Postage Rates Going Up
 

New postage rates as of 7/10/22. Never stops.

very true. Luckily outside of shipping and receiving of cards most of my mail is done electronically so all I really get is junk mail and some great catalogs from auction houses. I probably use the regular mail less then 3 to 4 times a year anymore

I'll update on my shipping when that happens.

Has anyone done a comparison of cost between USPS and UPS? Wondering if there's a size/weight at witch UPS becomes the better option.

Also, anyone using Pirateship? Would like to hear how that's going.

Usually more about distance. Once we get west of about Illinois (leaving from PA) UPS is better. Especially large or heavy packages are cheaper UPS also but 5 - 10 lb normal sized packages on the east coast USPS is much better.

What About Pricier $ cards ?
 

[QUOTE=Fballguy;2240835]Has anyone done a comparison of cost between USPS and UPS? Wondering if there's a size/weight at witch UPS becomes the better option.



... Has anyone on here ever had to deal with an expensive lost/damaged card sent via U P S ? or FedEx ? Are they okay in that hopefully rare situation ?..

..

[QUOTE=MikeGarcia;2240845]Never personally had to deal with it, but you're unlikely to get anywhere with Fedex on a high value item. Fedex specifically limits their liability to $1k for sports cards. From the Fedex Service Guide: "F. Shipments (packages or freight) containing all or part of the following items are limited to a maximum declared value of US$1,000:...11. Collector’s items such as coins, stamps, sports cards, souvenirs, and memorabilia.

I see...I think with USPS's new surcharges based on size, it's time to switch to UPS. I'll give them a try and see how it goes. If it's cheaper, I can't see a downside because there's no way their service (particularly customer service) can be worse than the USPS. I'm on a first name basis with my post master because of their incompetence.

You must have a particularly bad local post office. My experiences with USPS (in various locations) have been far better overall than with UPS (meh) and FedEx (awful).

+1

For me, it has been:

Post Office > UPS > yard work > dental surgery > FedEx

Hi tony
 

I ship for free does not affect me

Yes...Calling it a train wreck would be an insult to train wrecks. If I could I would fire everyone in it and start over. I have a direct line to the bosses there now and the excuses and incompetence I hear from them really make me wonder if they should be trusted with mail.

In the past two months:

Left a $500 pennant sitting on a mailbox cluster in the wrong neighborhood. Luckily an honest resident found it and delivered it to me later that night.

A very rare Cowboys pennant just disappeared and never made it to me.

Left two packages in our parcel bin with the bin door not just unlocked but wide open.

Folded a pennant that was shipped flat to make it fit in my mailbox permanently damaging it.

Left an extremely rare pennant at the wrong house (but at least one in my neighborhood)

Routinely updates tracking with fake reasons why packages couldn't be delivered. Such as this one from Tuesday.

Bobby that is crazy! I've been lucky that I have extremely competent postal delivery people.

It appears you collect pennants. Not to change the thread, but could you help me identify a pennant? I purchased some items from an auction of Bob Fellars estate auction. In it was the attached pennant. I know nothing about them, and it appears this one has been cut off at the end. It was suppose to have come from his desk drawer, but who knows. Thanks in advance.

LOL In my book you’re ranking UPS too high. I’d put them really close to dental surgery. Agree that Fed Ex is terrible.

[QUOTE=MikeGarcia;2240845]I have had iron stadium seat standards cracked once or twice when shipped via Fedex and they paid right away, zero hassle. The claim was around $100 plus reimbursement for the shipping cost. I think Fedex is really easy to deal with all around.

So we all agree "yard work" is the clear winner. Maybe we should only sell/trade/buy within driving range of our lawn tractors. :D

Yes pennants are the focus of my collection. Unfortunately, I think the only thing significant about your pennant is that Bob Feller owned it. It looks like the remnants of relatively modern Indians pennant. Once you get into the mid to late 70s, there not a lot of value in pennants. Since modern pennants aren't really my thing, maybe someone else here knows more about this one.

To be clear, there is a huge difference between FedEx and FedEx Ground, Ground are all independent contractors many of which couldn't deliver the Sun at sunrise. I've shipped all of my consignments FedEx and had no troubles, I would never use Ground.

Pirateship
 

I have used Pirateship for the past couple years...absolutely love this service! It's basically just a postage wholesaler site that passes along bulk commercial pricing to all users with no extra fees or surcharges for the service. Their customer service for questions or issues is probably the best I've ever encountered. They wholesale both USPS and UPS rates...when you put in the details of your package (size, weight, zip code) they calculate and show you your best rate options from all available options.

I don't send too many large packages, but as an example, I send and receive a lot of 6x9 bubble mailers that weigh around 3 ounces. USPS retail is $4.60 at the counter for that package. Pirateship label cost $3.39 for the same package. (This is as of July 9th...not sure how the July 10th postage rate increase will affect that rate)

Highly recommend Pirateship.com

Your issues appear to be due to a very poor/inept/lazy mail carrier on your route. I rented a PO Box many years ago and have every package that comes by USPS sent to that addy. There are Parcel Lockers at my Post Office where they put larger packages and leave a key in my PO Box. Yes, it means trips to the Post Office to pick up, and occasionally (not often) having to wait in line to pick up packages that don't fit in the PO Box or the lockers, but the security of the packages and peace of mind are well worth the hassle to me. If ever there was a case for somebody spending a little extra to avoid the headaches you describe, it is you.

That information is quite helpful; thank you.

Not happy about another USPS price increase. I have been using USPS for over 19 years. I have shipped over 100,000 packages and every one has arrived at their location.
I would never use any other service.
Recently had a new consignor send me a box via Fedex. There was at least $15,000 worth of cards in it. On the expected day of delivery, I stayed home all day waiting for the package. Finally, received notification that package has arrived. Not sure why they didn't ring my bell but I immediately went to my front porch. There was no package but I saw the Fedex truck driving away.
I jumped in my car to see if the package was left somewhere else. Luckily, I found it sitting on my neighbor's porch.
There have been many instances where both UPS & Fedex said that a package would be delivered between a certain time frame, but package would not show up till next day.
So, with all of the price increases, USPS is still my favorite.

Re: Postage Rates Going Up
 

+1 on the PO Box. I've had mine for more than 35 years. Never a single delivery problem. I neither ship or receive UPS or Fedex. They don't give a damn about your package and won't insure it.

I would concur most likely if I lived anywhere else in the country. When I lived in CT my post office was right on Bradley International Airport property. It not only ran like a top, things got where they needed to go quickly. Used them for 10 years and never had a single incident. And I get they're only part of the delivery story but they lived up to their end of the bargain time and time again. Based on my experience, postal service seems to have degraded everywhere over the last few years. But I'm not sure my local PO would be much better even during the best of times.

I considered that but because my packages are often large, 30"-35" long I fear they'd be left in a corner somewhere and I wouldn't trust that they'd still be there when I went to pick them up.

All of the complaints of poor experiences described in this thread serve to reinforce the fact that the safest option for domestic shipments is always Registered Mail. Yes, it's slower, but there's nothing anywhere near as secure.

USPS does a great job and it still remains the most affordable method for shipping. They have been very reliable for me as well.

Everything else is going up so why not postage too?

Not sure how much packages will increase, but the standard postage stamp is going from .58 cents to .60 cents
Not much of an increase, so its easy to handle