FYI On Order Shipping Supplies from USPS...

[frock_my_world]

If you have placed an order for shipping supplies from the USPS site and your shipment has not arrived after 10 business days then it is necessary to call the USPS customer service line, not the regular line but the line for actually ordering shipping supplies, as your order is most likely "lost in transit" regardless of what the tracking number may show. 

I placed an order for Padded Priority Flat Rate Envelopes on July 22 , which is what 99% of my clothing items are shipped in and by far the most economical way for me to offer "Free" shipping,  and have been waiting as my current supply continued to dwindle away.  I've NEVER had an order take more than 2 weeks. 

The tracking number kept showing that it shipped to the Dallas Transit center on July 22 and has been there since July 24 but absolutely no movement since then.  I live about 30 miles from that transit center so kept thinking they would be here any day but, alas, no shipment has arrived. 

The customer service representive advised me to always call if it has been more than 10 days and they can get an expedited order shipped if it appears your order has been lost in transit.  No explanation as to why their own system does not show it is lost in transit but just thought it would be helpful information to those of you who count on those supplies to keep your costs down so you are able to continue to be competitive as sellers in offering the "free" shipping, which we all know isn't free.

In my case, the only other Priority option I have would be to send items in the regular Tyvek envelopes and for items going to anywhere other than states closest to me, that would usually double my shipping cost which really begins to take a bite out of my profit margin. 

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

Calling is always a good idea. In your case, I would have called on July 27 and not waited around til August.

Or just place a new online order. That's what we did at an office where I worked -- just place a weekly order for a unit quantity whether we needed it or not. What are the chances that nothing would arrive?

~~C~~

[frock_my_world]

They would not consider the offer lost in transit until it had been after the 10 business days after the order had shipped. While I placed the order on the 22nd, it didn't show as shipped until the 24th. So the first day they would have considered it lost would have been yesterday.
I do agree with you with regards to placing an order each week now. My prior practice, based on my average number of items sold each month, was to simply always have one unopened box on hand. As soon as I needed to open up that last full box, which holds 100 envelopes, then i would go online and order another.
Up to this point, that practice has worked for me. Now I will give myself an extra box to have on hand.
Hats off to a fellow local ebay seller that loaned me about half a box of those PFRE yesterday out of her own inventory.....you know who you are my friend, and I sure do appreciate you!

[a*river*runs*through*it]

It's a sad state of affairs when the USPS loses track of their own stuff shipped by them.