posted on December 30, 2000 09:58:07 AM new
This is not a problem. The Postal Service is interested in revenue generation as a first priority, and as has been said they've got to move the stuff out to somewhere. Also, remember that in many cases they have paid out insurance claims on those items which would otherwise be unrecoverable.
They've auctioned items of all kinds for years, large trucks, all vehicles, industrial and machine equipment, office supplies, and undeliverable mailed items are auctioned through their own regional auctions, through private auctioning companies, and now on ebay.
There's no regulation concerning a restriction against competition with private interests. After all, that's exactly what they have to do in all areas of mail delivery except first class. They compete with UPS, etc. and always have.
It would be near impossible for any given postal employee to be able to obtain control over what was placed for sale much less receive any benefit from having done so if they could.
And Jada, nepotism is very much against postal regulations concerning selection and employment. I doubt your claim, but if true someone's butt is hanging in the wind.
posted on December 30, 2000 10:00:25 AM new
Wow, what a bunch of crabby babies. You should be thankful for the USPS. I'm in Canada. Our postal service is so bad I courrier my packages over to the USPS every week.
We ship from 50-200 every week and are extremely happy with the service we recieve at every level. I'm truly amazed at how well they perform and I'm one of the few sellers that will ship Internationally.
I don't know how they do it but almost all of my INT SHIPS arrive!
Also, I checked out the url in this listing and the amount of items listed in miniscule to the amount of mail carried by the posties. Some of you really need to get a life!!
posted on December 30, 2000 10:17:47 AM new
ANYONE WHO ______DISBELIEVES________ THAT NEPOTISM IS NOT ALIVE AND DOES NOT OCCUR AT THE POST OFFICE -------NEEDS A REAL WAKE-UP CALL---------------I KNOW FIRST HAND THAT IT IN FACT DOES EXIST---
I live in the REAL WORLD and have some friends that work at my Local Post Office, just last year I watched a girlfriend of mine get hired right in the Same LOCAL Post Office that her husband with about 17 years there also works -- Someone gonna try and Tell me that this was a fluke --or a situation that fell through the cracks!! OR one that RARELY happens HA! Get REAL!
posted on December 30, 2000 10:36:18 AM new
"If every crooked or incompetent Ebay Seller reflected on the rest of us.....we would all be out of business"
Unfortunately, these people DO reflect on the rest of us. Lots of negative press and lots of reluctant/mistrustful newbies. Or those too fearful to even take a chance on Ebay.
"You admit that no individual postal worker will directly benefit from the auctioning on an item that might have been deliverable with a little more effort, but still think that these people might send a package to the dead parcel office on some off chance they might get a bigger raise in the future. How cynical is that?"
DIRECTLY benefit was the key word. Yes, I DO believe that the postal workers will indirectly benefit from this. Whether it be wages, benefits, better working conditions, etc. As for being cynical, YES I AM. I am always cynical when it comes to Governmental agencies of any type. Bureaucracies always make me cynical.
"Although some people seem to prefer that perfectly good items be destroyed rather than auctioned."
I do not recall anybody here mentioning anything about destroying the items.
"Here, United Way, here's 653 rock & roll CD's and 1175 paperback books. Please distribute them to the needy."
If the USPS can figure out online auctions, I'm sure the United Way could do this, as well. (Or numerous other worthy charities, for that matter). Why would you imply that needy people would have no use for CD's or paperbacks? Many needy families have teenagers who would be thrilled to receive CD's for Christmas. Needy people also enjoy reading, as do people who can afford to buy books. I would certainly rather see a bonafide charity running online auctions than the USPS.
posted on December 30, 2000 10:43:38 AM new
A bona fide charity running auctions is a contradiction in terms. How could such a charity sell items that you would have distributed freely to those in need?
The USPS is a business with all of the concerns that any business has. They are a government agency only insofar as the postmaster general and the postal board of governors selections are subject to congressional sanction. They do not operate with tax funding, but make their own money.
posted on December 30, 2000 10:45:36 AM new
WHEN I READ STATEMENTS LIKE THE FOLLOWING
"Amazing how latent animosity for the Postal Service can overcome common sense"
I CAN ONLY ASSUME PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY THINK THIS WAY--- MUST BE JUST ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH THE IRS AND THEIR OPERATING PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES AS WELL!!
