Why In The World Do Sellers Ship With USPS?

[bensley7]

This is the absolute worst way to ship. There is no decent tracking, and estimated delivery times are rarely accurate. As a buyer more than a seller, I would always pay more to have my item delivered reliably, and efficiently. If it is mney, why cant sellers give an option of shipping? 
Nothing ruins my day like seeing that USPS tracking number show up in an email....

[terrycanarsky]

Perhaps your local office is sub-par.

We ship almost exclusively USPS - and our packages get to where they're going ahead of schedule the majority of the time.  The tracking updates at midnight though lately several hubs have been extremely lax or over-burdened or something.  The costs are exponentially less than UPS or FedEx (which we have to drive ~50 miles round trip for or pay for a pick-up) except for heavy stuff.

As a buyer, like others have said, I know within a half hour or so when my mail is delivered, so it's easy to make sure someone is home (for a big box) or to anticipate seeing a small parcel in the mailbox.  UPS delivers either around noon -or- around suppertime, M-F only, most weeks.  FedEx rarely shows up, and their hours are all over the clock; generally speaking, they drop off packages at the post office for delivery!

So again, maybe your own USPS doesn't work so well for you.  But I am very happy with their service.

~M

[lja440]

---

@flyerfandan999 wrote:

---

@lja440wrote:

I know my smaller than a Priority Large Flat Rate box will be safe inside my mailbox (yes I have a jumbo box). All others will be on top of the mini fridge inside my garage. Lately FedEx has been leaving packages in the parking space in the garage so instead of pulling right in I have to get out, move the package then park the Jeep. Admittedly a step up from tossing it out at the end of the driveway, or into the bed of the pickup, or letting it blow away (found a FedEx Express envelope in the blackberry patch about 500 feet from the house). MOST of the time though this is only AFTER they have stopped on the road and slapped a "door tag" on the front of my mailbox without every coming up the driveway and I have had to call for redelivery which will happen in 1 to 3 days. (UPS is somewhat better than FedEx on delivery in my area)

---

As a letter carrier, you DO realize, right, that it is a violation of Federal law for any delivery service or person besides the USPS to put something in your mailbox, right?

See: https://about.usps.com/news/state-releases/tx/2010/tx_2010_0909.htm

(How this is not a violation of individual personal property rights, I don't know, but that's a whole other ball of wax.)

So I find it hypocritical hat you supplied a jumbo mailbox for the USPS, but did not supply any sort of receptacle for the "other guys" and complain about where they put their deliveries.  What would happen if you moved your USPS mailbox from the end of the driveway to right next to the main entry door to your home, do you think you would still get mail?

---

Hypocritical? How? I provide the same receptacle for oversized USPS packages as I do for UPS and FedEx. It is called a 2 stall garage. Door is never down unless a storm is brewing from that direction. Even then there is a side door propped open for the farm dog and a sign stating to leave packages inside the garage. I even have a mini fridge stocked with water available for anyone that could use one. (also has a sign indicating what is inside and that it is OK to take one). The only deference I make on my carriers is only the USPS carriers know that my back door is unlocked and guest bath is available for them to use as well as my land line as I am in a dead zone. As a fellow female rural carrier with only one place to take a bathroom break on my 6.5 hour long route (if you don't count woods or corn fields), this is appreciated. 

[vintagecraze50]

We use Priority Mail and it is extremely fast reliable and never had a buyer complain of any delays in getting their item. First class may have a lower priority and sometimes these might slip in later.  I was told by our postmaster that these at times get hidden under larger boxes and sometimes get lost more than Priority.

[aproudparent2010]

55,353 transactions shipped through USPS and only one has ever been lost

All packages delivered a day or 2 ahead of estimated delivery times

Tracking uploaded within minutes and trackable the whole way



That is why I use USPS

[robot-hands]

I am currently awaiting from you, the large shipment of boxes that I will need to dis-continue shipping USPS.

When do you think they will arrive?

[lja440]

---

@bensley7 wrote:

All valid points, yet here I sit stil waiting an extra day beyond the estimated time, and no tracking information entered for two days. It's just the greatest service ever...

If it were UPS I would now exctly what zip code my package was in, at least. More than likely it would be mine. Here at my house. Delivered on time as promised. 

Yes I know what estimated means.

---

I picked up two kittens on the mail route, Friday, dumped in the time it took me to deliver were they were and continue to 3 more stops (2 with 2 mailboxes each and one with 6). The smaller kitten doesn't to 9 ounces the other barely a pound. 

Saturday I took them to the vet and got some samples of Iams Kitten, dewormer, flea meds (they had fleas). 

