litlux
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posted on February 25, 2002 06:34:29 AM new
I just received another item I purchased via Media Mail with Priority Mail boxes used inside the package to act as stiffeners, or used as the main box (inside out) or overwrapped with shopping bag paper for shipping.
About half of my purchases are showing abuse of these free Priority Mail supplies, and with the increases in Priority rates slated for this coming June, I am really getting pissed.
The huge jump in rates is an attempt to "reflect the true cost of this type of service".
This means those of us who actually use Priority boxes for Priority Mail are about to underwrite those who abuse these same supplies.
I am at a loss as to how to send these freeloaders a message - perhaps sending the package to their local postmaster with a note? Only problem is, this will cost me postage and it is happening so often I can't really see spending the money.
Perhaps leaving something in the feedback?
And ideas? Or should I just forget it?
[ edited by litlux on Feb 25, 2002 06:38 AM ]
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mrfoxy76
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posted on February 25, 2002 06:57:23 AM new
who cares forget about it
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alwaysbroke
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posted on February 25, 2002 07:21:49 AM new
I think they are printing "PRIORITY MAIL" on the inside of the boxes to prevent them from being turned inside out.
Before I had ever sold anything on eBay, I received an auction item via PM box. One day when I needed to mail something, I turned the box inside out. I didn't know it was wrong, I thought I was just recycling. I knew nothing about PM or that USPS had a web site. I didn't know that people signed a contract to order PM boxes.
Another thought is that I have used brown boxes to mail Priority items in when I needed a special size box they don't offer. It would be nice if they discounted for using your own box. I believe the high fee we pay for PM includes the cost of a nice box.
I don't think I would e-mail or FB the seller regarding misusing the PM boxes. I would just keep the box and reuse it for PM next time I need one. I rarely throw any PM boxes away.
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nanasturtles
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posted on February 25, 2002 07:30:50 AM new
Don't waste your time........their post office isn't going to do anything about it either more than likely. The attitude my post office takes on it is..... its only the post offices themselves that are not allowed to use the Priority Mail boxes this way. I know different, but I'd say your wasting your time. Move on to more important issues like how to keep buyers from being non paying bidders! Let me know if you come up with a solution to that one!
~smile~
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bettylou
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posted on February 25, 2002 07:34:32 AM new
I must respectfully disagree with you over the cause of the "huge jump in rates".
For one, if PM supplies are too expensive for the Postal Service, they can simply stop supplying them. It's not as though we mailers have many choices with USPS: over 11 ounces and in my own packaging it goes PM anyway.
For another, there is every reason to believe that a huge bloated USPS management structure and vastly inefficient systems are to blame for USPS running in the red. The PM rate hike is yet another attempt to make it up on the backs of consumers. USPS can't raise first class rates, so they raise PM rates.
I am also increasingly convinced that a big part of the problem is that USPS tries to do everything and as a result, does nothing well.
I no longer send overnight letters Express Mail, having gotten to the P.O. one time too many at 3:01 pm and being told, "That's second day service from here." Last time the destination was near Las Vegas. That is ridiculous. I now use Airborne exclusively for all overnight letters, with no cash up front--they bill me. Try getting the Postal Service to bill you.
Speaking of trying to do everything, I was in the line at the P.O. the other day when a woman brought in a new Hummer toy to ship. Not packaged or anything, mind you, she wanted the clerk to do that for her. There were no boxes available to fit this big toy truck and she held up the line for 20 minutes, arguing first with the clerk and then with the window supervisor. She was apparently one of those people who believe that if you pull on cardboard hard enough, it stretches to whatever dimension you need.
Now, clearly this lady needed to be at a Mail Boxes Etc or Postal Annex...that's the kind of service those stores provide. But no. She knew she could get the window clerk to do her packaging/labelling just for the cost of the box and postage.
This is just plain wrong. USPS should be turning away these people. Just hand them a card with the address of the nearest MBE on it.
Now that FedEx has had time to get their ground delivery service in gear, maybe it's time to revisit them and give up USPS entirely.
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alwaysbroke
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posted on February 25, 2002 07:50:44 AM new
Move on to more important issues like how to keep buyers from being non paying bidders! Let me know if you come up with a solution to that one!
Yes, and you could probably sell your secret to the highest bidder on eBay. LOL
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sulyn1950
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posted on February 25, 2002 09:33:41 AM new
If the USPS really was concerned about abuse of the "free" supplies, they could just start charging for them.
I think they should anyway. Half the time my PO doesn't even have priority supplies and I use my own mailers which they stamp priority. I don't sell enough to merrit ordering from the website, though my local PO told me they would gladly take what I didn't need! They told me customers seem to have an easier time getting the supplies than the PO does.
