Upset customer, grrrr.

[justafrog]

I sell a huge array of toys, that's why I selected Amazon. I am under the impression that everyday toys like Beach Barbies that are $4 in the store aren't being purchased on eBay. Am I wrong? Can I actually get $10 to $12 on eBay for Beach Barbies that are $6 in store and $3 door busters? I sold a lot of the Titan Action Figures this year for a whopping price of about $18 to $20 with shipping after Amazon sold out. Toys R Us still had them in stock for $7, even online. So there are lots of benefits to selling on Amazon, to go along with the negatives. In general, I've had a great experience on Amazon and I made a lot of money, so I'm happy. Just when someone screws you, you get a little upset, but when looking at the bigger picture, the traffic volume and hands off approach Amazon makes possible makes it worth while.

 

For what you're selling and how you sell it versus what I'm selling and how I sell it, my best guess is Amazon is and will be better for you than eBay. I sell parts, minifigs, lots and groups of books, custom Lego, etc. - for the most part, eBay's "looser" listing structure fits much better with what I'm doing.

 

If I were buying toys and reselling them without altering them in any way, Amazon would be the smart money for me, too (though I'd still go ahead and do some eBay listing, never hurts to have the eggs in more than one basket and you can have 50 listings per month for free, so no harm no foul if you don't sell a thing.)

[jaredseiders]

You say 50 listings. If they are BIN listings with multiple items (like I have 10 of something) does that count as one listing or 10?

[hoverta]

USPS stinks. Our PO refuses to scan items even if you stand in line. If they do scan the item after you drop it off in the drop box they do so a day or two after you have dropped it off.

 

Don't get me started on priority shipping (2-3 days? ya right try 6-9 days).

[justafrog]

You say 50 listings. If they are BIN listings with multiple items (like I have 10 of something) does that count as one listing or 10?

 

It counts as one - so perfect for guys like you who are selling repeatables.

 

You will run up against selling limits at first if you don't have an active account that's been around awhile, but you can request increases each month.

 

Edit to add: the quantity you list, however, WILL count against any selling limit you have. If your limit is $5000/month and you have one listing with 5 available items priced at $1000/each, that will count as $5000 on your selling limit.

 

So, dealing with the selling limits at first, have just a few of each of your 50 items to maximize how many you can list, until you get a better feel for what sells and/or you get your limits raised.

[jaredseiders]

USPS stinks. Our PO refuses to scan items even if you stand in line. If they do scan the item after you drop it off in the drop box they do so a day or two after you have dropped it off.

 

Don't get me started on priority shipping (2-3 days? ya right try 6-9 days).

 

Sounds like you have some lazy postal workers in your post office. I have had that problem at my nearest post office (I live in a small town). I now drop off at the bigger post office, it's not really a city, but it's not a small village either. They have much better service. My stuff is moving towards the airport the same evening I dropped it off. I drop off packages after work normally, but recently I've been doing so at lunch time to give them more time to sort it and move it. Even when I drop off at 4:30 PM, by 7 to 8 PM same day they are in transit and scanned in at the city where they will be flown out from.

 

I get great service out of most of the post offices my packages enter into. Every now and then I find a package that seemed to be stuck in a town for a day or two. I think, like everywhere, there are just lazy employees at some offices. It's not the whole service though. I ship only USPS and never had a late package. (I ship into Amazon using UPS though, since there's a big discount for using them to ship to Amazon).

 

If I was in your shoes, I'd try using the post office at a neighboring town and see if you get different results. Preferably a town that had more mail flow.

[hoverta]

Sounds like you have some lazy postal workers in your post office. I have had that problem at my nearest post office (I live in a small town). I now drop off at the bigger post office, it's not really a city, but it's not a small village either. They have much better service. My stuff is moving towards the airport the same evening I dropped it off. I drop off packages after work normally, but recently I've been doing so at lunch time to give them more time to sort it and move it. Even when I drop off at 4:30 PM, by 7 to 8 PM same day they are in transit and scanned in at the city where they will be flown out from.

 

I get great service out of most of the post offices my packages enter into. Every now and then I find a package that seemed to be stuck in a town for a day or two. I think, like everywhere, there are just lazy employees at some offices. It's not the whole service though. I ship only USPS and never had a late package. (I ship into Amazon using UPS though, since there's a big discount for using them to ship to Amazon).

 

If I was in your shoes, I'd try using the post office at a neighboring town and see if you get different results. Preferably a town that had more mail flow.

Unfortunately it is the policy of this particular post office. It is really close and the others are kind of far so for me to drive 30 miles to get to the next one every day is not easy. The manager has apparently set some policy where they will not scan any items unless you buy something. And the employees are all scared to cross him/her. Last time I asked the one woman was looking around really nervously to see if anyone heard me ask her.

