eBay

alotofjewelry · ‎08-07-2023

As I suspected, giving parcel post a fancy news name of “ground advantage” does not change the fact that to Alaska and Hawaii could take up to 6 weeks as it travels by boat. I purchased an item that is now at 4 weeks and no sign of it beyond San Francisco (I am in Hawaii). As a seller I am not offering any ground advantage and now will be sending out only flat rate priority boxes, which irks me because the smallest still costs $ 10.20. I am tacking on an additional $5 to the item and charging customer $5 shipping so I am not out any money on a sale. Just something to be aware of for your Hawaii and Alaska customers.

stephenmorgan · ‎09-17-2023

On the 8th from New Mexico I sent a package to Puerto Rico. Item arrived very quickly on the 11th.

I sent another item on the 11th and it also arrived very quickly on the 14th.

I was wondering how these would be delivered by Ground Advantage. What I learned is that mail goes to a processing center in Miami. If it is priority mail then it continues to Puerto Rico by air. If it is Ground Advantage then the mail is tied to a dolphin and the dolphin delivers it in Puerto Rico. They are very fast swimmers and I was surprised that they make the trip in a few hours.

robbie31415 · ‎09-17-2023

So I'm quite curious about this as I do ship to these locations.

I've actually never had an order to them though.

What I'm confused about when I checked my listings and put in zip codes to alaska and Hawaii (I'm in california).

The estimated time for generic standard shipping is still 5 day window.

I feel like this is unfair? What you think, pirateship even says can take upto 26 days.

deserdog · ‎09-17-2023

Here is what happens sometimes. Say the post office has has a shipping container for priority items going to HI from the mainland. But it is only half full. Since the airlines charge a dimensional weight for shipping, the container will be filled up since half full or full, USPS is going to be charged the same. This is the only explanation that explains why I have had many GA and media mail items delivered to the east coast from CA in just 2 days. Can't deliver items that far that fast if shipped by truck. Same would apply for items going to HI and AK.

valkurm_emperor · ‎10-18-2023

Depends on your item you sent. According to the USPS website, if your item weighs 15.99 ounces (basically less than 1 lb) then it will ship by air when using USPS Ground Advantage. If it weighs 1 lb or more, then it goes by boat.

grewa23 · ‎11-16-2023

I live oh the Big Island; I've had two Parcel Select packages from Amazon's suppliers, not directly from an Amazon warehouse. One took 25 days the other took 28 days once it arrived to California. What erks me is that USPS says it will be delivered on a particular date, 8 to 10 days and constantly shows that original date until it finally arrives about a month later.

Btw, USPS used to have a footnote on their Parcel Select site that Hawaii and Alaska ship by boat. Now it just says it will take longer to Hawaii and Alaska. My local postmaster said plan on 4 - 6 weeks to and from Hawaii.

richard1rst · ‎11-17-2023

@alotofjewelry wrote:
As I suspected, giving parcel post a fancy news name of “ground advantage” does not change the fact that to Alaska and Hawaii could take up to 6 weeks as it travels by boat. I purchased an item that is now at 4 weeks and no sign of it beyond San Francisco (I am in Hawaii). As a seller I am not offering any ground advantage and now will be sending out only flat rate priority boxes, which irks me because the smallest still costs $ 10.20. I am tacking on an additional $5 to the item and charging customer $5 shipping so I am not out any money on a sale. Just something to be aware of for your Hawaii and Alaska customers.

This is where preemptive self defense comes into play. All of my listings include free standard shipping, without specifying the method. Generally I have been using Ground Advantage.

BUT on those few packages that go off shore (Alaska, Hawaii, the territories) and without any additional charge I automatically upgrade to Priority Mail for no other reason than avoiding a PO’d buyer due to length of the delivery time.

Yes, it does mean that on that particular order I am going to lose a little on the shipping. Not the whole order, just the shipping. BUT in a month’s time those very few orders will have an infinitesimally small effect on your total profits. AND it avoids having to deal with being pestered with “where’s my package”, INR cases, “I want a refund” etc. In fact I would suggest that compared to other slow sellers they will think highly enough of me to buy from me again, not the slow sellers.

