sales for 2025, I'm opening a lost item case for about 25% of my sales and of the 75% that get delivered, nearly ALL arrive late!
The tracking just says "In Transit to Next Facility, Arriving Late" every day until it just stops. It's actually RARE that an item makes it on time.. and I get angry e-mails every day and item not received cases almost every day. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH USPS??? I send most sales ground advantage because I sell a lot of polo shirts and clothing.
kh-shawn
·4 months 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.
reelworks
·4 months agoI've had the same thing here for almost 20% of my items shipped, Ground Adv. is worse but its happening on both Ground Adv. and Priority Mail.
Packages are taking 4 to 6 week tours of the country before bouncing back to the local sorting center two or three times before going on to be delivered.
I've had a few range from 38 days to 66 days. It started in Jan.
So did the missed pickups. I've not had the same carrier twice now in three months either. Nothing but temps who have no clue or refuse to do pickups. Those that do won't scan packages.
We lost Fed Ex here 6 years ago, they moved over an hour north. UPS is too expensive for small packages with too much damage. If I switched to UPS I'd have to double the rate and package in iron clad boxes.
The worse part is most customers will file an item not received claim long before they receive the item, they blame the seller for the long shipping times.
eBay and the PO need to issue a statement explaining what's going on.
I ship next day on all items and first scans often don't come for days after they got the item. I had one sold on Sat and the PO didn't show up till today to pick it up, I had to schedule three pickups before they finally took the package. Each time claiming they couldn't find my house or couldn't find my porch. I was outside cleaning my car and truck all day both Mon. and Tues. they never came, I was out there from 8am till dark. No mail either. The carrier never even drove by. When I called, they said they didn't have a carrier, sorry.
I've got payment for 8 items sold in Jan and Feb that haven't arrived yet on hold, I got paid but they put a hold on my account and now all sales have stopped completely.
I list under 8 accounts at work too, 8 different businesses, and their eBay sales are dead too though. Thousands of items listed and suddenly zero looks, zero watchers, zero buyers. All on closeout items that used to sell very well until the 4 years or so.
Shipping went up, and the losses skyrocketed.
USPS really needs to do something about them using untrained help. They don't have uniforms, they don't know how to work the scanner, they can't even read addresses on houses. Apparently they don't know what a porch is either.
At work, we have 19 items out on nationwide tour, one went from Philly dist. center, to Chicago, to San Antonio, to FL, to San Jose, to Portland, OR, back to TX, back to FL, to Atlanta, to Richmond VA, back to Philly, over to NJ, up to NYC, up to ME, and back to Philly, and then over to NJ where it was delivered not 60 miles from where it was sent from. It took 44 days. That was a Med. FR Priority Mail Box. I could list a dozen of them here. In my nearly 30 years of selling on eBay I've never seen it so slow or shipping such a mess.
darby3771
·4 months agoI have decided to cease all buisness with USPS. They have ruined my reputation and I have lost many customers.
They are literally hurting me.
From now on I only ship my sales via UPS no matter what the item is.
I WILL NOT buy from sellers who ship via USPS.
roccotacodad54
·11 months agoI read this morning UPS is downsizing.................
ang_52532
·1 year agoIt's the employees, they are getting lazy and don't want to deliver anymore. They're taking their work frustrations out on the customers. I have 5 boxes that have been floating around for 2 months. They all reached the destination here at my local post office two times a piece now and rather than the local post office delivering, they stamp return to sender as soon as it hits their door. They won't allow me to pick up and they won't deliver, they won't even leave the little pickup note I use to get in my mailbox years ago. It is my own boxes I mailed from one state to another state to a vacation home. I have just asked to refund the shipping at this point but they won't even do that for me. I am still fighting for my packages or refund to this day.
carlmarxx
·1 year agoI been noticing a lot of unexplained issues with the Avondale AZ. USPS sorting hub.
