Empty Packages Arriving at Kentucky Global Shipping Hub.

[ehoffmaster]

We have had three packages arrive "empty" at the Ebay global shipping hub in Kentucky. I am trying to figure out if this is bad luck or if there are other sellers seeing the same thing. Ebays advice was to call USPS.

Thanks for reading.

[ekmadonna]

Did they go through the USPS CINCINNATI Hub right before Kentucky?

[dbfolks166mt]

     I am assuming you are talking about the outbound leg from you to the GSP hub in Erlanger? When I was selling internationally I used the GSP and never had a problem but I wrap my packages with special sealant tape. If you are using USPS boxes the sealant/adhesive on the flaps is inherently weak and inadequate. 

     Did you by chance drop the packages at the PO and have each individual package scanned when USPS took possession? If so the receipt should have the weight of the package on it.  You should report the issue to USPS and possibly open claims depending on how you sent the package and what class of postage. If it was USPS following is the timeline USPS has for you to work within. 

[a_c_green]

---

@dbfolks166mt wrote:

If you are using USPS boxes the sealant/adhesive on the flaps is inherently weak and inadequate. 

---

I must respectfully disagree with my learned colleague on that 😉, but you must ensure that the whole adhesive strip is making solid contact with the opposite flap, and it's easy to think it's closed when it's actually just hanging together down one side, so I always add a backup strip of packing tape on top of the flap seal just in case. 

I've opened enough inbound USPS boxes over the years to say that when the seller got the seal properly closed, it is a tenacious fight to get the adhesive to let go when opening it, especially for the plastic padded envelopes. (Us older sellers may remember that USPS used to add a tearoff pull strip to their PM boxes, because it was easier to tear the cardboard open that way than to try and pull the adhesive flaps apart.)

On the other hand, I have had more than a few PM boxes arrive barely hanging together at the ends, and you can see where the flaps never actually made full contact across the end. Put a backup strip of tape along the closing edge of the flap and it will be fine.

[1786davycrockett]

@ehoffmaster 

"We have had three packages arrive "empty" at the Ebay global shipping hub in Kentucky."

Were these packages shipped in boxes, or in envelopes? 

Because, if the envelopes are not sealed tightly, the open edges have a tendency to catch in the USPS sorting machines, and they rip open, & in many cases the contents become separated from the packages.  The padded envelopes seem to be the most likely candidates, for some reason.

[chapeau-noir]

---

@dbfolks166mt wrote:

     I am assuming you are talking about the outbound leg from you to the GSP hub in Erlanger? When I was selling internationally I used the GSP and never had a problem but I wrap my packages with special sealant tape. If you are using USPS boxes the sealant/adhesive on the flaps is inherently weak and inadequate. 

---

Oh man - I've had bad luck with priority tyveks AND some classes of priority boxes.  I got a whole shipment of tyveks that the flaps would not stick, and the old regional A side loaders were notorious, as have been the shirt boxes from time to time.  On top of that, someone must have had a hangover when they made the flat rate bubblers I got in my last shipment, because they were so off-center that one side was virtually unsealed and the other side had about an inch of sealant. I still have a small stack of those and use them for padding in priority items because even putting tape on the edge doesn't work very well because there's not enough material.

I'm a real belt-and-suspenders type and always make sure everything is completely sealed. Once a tyvek came apart and my customer lost one of her items - she was a regular and I knew she was telling the truth - I checked my tyveks and the BOTTOM flap was coming apart - it is what had happened to her.

Others it has indeed been a fight to get them open again if I forget the packing slip or something. So now I have to test everything.

I think it has to do with how long the materials have been stored in warehouses, etc. 

[stephenmorgan]

I am still using the Dark Blue Priority Boxes from around 1998.  The ones that are self sticking will only stick for a few seconds before they pop open.  I always tape across the flap, even on the current boxes just to make sure the do not pop open.

[rugerskick]

I never trust the seals on their own.  Tape always fortifies a box shape and prevents opening.

[iamalwaysright]

I’ve had my share of death grip adhesives on boxes and especially the padded envelopes. I also know what others refer to with weak adhesives. While I think package age contributes to this, I don’t think it’s the main reason and can sort of get resolved.

More specifically I think what causes the adhesives to be weak is 1) the contact points like AC green said, 2) dust, and 3) climate/temperature.
1) In order for the adhesives to work best, it must make contact on the entire surface area of the glue, not just certain points. This is sometimes difficult with side load boxes that have a lot of void inside them so there’s nothing rigid inside to push back at you and sort of clamp the flap when you press down on it to seal.

2) The seals don’t work when there’s too much dirt and dust, much like lint remover stickers won’t stick when it’s full of lint. The Priority tyveks are notorious for this since they already have a sheen that already makes it hard to stick. But once they sit on a shelf and collect dust, it makes it that much harder to seal. This is why older boxes are tougher to seal because they’ve accumulated dust.

3) In the cold winters I often see my side loaded boxes pop open if there is a bit of an impact on them. The glue is too cold and solid to stick to anything. This doesn’t happen much in the warmer months when the glue is a bit more soft pliable. One thing I do before sealing these boxes in the winter is hold them over the hand blower in the restroom to warm up the adhesive so it sticks better before pressing down on it to seal. Ideally you want to melt the glue a bit and once it cools back down after sealing the box, you’ll have that death grip.

[inhawaii]

Been using GSP (now EIS) for years.

I've never had that problem.

About USPS packaging.

What I found is that its a crap shoot.

Sometimes the adhesive is great.

Other times the adhesives sucks.

I think it has to do with how old the product is, how long it's been sitting in a warehouse.

Like others have mentioned, I always use good, strong tape (3M packing tape) in addition to the USPS provided adhesive.

[jscar59]

I use different ways to secure labels during the cold weather, I have had them come off when I

used tape over them in the winter, also had adhesive 4x6 ones come off in the cold. In the winter

I use the packing slip bag type holder for the label and as far as tape I always bring the tape around the

package to overlap , tape seams to adhere to it's self better.

[irishmichael4585]

If the adhesive is cold when you wrap, it doesn't hold. No matter how hard you push.

[ittybitnot]

We have had three packages arrive "empty" at the Ebay global shipping hub in Kentucky.

@ehoffmaster 

Who is telling you that the packages are empty?  An eBay shipping rep or your customer/buyer?  

[a_c_green]

---

@irishmichael4585 wrote:

If the adhesive is cold when you wrap, it doesn't hold. No matter how hard you push.

---

Well, yeah, but I'm packaging things in room temperature, and as I said, adding an extra line of tape along the sealing edge for backup. Granted, it might get stressed and frozen somewhere along the way, but I have not had any reports of my packages arriving open and/or empty (knock on wood).

For my own (plain brown) non-adhesive, non-USPS boxes, I add a squiggle of white Elmer's Glue to the inner flaps as well, before taping them shut, thus getting a double-layer lamination on both ends.

[dhbookds]

So how many other similar packages have you mailed in the same time frame.........  and no other problems?  How close in time did the three arrive/with contents disappearing....  Have any more been mailed there with no problems?

Considering you sell jewelry and some of it more than $100......

I am not a conspiracy theorist..........but think I would call it to the attention at Ebay..........that they may have a rotten apple.....