Use of Priority Mail Packing materials For Ground advantage is a Crime

[wolf_audio]

I am probably going to raise a few attacks for this thread. But it is a commonly increasing crime for sellers to use USPS provided "Free" PRIORITY SERVICE packaging for any other use than Priority mail, I received 4 items recently from sellers who used a Priority box and some even used padded priority mailers as bubble wrap and then concealed its identity as "PRIORITY Mail Only" with a Poly bag ! Do you know That is a crime that is costing ALL of us in a trickle down effect raising the postal rates higher and higher, I will Report any more illegal use of materials to my local postal manager. It is very easy to source free legal packing materials, I get mine from several contractors in the area and do my part to reuse and recycle ,

[stephenmorgan]

I have seen these boxes offered in various sizes by several different organizations over the years and currently Office Depo/Office Max offers them so I am not sure they are counterfeit from China. 

 

[wastingtime101]

Thanks for the info @stephenmorgan , that's really interesting. I wonder if they're officially licensed? According to Office Depot they're manufactured by PRATT RETAIL SPECIALTIES which is the 5th largest corrugated shipping box producer in the US.

Funny because I see that design sometimes from sellers located in China and I see the listings taken down frequently, too. I originally thought your pic was from one of those sellers in China. 🤷

[stephenmorgan]

I recall seeing them in Staples, Wal Mart and my local Military Base Exchange before.  Wal Mart still offers some on-line.  It seems like when Staples changed their shipping box supplier a few years ago they put them on clearance.  I thought they were the same as the USPS free Priority boxes so I did not get any.  Besides at the time anything over 1 pound went Priority anyways.  I wish I would have purchased a few of hundred of them.  They would be very useful with the Ground Advantage rates.

[itsjustasprain]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

Thanks for the info @stephenmorgan , that's really interesting. I wonder if they're officially licensed? According to Office Depot they're manufactured by PRATT RETAIL SPECIALTIES which is the 5th largest corrugated shipping box producer in the US.

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If they are being made and distributed by a US manufacturer then they probably are in fact licensed and all that good stuff.

The point is that the USPS gives away their Priority Mail shipping supplies for free because if you use them then you must pay the PM rate. They do not care exactly how you got a box with the Priority Mail logo on it but if you using it for shipping then you must pay the PM rate.

I have no idea if this is still offered but some years ago you could have your own custom-sized Priority boxes made for you through the USPS if the requested quantity was big enough (and I am sure you would have had to pay a fee for those). Somewhere in my basement I have an old custom-made PM box that arrived with some mail-order pet food in it and both the USPS logo and the pet food company name are printed on it.

I see no reason why the USPS would care if someone else printed up the PM box as long as the correct PM postage was paid when shipping. In fact they would probably like that as they would have no offsetting expenses needed to print up the box in the first place since someone else did it for them.

[fbusoni]

@wolf_audio 

I agree with you.

Not sure if this has been raised, but there is a bar code on every Priority Mail shipping box (flat rate and calculated boxes).

The clerks at my post office scan my label, then scan the bar code on the side of the box.

This is, I imagine, for inventory management.

I doubt that there are many people so petty / lazy / cheap that they would use a PM box and then wrap it in a poly mailer before shipping.

But if a critical mass is indeed reached, and the issue is flagged by USPS inventory control, I reckon shipping prices will just go up a little to offset the loss.

[stephenmorgan]

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@itsjustasprain wrote:

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

Thanks for the info @stephenmorgan , that's really interesting. I wonder if they're officially licensed? According to Office Depot they're manufactured by PRATT RETAIL SPECIALTIES which is the 5th largest corrugated shipping box producer in the US.

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They do not care exactly how you got a box with the Priority Mail logo on it but if you using it for shipping then you must pay the PM rate.

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Look at the boxes closely. They are not Priority Mail. They are just boxes with the USPS Logo and they are color coded different than the PRIORITY MAIL boxes. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@fbusoni wrote: ...

The clerks at my post office scan my label, then scan the bar code on the side of the box.

This is, I imagine, for inventory management.....

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Whose inventory would it manage?

I think that the box bar code scan would serve as a reference to double-check that postage was paid for the appropriate flat-rate box or the appropriate box dimensions (when Cubic postage is applied).

[wolf_audio]

Sad that Many people are wrapping PM padded envelopeswith grey poly bags and only paying for Ground service,

 In 6 purchases on eBay I had 5 sellers performing Illegal use of Priority mailers hiden with bags,boxes wasting Priority mailers,

[a_c_green]

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@fbusoni wrote:

Not sure if this has been raised, but there is a bar code on every Priority Mail shipping box (flat rate and calculated boxes).

