USPS Collectioin Box Blues

[wa.pl8s]

Hello.

Sorry I don't have a question, just an observation/rant that I would like to share with other eBay shippers.

My niche on eBay is selling license plates so when I go to ship them I simply drop them into my nearest post office's drive-up blue collection box.

Well, not anymore.

The big blue collection box with its 4-inch mouth is now ONLY to  be used for letters! <see photo>

So now they want me to walk inside,  juggling my prepaid flats, and to put them on the counter hoping they don't get stolen.  This little PO does not have an inside drop box so it's a pain maneuvering my way around the line as I get the stink-eye thinking I'm cutting in line.

No, I will drive the extra 10 minutes to another PO that does in fact have an inside drop box.  That PO even has a kiosk where you can scan in your own packages, get a receipt,  and then put them in the drop box.

I wouldn't be surprised if the letters only collection box eventually gets removed altogether when they find out how few people  will now utilize it.

[oldwestgold]

Do you realize that you possibly are jamming up this box? I couldn't begin to tell you how many times I had to go out or send a clerk out to unplug a collection box. Why? Because some bozo put something too large into the chute or some company just dropped 10,000 envelopes in at once. Just like any other business, the USPS doesn't have the personnel to send out every 15 minutes because of this problem. It also is inconsiderate of your fellow man(or woman) that now has to go into the USPS to tell a clerk and hand them their mail. Those are the facts. And I simply can't understand why sellers do not use the free pickup service. Such a no-brainer. I use it almost daily.

[oldwestgold]

So let's see, you expect a clerk to stand outside by the box for 30 minutes manually scanning items in the rain, heat, or snow. Not to mention if it is windy and mail goes flying all over the place. I don't think so.

[oldwestgold]

If we could only make sense of your post.

[natoman777]

Only reason they would do this is because they don't want to do the extra work.  I have used USPS pick-up and they aren't very happy when I have more than 5 packages.  When I had Covid I had to have them pick up for a week.  They did it, but were not too happy

[oldwestgold]

Not sure why you posted this. Are you handicapped, by the way you posted you would have difficulty managing walking in the PO? Seriously? I can't walk because of my knees and arthritis. You should think of how lucky you are to be able to walk normally.

[yuzuha]

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@a_c_green wrote:

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Mainly, though, I think it is indeed an overstuffing issue. Those boxes were designed back in the day, for a different load of mail. People did not print package postage at home. The most drop-off mail they could generate without setting foot in a post office would be stamped envelopes, for which these boxes would do just fine. They were never intended for pre-paid padded envelopes or small packages, as the average household would never generate any.

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Yeah, in my neighborhood we have the blue drop boxes on corners. They were meant so that you could just go drop letters in them without having to go to the post office. They're not very big; they were clearly not designed for packages.

[buyologist-3]

A-Yup!  It has to be a 'numbers' game: They win often enough to try again.  No one ever seems to catch them, like Porch Pirates.  Whatever...

[nanashouseandgarden]

The pickup service is free only if at least one of the parcels is Priority Mail.  Many sellers ship packages that are all under 1 lb.

[simba6]

I just hand the to the postal carrier.     On the other hand, it does NOT define how thick an envelope can be.....

Back in high school we tried mailing cucumbers with just an address label and stamps.  Most were delivered.

Guess they want to put a stop to that kind of thing?

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@nanashouseandgarden wrote:

The pickup service is free only if at least one of the parcels is Priority Mail.  ....

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That is no longer true.  Carrier Pickup can be requested if at least one package is going by any of 6 different services, including Priority Mail, Parcel Select Ground, or First Class package. Here's an image from the Carrier Pickup scheduling form:

[kh-ornesh]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.