midwestmerch17
·1 year agoI am seeing the same thing! I wish I knew what was going on. Nearly all my packages have arrived late!?!?!?!🤔
casprrr
·1 year agoI mail items from my PO in eastern Iowa. Almost all of these then go to the regional distribution center in Cedar Rapids, IA, about 30 miles away. Until recently, these packages would then proceed to to a distribution center in the buyer's vicinity. Only if a package was going to a buyer in the region west of me (Omaha, NE, for instance) would a package go to Des Moines. Now, ALL my packages are going from Cedar Rapids to Des Moines, and sitting anywhere from several days to over a week. I assume that this center is handling 100 percent of packages shipping to or from Iowa, creating huge delays. I don't know why the change, but it certainly isn't helping.
malcomantiquesandcollectibles
·1 year agoI have the same thing happening and eBay keeps charging me ,not only for the postage which I am responsible for but they charge me for the selling fees too. I'm not going to use their eBay mail any longer it's not working either. I have sent a gentleman 3 packages and none has got to him he says. I have removed all my eBay sales until something is done about this. I have really enjoyed selling on eBay but I am losing too much money.
steelernation2007
·1 year agoYes it is getting worse with the USPS every day, month, and year. They are purposefully slowing down the mail service by their own admission. Doing this to save money, which loses customers, which in turn loses more money! To add insult to injury we keep paying more money every year for worse service.
patricnea_5
·1 year agoIts gotten expediently worse this last couple years. I started only choosing purchases by distance. That was a crap shoot. Right now waiting on a package that took 10 days to move within its state, supposedly. Now if they use USPS, they will lose my business.
sellers need to put the level of usps service they ship.
colridge
·1 year agoI'm experiencing the exact same thing. That's why I did a google search and found this thread. For 25 years my eBay lost package rate was something like 1 in 500. In 2025 so far it's like 1 in 10. I'm using the cheaper "eBay Standard envelope" option more this year but I've used it before without problems, and this year I've also lost a package using the "Ground Advantage" option. It seems highly likely to me that this isn't just coincidence.
redlinear
·1 year agoI refunded 3 around the holidays because I've always thought it best to refund before eBay does it for you.
That was to the tune of around $250
Like the O/P said...Since January, it's only gotten worse (for me).
Due to the amount$ involved, I now wait until the last minute to respond to INR cases. I think that gives the package a couple more days.
After I respond to the INR case, I no longer refund myself. I let them go as long as I can. And let eBay refund for me.
SO far, eBay has not refunded. My last one closed earlier today with a Good News, Your Item Has Been Delivered!
humblecascadenw
·1 year agoYup, I've been selling for 10+ years now and only recently have been facing major and consistent issues with USPS, at least with Ground Advantage, the past 2-3 weeks. Not only has the scanning been unreliable at my local office in WA state, but packages going both directions (HI vs FL) have been facing major delays, prompting me to proactively message buyers and process refunds when the wait has neared 2 weeks of no progress. Some go through the network just fine, but at this point about 1/4th of my orders are facing these unusual delays
I'm not blaming the postal workers here. There's something clearly wrong happening within the network lately.
ltldpr
·1 year agoI agree - there is something clearly wrong within the USPS network. I wonder if the USPS is using "artificial intelligence" to direct where packages go, despite what the barcodes say. That's the only thing that makes sense to me. There's noting intelligent about it, and when allowed to make decisions, it's absolutely awful! I think it's best used for generating reports, and parsing data, not making decisions.
Edit: BINGO! I think ai is the reason USPS has gone downhill. Have only skimmed, but this sounds like a sales ad for how great artificial idiocy is when it comes to the mail. https://www.rocsoft.com/blogs/in-plant-insights/how-ai-is-changing-mail-production-services/
mill_creek_traders
·11 months agoI agree on AI probably the cause of the delays,reroutes and lost packages. Fedex used to have a deal with USPS to deliver packages but they recently stopped. We have have had packages that were sent 2 zipcodes away go thru 5 different distribution center and is still enroute.
If Fedex or UPS is within $1.00 of USPS we will use them.
I foresee no solution to the USPS, it will only get worse. We really need a new Post Office Service.
Maybe Kevin Costner can help?
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoCan you mail one package at your post office paying the postage at the counter with a clerk?
Not using any pre-labels of course.
Try a change.
Yes, I understand you are probably not near a post office...can anyone do it for you?
Sounds like your post office made some changes lately as to scanning or something.
