FEDEX Smartpost

[123norrism]

FEDEX Smartpost was not eBay's best idea. I recnetly ordered an item that shipped from Illinois to Houston and it took less time to get from from Illinois to Houston, than it took to get from one side of Houston to another, by days. Also, once FEDEX has passed the Baton on to the USPS, there is no guarantee the ability to track the package follows with it. When I spoke to FEDEX today, I was told it could still take another 3 to 5 days. I could walk that disctance in less time. My experience on eBay with this FEDEX or DHL partnership with the USPS on shipping has not been good and given the choice I won't select it and find another Seller not shipping with that method or find another online site to purchase from. Poor results from a customer's perspective.

[johnrj1226]

FedEx Smartpost was not  eBays doing - it was FedEX & USPS.  eBay just provided the option to sellers to  pick from.

As for me I only ship via USPS products & have since day one - convience, budget friendly and a very good on time delivery record in my experiences.

[lex-talon]

Fedex Smartpost is a slow, low-cost shipping service. I avoid sellers who use it. As a seller, the USPS

is the way to go, at least for me.

[whosthatgirl-2]

I don't mind SmartPost even though it's a bit slower. 

[buyselljack2016]

The problem may well be in Houston.  Actually it seems that a large portion of the USPS service in Texas has been experiencing problems for the last couple of months.

I cringe now every time my label shows that a purchase is headed there.

[berserkerplanet]

►I only ship via USPS products & have since day one - convience, budget friendly...

9 Pound to Zone 8 destination (negligible dimensional weight):
USPS Parcel Select = $33.74
USPS Priority Mail = $33.75
FedEx Smartpost = $15.42
FedEx Home Delivery = $17.69

I don't view the USPS options as budget friendly there (but I'd probably offer the last 3 and let buyer decide)
(If dimensional weight is a large factor, Parcel Select starts looking better.)

No single carrier or service is best for all scenarios, and Smartpost still has a (very) few price sweet spots.

[johnrj1226]

I was stating  our experiences and not suggesting the what we found will  fit all.  Certainly that "i" before "e" except after "c" thing will always apply to most  situations.   By  design, we seldom sell anything over 5 lbs and never ship any thing or  offer anything that would exceed 1 cu. ft.  We do ship a lot of  stuff  long distance Georgia to the West Coast  -  ~ 45% of our 1500+ shipments go to the Left Coast.  For our other shipping  purposes  the Regional  Rate A Priority Boxes , Small Flat Rate Box and FRPE envelope and First  Class Package are money savers. The largest shipping  lable we paid for was in the neighborhood of $18 - 19.00.  As far as convience goes, most of our items are  picked up by our USPS carrier - that is nice but not all sellers can do that for a myraid of reasons -  but will drop some off at the PO if I am driving near our PO for other purposes. 

[berserkerplanet]

I should have prefaced that with some wording to indicate it was meant as a more general response. Sorry.

And yes, the flat rate and regional options do make a huge difference for non-huge items. If my 9lb example fits in a Regional A box, USPS wins hands down.

USPS FCP and PM are my gotos also, but I almost always also offer the FedEx option(s) if they are cheaper.

(and not a one of my few buyers has ever complained about or provided any indication of dissatisfaction with the FedEx Ground or Smartpost option they chose).