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USPS shipping practices

  • Thread starter boxofrain
  • Start date

boxofrain

does this rag smell like chloroform to you?
How Y'all are!?
I am wanting to know what the best days of the week are for shipping plants out.
The wife sez that they process packages every day and items would arrive within a few days (mon) if shipped today......
I am quite dubious of this.
My time at work limits my access to the Post Office and I have today off, would like to get some promised plants out!
Thanks for the help.
Larry
 
Packages sent Saturday Priority Mail usually get delivered on Monday. It may take a day longer if your local post office is some distance from the sorting facilities, but most major cities will get delivered on Mon. If you mail Friday the package will sit in a sort facility Sunday and won't be delivered until Monday. However the sort facilities are heated/airconditioned.
 
Hey Larry, long time no see. Hope all is well..
Here's my breakdown on USPS priority shipping.
Monday shipping is best.
Friday is worst.
Wednesday is the cutoff.
Thursday for Saturday arrival is a gamble.
Sat. shipping is a coin toss between Monday & Tuesday arrival.
 
Packages sent Saturday Priority Mail usually get delivered on Monday.
This has also been my experience - over 80% of my packages to continental US sites arrive on Monday. Shipping out on Sat is also the most convenient for me - so it works well. Shipping on Monday is also excellent.

I've been using delivery confirmation when sending packages so I know where it goes & what happens to it. It's also a nice benefit to give the tracking number to your recipient so they can do the same & be well-prepared.
 
Thanks folks!
I feel a bit better about putting plants in the mail....it is rather new to me to ship things out.
 
Just to throw a wrench in the works...
this Monday is Columbus day, and I am not sure how good it is when things sit yet another day waiting around,
but as I mantione in a PM, I have never had issues with any shipments of plants, caused by sitting too long in a box...
well, except for a time or two when I got a shipment & nearly forgot all about them... finding them after a lengthy stay
in a dark, overly wet container! But that was my own fault from being too busy & forgetting things,
and NOT because the plants spent an extra few days in shipping.
 
Everybody has different experiences with USPs in shipping plants. For me within the last 2 years: 3 plant shipments gone missing never to be found (coming to me and going from me), a package clearly addressed to Oregon and going to Hawaii instead, 3 crushed packages (plants survived), 2 packages clearly addressed delivered to the wrong address in my town and sitting another few days before being delivered to me. I have had plants make it from Oregon to the east coast in 3 days while another package to Southern California taking 5 days. All these packages being shipped priority mail.

Granted, I have shipped a lot of plants and received a lot over the last couple of years, but still look at USPS as a crap shoot what is going to happen to a package and never ship later in the week than Tuesday and now always with tracking.
 
I have had GREAT success with USPS! I got a package from over 3,000 miles away in two days with priority mail. I got a package from a trade overnight. They have all arrived in good condition with no service issues. I will only use USPS from now on.

You have to remember, all of them will make mistakes and all of them will do their best to get it to your ASAP. It's like picking a phone, pick one you like and live and let live. Some may like flip phones, some may like iPhones, and intelligent people will like Androids, just like how intelligent people will pick USPS. ;)

But really, it's all personal preference. :D
 
i have no reason to pump their tires or anything but i've recieved over 50 packages through usps in the last couple years and not one went missing or was damaged. It truly is a blessing to have that service for getting plants where they need to get as fast as possible at a fair price.
 
  • #10
I always ship live plants on Monday or Tuesday. I never ship on Saturday but that's simply because I can't wake up before 12 Noon on Saturdays which is when my local post office closes.

If possible always have the person pay you postage through paypal so you can make up a postage shipping label right from paypal, you save a little $$ and the label is clearly printed so there's no mistaking your 3 for a 5 in the zipcode or anything plus delivery confirmation is free if you pay for a priority shipment (it's like $0.19 online - more at the actual post office). Otherwise sign up at the USPS website and print your postage there, still cheaper than the post office, all you gotta do is go there and hand em the box or have the mailman pick it up, no waiting in line with all the other chumps! :awesome:

The main problem with plant shipments or anything else, is poor packaging by the shipper and is not usually the fault of the carrier service (though feces does occur). However, you MUST ASSUME that your package will be tossed, dropped from a height to a lower conveyor or even thrown through the air from one end of a mail sorting room to the other. This all occurs in an effort to move the mail faster. Everyone should get a chance to go to a sorting annex at the airport and see what your packages go through. You would be amazed...

So pack whatever you are shipping as tightly and securely as you can. When you're done packaging, before you tape it closed and add the shipping label pick up the box and shake it. If it rattles or you can feel it shifting around in there open it up and add more packing material, repeat this until it is solid and nothing in the box shifts. Then provided your package isn't slammed in a door or driven over by the mail truck your stuff should arrive in good shape.
 
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