I would try this and track the package. Just a thought.
boppie354
·1 year agoSame has happened. A couple scenarios one being carrier didn't scan when removed from mailbox...I HAVE WATCHED HIM removing and not scanning. .apparently thinks envelopes with bar codes can wait. So what happened, item never arrived, I had to refund and post office did their thing and ultimately said " too bad so sad, it was never scanned so you're SOL". Jerks.
Others taking forever to arrive, stuck in facilties for days, weeks etc. One is still saying stuck in transit after 2 months but the buyer received it.
Another guy moved ( didn't provide new address on ebay) says people at old place said they never saw it. Rrrright. Another refund.
Now all my items for the carrier have a sticky note attached asking him to scan upon removal from box so the post office can't say HE didn't scan it.
jas31l
OP1 year agoThese are just a few of MANY examples.. And it's not I sell 100 items a day.. I sell MAYBE 1 per day on average!! Many of them never get out of OKC.. in transit to next facility every day.. at first "ARRIVING ON TIME" then "ARRIVING LATE" then the scanning stops.. and by the way, I have submitted claims with USPS; they just deny them and say the item was delivered.. and I appeal saying NO IT WASN'T.. tracking shows NOT delivered and customer complains hasn't received item.. and they just deny saying item was delivered sorry.
banana*shoe*boutique
·1 year agoYes! Worst year ever! USPS has done me so dirty these last few months. I have had to do so many refunds and haven't gotten a single item back or the insurance paid. So many hoops to jump through.
I also lost top-rated status over them not scanning packages. It wasn't a problem in 20 years and now, 1 month of their incompetence, and I lost TRS. Some priority packages took a month to get delivered, some are lost forever. I have never had so many INR cases in 20 years that I've had just this month.
So unbelievably frustrated. And the messages from buyers like, "Where is my stuff, when am I getting it" as if I am still holding the box and in charge of USPS
ltldpr
·1 year agoMaybe OKC is having the same types of issues that Houston had late 2023/early 2024. I put my account on a 30 day time away because I learned from my small town postal clerk (40 miles from Houston) that one of the two facilities were having to sort everything by hand because some genius at USPS ordered a sorting machine that was too big to fit in the North Houston facility.
It was so bad that congressional reps started asking questions. It made the Houston news for a couple of weeks. Mail was delayed for weeks. One channel placed Apple AirTags in 2 packages. Those 2 packages spent the first night traveling back and forth between the two Houston sorting facilities but, of course, not being scanned.
Whatever I send now, I expect it to sit at one, if not both, of the two Houston facilities for at least a day or two; and, I expect the same thing in Indianapolis, if I send anything to Indiana. But, they have, so far, all eventually arrived. They're always boxes, not poly mailers, though.
Have you seen anything on the local news about the OKC facility? Or have you asked any of the clerks what they think is going on?
carlmarxx
·1 year agoI talked with a USPS rep. from the 6th district consumer services for my neck woods here Southern Ca. over a odd lack of tracking on a Priority package shipped from Ct. there was lack of update info on the enteral tracking scan . the rep filed a report at hub of the last scan . I did get on time on . I asked what was going on with number of their sorting centers in both mid south west and south with unexplained delays ,answer was they over loaded at the sorting centers they were all not do to bad weather issue's . only . The rep did say there some mergers of some sorting centers down sizing .
selsa84
·1 year agoI'm in Ga and if I buy from Ca, Wa or Oregon they leave those states within 24 hours and then when they get to Atlanta they'll sit for up to a week. If I order from Ohio or Indiana it takes 2 to 3 weeks to get it as they sit in Indy for up to 10 days. Even if I buy from in state Georgia it still takes 10 or more days. I bought a map from a seller an hour away and it took 2 weeks. My problems lie east of the Mississippi river, Indy, Ky, Tn, Ohio, Ga, Ny and Florida. I've been selling for about 14 years and it has NEVER been this bad. More lost packages this year and last year than the previous 13 years together.
