All companies make choices and trade offs at every step of the way from design of product to shipping options for order fulfillment. In addition, by choosing a primary carrier they are able to sign a contract with deep discounts that are partially passed on to consumers due to competition.
If enough people wanted usps, and if usps got their act together and made it as easy to deal with as ups and fedex, then you would see more companies using that option.
But thinking that a company is a net drain on society because they dont offer usps is both naive and bizarre thinking.
And to make matters worse, when they do that, or any time they make an address correction, they charge the shipper $11. More and more stores are adding a policy that if you enter your shipping address incorrectly and they get dinged $11 by UPS, they’ll charge your credit card $11.
I wasn’t aware that USPS was accepting packages from UPS if they were addressed to the post office’s street address, but it sounds like they have to be addressed properly. I know they won’t deliver to a PO Box. I learned that the first time one of my employees shipped something to one and I found out she shipped something to one when I saw an $11 address correction fee on one of our bills. I mean, I had always just assumed it was the case, seemed like common sense to me, but the $11 fee made me sure.
So, if you want something sent to your PO Box either make sure you use a company that ships via USPS or address it properly if they ship with UPS/FedEx. I know I’m going to sound like a jerk, but as a shipper, I’m not responsible for knowing how to use your PO Box. Also, we don’t ship via USPS, because UPS picks up from us everyday. To ship via USPS would mean us having to drive the packages over to them and we just don’t have the volume to make that worthwhile.
As other people have said, they don’t want to drive to the UPS depot and we don’t want to send someone to post office on the clock, raising our costs and driving up prices. The product that we ship out the most of has a very competitive price with a very slim margin and to send out an employee out for 30-45 minutes would make it pointless to even have made the sale to begin with.
But, as I always say, vote with your money. Don’t like it, shop somewhere else. Eventually all these retailers that refuse to ship to your PO Box will eventually be forced to change their ways, right?
USPS also will pick up from you everyday. And they are cheaper. Thus, you’d have a addl advantage.
But what do you mean by “So, if you want something sent to your PO Box either make sure you use a company that ships via USPS or address it properly if they ship with UPS/FedEx. I know I’m going to sound like a jerk, but as a shipper,* I’m not responsible for knowing how to use your PO Box. *” How would one address it properly besides “PO Box 1234, Anytown CA, 90000”, and how would you use our PO box at all, since the shipping co uses it?
The problem you have is that you are using the service that is most convient to you, not to *your customers. *
I think we all understand why companies make decisions they feel are cost-effective for them. We understand some companies don’t want to deal with the USPS. What chaps my buttocks are companies that won’t tell you they won’t ship USPS EVEN when you ask them if they do or not, or who say they will and then they don’t.
If I need to purchase something from a company that doesn’t ship USPS and they tell me that I can make an informed decision, arrange for someone to be home, ask a friend to receive it, etc. In other words I can make provisions ahead of time to secure the package on my end. Or try to find an alternative. If they say sure, they’ll ship USPS and then they don’t THAT’s when all hell breaks loose.
They do, but my mailman is here very early in the morning and I’d have to deal with the USPS website and I’m not sure if it’ll work with the scales I have here that only weigh in pounds. Also it would mean having to print out and tape the labels to the boxes or buy labels from Office Max. With UPS they pick up around 4pm in the afternoon (thus being able to get your delivery to you one day sooner), they give me the labels and label printer for free and I have an account and stand alone software from them. All in all, UPS is very easy to work with.
I’m not sure if you read it, but earlier in the thread it was mentioned that the post office would accept packages directed to you if you had a PO Box and you addressed the shipment to the post office’s street address.
When I said it’s not my job to know how your PO Box works what I meant is that if you can have me UPS something to your PO Box that way, that’s great, just put that in as your street address and move on, don’t get mad at me as a shipper for not shipping to your PO Box and rearranging my shipping methods to suit your needs.
You are correct, but in the business world, more often then not ‘convenient’ tends to translate to real savings in cash. We looked at our options for shipping and found that UPS was the best route for us to use. The software works well, the customer service is great, they refund us for broken parcels, the tracking works, they pick up from us every day at a predictable time, the labels and label printer are free. We have an account with them and they bill us weekly and I have 30 days to pay them after I receive the bill.
Now (and I don’t know the answers to these questions)…
Can I get USPS to pick up later in the day? If they only pick up when they drop off almost all shipments will be delayed by at least a day.
Will they take liquids and perishables? (UPS does)
Will they bill me or do I have to pay COD?
How fast to they deliver? Is the time comparable to UPS?
How good are they at reimbursing for destroyed parcels?
How good is the tracking? I get customers calling asking where they’re package is. It’s good to be able to tell them that it’s on time. IME, the tracking for USPS is useless.
How much are labels? Are they just standard ones I can buy at Office Depot? I’ll have to add that into my shipping cost.
I can keep going but these are the types of questions that I need to know before I would consider switching to USPS.
One last thing:
Can I get a cite on that?
Let’s try something. Let’s try a shipment, it’s too big for a flat rate box as almost all of my shipments are. Let’s call it 20# and the box is 15X15X15. Shipping from 53235 to 90210
USPS - Large Package 15x15x15, 20#, Priority Mail $44.52
UPS - 20# Ground $30.92
Of course, these are just the online rates. I know my rate with an account via UPS would be cheaper. Closer to $22. I’m not sure if you can get an account with USPS and if so if it would be cheaper as well.