 

As for not scanning things dropped in the drop box I don't know what to make of that either. I think that somehow the management there is trying to protect themselves from the slow rate at which they operate. This way if you don't scan it then you don't see that the package has been sitting there for 2 days. Of course this isn't a big nor a small PO. So why this occurs here in particular I have no idea.

[lowillsw]

I noticed all my packages going to Illinois takes 10 days vs 2-4 days everywhere else going first class from the east coast. Not sure what's going on over there. I'm a little weary when they refused to scan your packages. No acceptances mean they can just say you never dropped it off. I'm never met anyone that would leave their wad of cash at the bank without their receipt making a deposit. It's absolutely unacceptable they won't scan in your package.

[Quacs]

I noticed all my packages going to Illinois takes 10 days vs 2-4 days everywhere else going first class from the east coast. Not sure what's going on over there.

I'm a little weary when they refused to scan your packages. No acceptances mean they can just say you never dropped it off. I'm never met anyone that would leave their wad of cash at the bank without their receipt making a deposit. It's absolutely unacceptable they won't scan in your package.

I don't want to alarm anyone, but a few years ago there was a postal scandal where someone found a warehouse near Chicago that had hundreds of thousands of undelivered letters sitting in piles where USPS had dumped them. It's happened to me more than once that a letter sent (twice by my parents) just never arrived. Chicago USPS is flat out terrible.

BTW, I still don't have any tracking of confirmation on the shipments I made 12/15 - I'm going on 8 days without one word about these two boxes. These were 2-:3 day Priority Mail.

[StarCityBrickCompany]

Unfortunately it is the policy of this particular post office. It is really close and the others are kind of far so for me to drive 30 miles to get to the next one every day is not easy. The manager has apparently set some policy where they will not scan any items unless you buy something. And the employees are all scared to cross him/her. Last time I asked the one woman was looking around really nervously to see if anyone heard me ask her.

 

As for not scanning things dropped in the drop box I don't know what to make of that either. I think that somehow the management there is trying to protect themselves from the slow rate at which they operate. This way if you don't scan it then you don't see that the package has been sitting there for 2 days. Of course this isn't a big nor a small PO. So why this occurs here in particular I have no idea.

I have had great experiences with the USPS (enough so that some Brickpickers have even accused me of being an employee). I have had a postal worker at a branch who used to try to not scan, and would get ugly when I would ask. I understand that scanning is now required (as per USPS). I am certain that some local braches can try to avoid doing it - but if you call someone else up the chain at the USPS, they may be able to make them start doing it, and stop giving you a hard time about it.

 

Have you considered letting your local carrier pick them up from your home? They will scan on pickup - they are also credited with additional work time per scanned package (which is a good incentive). 

[akohns]

Man, I'm so glad I have a decent PO in my area. I haven't had many issues as far as scanning and sending things out in a timely manor. But I have had issues with things on the other end with POs destroying boxes, or not delivering things once it hits the PO in the buyers city.

[hoverta]

Ya, the other post offices around here are better and quite friendly. They'll scan with no issues. I'm not sure why this one in particular is so bad about it. Then again I once stumbled upon the local postman taking a nap in his truck in a culdesac. Then I found out that he did that every day. I guess that's why sometimes the mail doesn't get delivered until like 6-7pm. Probably overslept his nap time and woke up at like 4PM.

 

I will probably try and find someone to complain to. Obviously I can't do it at the post office since the manager is the one instituting it. Gotta go further up.

[jaredseiders]

I have never had the Post office scan the package right in front of me. I always just go right past everyone in line at the Post Office, and there's a space off to the side where you can set prepaid packages. I just dump them right there and walk out the door. I usually have all of them in a huge Lego Store bag, and they fit quite nicely. I just leave the bag and stroll on my way, takes about 20 seconds. But I've also never had any of my packages go missing mysteriously either. Nor have I seen anything not start moving until a day or two after I dropped them off either. If I saw things like that occurring I would be making them scan for sure.

 

I would absolutely look online for a customer service number. It seems what they're doing is covering their asses for not getting packages out the door in a timely manner. Priority Mail and packages in general are what's supposed to be rescuing the USPS from bankruptcy so they should get right on this issue for you.

[hoverta]

I have never had the Post office scan the package right in front of me. I always just go right past everyone in line at the Post Office, and there's a space off to the side where you can set prepaid packages. I just dump them right there and walk out the door. I usually have all of them in a huge Lego Store bag, and they fit quite nicely. I just leave the bag and stroll on my way, takes about 20 seconds. But I've also never had any of my packages go missing mysteriously either. Nor have I seen anything not start moving until a day or two after I dropped them off either. If I saw things like that occurring I would be making them scan for sure.

 

I would absolutely look online for a customer service number. It seems what they're doing is covering their asses for not getting packages out the door in a timely manner. Priority Mail and packages in general are what's supposed to be rescuing the USPS from bankruptcy so they should get right on this issue for you.

