Why USPS?

[Monty]

Just curious how and when the USPS became the default shipper for eBay purchases.

Geezer statement:  I remember when sellers shipped via UPS and it was affordable.  Yes, I’m aware that somewhere along the way they priced themselves out of most of our ranges, but as our own Off Topic thread shows, the USPS can be horrible.

I’m hoping PurePMD will post his most recent disaster story.  It’s mind-blowing.

 

[Dave Van]

Overall USPS office is 30 yards from my house. UPS office is 50 miles and is a licensed office which charges extra to ship. 

As fare as ebay USPS is always cheapest by far. UPS and FedEx are options to seller and buyer but few pick it. 

[slusher]

The sorting station is in Memphis now 100 miles away but does not send a truck to Lexington but 3 times a week if we are lucky..

[Dave Ambrose]

USPS delivers everywhere in the USA, including very low volume/high overhead rural areas. None of the other delivery services can make that guarantee. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

I had been giving my local PO pretty high marks of late, but the last order I got from feePay, the Emhar Bedford wrecker, was left on top of the mailbox, in the rain, where anyone passing could have grabbed it in a second, literally.

How this is even possible is entirely beyond my ability to understand.

Complaint and photos going to the postmaster's website, and I'm going to the local PO in the morning.

Just as well that I've pretty much curtailed online personal shopping, and have parts and materials for work delivered to the shops...but I got stuck paying twice for a $200 order delivered wrong there too, until I could prove to the vendor's satisfaction that the 'delivery photo' submitted by the UPS driver was not our building, or even on the same street.

To quote another poster on the board earlier...

Edited Sunday at 09:17 PM by Ace-Garageguy
punctiliousness

[TECHMAN]

Our USPS went "thru-a-spell" last year, that REALLY tested what little patience I have left.......  Was NOT our local help, but, had one package that musta had the proverbial 100K miles on it, before it finally showed up, and the actual distance is only about 300 miles.....    "To error is human, to really foul-up requires computer assistance".......😉

DJ

[espo]

Don't use the USP all that often but had a positive experience with their service last week. My wife mailed a package to her brother and sister-in-law in the Canyon Lakes area of Texas on last Saturday just before noon. They called Tuesday mid-day thanking us for the package. That is fast.

[LennyB]

When it comes to small items like most of us modelers purchase the USPS is always going to be the most economical.  It’s not until you get in the range of ten pounds or more that the other two become competitive. So it stands to reason most of what we buy is going to come USPS.  
It doesn’t help matters that the other two can’t deliver to PO Boxes as that is the safer option when receiving packages then on top of the mailbox as Ace said.