What "carrier" is this??
Never seen this before, and it's not among the options in my drop-down of tiers/carriers on my listing pages. Incidentally the seller sure has a lot of bitter neg/neut comments about shipping, and that's despite them being a TRS somehow. 
25 comments
stuffygrotto
·3 years agoSo since "Ground Advantage" can also be by air maybe it should've been called
Economy Class Advantage.
wastingtime101
·3 years agoHey @gurlcat
eBay Express is part of eBay Fulfillment services provided by Orange Connex. Notice the seller is registered in China?
gurlcat
OP3 years agoOkay thank you, but who actually delivers to the buyer's address? I know nothing about Orange Connex, never heard of it, but I like to know who/what to watch/prepare for.
wastingtime101
·3 years agoeBay Fulfillment partnered with Orange Connex is rolled out in Australia, UK and China (that I know of). They warehouse and ship product for sellers, similar to Amazon's FBA service.
I'm pretty sure USPS does last leg delivery in the US. Not 100% on that, but you can research if you want to learn more.
gurlcat
OP3 years agoWell all that sounds pretty good.
simply-the-best-for-you
·3 years agoWell, scratch the thought about the Ebay Envelope, as a flashlight could not be sent in that. FWIW, China generally ships in Speedpak which is subsidized & costs them virtually nothing.
proudmarineandwife
·3 years agoI checked the feedback and It says this seller is in China
Unavailable member
·3 years agoJust a guess but…That shipping service wouldn’t happen to be for trading cards would it?
gurlcat
OP3 years agoActually the item I was looking at is a UV flashlight.
Unavailable member
·3 years agoShipping for 54 cents? …ok then..lol
Wonders what one has to do to get cheap shipping service like that?🤔 Lol
gurlcat
OP3 years agoExxxxxactly. But whatever they actually use, it sure ticks off a lot of buyers. Yet somehow the seller is still Top Rated Seller.
gurlcat
OP3 years agoHey that other post I made about the drop-shipper that you replied to -look, it has DISAPPEARED! And I don't have any message from the mods saying it was taken down for 'x' reason or anything. I wish you had been able to read/see the rest of the story -I had accidentally hit 'Post' before I was done telling it, so I wrote the rest as the first reply. But now the WHOLE THING IS GONE!
gurlcat
OP3 years agoHey never mind about the vanished post. It was removed by a mod (didn't get a mailbox notificatoin for some reason). But I'm glad they did it actually, because it just needed a little tweak and now I have the full story posted in one piece.
simply-the-best-for-you
·3 years agoIsn't this just the Ebay Envelope? I don't use it, so I'm not positive, but I thought it was called the Ebay Express Envelope or something like that & yeah it should be just a few cents. The carrier would still be USPS, since it's literally an envelope.
I think it gives the tracking or something. My items wouldn't work with it, so I've never investigated it. It's meant for sellers who sell items that can go in a regular envelope, think stickers, stamps, etc.
inhawaii
·3 years agoI've never seen that before either.
Would you be able share the listing/item number?
gurlcat
OP3 years agoSure. Also note the "almost free" cost of 54 cents, for an item that would cost at least 4 dollars via USPS Ground Advantage. Item # 166073010198
gurlcat
OP3 years agoHey I also just realized something I hadn't wondered about yet -are you able to use GA to ship to the continent from Hawaii? Just curious if the term "Ground" is literal and exclusive to intracontinental transit.
lacemaker3
·3 years agoHi @gurlcat,
According to this page about GA, Ground Advantage, from USPS, packages to Hawaii etc. are sent by air, so the "Ground" part is not to be taken literally.
Footnote 2: https://faq.usps.com/s/article/USPS-Ground-Advantage
stainlessenginecovers
·3 years agoGround doesn't mean Ground. Many packages still get on a plane; CA to NY, FL gets there in 2-3 days (same as the old 1st Class).
Alaska has no way to get to almost any city by land to the Continental US; boat/plane only.
fern*wood
·3 years agoThat's why I think "Ground" advantage is a stupid name.
stainlessenginecovers
·3 years agoWell; they had "1st Class" and then there was "1st Class" (one being "package" and one being "letter") for decades, so only seems to make sense that the 'new name' was just as 'not smart' as the old one.
inhawaii
·3 years agoI thought the same thing.
I could have come up with a better name than that.
"First Advantage"?
Why ground? People associate ground with SLOW.
marnotom!
·3 years agoWhat do you mean by that? We Canadians have no objections to British Columbia being used as a thoroughfare from Alaska to Washington or Idaho. 🤪
inhawaii
·3 years agoYes, same as First Class.
I love it because now I don't have to use Priority Mail just because a package weighs more than a pound. 😃
gurlcat
OP3 years agoOr because the item is worth having the $100 free insurance on it. It's taking me a minute to get used to it, lol. Still feel like I'm being naughty and risky by using it for big and/or higher-dollar items. I mean how often does something you need suddenly get CHEAPER? Like never almost.
But SO with you on how stupid the name is. Yes people DO associate 'Ground' with 'slow' and now I find out it's not even restricted to within the continent. Come to think of it, I'm seeing my items reach buyers in California just as fast as ever, so now I wonder if trucks and trains are even the primary transport for it.
Anyway First Advantage would have been PERFECT. Similar enough to First Class to avoid thinking it's a step down from it, but different enough to get people's attention about it having some changes.
So, I don't sell that many large items, but is it safe to say that Priority has no role anymore unless it's Flat Rate, as far as getting the most bang for your buck?