Delivery Damage

[kjq45]

This is the closest category I could find for the subject.

I am noticing many packages are being damaged by all carriers, but USPS stands out as the worst.  Items that take effort to break, are broken.  Whether I'm buying, or selling, damage is becoming a problem.  I suggest that Ebay contact carriers and put them on notice.  Ebay is huge to carriers.  I would think they have some clout. 

[lightlily_arts]

I sell and buy fragile collectibles and there has been an increase in breakage.  As a seller I package very carefully because I know that boxes are being thrown 8-10 feet into routing bins at sorting stations.  I ship lots of 6 blown goose eggs and so far no breakage.  I wrap each egg separately in bubble wrap and place them in a section divided box with peanuts packed all around each egg.  I only ship in lots of six and won't combine shipping for larger orders. Bigger boxes lead to breakage.

[southern*sweet*tea]

I can count on one finger the number of damaged packages I've had from USPS since the 1980s.  Fedex, maybe two or three. UPS...I can't count that high, I don't have enough fingers and toes.

When package couriers are handling millions of packages daily, breakage is going to happen  to someone somewhere every single day.  The vast majority of the handling is done by machines and not actual people. The only way to guarantee a package is going to arrive intact is to pack to survive a 50 foot drop onto concrete, and sometimes that doesn't work.

[oldwestcoins]

You have 2 items listed and have sold one item in the past 6 months. Seriously? I have been on eBay for 20 years and have mailed over 10,000 packages through many sites. I have not one package lost or damaged by the USPS.  I find a few mailers that just don't take the care to package properly.  They expect the carriers to handle like they are delivering a carton of fresh eggs. If you continually are having packages damaged, FYI it is the way you are packaging them. And if you are buying insurance, there should be no problem. Fact is though, by your eBay ID you have not mailed but 1 item in 6 months. ??????????

[johnrj1226]

What would eBay put USPS or any other carrier on notice for?  Not a whole lot of  choices of mail/parcel carriers.

Have had only 1  damaged shipment out of 1556 shipments and that was my fault (didn't pack properly).  But that isn't too bad of a batting average.

Received some items from Amazon that were "poorly" packed - i.e. not full taped close or loose taping.

There is no Utopia and the human factor is probably responsible for most mishaps.

[lja440]

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@kjq45 wrote:

This is the closest category I could find for the subject.

I am noticing many packages are being damaged by all carriers, but USPS stands out as the worst.  Items that take effort to break, are broken.  Whether I'm buying, or selling, damage is becoming a problem.  I suggest that Ebay contact carriers and put them on notice.  Ebay is huge to carriers.  I would think they have some clout. 

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First off know I have been a carrier with USPS since 2000 and buying and selling on eBay since 2004.

I see a lot of packages. 50-100 packages a day or more. Many days I use all of my 300 parcel markers, that I have purchased to help me visualize where I put a package in the jeep and what I'm looking for as some days it can be quite a load.

In all these years I have had issues with FedEx but only have received one each damaged packages through UPS and USPS.

I ship exclusively through USPS and in over a thousand packages (mainly LP records and china and glass) I have yet to have a single item arrive damaged.

If your items are arriving damaged then you simply are not packing well enough. If things you are buying are arriving damaged you are not paying enough attention to your sellers previous feedback.

[muttlymob]

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@kjq45 wrote:

I suggest that Ebay contact carriers and put them on notice.  Ebay is huge to carriers.  I would think they have some clout. 

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Just a guess, but if eBay were to approach USPS, UPS or FedEx about package damage, they might get laughed out of the building.

Or, the response might be a bit more diplomatic - a very strong suggestion that eBay get their sellers in line with proper packaging.  eBay doesn't have as big a chunk of the carriers' markets as you apparently think, but another guess on my part is that eBay does have a pretty big chunk of the poorly packaged items.

I think it is amazing that the major carriers manage to get so many of these bad packaging jobs delivered without more damage.  Many of them get through by luck, not by sender skill.

[lja440]

Too true.

Ebay really only is a small fry when it comes to the packages USPS delivers. They are outstripped not only by Amazon but by the subscription boxes like Fit Fab Fun and Bark Box  and Stich Fix. There is a higher percentage of home shopping network packages from QVC and HSN than eBay packages, and all of the above are out shown by the companies like Young Living, Puritans Pride and the on-line pharmacies. 

