eerie quiet in the Post Office

[keziak]

I go inside every day, occasionally twice, and have been commenting with my friend who works the counter about  how dead it is in there. This is the main post office of a large town, leading up to Christmas. He said that when they run their end of day reports the packages are mostly media mail dropped off by me and some other local Ebay and Amazon sellers. He thinks that the cost of priority mail packages is just too high anymore.  Maybe people buy online and  have the products shipped directly to the recipients. It's not that the economy is dead. We online sellers are bombing them with mail. Sales are great this year (caveat: I have scaled way back on ebay in order to focus on my Amazon business).

[reallynicestamps]

I've been in two POs (Canada Post) this week, and both had longish lineups. Mostly elderly ladies shipping to family.

The cost of shipping one package a year is not discouraging them.

The postbox outside the Post Office was full, and the clerk said they had asked for it to be emptied, but Canada Post is short-staffed, for all the usual reasons, and it would not be getting better. Last year I left five boxes of chocolates for the clerks and their main pickup lady, this year they only have two staffers on the counter.

She also said that they had been cut back due to a lack of business at that location, which explains why the Post Office is usually faster than the Postal Outlet (a sub-contract in the drug store on our town main drag) with shorter lines.

Expect your PO to be shut down in the next year or so.

[yuzuha]

My post office is always fairly busy no matter what time of day I walk in. I use the kiosk so the fact that there's a line never bothers me, but there's almost always at least five or six other people in there mailing stuff. (That's exactly why I use the kiosk instead!)

[keziak]

It was always bonkers at this main Post Office during the lead up to the holidays. Something has changed. When I consider the large area served by this branch it's even more weird.

[714ricki]

It has looked very calm in December at my local USPS & the USPS Distribution Center. 

[12345jamesstamps]

San Francisco post office in heart of the city..maybe 3 or 4 people were in line today when I dropped stuff off in the morning. Does seem rather quiet there this week. I made 4 visits this week.

[chapeau-noir]

Seems pretty usual here.  If I have packages that don't fit into the chute sometimes I have to teeter them on top of a ton of other boxes, etc. on the pick-up area of the counter.

[tsme35]

My mail has been coming later now, usually about noon but last week or so has been 2-3 pm. Ask her about it and said its mainly an increase of amazon packages, her other online regulars are down.

[evelyb30]

I think  walking into the post office to mail packages is now the province of eBay sellers and old folks who haven't gotten around to shipping direct yet.  Some business mailings too of course, but "civilians" aren't doing it as much at the local level.  I ship very few things over the counter either; for personal packages I click'n'ship and use carrier pickup.  Saves money and hassle, and I'm betting a lot of those who used to stand in line are doing the same thing.  The only time I go in is for actual physical stamps or to mail a first class parcel that's personal mail.  

[tsme35]

I don't go into PO, they pick up at the house but I talk to my mail lady today, 1st time in a while since sales are dead and she mentioned that other online sellers on her route are way down too. Since PO added the outrageous surcharge back in April, my large packages go thru UPS now.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@evelyb30 wrote: ....   for personal packages I click'n'ship and use carrier pickup.  Saves money and hassle, and I'm betting a lot of those who used to stand in line are doing the same thing.  The only time I go in is for actual physical stamps or to mail a first class parcel that's personal mail.  

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You can use USPS Click N Ship to purchase First Class package postage and order carrier pickup for your personal mail.

But Click-N-Ship charges the retail postage rate for Priority Mail and First Class packages.  There are several ways to purchase postage online so you don't have to pay the retail price (which you pay at the counter or through Click N Ship). Pirateship is popular, but I still go to my handy old PayPal link:  

www.PayPal.com/shipnow

[carolynnq]

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@keziak wrote:

...Maybe people buy online and  have the products shipped directly to the recipients....

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I'm doing that more frequently. Even with paying for gift wrapping, it's less expensive to have the gifts shipped directly than for me to re-ship them. Don't know about lines at my PO - never go in.

[evelyb30]

I usually buy mine at estate sales etc, and end up paying more in shipping than I paid for the gift.  Sometimes by a factor of 10 on a bad day.   I wrap them, obviously.   Paid 1 whole dollar this year for the giftwrap roll  (charity thrift) I used for those presents and still have half of it here.   

[dbfolks166mt]

     Quite the opposite at my local post office and it has been that way everyday of the week for the past couple of weeks. The line at the self service kiosk is usually 2-3 people deep, the line at the counter is 15-20 and the 2-4 drop bins for pre-labeled packages are often overflowing later in the day.  The only time I have seen it quiet was when I went to the regional distribution center on Sunday primarily because I don't believe most people realize the counter is open on Sundays. 

     I still do drops and scans at the PO since I want that initial scan and receipt especially this time of year. In my area local pickup is questionable at the moment since the local PO does not have enough mailpersons to run all the routes and I may only get mail every 2-3 days and it is often never the same carrier two times in a row. 

[dnasilver]

More people are using USPS pick up service. Why spend the money on gas and wear and tear on your car when they pick it up for free?