This thread is becoming combative. Debate is fine; arguing is not. Please take a step back and confine your posts to addressing the topic, not your fellow posters.
getkicksonrte66, Please unlock your caps lock key.
posted on December 30, 2000 10:52:14 AM new
Here we go again some seller's are jealous of another seller making some money...geesh!
That's what it boils down to. IF USPS wants to auction off their undeliverable items, well I say go for it. If you look, shipping is high and items are sold "as is" and if anyone looked at their negs it is the same reasons as any other seller might get negged, but at least they give a full 30 days to pay and 3 email contacts.
Some of the items don't even work...so who would want them returned? And after paying damage claims don't they now own these items? They paid for them.
Ain't Life Grand...
[ edited by twelvepole on Dec 30, 2000 10:53 AM ]
posted on December 30, 2000 10:52:45 AM new
A charity auction would generate FUNDS that could be distributed to the needy or for cancer research, or whatever. The American Cancer Society or Leukemia Society might have need for actual cash rather than the items themselves. On the other hand, organizations that help needy families, on an individual basis, would have good use for the items such as clothing, dishes, and yes, even CD's and books!
posted on December 30, 2000 10:54:15 AM new
LadyGambler, there's no point in discussing this further with you.
You admit to being paranoid about government, and their perfectly normal and routine surplus disposal procedures.
You admit that no postal worker can directly benefit from diverting deliverable merchandise to the list mail facility. You refuse to admit or acknowledge that the postal service takes a loss on these items, and choose to continue to believe that postal workers will somehow magically benefit from stealing from their customers, even though that makes no sense, except to the paranoid.
You seem to prefer that the USPS give the items away to a charity who will auction them, rather than using the funds to defray a portion of the expense incurred in trying to deliver them, thereby resulting in higher postage and insurance rates for all of us.
It must be very stressful to live in a world where the government, and your neighbors who happen to work for the USPS, are your sworn enemies, not to be trusted.
posted on December 30, 2000 11:06:51 AM new
I fail to understand the "Undeliverable" part: I have yet to receive a package which does not include a return address..I have had one parcel returned to me because I messed up the outgoing addy..
So, why would
Undeliverable packages be sold on Ebay? I am familiar with their yearly San Francisco auctions of confiscated merchandise, or unclaimed luggage, or bulk junk free samples. But that's YEARLY.
But to come in direct competition with Ebay Sellers is a little much, to me, anyway.
Insurance is prepaid. Post Office pays a claim...That is part of "Cost of doing business"...They are covered by a generous umbrella insurance which enables them to absorb such claims.
"Cost of doing business" are expenses; expenses are deductible on the Income Tax Forms, just as purchase of new assets, rents paid, utilities, EXPENSES, Insurance, etc....
I think just for the heck of it, I am going to buy a cheap breakable item and see how they pack ..
Yes, they do have some negs and neutrals!!!!!
********************
posted on December 30, 2000 11:08:06 AM new
Chipguy,
I admitted to being CYNICAL. Not paranoid. There is a difference. I am ALWAYS open to discussion and am only expressing my own humble opinion here. I listen with an open mind to the views of others, whether or not I agree with them. I think the majority of Americans have become CYNICAL with regard to Governmental agencies. I honestly believe that we have one of the best Postal Services in the world. I just don't like the idea of them selling for profit, items that were never intended for them to own.
posted on December 30, 2000 11:10:06 AM new
The USPS will hire relatives, but first you have to have a high enough score on the civil service test, then you have to pass a drug, motor vehicle records, and criminal records check, and then you must interview and be chosen from the group that you qualified with.
With 750,000 employees, and billions of pieces of mail handled each year, and the most competitive prices, I think the USPS is an example of a finely run institution.
posted on December 30, 2000 11:12:04 AM new
What a bunch of goofballs!!! Once again the majority of you have failed to address the subject of the thread. And to think that most of you are sellers who complain about bidders who don't bother to read your EOA's or auction terms!!
posted on December 30, 2000 11:12:15 AM new
I heard a rumor (don't know if it's true) that BMG Compact Disc Club was now instituting a policy that CDs purchased from their club are not re-sellable - I think meaning that if you sign up for membership, part of the agreement states that you may not re-sell the CDs. I don't know that I completely understand this issue - I read with interest the threads some months back about Mary Kay products and how the company restricts the methods by which reps may market the products which they themselves have purchased - but it has to do with VeRO and all that.