Amazon is the hands down worse for packing followed by eBay. The issue is Amazon pays little if any  taxes and is huge they can afford to eat these damages, the average eBay seller can not yet they will continue to skimp on packing only to blame the carrier when it arrives broken. IMO the best cost savings tactic is to pack well.

[orangehound]

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@lja440 wrote:

Ebay really only is a small fry when it comes to the packages USPS delivers. They are outstripped not only by Amazon but by the subscription boxes like Fit Fab Fun and Bark Box  and Stich Fix. There is a higher percentage of home shopping network packages from QVC and HSN than eBay packages, and all of the above are out shown by the companies like Young Living, Puritans Pride and the on-line pharmacies.

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You might want to upscale your view of eBay volume on the USPS.  eBay sellers in the US have about 550 million sales per year, and the USPS total package volume is 6150 million.  Now, of course, not every package sold by US sellers goes through the USPS, but even at 80%, that means that eBay accounts for 440 million packages a year through USPS ... 7-8%.   (I read that someone at eBay Open last year said the percentage was much higher than this, but they may have been adding ePacket deliveries from China).

Most Amazon sales are now shipped through their own delivery network ... if Amazon has 4 billion packages a year, 60% of which are domestic US (2019), and 30% delivered through the USPS (the 2019 number), then Amazon accounts for 720 million packages a year through the USPS ... 12%.

[electrola_man]

I have shipped thousands of packages through USPS, and only had one get damaged.  In most cases, damage is likely due to packaging deficiencies.  In the case of mine, nothing would have helped.  It was an unusual case.  It is a good reminder to package things well, though.  Just today, I watched a FedEx driver carry a package up to a door, toss it from waist-high onto the concrete porch, ring the bell and walk away.  I heard it hit the porch from inside my car with windows closed.  I hope whatever was in there was packaged well.  I always figure my packages need to survive this type of handling, and more.

[lja440]

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@orangehound wrote:

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@lja440 wrote:

Ebay really only is a small fry when it comes to the packages USPS delivers. They are outstripped not only by Amazon but by the subscription boxes like Fit Fab Fun and Bark Box  and Stich Fix. There is a higher percentage of home shopping network packages from QVC and HSN than eBay packages, and all of the above are out shown by the companies like Young Living, Puritans Pride and the on-line pharmacies.

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You might want to upscale your view of eBay volume on the USPS.  eBay sellers in the US have about 550 million sales per year, and the USPS total package volume is 6150 million.  Now, of course, not every package sold by US sellers goes through the USPS, but even at 80%, that means that eBay accounts for 440 million packages a year through USPS ... 7-8%.   (I read that someone at eBay Open last year said the percentage was much higher than this, but they may have been adding ePacket deliveries from China).

Most Amazon sales are now shipped through their own delivery network ... if Amazon has 4 billion packages a year, 60% of which are domestic US (2019), and 30% delivered through the USPS (the 2019 number), then Amazon accounts for 720 million packages a year through the USPS ... 12%.

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All I know is what is going to my route each day. Unless I had someone that didn't use eBay or PayPal labels I had 3 yesterday out of 154 parcels. One of them went to a retired co-worker in a soft manila envelope, I'm pretty sure that they will be getting a neg, it was a T shirt shipped Media Mail.

Amazon does deliver some of their packages mainly in in more populated areas, everyday that I get a load of 50-60# prime pantry boxes I wish they delivered in my area. They may get around to it eventually but it probably won't be for awhile.

Some days I will have 40- 50 packages from pharmacies. In my area we have a lot of Amish and they buy tons of vitamins and such  ( Young Living and Puritans Pride), next month I'll have a lot of trees, plants and seeds. 

In urban areas eBay may have a larger presence but here in the boonies, not so much.

[vanman1029]

Do NOT put "Fragile" stickers on any USPS packages, just saying.

[frodobagginskennedy]

I sell very fragile items.  I use bubble wrap, peanuts and double box everything.  Breakage happens on occasion.  It is the cost of doing business when you ship.

[lja440]

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@vanman1029 wrote:

Do NOT put "Fragile" stickers on any USPS packages, just saying.

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Fragile stickers doesn't get you any better or worse handling.

[zylor4200]

So true! USPS is by far the carrier with the least breakage. I sell vinyl records here since 2003 and I can also count on 1 hand the breakage claims I've had since starting selling here.