I spend a lot of time on the B/S/T looking around . And I read a lot of " I only ship priority and I expect the same ". But I can never understand why ? It’s the same exact service if you ad a tracking number . I have no problem paying over $200 for a yoyo , but I’ll be dammed if I give the post office an extra $2.00 for nothing extra in return . If you don’t have your own box I can see using priority just to get that free box . But is it really worth $2.00 ?
here is a story I found written in the Daily news called First-class ripoff: News experiment finds pricier priority mail isn’t faster than 42-cent stamp
I sold a cell Phone on ebay , and ebay automatically posted priority . I went to the post office the day the auction ended , and asked for priority , and told them I need the tracking number . after I got in my car I was reading the tracking # and realized I just shipped first class . I was a little worried I’d have an upset customer on my hands . But it got there in 2 days and he couldn’t of been happier . The feedback I got was some of the best I’ve seen . since that day I’ve been a first class guy . It’s seems much more important just to get it to the post office A.S.A.P
Priority is sometimes faster. Sometimes. If you’re just a few states away, basically less than 1000 miles, it probably isn’t going to make a difference. But, when you go from like NY to Cali, sometimes the quote is a day or two earlier.
But ultimately, it really doesn’t matter. It’s never enough to justify demanding that someone send either way given that they paid for tracking.
That’s what I’ve experienced if your close by (within a couple hundred miles) then it doesn’t make a difference but when I get first class from YYE it take 4 days and priority takes 3. I usually just ask for priority so it will come faster
Sure it sometimes comes in two days, but Ive gotten first class packages less than 20 times. Usually it takes 4 days, it has come in 2 days 3 or 4 times. One time it also came in about 35 days with the package looking as though it went through a shredder, an inch of black dust, and half of a yoyo with no axle or bearing. I know of countless cases of first class getting lost, but havent really heard one case of a priority package getting lost. Also ive traded 100 times. So thats 200+ packages, only 1 getting lost because it was first class, and of the 180 priority packages, none were lost or damaged. Also all 180 priority packages arrived to me or the person I sent to in exactly 2 days.
If both parties agree, then whatever they agree upon is fine.
I’ll typically suggest most sellers use First Class when selling to me in order to save money.
Also, consider this:
A Priority Mail package from YYE typically takes 3 days to get to my house.
From another seller, who uses first class, I get the packages typically in the same amount of time unless things get wonky at the major postal hub.
At still another seller who uses First Class(and is only 60 or so miles from me), unless they are smoking too much weed at the Oakland postal hub, I’ll get it either next day or 2 days. If they are hitting the weed hard, it could be as much as a week of wait.
I did a recent BST, and it went smooth. First Class, took 2 days to get here. I’m completely fine with that.
I don’t think it has to do with distance an much as it has to do with major city’s and airports and such .I live in nyc area , When I order from yye 176 miles away (priority) it always takes exactly 3 days , But when I order from California 2,902miles miles away (first class) it always gets here in exactly 2 days .
I always have to ask people that come over not to pop my bubble wrap , I save all packing material that I get .
I currently am waiting on a trade I used 1st class and he used priority . We both shipped on the same day , I’ve been tracking them both and the one sent priority says: Expected Delivery By ( 1day earlier then the first class ) But I suspect this to be a straight up lie to get more people to shell out the 2 bux .
I ship First Class as much as possible, unless it is agreed otherwise. First Class, in my experience is more consistent, and obviously cheaper too. My issue with Priority, is that they advertise 2 to 3 business day delivery, charge you so much and then say, “no guarantee.” :-\ I sent two Secret Santa boxes to d42kn355 Priority at the same exact moment. One got to him in three days, the other one took 8 days to get to him. When I called USPS, they said Priority was “no guarantee.” So, they got all that money from me, and I could have sent it Parcel Post. So, I just do first class, or whatever is cheapest. If I’m mailing a book or disc of some sort, I send it media. I use Parcel Post a lot too for large packages. When I sell on Ebay, I just specify that I’m not using Priority so if people buy from me…they have a heads up before they buy. A lot of people just mail Priority to use the free box. I always keep a few boxes around to avoid that.
Do you guys re-use the priority boxes you receive by wrapping them in paper? Also, can anyone recommend where to get some boxes for free or cheap that are good for shipping yo-yos.
BST does not require any particular type of shipping that I am aware of.
If the seller uses Paypal, however, tracking is required for the Buyer Protection program. This is why many sellers will claim that they are required to use tracking with shipping. It is a Paypal requirement, not a YYE BST requirement.
Good question crammitfrog. If you wrap those priority boxes, and don’t do a good job, the post office likely will notice and reject it. If you wrap it, you’d have to wrap it so good that it’s undetectable. With the red, blue and “priority” and USPS logos all over that box, it is difficult to disguise. The only way I could see doing it, would be to take a brown paper bag, and tape a layer over the box. That will work on a small box, but probably not as well on their larger boxes. I think there’s nothing wrong with trying to recycle a used Priority box in that way. The only wrong thing would be using a new box to wrap over.
I use Uline.com for boxes. I buy the 5" square boxes, perfect for yo-yos. I keep a roll of packing tape around at all times. I mail a yo-yo out for $3.65, including tracking. No way would I pay $6 just so I can use their box, and then their small box is flat and rectangular, so I have to disassemble the yo-yo first.
I wrote up something here, you may want to check it out:
Priority is the biggest scam in the business… I used to go priority all the time… Now I use my own boxes (which are 10X better than the priority boxes) and ship first class with tracking. Always smooth and fast… Cheaper too.
I did the same (unless two or more throws to CA or AK etc.) when it was easier to access a post office. Now I work when they are open and they soon will be taking away Saturdays. So flat rate boxes paid via USPS.com is my only choice.
I always do first-class shipping and pay an extra 80 cents to add tracking. Now when buying/shipping internationally I always look for EMS. That really does make a big difference.
No problem, a lot of stuff in “unrelated” gets buried lol. But, when this subject comes up, I always like to have something thorough to link to. Glad it helped.
There not taking away Saturdays , at least not anytime soon . I have a friend who is a sorter. I asked him about Saturday, and he said the government stepped in and said they have to stay open on Saturday .
The trade I made that I’ve been tracking 1 first class the other priority , both mailed the same day . They are both marked Out for Delivery this morning . Big surprise same exact service .