If a lot of the items the PO is selling are selections from these direct-market companies, I wonder if this would result in VeRO problems for them.
posted on December 30, 2000 11:17:04 AM new
GOOFBALL?? Oh YES I love to play golf
My game is not as good as it used to be but I still manage to shoot close to Par
LOL too cause my TOS and my EOA have never caused me any problems....
How's that for responding to the original thread!! LOL
posted on December 30, 2000 11:17:23 AM newA charity auction would generate FUNDS that could be distributed to the needy or for cancer research, or whatever. The American Cancer Society or Leukemia Society might have need for actual cash rather than the items themselves. On the other hand, organizations that help needy families, on an individual basis, would have good use for the items such as clothing, dishes, and yes, even CD's and books!
And exactly who would choose which charities would benefit from this gigantic government giveaway?
posted on December 30, 2000 11:29:56 AM new
The USPS could choose. Maybe they could decide which charities get the goods by lottery/drawing or something similar. Throw all the interested Non-Profits names in a hat (or computer) and randomly choose one or several. There are numerous ways this could be done.
posted on December 30, 2000 11:30:22 AM newChipguy, I admitted to being CYNICAL. Not paranoid. There is a difference.
You are correct, my mistake. Cynicism and paranoia are not exactly the same, although they both involve beliefs that are not neccessarily supported by facts.
I am ALWAYS open to discussion and am only expressing my own humble opinion here. I listen with an open mind to the views of others, whether or not I agree with them. I think the majority of Americans have become CYNICAL with regard to Governmental agencies.
You may be correct, whether or not that cynicism is justified.
I honestly believe that we have one of the best Postal Services in the world. I just don't like the idea of them selling for profit, items that were never intended for them to own.
I guess you don't listen to all opinions with an open mind, because I have said three times that the postal service does not make a profit on these items, it costs more to try to deliver them all than they could possibly get from the few items that are suitable for auction. If they spend $1,000,000 per year on the Dead Letter Office, and get $100,000 from auction proceeds, where is the profit?
You ought to talk to some postal workers and ask them about all the packages they get where the shipping labels have fallen off, or were filled in with soluable ink that became instantly illegible, or all the totally unreadable handwriting, etc. etc. Also ask about the length the PO goes to to find the rightful owner of those items.
There is no doubt the Post Office ends up with a lot of underliverable oparcels every year, due to public error. The real question is what should be done with those parcels?
The choices seem to be:
1. Burn them or dump them into the ocean, so as not to enrage the cynical,
2. Auction them in a local market at high cost.
3. Auction them online, to an internaitonal market, at a much lower cost,
or,
4. Give it all away to charity (which is probably against the law).
posted on December 30, 2000 11:39:15 AM new"Also, remember that in many cases they have paid out insurance claims on those items which would otherwise be unrecoverable."
That's ridiculous. If they don't want to pay out the insurance, don't lose the package. They recover the cost (and make a profit) on the other packages we pay $1 to insure.
There is some kind of conflict of interest here. The post office gets paid to deliver packages. But they get paid MORE to lose those packages?!? Yes, I think donating the goods to the United Way would be preferable. There may be no incentive for individual carriers to lose packages, but this is the kind of thing that affects policy in general. Smells fishy.
BTW, regarding Shoshana's post, I'd estimate that less than 10% of packages I send that are lost in the mail ever get back to me. And they all have a return address plainly visible under a heavy layer of clear packaging tape.
Chipguy, the problem isn't which charity to choose. The problem is the USPS "loses" the packages, then "finds" them again for resale. Ironic, eh?
posted on December 30, 2000 11:59:47 AM new
Chipguy,
How do you know what the profit/loss margins for USPS's Ebay sales are? (Seriously). They have been selling for only a few months, have sold thousands of items with thousands more currently listed. Many of the auctions currently listed appear to be doing quite well.
..