I hate when they don't have the mailers because when I use my own box I seem to get emails from buyers thinking I have cheated them since they didn't receive that distinctive red/white/blue Priority box! Once I ask them to look at the postage and check for the red ink PRIORITY stamp (don't ask me how they missed that), they usually quieten down. 
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ahc3
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posted on February 25, 2002 09:34:34 AM new
Agree, this is NOT the reason for the huge rate increase. I know that the USPS makes you sign a statement that you will only use these boxes for their intended purpose when you have them delivered to you, but I can't honestly see how the post office could enforce this from someone who picks up the packaging at the post office. I think at that point, it is theirs to use as they please.
Priority mail is a HUGE scam and moneymaker for the post office. I can't tell you how many people I have seen convinced at the post office to mail a regular letter for priority mail rates because it will get there faster! If this were any other line of business, the government would get involved and shut them down, but since the post office is a quasi-governmental organization, they are there ripping off people. These people who are paying $3.50 instead of 34 or 57 cents are the ones that are funding the boxes.
Priority mail DOES NOT get there faster. They load these on the same trucks and planes, and there is NO GUARANTEE that it will get there quickly.
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dacreson
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posted on February 25, 2002 09:50:57 AM new
Two Thoughts;
Has everyone forgot the “good-ol-days” when all packages had to be wrapped in brown paper? Had to be bound with string? When there were no contract Post Offices? When you were forced to stand in long lines to mail your item only to find you did something wrong and had to fix it and start all over? Remember when there was no web and the USPS was not on it for rate calculations and the like? The postal system though far from perfect is still better that it used to be. As to priority mailers, I use them whenever I have any as stiffeners. However they are USED priority mailers. (In other words they saw double duty).
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nanasturtles
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posted on February 25, 2002 10:04:27 AM new
"Yes, and you could probably sell your secret to the highest bidder on eBay"
"Alwaysbroke"........I would probably be the first bidder in line to buy it too! LOL
[ edited by nanasturtles on Feb 25, 2002 10:05 AM ]
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classics
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posted on February 25, 2002 10:05:39 AM new
[Warning: PM Box Rant :]
I agree there is nothing at all special about First Cl^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^HPriority Mail.
The boxes are free because Priority Mail is really just First Class mail, and the phoney jump in price from 15oz to 16oz pays for the boxes.
I always feel a little sorry for people who send me a payment in a priority mail envelope. I always find the original envelope all filled out inside, often with a stamp on it. I just know the clerk lied to the person telling them Priority Mail was faster when in fact its exactly the same service as putting one stamp on the letter and dropping it in the box.
As for cost, good cardboard boxes are not expensive. Even if you purchase boxes in very small quantities, say 100 of each kind, its not difficult to get them for under 20 cents each.
And lets admit it, those flimsy priority mail boxes are not good boxes. Mine often arrive looking like someone played soccer with the package for a few days. The production cost at the quantities and 'quality' they purchase is probably below 1 cent per.
The self-sealing strip on the new design video boxes might as well not even exist, it always pops open after 24 hours or so unless its taped down.
Dispite these shortcomings it could be argued that PM boxes actually save the post office a great deal of money.
The boxes probably account for a large part of thier shipping traffic now, and since they are all the same size and arrive in such quantities, it must aid in thier ability to get more packages into a single air shipping container.
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dixiebee
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posted on February 25, 2002 10:23:29 AM new
One of my auction winners from last night (Sunday) is going to PM his payment to me and wants me to PM back his item so he will have it in time for someone's birthday on Saturday.
I told him that I would be happy to accommodate him in any way I could but that I could not guarantee that PM would reach him by the weekend. Then I told him my story about it taking 29 days for a PM package to go across country to Oregon last month.
We shall see and hope I don't get a neg for it.
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slabholder
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posted on February 25, 2002 10:53:55 AM new
Actually, those priority boxes come in handy as semi waste basket containers!
Slabholder
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colseng
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posted on February 25, 2002 11:38:23 AM new
Please don't make a misjudgment about us who use priority box cardboard for stiffeners in media mail packages. I do, but it is recycled from boxes I received as an eBay buyer! My garbage is always full, and anything I can recyle, I do!
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katmommy
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posted on February 25, 2002 12:17:10 PM new
I too "reuse" or "recycle" priority boxes when I get them. Most of the time I will reuse them as a priority mail box but have on occasion wrapped my "previously owned" PM box in brown paper. I'm not cheating anyone in my opinion.
MEOW
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alwaysbroke
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posted on February 25, 2002 12:44:57 PM new
I too "reuse" or "recycle" priority boxes when I get them. Most of the time I will reuse them as a priority mail box but have on occasion wrapped my "previously owned" PM box in brown paper. I'm not cheating anyone in my opinion
katmommy,
That's how I felt, too. If it was used, then it's considered "garbage." So I can use it as PM or not. Even though I explained to the clerk that it was being "recycled," she was hostile. I honestly thought I was doing the right thing. Oh well, the world won't end 'cause she's mad.