That's the thing that is the most ridiculous with USPS. The fact that USPS is advertising Priority like crazy. Yet every package I've shipped in the past two weeks has taken longer than 3 days. Some have taken as many as 10 days. I might as well be shipping FEDEX GND then. At least I know they scan the packages fairly reliably there. USPS keeps advertising that they'll get your package there by Xmas if you shipped by the 21st using priority. Well not in my experience. If the package doesn't even leave the facility for a day how can anything ever get there on time.

 

Edit: Sorry about the venting. It's just our PO is very frustrating and they seem to be doing it at the worse possible time.

[metsrock507]

my PO refuses to scan packages, but they let me cut the line to drop off my stuff. so its not all bad.

[justafrog]

I wasn't going to be able to participate in the post office venting BUT we just got a new assistant postmaster who has decided she hates all commercial shippers.

 

Sigh. Time to go break in another postal employee. I'm going to arrange a meeting today with her and the Postmaster and hash out AGAIN why we expect and deserve great service, and, if she gets feisty, the consequences of going to war with me when it's so easy to be my friend instead.

[lowillsw]

I'm still a little puzzled why they wont scan your packages. You are by far the easiest customers since you dont have to walk through with the nitwits that cant fill out a simple form or pull out 20 different books of stamps for someone to choose. Im lucky to have the luxury to go as late as midnight to the service desk. You can always leave it on the side if you dont have the time. Especially if you are mailing envelopes, getting it scanned in is automatically presort to the package pile so it wont go through the sorting machines and destroy the minifigures you send out. Nowadays I print my own labels since the tracking supposed to be free for 1st class. This 1 lady always scans the label and toss it into the trash because Im did noy pay for tracking when it is standard procedure for them to track 1st class internally.

[Brickshopper]

USPS stinks. Our PO refuses to scan items even if you stand in line. If they do scan the item after you drop it off in the drop box they do so a day or two after you have dropped it off.

 

Don't get me started on priority shipping (2-3 days? ya right try 6-9 days).

Not 100% sure cause we have not tried this either but I think you can print a scan list and have the PO scan one sheet and it will scan accepted for all your packages. I am pro USPS but do wonder why they act like you have done something wrong if you bypass the drop bucket to get something with a label scanned. We have just said we need a receipt that it is accepted it works with one or two but they maybe dont do it with multiple packages this is what the scan list would be for.

[Darth_Raichu]

I wasn't going to be able to participate in the post office venting BUT we just got a new assistant postmaster who has decided she hates all commercial shippers.

 

Sigh. Time to go break in another postal employee. I'm going to arrange a meeting today with her and the Postmaster and hash out AGAIN why we expect and deserve great service, and, if she gets feisty, the consequences of going to war with me when it's so easy to be my friend instead.

Wait, you have direct access to your postmaster and assistant(s) ?  I had to enter the Twilight Zone just to get a human to respond on USPS hotline / toll free number  

[justafrog]

Wait, you have direct access to your postmaster and assistant(s) ?  I had to enter the Twilight Zone just to get a human to respond on USPS hotline / toll free number  

 

Benefits of small town living.    Our Postmaster is actually pretty great, as are the counter people, etc. Just a new gung-ho Assistant Postmaster who hasn't yet learned that someone mailing more than 3000 packages/year is having a significant impact on the hours and staffing of a post office this size.

[Jackson]

I guess I am blessed with my local post office.  The employees are friendly and knowledgeable (most of the time), and every package gets an acceptance scan.

[Fcbarcelona101]

I guess I am blessed with my local post office.  The employees are friendly and knowledgeable (most of the time), and every package gets an acceptance scan.

 

Same here. Plus, my postman is GREAT as well, he earned a Christmas gift this year. Hope he keeps the same attitude next year.

[Anakinisvader]

USPS -- Union employees at their finest

[Soadfan4ever]

I guess I am blessed with my local post office.  The employees are friendly and knowledgeable (most of the time), and every package gets an acceptance scan.

My local po is great, all of the employees are really knowledgable and helpful. I stopped at the other one in town and it was more in line with everyones complaints. They take forever to get through lines and the employees are not very pleasant at all. The sneers I get at this one when I ask them to scan in an expensive item make me not want to go back there, but it is open later than my main one.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

I think most people know my thoughts on USPS so Ill spare you.

 

But I will say that its weird the disconnect between offices on the drop box. I went to one while i was in Branson, MO and they told me they HAVE to scan everything in. I told them I had never not been able to just drop stuff off and they said "This is the way its done everywhere".

 

I said "Have you ever been outside this town? I totally did this yesterday in another town on my way here"

 

His reply "well they are doing it incorrectly".

 

Who knows. But I love being able to just walk in and dump my crap. If they would only start it for international I would never stand in the post office line again.

[auntiemamel]

USPS -- Union employees at their finest

No need to knock all union employees for a few bad ones. I see you run a toy store. Just because Toys r Us has a reputation for being a rip off, does that mean you should as well. I love my USPS. And no, I have never worked for them.