Does USPS priority still get priority?

[bashort]

Had a buyer in a hurry so I upgraded them to priority shipping.

Going about 300 miles from southern Illinois to Nashville, shipped on 11/10, did not leave my local PO until 11/12 and today arrived in Chicago, 225 miles in the absolute wrong direction. 

Is this now normal for "Priority Shipping" I rarely use it anymore?

I had a item shipped the same day and it also went to Chicago but it was Ground advantage, it left Chicago today but the "Priority" package is still sitting there.

So this is what seasonal price increases and priority shipping get you with the "New" USPS.

[johnrj1226]

ALL USPS ship times are ESTIMATED (not guaranteed) even the express 1 or2 day services are  really not  guaranteed plus need to have package scanned in before a certain time (it s before closing time as I recall.  If USPS tare late by their standards they will refund the seller the shipping label purchase cost - not any extra handling charges that are added- the package is still late

[bashort]

I have a whole bunch on priority shipping boxes left overs from when that was what we used 90% of the time.

Going to burn all of them in my wood stove over the coming winter

[12345jamesstamps]

I think it works in big cities rather quickly.

I think items need to get to a general hub in a big city.

I mailed one on Monday(later in the day) from San Francisco to West Virginia...tracking stated arriving on Friday(today) but arrived Thursday (yesterday). And Tuesday was a holiday.

My item went from San Francisco to Oakland which is north and not east but still made it early to West Virginia.

Maybe it works better if a seller does it with a clerk in the post office without an eBay label.

   And I got to say me sending a standard envelope without tracking usually gets to the foreign country in two weeks or less.

Had one envelope from San Francisco to United Kingdom and it arrived in 8 days.

Generally, I prefer a walk-in to my post office though and prefer to use postage at the post office.

[christworks]

There is no one hard and fast rule as you can see by the various user experiences. USPS does not guarantee a delivery date with Priority Mail. As others noted, unless your local USPS is close to a hub, there is only one truck coming to get mail each day. Priority Mail is supposed to be loaded onto the truck first. It doesn't always work out that way, especially when post offices are overloaded with packages, like they will soon be. What happens after that is largely dependent on how backed up the hubs are.  If a piece of equipment goes down, there is bad weather, or maintenance being performed, then even Priority Mail packages will sit.

I only offer Standard Shipping for 99% of what I sell. If you are shipping to Zones 1-4, it makes little sense to do Priority. Priority Mail works pretty well if you are shipping to Zones 6 or further and to a major city.

I had a lady in Seattle who needed a plush Scooby-Doo last month for party she was having five days later. I'm in Virginia. I told her she could pay a few dollars more and I'd ship it Priority, but there was no guarantee even then that she would get it by her party. This woman paid $15 extra for the Priority class and a few dollars extra for me to make a second run to the post office so I could get it out that day. She had her plush in 48 hours. 

[bashort]

This "priority" package arrived at Nashville DC on 11/15, then moved to Antioch Tn on 11/16, then to Nashville PO on 11/17 when it sits.

[ltldpr]

No, it does not get priority anymore, in my opinion.

I received an order shipped via Media Mail (Chicago to 40 miles southwest of Houston) faster than my Priority shipped sale arrived in California.

It said my shipped sale sat at my rural PO for 2 days, but it probably sat outside one of the 2 facilities in Houston for 2 days instead. 

My PO is great. Houston sorting facilities are poo. 

[albertabrightalberta]

In all my years, I've never found priority mail to be any faster than (previous) first class parcel or (current) ground advantage. 

[bashort]

this package that I upgraded to "Priority" is still sitting at Nashville 10 days or 240 hours later, it is about 300 miles from here so the average speed has been 1.25 miles a hour and it is not there yet.

I am going to say that paying extra for "priority" mail is a waste of money