While I accept that our intent is to sell product I suggest that our job title is actually Customer Service

themoonstonepeony · ‎11-27-2023

I live in Alaska. As a new Ebay seller the shipping has been so confusing. Most of what I ship goes ground advantage and it arrives down there (lower 48) within 5 days. I do not understand why the cost up here is so

$$$$$$$. On Nov 11 I mailed a small pkg to Calif and it has not arrived.....today is the 27th. Just left my local

post office and had them check the tracking. The clerk said unfortunately it is going by boat and could take 6 weeks. WTH I said....I think he was wrong as Calif is not Hawaii......idk...waiting a few more days before I file a claim. Hang in there down there.........lol

nobody*s_perfect · ‎11-27-2023

@themoonstonepeony wrote:
I live in Alaska. .... The clerk said unfortunately it is going by boat and could take 6 weeks. WTH I said....I think he was wrong as Calif is not Hawaii.......

No, California is not Hawaii. But for USPS surface shipping purposes Alaska is equivalent to Hawaii. Your shipping from Alaska to California is comparable to shipping from California to Hawaii -- both packages will take forever if they are shipped via surface mail.

soh.maryl · ‎11-27-2023

Don't know about Hawaii, but shouldn't parcels bound for Alaska travel by air?

nobody*s_perfect · ‎11-27-2023

@soh.maryl wrote:
Don't know about Hawaii, but shouldn't parcels bound for Alaska travel by air?

Priority does. Ground Advantage is surface mail. The USPS announcement that introduced Ground Advantage specifically stated, "Items weighing over 15.99 oz travel by ship to Alaska, Hawaii, and offshore destinations."

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/USPS-Ground-Advantage

buyselljack2016 · ‎11-27-2023

But still, eBay persists in showing Ground Advantage estimate from the East coast to Alaska (99950) in about a week.

hernh-27 · ‎12-29-2023

Thank you, I wish I read this before I placed my order! I am still waiting for an item shipped on 12/6 as a Christmas gift. Youʻre right, no tracking info after it reaches SF. This is confusing because when I went on the USPS site, I entered the address from WI that the retailer shipped from and the estimate delivery for Ground Advantage was 2-8 days. But when I checked with the local post office here, they said it was in transit on a boat. Itʻs not hazardous material so I donʻt know why itʻs going by boat but Iʻve used this method to ship to the mainland and inter-island had no problem at all. It may depend on the state but it took 1 day for inter-island, 3 days to the west coast and 5 to NY and AR. I think itʻs great that as a seller, you are aware and using Priority Mail instead. Perhaps itʻs because youʻre in Hawaii too. The retailer I purchased from did not give me an option for any other method. FYI, if itʻs not heavy, USPS also offers just Priority Mail which can be a cheaper than flat rate (esp. inter-island shipments) if you use your own packaging or order it from them which is actually free online but not available at the post office.

deserdog · ‎12-29-2023

Here is my experience shipping to HI, ground advantage and media mail. Sometimes they arrive in 3 to 5 business days. And other time a lot longer. So I looked into it and was told that many times a parcel going to HI will arrive in San Francisco and be place in a been that will be loaded onto a ship when it is full. That explains the long delivery times. Other times, a bin of priority mail has to be delivered within a certain time frame. USPS is charged dimensional weight for these bins, so if a bin is only half full, they will fill it up with GA and media mail. this explains the fast shipping time.

monster-deals · ‎12-29-2023

@alotofjewelry wrote:
Just something to be aware of for your Hawaii and Alaska customers.

I have not had one single package arrive in AK or HI on time with any shipping method since I started doing this in 1997

hernh-27 · ‎12-30-2023

Now I see why my little package has been traveling all over the place. Itʻs a small item but they probably packaged it in a bigger box and used 2lbs as the pkg weight which means it went by ship.

But a little contradictory because hereʻs what I got when I used the USPS Retail Postage Price Calculator based on the senderʻs location, destination, weight and date of shipment:

USPS Ground Advantage™

Select a Delivery Option Expected Delivery Day Retail Click-N-Ship®

Normal Delivery Time

2 to 8 Days

$14.90

Select a Delivery Option Expected Delivery Day Retail Click-N-Ship®

USPS Ground Advantage™, Package, weight 2 lb 0 oz (0.907 kg), mailed on December 6

from MILWAUKEE WI 53212 to KAHULUI HI 96732

Over 15.99 oz and their calculator still estimates delivery date as "2-8 days". They need to update this.

Thanks for the info and the USPS link. I will forward it to the retailer to inform them and hopefully, they can disclose this info on their checkout page.