eBay

westexxx · ‎06-19-2017

I just discovered that USPS will accept FedEx smartpost pkgs. I assume that this would be nationwide, but can only vouch for the 5 offices near me. Until 6 wks ago my closest PO would not do this and about a yr ago my rural carrier scanned some and took them with her then returned them as unacceptable?

takikawa4 · ‎06-19-2017

@westexxx

FedEx SmartPost is a delivery service where FedEx carries the package for most of the way and then hands it off to the nearest local post office.

http://www.fedex.com/us/smart-post/index.html

muttlymob · ‎06-19-2017

I assume that this would be nationwide,

Nope. FedEx packages should be dropped off with FedEx, not USPS. If your local post offices are accepting them either they have a local agreement, or they are doing something they are not supposed to.

FedEx Smartpost is a service whereby you give the package to FedEx, they deliver to the destination post office, then USPS delivers to the recipient. You are not paying for USPS to give your package to FedEx, or for USPS to deliver the package the entire trip.

tripper101 · ‎06-19-2017

You can drop smartpost at the post office, you can drop smartpost at office max. Both can scan the packages. If you look at the labels you will see two separate barcodes. One is for fedex and one is for usps. I have shipped hundreds and hundreds of packages smartpost. No problems at all. No matter where you drop off smartpost packages in your area they go to the same place after that. Now you will find people all over the place that never heard of smartpost. Just have them scan the package. They can try both barcodes and see which is the correct one. They will go Oh it scanned must be ok. Never had a package returned. Shipping far far away from you will take longer, up to 2 weeks in some cases, it can be 10 working days. Ebay system handles this. On a package that is 10 lbs or more shipping several zones away can be half of usps. It impossible to tell which is best until you actually check. that is why printing labels on ebay is better than paypal you can check the prices easily right while printing the label. That is one advantage smaller sellers can offer over the mega sellers.

Anonymous · ‎06-19-2017

FedEx SmartPost or UPS SurePost are the dregs of the mail system, akin to media mail by the USPS. Regular humans would rather pay the extra dollar for priority and get their order 2 weeks earlier.

There is no faster way to get a buyer to hit the back button or leave you a neg than to offer those mule train services.

Pallets of xxxPost sit in a warehouse for several days/week until a truck has enough room to move them, once at the USPS it sits on the dock because it came in at midday which is after the regular mail has already been dispatched, it may be scanned in a day or so.

As a seller, I would never offer such a non-service, and as a buyer, I would never purchase from a seller who had a blatant disregard for my integrity.

lja440 · ‎06-20-2017

@tripper101 wrote:
You can drop smartpost at the post office, you can drop smartpost at office max. Both can scan the packages. If you look at the labels you will see two separate barcodes. One is for fedex and one is for usps. I have shipped hundreds and hundreds of packages smartpost. No problems at all. No matter where you drop off smartpost packages in your area they go to the same place after that. Now you will find people all over the place that never heard of smartpost. Just have them scan the package. They can try both barcodes and see which is the correct one. They will go Oh it scanned must be ok. Never had a package returned. Shipping far far away from you will take longer, up to 2 weeks in some cases, it can be 10 working days. Ebay system handles this. On a package that is 10 lbs or more shipping several zones away can be half of usps. It impossible to tell which is best until you actually check. that is why printing labels on ebay is better than paypal you can check the prices easily right while printing the label. That is one advantage smaller sellers can offer over the mega sellers.

WRONG. I work for USPS. Your office may have a way to get the SmartPost packages to FedEx but the vast majority DO NOT.

The USPS barcode is NOT ACTIVE UNTIL THE MAIN BARCODE on the FedEx pallet is scanned.

FedEx gets the revenue for a SmartPost package, USPS gets only a small portion to deliver the "final mile" to the package's destination. At our office and ever office I have worked at any FedEx package dropped off will be refused or returned to the sender. Our only other option is to charge Postage Due for the full amount as without it being first scanned through FedEx we will not get a penny from FedEx.

You should also know that if FedEx messes up and miss delivers a package to the wrong office (not at all uncommon), It can take days, and sometimes over a week for them to send a "recovery truck" as their SmartPost drivers can not accept packages back for any reason.

lja440 · ‎06-20-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
FedEx SmartPost or UPS SurePost are the dregs of the mail system, akin to media mail by the USPS. Regular humans would rather pay the extra dollar for priority and get their order 2 weeks earlier.

There is no faster way to get a buyer to hit the back button or leave you a neg than to offer those mule train services.

Pallets of xxxPost sit in a warehouse for several days/week until a truck has enough room to move them, once at the USPS it sits on the dock because it came in at midday which is after the regular mail has already been dispatched, it may be scanned in a day or so.

As a seller, I would never offer such a non-service, and as a buyer, I would never purchase from a seller who had a blatant disregard for my integrity.

While yes it is slow and can be delayed in FedEx hands, and yes they will arrive after us carriers have left for our routes. Once at the PO it will NOT be delayed further. We can not roll any package service back.