I went on Chewy.com and ordered some more Iams Kitten and some Kitten wet food too, and a couple toys. I have delivered Chewy so I really wasn't thinking about delivery. It said 1-2 days, it's only coming from Pa to Ohio, Well that was Sunday, Tuesday since it hadn't arrived I checked tracking, THEY SHIPPED IT FEDEX. Tracking states 'on the truck for delivery' It is now 6pm THURSDAY and still no package.  I have enough left for tonight and in the morning. If it isn't here tomorrow I'll have to run to the store. Maybe the FedEx guy has a thing for catnip mice.

[laben.2015]

what a winer, whiner, not winner

[mycarolinavintage]

---

@bensley7 wrote:

This is the absolute worst way to ship. There is no decent tracking, and estimated delivery times are rarely accurate. As a buyer more than a seller, I would always pay more to have my item delivered reliably, and efficiently. If it is mney, why cant sellers give an option of shipping? 
Nothing ruins my day like seeing that USPS tracking number show up in an email....

---

As yet another who uses USPS for all pkgs. I "ship" , the USPS has worked well for me at least 99% of the time. The tracking works great for us and have never "lost" a package.

[zanadoo_56]

---

@bensley7 wrote:

This is the absolute worst way to ship. There is no decent tracking, and estimated delivery times are rarely accurate. As a buyer more than a seller, I would always pay more to have my item delivered reliably, and efficiently. If it is mney, why cant sellers give an option of shipping? 
Nothing ruins my day like seeing that USPS tracking number show up in an email....

---

As a buyer in Australia, you can't do better than USPS 1st Class International with E-DELCON - it's efficient, timely, and tracking is provided (I can track my purchases on eBay, USPS and Aust Post).  Also, in ever rising postal (shipping) costs it's still relatively reasonable.

Other carriers in my experience can be very S L O W and to add insult to injury, more expensive and not all their tracking works. 

Why wouldn't you use USPS is my question.

BTW, the Oz govt has now imposed a 10% GST on all overseas purchases under $1,000.  You probably all know that, but what I only recent read is that if sellers use the Global Shipping Program buyers in Oz are also stung for some kind of extra fee that PB imposes to administer it.  So....with a slow expensive service and an extra fee on top of the GST, the Global Shipping Program is worse than ever for buyers in Oz.  Thank God for USPS 1st Class International!

[heyyoufoundit]

I've had a couple of bad experiences with USPS, out of thousands of transactions.

I've had a couple of bad experiences with UPS, FEDEX, out of only a few transactions. And I used to work for UPS....

[lja440]

Finally got my Chewy order Friday. Contacted Chewy and had them note my account to ship USPS ONLY!

I also let them know that toys were missing and the box was completely open when I arrived home from work. No feather toy no little catnip balls or mice.

[dazzlecity]

ok - seems po wins hands down - works for me too - fyi ebay posts the estimated delivery time - not sure how they can guarantee it since they don't own the post office or control the weather but for my shipments it generally has worked out fine for months now

[titanicbot]

I work at UPS. I would not ship via UPS as an individual or small business. Or Fedex, but at least UPS is a union gig. Fedex is hell, from every single person I've worked alongside who switched jobs from Fedex to UPS. If republican morons in the government stopped making things so difficult for the USPS system it'd work a lot better, I'm sure.

Sure, UPS provides insurance, but it's also often much more expensive.  And boy howdy thanks to constant corner cutting ever since the company went public, the equipment is ancient and stuff often gets damaged simply going over it(I literally just had a 40-year-old chute roller finally replaced last week that has been broken since I started working there a decade and a half ago). Had some people come through earlier in the year to "find ways to increase efficiency" and one thing they did was up the speed of the conveyor belts slightly, so things move quite a bit faster, and are forced against things quite a bit harder when stuff gets backed up, leading to boxes literally exploding on the belt from the force of other boxes against them. It gets bad, and I have little doubt Fedex is any better, and this is largely due to Amazon and the like flooding all the carriers on a daily basis.

But yeah, suffice to say, USPS is not the worst goat in this rodeo.

[lunalapin1912]

USPS can find my address, and I have no problems with them. their tracking is quite accurate. I won't buy from anyone who uses any other service.

[lja440]

Absolutely. The machinery needs to be kept in good order. Also people need to UNDERSTAND the things a package normally goes through. Packages with empty space inside that are getting bumped and squished WILL pop open. The items will slid and bash themselves on the inside of the box when the conveyor swings them around a corner and drops them down a shoot into a bin. 

My uncle worked for UPS (retired now). His main job was to fix packages if possible after they came through sorting in Cleveland. He recounts a day when in his area near loading and semi open to weather. He got this package with glass rattling. It was a large mercury thermometer. Of course he got some on him before he realized what it was. (packed in newspaper and a half dozen air pillows). He had to be stripped of his outer clothes and shoes. He sat in the area for several hours while hazmat was called in and cleaned up. Temps were in the 40s, he was left in long underwear bottoms, a T shirt and socks, wrapped in a Mylar blanket.