The clerks at my post office scan my label, then scan the bar code on the side of the box.

This is, I imagine, for inventory management.

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No, that's to verify that the correct postage has been paid for the bar-coded box being used for the shipment (e.g. Flat Rate Medium label on a Flat Rate Medium box). Automated scanners further down the line do the same checks along the way in case the originating PO didn't verify it.

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@fbusoni wrote:

I doubt that there are many people so petty / lazy / cheap that they would use a PM box and then wrap it in a poly mailer before shipping.

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Wanna bet? 😁 I buy a lot of small items, and you might be surprised how many of those arrive in a Priority Flat Rate Small box inside a very well fitting gray poly mailer envelope. It's pretty obvious what the inner box is (you can easily feel the distinctive angled edges of its self-adhesive side flap), but these slide through the system regardless.

[a_c_green]

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@stephenmorgan wrote:

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@itsjustasprain wrote:

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

Thanks for the info @stephenmorgan , that's really interesting. I wonder if they're officially licensed? According to Office Depot they're manufactured by PRATT RETAIL SPECIALTIES which is the 5th largest corrugated shipping box producer in the US.

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They do not care exactly how you got a box with the Priority Mail logo on it but if you using it for shipping then you must pay the PM rate.

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Look at the boxes closely. They are not Priority Mail. They are just boxes with the USPS Logo and they are color coded different than the PRIORITY MAIL boxes.

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I saw the photos too, but I don't see why they are trying to look like Priority Mail boxes even though they aren't, because if the USPS recognizes them as PM boxes, then they will charge PM postage for them, right?

I don't see how that's an advantage to the shipper, who presumably had to buy those when he could have simply gotten the real ones for free. What am I missing here?

[a_c_green]

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@wolf_audio wrote:

Sad that many people are wrapping PM padded envelopes with grey poly bags and only paying for Ground service,

 In 6 purchases on eBay I had 5 sellers performing Illegal use of Priority mailers hidden with bags, boxes wasting Priority mailers,

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Hey, speak of the devil... I received the following myself today. When you see this distinctive shape of a Ground Advantage package:

...you know what you're going to find inside:

[stephenmorgan]

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@a_c_green wrote:

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I don't see how that's an advantage to the shipper, who presumably had to buy those when he could have simply gotten the real ones for free. What am I missing here?

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I think you are missing a few things.

The box pictured is not restricted to Priority Mail and can be used for Ground Advantage.

An occasional mailer may not know about the free boxes at USPS and they just want the package ready to mail.

Not everyone wants to use the free Priority Mail Boxes because they are very thin.

If a person has access to the boxes locally and just need a box or two to prepare one or two shipments it may be more convenient to purchase a couple of boxes than going to the USPS to get free ones.

The rationale for purchasing the boxes would be similar to the rationale for purchasing the Ready Post items for sale at your local USPS.  Why buy this stuff if the free Priority Boxes at the same Post Office will work.  If you don't want to use Priority you have to get a box from somewhere and the Ready Post items are in the Post Office.  Shipping supplies are cheaper elsewhere but not everyone is mailing enough items to justify their search for a cheaper product so they buy something conveniently located at their Post Office.

Same with the eBay Branded Shipping Materials, what is the advantage there?  If you have a lot of pride in you eBay activity and would like to advertise this then use their products.  If you want to save money, get non-branded supplies. 

I personally would not purchase any of the branded supplies because I purchase nonbranded in bulk for a much better price.

[uniqeantiques]

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@wolf_audio wrote:

I am probably going to raise a few attacks for this thread. But it is a commonly increasing crime for sellers to use USPS provided "Free" PRIORITY SERVICE packaging for any other use than Priority mail, I received 4 items recently from sellers who used a Priority box and some even used padded priority mailers as bubble wrap and then concealed its identity as "PRIORITY Mail Only" with a Poly bag ! Do you know That is a crime that is costing ALL of us in a trickle down effect raising the postal rates higher and higher, I will Report any more illegal use of materials to my local postal manager. It is very easy to source free legal packing materials, I get mine from several contractors in the area and do my part to reuse and recycle ,

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To be fair, I reuse old mailers or boxes that have already been used. I also reuse Amazon packages and their contents…. Seems like a waste not to reuse bubble envelopes when they work so well for packing. They’ve already been used and paid for their purpose. Why just toss them in the trash? 

[goodnu9]

Are you talking about Biden pardoning his son for committing criminal acts going back from 2014-2024?

[rey60347]

I once had a seller send me a 1st class package in a priority box that he painted black to conceal that it was a priority box.Talk about being cheap.