This rumor is out there because of #1 people do see SmartPost sitting on docks from the daily drop off, and #2 sometimes the packages do not match the list from the barcode. We have had many calls and even people come to the office looking for packages that FedEx scans say have been dropped off only to find that the item is NOT on the pallet for that day.

variety_nook · ‎06-20-2017

@Anonymous Stated: "As a seller, I would never offer such a non-service, and as a buyer, I would never purchase from a seller who had a blatant disregard for my integrity."

Hahahahaha.......

What cave number do you live in? They do make a mold & mildew resistant magic marker that you can use when writing your cave number on the bedrock out front so as not to fade away. Helps for deliveries. You must really get mad at the pizza delivery driver too!

[sarcastic humour] Sorry, I just couldn't help myself! Some things are just to good to be passed by.

BTW, "buyers choice" on most of my listings, Guess which one they choose 99% of the time? Yup! So I guess some people don't mind waiting (on average, 1-2 days, NOT WEEKS!) longer to receive their order.

Bigger tip for the pizza delivery driver next time! They deserve it!!! well, most of the time anyway.

lja440 · ‎06-20-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
FedEx SmartPost or UPS SurePost are the dregs of the mail system, akin to media mail by the USPS. Regular humans would rather pay the extra dollar for priority and get their order 2 weeks earlier.

There is no faster way to get a buyer to hit the back button or leave you a neg than to offer those mule train services.

Pallets of xxxPost sit in a warehouse for several days/week until a truck has enough room to move them, once at the USPS it sits on the dock because it came in at midday which is after the regular mail has already been dispatched, it may be scanned in a day or so.

As a seller, I would never offer such a non-service, and as a buyer, I would never purchase from a seller who had a blatant disregard for my integrity.

I agree, I'll never use FedEx at all. I have only shipped FedEx 3 times (returning broken phones to Verizon with prepaid return labels) NONE of them ever arrived and I had to pay full price. I have since whenever anything needs sent FedEx paid out of pocket and shipped USPS, including 2 more phones to Verizon, all arrived in excellent shape and quickly.

While I do not hit the back button when I see SmartPost, I will try to find a different seller that uses USPS or UPS. FedEx home, ground, or express will have me quickly hitting the back button.

tripper101 · ‎06-20-2017

All I can say is I ship about 600 packages a year now. About 40% fed ex and 35% of that smartpost the rest home delivery. Do not leave any other type of package from fed ex at the post office. Only smartpost has the duel barcodes that the post office can scan. I use usps for 60%. Not a real big seller. I started dropping off smartpost packages about a year ago to the post office when the local fed ex hub I went to for years told me I can drop them off at any post office. Up till then I was just going by the outdated message ebay showed when you print a smartpost label. About three months ago I took a smartpost package to office max. The clerk had no idea what smart post was but scanned the bar code. He said yep it works great no problem with these you can drop them off here anytime. The fed ex pick up truck leaves around noon. After that they go out the next day. Since then I have dropped many many packages their. I have never once had any problem. I have had all kinds of various problems with usps and the worst part is dealing with post office employee's on a problem let alone just dropping of packages sometimes. It is a joy to go to fed ex or or office max.

tripper101 · ‎06-20-2017

Why do you deal with sellers that only offer only one type of delivery? I like to offer three on packges over 1 pound. usps priority, fed ex home delivery, smartpost. The seller can choose which they want.

tripper101 · ‎06-20-2017

Oh by the way fed ex says on their web site that they do ship smartpost to po boxes. If you try and print a label to an address with a po box on ebay you get a red sentence saying you can't do it and it won't print. I have not bothered to try and fight it with ebay.

westexxx · ‎06-20-2017

@takikawa4 wrote:
@westexxx

FedEx SmartPost is a delivery service where FedEx carries the package for most of the way and then hands it off to the nearest local post office.

http://www.fedex.com/us/smart-post/index.html

thanks, but I already knew how it worked however until recently the 5 PO's near me would not accept them so I had to travel an xtra 15 mi to my closest drop off.

I certialny didn't mean to cause such an uproar about this service, but since I ship most of my items for 'free' smartpoast saved me enough $$$ to make it worth my while to travel the xtra miles and now its even better! Just trying to help is all.

westexxx · ‎06-20-2017

@tripper101 wrote:
Oh by the way fed ex says on their web site that they do ship smartpost to po boxes. If you try and print a label to an address with a po box on ebay you get a red sentence saying you can't do it and it won't print. I have not bothered to try and fight it with ebay.

to use fedex smartpost to ship to a po box, find the physical address of the post office at https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorAction!input and enter it in ebay lables see below

customer name
11419 post office st

box 29
post office, TX 78230

has worked for me every time.

pingpong517 · ‎06-20-2017

well... i think i see a few things here..

1) ususally you drop them at a Fedex office...unless YOUR USPS has some deal with Fedex...

2) stores like Office Max and staples..DO take USPS or Fedex or UPS and work that all out... BUT you need to check each out as to who takes what ...

so yes there is some overlap, but I think it is not all the same everywhere...so everyone ask...and you may find out a new place to drop packages...but be sure they scan there....

There are USPS contract places...that accept the package but don't scan it in...so it will only be scanned by the next step or machine.... and they don't take UPS or Fedex... unless they say they do...