jas31l
OP1 year agoHouston still doesn't seem great as one of my sales was shipped to Houston.. it went through Dallas from OKC then to Houston and then got sent back to OKC and is back in Dallas again on the way back to Houston. This happens a lot.. packages are just bouncing all over the place, sometimes back and forth before scanning stops completely. I haven't found any news on the OKC facility, but I will ask my local P.O clerk about it and see if he knows anything. For now, I'm putting a halt on buying new items and focusing more on some of my other businesses. If I do buy something for ebay, it will be a big enough or expensive enough item that I can ship it FedEx or UPS.
ltldpr
·1 year agoI agree with Houston not seeming great. I sent a package out yesterday. It left my post office at 4:34 pm and according to the tracking, still hasn't arrived in Houston (hasn't been scanned) and the southern facility is about 30 miles away. The north Hou facility is over 40 miles away. Either its sitting in a bin or 18-wheeler, waiting to be unloaded/processed, or maybe it's already been processed, but the info never made it into the system.
Something is desperately wrong when packages are not being scanned or the scan info isn't making it into the system; AND if things are crisscrossing the country and going past their destination or arriving at their destination, and then getting sent back to originating facility. It's the opposite of efficiency.
I miss my trusty, dependable USPS. Something is broken.
And now we have the double whammy winter weather going on from coast-to-coast. I expect delays when that happens.
carlmarxx
·1 year agoThe in transit scans are auto computer generated that doesn't mean a thing ,since the containers will sit in sorting center for 2 to 3 days . I have also seen un explained same time stamp on some parcels when I checked the tracking.
deserdog
·1 year agoI have not lost an item using USPS for years. Only 3 since 1999. I notice that lots of peopel are saying it is poly mailers that are getting lost. I use them on some orders and even tyvek mailing envelopes for some. . I complete cover the shipping label with tape.
annadryl
·1 year agoI have had no problems here at all with USPS, zero. I think it might be a regional issue with a hub or system close to you. It could be the weather lately too, always maybe slower wherever it is. When this happens, we gotta stretch out a bit.
lakefor94
·1 year agoTrue. I check to see where every shipment is going and make a game-time decision on carrier for every order.
Me, the seller, will always be responsible for choosing the carrier and the delivery of the shipment.
What Dejoy is trying to accomplish across the nation is a mission impossible considering the antiquated and dilapidated conditions of USPS facilities across the USA. I won't mention some of the other issues.....
Peter Graves, RIP, could not do it any better or faster if he was around.
greatstuff80
·1 year agoDeJoy literally destroyed numerous brand new sorting machines when he took the office. They were supposed to help move things faster. It was never explained why he did it.
lakefor94
·1 year agoAppreciate the valuable tidbit provided from 5 years ago. Part of the antiquated equipment one would assume unless you have the inside scoop to share. Spare us the mail in voting theories.
Updating equipment is part of the process. Out with the old, in with the new.
american_valor
·1 year agoYes, it is happening so often now I am pausing my EBAY buying, they have lost several of my packages in the last 3 weeks with that same status."In Transit to Next Facility, Arriving Late"
Something is VERY wrong with the USPS system it seems.
motorpsych
·11 months agoWhat is happening with USPS is something we don't even want to imagine or believe. The federal government is ordering them to slow down and or "lose" packages. But why?, you ask. This is intentional subversion of a government agency. Global corporate privatization of America's mail and package delivery system is the goal. It's the beginning of shutting down American government for feigned incompetence.
Our so-called officials are privy to this and are basically acting as ignorant scapegoats to be blamed for what is coming. Their job is to divert our attention away from the globalist corporate bankers behind this.
If we sit back and allow this to continue, accepting falsehoods of "incompetency crisis" and "uncertain times" as explanations from this cabal, we will lose the country we love. These people acting as our "officials" know full well what's going on. They are in the pockets of the globalist bankers and care nothing for America and what we stand for. Feigning incompetence and losing paid-for merchandise is out right sabotage and should be punished as such.
carlmarxx
·1 year agoGo to the PO and have them print out the internal tracking system scan .this may have the last location and get search in requested .
cowboykites1
·1 year agoLouis DEIchimp is destroying the USPS while every shipping company from UPS to FedEx and retail company from Amazon to Walmart improve their delivery operations.
