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 November 2 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.   

[Beans]

On 10/30/2025 at 4:10 PM, slusher said:

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..

That place is a black hole for packages.  I've had stuff go there and never ever come out.  

[angelo7]

One advantage of the USPS apart from price, is that, mailmen tend to know the customers by name, not so the other companies.  So, if there is an error in the address, you will most likely receive the package.  If the other companies see an error, the parcel will be returned.

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, angelo7 said:

One advantage of the USPS apart from price, is that, mailmen tend to know the customers by name, not so the other companies.  So, if there is an error in the address, you will most likely receive the package.  If the other companies see an error, the parcel will be returned.

Yeah, well...I have a regular driver who's great.

There is also a driver that works the regular guy's off or sick days who apparently knows neither English nor numbers, and is incapable of walking the 20 steps from the street to my porch to leave packages under cover. 

He (or one of the other recent-hire relief drivers) has misdelivered several things I've had to go get tracked down by his supervisor at the local PO.

And the last package delivered here was balanced precariously on top of the mailbox, in the rain.

 

[Big Messer]

I don't remember having problems in the past. I even got court notices for some idiot that lives next street, mine being "St" and his "Court", even with the same house number. The mail guy took care...

[Texas_3D_Customs]

Because you can ship a small light package anywhere in the US for five to six dollars with commercial rates if it's really close you'll get down to 4.60 for a small package. And it really doesn't matter where on the other hand UPS you're looking at about $8 for ground service you could use the saver but that just uses USPS for final delivery so you're not really getting that much better video and again it's still about $2 more per package. Now that doesn't sound like a big deal but when you start talking about shipping 100 packages a week that adds up real quick and everybody expects free shipping as well so that's why USPS is usually the default. And then to add insult to injury when you are someone who lives in a remote location like I am there's a surcharge on UPS so for me to deliver to somebody in a remote location and I have to pay them to pick it up you're looking at up to $10 to $15 more per package. So with most of my packages they are anywhere from 3 to 7 oz the difference in prices quite significant and then if the person does live in a rural delivery that price goes up a bunch. I have some customers in Alaska and I can ship USPS for about $5.50 for UPS to deliver that same package via ground is about $17. So that is exactly why breaking down the numbers and everything why USPS is the defacto standard. A lot of people complain about the postal service and I can say that it's not as good as ups but it's not as bad as everybody likes to make it out. When you start delivering as many packages as some of the larger companies it's actually pretty reliable I probably have one package a month that is either lost or damaged and it's insured up to $100 by default now. So far this year I have made six claims so I'm not even at one a month.

[TECHMAN]

In defense of our USPS:  To borrow a few words, "As of late", our local PO has been doing GREAT  (hope I haven't jinxed things😉), last things sent/received was to/from Chicago (and we're here in South Central Kentucky).  Both packages were mailed on Friday, and both packages showed up at their destinations on Monday morning.  The exchange went smoothly THANKS to USPS......   Not always perfect, but for the money, not-so-bad. 

DJ

[Rob Hall]

My mail carrier is a gem.  Since I have a long driveway, she brings the paper mail and packages down the driveway and leaves them at the side kitchen door, and if I can catch her, she will take outbound mail packages and scan them.   The local post office counter staff are surly and rude, so I go to the next suburb over (only a mile further) to their post office which has much more pleasant staff. 

Edited Wednesday at 12:05 PM by Rob Hall