ETA, one last thing, during the heavy shipping season I know some shippers will just have UPS leave a trailer at their building so they can fill it up throughout the day and come back later and pick it up. I can’t imagine USPS doing something like that, even on days when a shippers has hundreds or thousands of packages going out.
If USPS was a competitive advantage, everyone would use them and they wouldn’t be on the brink of death and UPS and FedEx would not continue to gain market share.
There are multiple reasons shippers don’t use them - these are the primary ones:
More expensive for most of categories (not all)
Unreliable (lost packages, delivery times unpredictable, poor tracking)
Poor service/difficult to deal with (people don’t answer phones, can’t get straight answer, etc.)
That’s funny, because as the ultimate receiver of packages, I’ve had far more customer service problems with Fedex and UPS than I have with the Postal Service. In fact, I refuse to use UPS at all.
You need to pre-fund your account, or attach a credit card. The entire planet works off invoices - except for USPS. Great fucking competitive advantage - now I need to have meetings with finance to explain this retarded setup and why USPS is such a great company that it should be our honor to have some of our cash sitting in their account for 30 days.
I don’t doubt that you had experiences that you say you had, but overall, when you look at everyone’s experiences - they are stacked so far in UPS and FedEx favor that, as a company, we are nervous about expanding usage of USPS in the areas they are competitive.
There are times I want it shipped to the PO box, it’s safe there and will stay so till I pick it up. Leaving a package outside my door subjects it to weather, usually props open my storm door, so can allow wind to catch it and rain to get in - and I may be traveling a bit. A PO box seems like such a great option. It does appear that things are getting better with the PO willing to take other packages.
Also even for regular home deliveries, sure others have a great tracking system, but fails when you get to what time of day to expect it, PO delivery is fairly consistant and that is more convenient.
Isn’t there a ‘general delivery’ option you can use for a post office. Where you can send something to any post office and pick it up at the desk, no PO box required? I know that thru hikers of the AT used something like this to get food and supplies drops from friends. I’m not sure how it works, but perhaps that can be used in place of a PO box.
The post office gives you a street address to use. So it would be something like
Dr. Deth
150 Main Street
PO Box 1234
Anytown CA 90000
Which is why it’s so damn annoying that companies refuse to ship to that location. They have been given a street address. So use it.
According to a little bit of research that I did, it would actually be addressed
Dr Deth
150 Main St #1234
Anytown, CA 9000
Again, I can tell you for a fact if you put “PO BOX” on the shipping label, UPS will kick it out of it’s system. But this is exactly what I’m talking about. As a shipper it’s not my job to know how your PO Box works. If you swear up and down that I can ship it via UPS to you like that and they’ll deliver it and I finally agree to ship it, it’s not my fault when there’s a delay, the box shows up at your house and you find an $11 charge on your credit card for an address correction.
Also, it appears, based on what I read on the USPS site, that in order to use Street Adressing, you need to first [&varset%28source%29=sourceType:embedded"]sign up](http://faq.usps.com/eCustomer/iq/usps/request.do?create=kb:USPSFAQ&view()=c[c_uspsjch02132012) for it. I wouldn’t just start sending stuff to your ‘address’ without filling out that card and making sure your box is at a PO with enhanced services first.
USPS is only doing poorly as the Republican congress torpedoed it, so that the Postal Carrier Union will have less $$ to donate to the Dems, and so that their cronies who run UPS and FedEX will benefit. It’s purely political.
Not true.
I have found UPS & FedEX to be far more unreliable. True, UPS has more detailed tracking but who gives a fuck where the package is? I only need to know when it was shipped, and if it is out for delivery or has been delivered. I could care less where it goes in between. As far as lost packages go, UPS with it’s penchant for dropping goods off at a door when they are not supposed to, lead to more thefts.
UPS has flat out lied to me over the phone more times that I can count.
Look, UPS is very good at sucking the ass out of the clients who pay for the shipping. They are the worst as far as Cust Service for the actual end retail customer. They dont; give a fuck about the end customer as the end customer doesn’t directly pay the shipping charge.
How’s parcel post with speed? You’ll note in my questions from above I specifically asked about perishable items. UPS will get from my location to almost every single location in the US in 4 days. Is that the case with Parcel post as well? Also, UPS guarantees their time in transit.
Kind of a silly ‘comparo’ wouldn’t you say. If you put a pair of shoes in a suit case they take up a lot more space, therefore it’s pointless to use suitcases because they take up more space.
What it comes down to is that for my particular business, it makes more sense to ship UPS, it works for me. If it doesn’t work for you, feel free to shop elsewhere. But if you’re going to shop at a place that only ships UPS, I strongly suggest you learn how to use street addressing. I’m glad I did all the legwork for you so I can understand it better if one of my customers wants to use it and doesn’t quite understand it, (it is a very new service), but it’s still not my responsibility if it get’s screwed up. It’s your address, not mine. At least now if someone puts a street address and a PO BOX and claims to be using that service I can give them a call* and tell them that they might want to make sure they’re using it correctly.
*actually, I prefer email in this situation. If I have to ding them $11, it’s easier if I have a paper trail.
??? This hasn’t been my experience. Instead, UPS looked up my home address and brought the package to me there.
I want UPS to refuse to accept a package that is addressed to a P.O. Box, but, in my experience, they don’t. They accept it and make a stab at delivering it.