He’s just a good old tool from a bygone era of letting the &**& shipments though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_DeJoy
fbusoni
·1 year agoHyperbole much? 😄
I think he's done a great job, given the immense challenges faced by USPS.
All my eBay shipments are delivered on time; and in many cases GA is cheaper than media mail... AND media mail these days goes from the east to west coast in less than 72 hours.
In the last 10 years I've had one parcel go missing and I was compensated for it in full.
But keep in mind that when a monolith like USPS delivers 150 million pieces of mail a day, there are going to be hiccups.
@jas31l
FWIW, I think @lakefor94 is correct. This is most likely a distribution center-specific issue. Perhaps you can switch temporarily to another service.
The USPS OIG audits USPS operations... perhaps there are reports available that give insight into the problems at Oklahoma City.
cowboykites1
·1 year agoHe HAS done a great job. Here’s a some lyrics from a 33 year old song……..
**bleep** it feels good to be a gangsta
Gettin' voted into the White House
Everything lookin' good to the people of the world
But the mafia family is my boss
So every now and then I owe a favor gettin' down
Like lettin' a big drug shipment through
And send 'em to the poor community
So we can bust you know who
And I promise to take you very far
Other leaders better not upset me
Or I'll send a million troops to die at war
To all you Republicans, that helped me win
I'd sincerely like to thank you
'Cause now I got the world swingin' from my nuts
And **bleep** it feels good to be a gangsta
fbusoni
·1 year agoClearly we do not share the same taste in music. 🤣
roccotacodad54
·11 months agoSecond that............
jas31l
OP1 year agoI can't really switch to another service because I'm shipping light items less than a pound, selling for like $12-20.. so I can't pay more than $6-7 in shipping.. FedEx and UPS are great but they charge $15+ for even light packages if I'm not mistaken.. also I live in a rural area, and don't even have a Fedex or UPS within 45 minutes, so it's kind of tough but I would actually do it if they charged the same as USPS Ground Advantage because this is unacceptable and unsustainable.
selsa84
·1 year agoGuess him doing such a great job is why there are Senators and reps raising heck about his lack of getting the job done. Guess that's why there are news stories EVERY day about lost mail and slow mail. Guess that's why there are more posts on the community pages about lost and slow mail than there have been about slow sales. On average 4 a day are posting about issues with the USPS. Yeah , he is doing a bang up job..... running the USPS into the ground.
fbusoni
·1 year agoValue subtracted.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoI too am seeing lots of In Transits on some shipments, but where they happen seems to show a pattern. But my orders eventually surface, and my buyers are patient and understanding.
Without making any accusations, is there any relationship between your packaging and whether you have problems. I had to eliminate one type of packaging because of delays when I used it.
jas31l
OP1 year agoI package the same way I have for more than 20 years.. for most light clothing, they go in a poly mailer I get from eBay, nothing special.. that's usually what is getting lost. I sold a PS5 game in mid-December and it never arrived; they just stopped scanning it.. possibly stolen?? For that one, I put it in a bubble mailer. I imagine some one taking a peek in there, seeing a PS5 game, and stealing it. But who's stealing a bunch of random clothing?? Also, I see lots of items never make it out of the Oklahoma City Distribution Center.. maybe there is some theft going on there.. However, there are also several items that did make it to another state and still got lost.. so I have no clue what's going on.
lakefor94
·1 year agoCertain distribution centers are having major issues, Indy is the main one we here about here lately while trying to consolidate into a new facility.
Last year it was Atlanta for a long period. Some just have continual issues.
I would also guess that there are a lot of employees out sick. Heard on the news tonight this is the worst flu season in 15 years.
All of my son's families have been sick within the last 3 weeks, flu, strep, you name it. 9 kids between the 3 families and 6 have been sick. One couple, both teach school and my son missed 3 days last week and his wife missed 2 days staying home all week with a child sick with fever and strep. All are healthy once again.
Wife had 2 clients out of 5 cancel today with flu. Stuff is going around. I took my vitamins 3 times today, lol.....
Best to all, stay healthy.
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoStrep has been going around here along with some stomach bug.
Businesses and schools around here have been closing down because of it.
When the stomach bug hit, 7 people and 1 bathroom, fun times.