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.

[chapeau-noir]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

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.

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I've had the protective strips actually fall off the glue area on the tyveks, doesn't matter the temperature. It seems to be batch dependent, which makes me think it's a storage issue.  Actually, I don't trust those tyveks at all now, I just tape them.

[dbfolks166mt]

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.

I use duct tape, good stuff. 

[iamalwaysright]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

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.

---

I've had the protective strips actually fall off the glue area on the tyveks, doesn't matter the temperature. It seems to be batch dependent, which makes me think it's a storage issue.  Actually, I don't trust those tyveks at all now, I just tape them.

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Same. Yea Tyveks are the worst.

[ehoffmaster]

Ebay - These are packages sold through global shipping. They are all processed in a hub in Kentucky prior to being sent globally. 

[ehoffmaster]

You would think so ref ebays attention. They recommended I ask the USPS.

In regards to you question we ship about 150 packages a month. None of the others have arrived "empty". Three have arrived empty at the hub in the last month. Value 100, 150, 350. 

Thank you for responding to my feed. 

[ehoffmaster]

That was our thinking after the second arrived "empty"... bad adhesive. So we started to secure the flap with packing tape. The third one that arrived empty had a hole with tape over it. My experience with USPS for the last 10+ years is they will mark damaged post prior to delivery. This had no USPS marks for damage. 

Thank you for responding. All feedback is helpful. 

[dhbookds]

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@ehoffmaster wrote:

You would think so ref ebays attention. They recommended I ask the USPS.

In regards to you question we ship about 150 packages a month. None of the others have arrived "empty". Three have arrived empty at the hub in the last month. Value 100, 150, 350. 

Thank you for responding to my feed. 

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I think I'd try to talk to my postmaster, tell him your stats.....and see if there's any way to set up a sting.....

We had a local case with a USPS delivery person that they "caught with the goods".... re-taping the boxes with no "damage" noted......so could be them.  USPS WANTS to know if stuff like this happens.....  Probably get them to cooperate faster than ebay....and if they can't find anything....then go after ebay..

just the way I'd handle it........

@ehoffmaster