Simply-the-best-for-you Volunteer Community Mentor
@richard1rst wrote:
@varebelrose wrote:"
@richard1rst wrote:I can tell you I NEVER use parcel select.
May I ask why not? Quite often it is the cheapest shipping, especially for large or heavy packages.
Some times Priority can be, say, $40 and parcel select only $25. It still gets there either way.For the same reasons that @simply-the-best-for-you said.
UPS and FedEx are about the same price with much faster delivery times. Getting it there is not the issue. Getting it there QUICKLY is the issue.
Yeah & I was actually just talking USPS. I found that typically the difference was literally pennies, just comparing USPS services. Maybe it's better now, I haven't looked in quite awhile, but it was like USPS didn't want it to be used b/c there was absolutely no incentive to do so.
@wastingtime101 wrote:
@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:It is a special service that the carrier uses & def pays a fee for, but what I'm saying is that I don't think there's any way for a seller to know if the carrier they choose is going to use that service or not.
UPS SurePost and FedEx Smart Post are both services the seller selects when they purchase a shipping label @simply-the-best-for-you. The carrier doesn't downgrade or make the decision on their own.
I stand corrected then. I thought it was a carrier decision based on the buyer's address & difficulty/out-of-the-way-ness of said address. That's how it originally started, but I didn't realize it wasn't a carrier decision.
So, is it cheaper for the seller? Why would a seller choose it?
I have free shipping and list as standard shipping. I ship either Priority or First Class depending on weight. For buyers like you who have a carrier preference I do put it in my description that I ship USPS Priority or First Class only.
I usually ship the next day, but since I am on the west coast standard shipping gives me a little longer on the estimated delivery dates.
@wastingtime101 wrote:
@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:
@wastingtime101 wrote:
@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:It is a special service that the carrier uses & def pays a fee for, but what I'm saying is that I don't think there's any way for a seller to know if the carrier they choose is going to use that service or not.
UPS SurePost and FedEx Smart Post are both services the seller selects when they purchase a shipping label @simply-the-best-for-you. The carrier doesn't downgrade or make the decision on their own.
I stand corrected then. I thought it was a carrier decision based on the buyer's address & difficulty/out-of-the-way-ness of said address. That's how it originally started, but I didn't realize it wasn't a carrier decision.
So, is it cheaper for the seller? Why would a seller choose it?
Yeah, it can be significantly less expensive. It depends on the seller, their volume, which services they have access to and a zillion other factors as I'm sure you know.
Those services can ship to PO boxes because final leg of delivery is with USPS, where straight UPS/FedEx can't be delivered to PO boxes (unless the buyer pays for a special service from USPS).
One of the bigger down sides, aside from slowness and extra handling/greater damage risk, is that any claim will result in one carrier (UPS/FedEx) blaming the other (USPS) and vice versa so claims are never paid out.
Thank you for clarifying @wastingtime101 , sorry for the incorrect info. I guess I was not quite understanding how USPS explained it to me, long ago. Thanks for setting me straight. I know most buyers do not like this service.