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bigdaddywes
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posted on February 25, 2002 01:41:55 PM new
KAT,
I too think you are doing the right thing. I go a step beyond, and I actually wrap my B-day presents, Christmas presents, and gag gifts for the office in my used PM boxes. Saves wrapping paper, and I usually get a stupid laugh out of it.
Of course you know that I am all about stupid laughs.
signed,
the joker
big.daddy.wes
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ashlandtrader
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posted on February 25, 2002 01:54:56 PM new
An odd note, but the long (shirt sized) priority boxes also make good emergency cat litter boxes. Another way to recycle them! Ha!
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alwaysbroke
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posted on February 25, 2002 02:21:07 PM new
big daddy,
I can 1 up your 1 upper. I put Christmas gifts in them, gather them back up for recycling, and use them again (if they're clean).
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alwaysbroke
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posted on February 25, 2002 02:23:39 PM new
ashlandtrader,
The litter box thing is hilarious. LOL!!!!!!!!
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toolhound
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posted on February 25, 2002 02:26:23 PM new
I spent $6,500.00 mailing last year and most of that was priority mail. If I need to use one of the priority boxes for something else I am sure not going to feel guilty. If the USPS keeps raising rates I will use all of my boxes for cat liter.
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alwaysbroke
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posted on February 25, 2002 02:30:16 PM new
toolhoundIf the USPS keeps raising rates I will use all of my boxes for cat liter.
Oh, my! LOL!!!! Does it get the job done faster????
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classics
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posted on February 25, 2002 04:59:30 PM new
LOL.. they would probably last even longer if you lined the whole box with that free priority mail tape =)
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slabholder
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posted on February 25, 2002 09:06:32 PM new
Whats next, misuse of Priority mail tape?
Instead of using duct tape, priority mail tape sure comes in handy!
Slabholder
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rnaudit1
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posted on February 25, 2002 10:12:12 PM new
I was at the post office this morning and I actually saw a clerk give a customer a Priority box. She turned the Priority box inside out and then she had him place his item inside the box. She then taped the sides with brown tape. She even said she had to use brown tape because it was no longer a Priority box. The customer was sending something to Mexico and he didn't realize he couldn't use a Priority box. He seemed a little confused about what to do so she fixed the problem for him. I will never again feel guilty about using the Priority boxes turned inside out for First Class mail. I will just be sure to use a lot of brown tape!!!
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roadsmith
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posted on February 25, 2002 10:13:18 PM new
Good one, Classics!
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LaneFamily
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posted on February 25, 2002 10:44:30 PM new
"As for cost, good cardboard boxes are not expensive. Even if you purchase boxes in very small quantities, say 100 of each kind, its not difficult to get them for under 20 cents each"
I need to know where this is at. Mine range in the .42 - .65 range. At .20 I could get several hundred if I had to.
We have a box place right here also PDS but can not get them any cheaper.
Maybe your talking about pretty small ones? I use 8x8x4, 8x8x6 and 8x8x8 the most. I am open if anyone heas any ideas, even e-mail them to me if you want.
Thank you
Jim
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classics
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posted on February 26, 2002 12:11:14 AM new
One of my local box suppliers has 8x8x8 for 26c each quantity 100 with bigger breaks for 1000 and 10000.
I doubt these guys have ever even heard of the internet, they still sell out of whats basically a one-man office with a paper plant attached.
Check your local suppliers, they probably are very competitive with the prices you see on the net.
Stay away from the creeps who take out the big ads for 'moving' boxes, they are usually just gougers reselling.
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tomwiii
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posted on February 26, 2002 04:19:37 AM new
JIM: ULINE has 8X8X8 boxes for $0.31, any quantity! Sold in bundles of 25! I've alway been very satisfied with their service & speed! Here's a link to the box:
http://www.uline.com/ProductDetail.asp?model=S-4084
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spyked
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posted on February 26, 2002 05:19:56 AM new
I'm actually one of those guilty of "mis-using" the priority mail supplies to send out my items. Actually, the priority
cardboard envelopes are pretty handy for mailing out magazines and books - since they are alot stiffer than manilla envelopes. I turn them inside out and tape along the edges
and use them for media mail and some for first class mail - and my items arrive intact and not bent up at all.
And I even "mis-use" the boxes and put shopping bag paper over them to mail out larger items.
I totally agree that priority mail is a big scam - just to generate a bit of extra money.
Priority mail is 3-4 days! About the same with first class mail - and when they take your priority mail stuff - I notice they even stick it in the bin with the first class mail.
As long as the priority mail supplies is free - I'll take full advantage of them and use them until they say we can't anymore....
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