USPS Shipping Problems

[lorstowe]

Getting very upset with the USPS  they are in to much of a hurry and my items are getting broken.  I had recieved and sent items that were packed perfect and fragile handle with care all over the package and still broken.  I have put in claims only got one approved.  The postal service puts too much stress on their employees to Rush !!  I sent emails to them with no response.  I would rather have the item take a few more days to get instead of broken.  I sold a few figurines of my Moms who passed away last year thinkn they were going to a good home only to recieve broken & i asked the buyers was it cuz of my packaging they said no  it was the USPS throwing it around. After the buyer spent $19.20 to ship !!!!  The other services like UPS is way much more money to ship they wanted $38 !!!  Im so frustrated that im thinkn of pulln all of my Disney figurines off ebay & try selln them locally

[nobody*s_perfect]

Lack of approval of your claims shows that USPS thinks your packaging techniques are at fault. USPS is not going to accommodate you, so you must adjust your packing practices to accommodate their typical handling.  Nobody is going to take your package in their hands and carefully walk it from one point to another. 

Fragile items should be double-boxed with 2 inches of padding between the boxes all around.  Voids should be filled, and protrusions (such as figurines' arms) should be wrapped individually.  Your packages should be able to pass the "wince test": Can you throw them down a flight of stairs onto a concrete floor without wincing?

And possibly the employees are not to blame.  Some sorting equipment treats packages roughly; and some have conveyor belts from which your package can fall 10 feet or more onto the sorting center's concrete floor (hence the basis of the wince test). Also, of course the equipment cannot read your "Fragile" labeling.

[charity_scents]

Leave a bit of space too. If cushioning material is packed too tightly, then there is no room for movement. 

[orangehound]

---

@lorstowe wrote:

.....  and fragile handle with care all over the package and still broken.

---

This past week, I dropped a box on the ground that had a breakable item in it, and said "hope that is OK".  The Postal Clerk looked at it and told me that it was a good thing that I didn't write fragile on it.  She said that she has witnessed disgruntled employees that will purposefully try to break contents when they see that on the package.

Regardless, machines handle a lot of packages these days, and they can't read "fragile", so it is pointless to write that on a package ...

---

....  that were packed perfect

---

Apparently they were not, or they wouldn't have broken.  🙂

Breakage is part of shipping.  It happens even when we take great care.  But, if you are getting a lot of breakage then you might want to reconsider how you are packaging the items to withstand the G-forces our packages receive.

[lightlily_arts]

The breakage on collectibles has always been a problem.  I have received so many broken items that  those sellers taught me how to ship.  When I began shipping myself I was very careful and double boxed whenever I could.  With USPS DIMM weights it will make those larger parcels more expensive.

[muttlymob]

---

@lorstowe wrote:

Im so frustrated that im thinkn of pulln all of my Disney figurines off ebay & try selln them locally

---

If you think that employees rushing too fast is the cause of your breakage, then this is a good idea.  Sell locally.  No need to package for safe shipment.

If your packages can't survive being thrown, they aren't adequately packed.  The machinery at sorting facilities doesn't care how well you think you packed.  The 25 pound box of books that falls onto your package from a conveyor can't read your fragile labels.  The time/distance your packages are handled by actual humans is small compared to the machinery and cargo transport time.

If you do indeed continue selling on eBay, or any other venue that requires mailing your items, then check out if there is a postal sorting facility near you.  some of them offer guided tours.  It might give you a different perspective on how you are packaging your fragile items.