Post Office 'Delay of Schrade'

K

kevins73cigars

Joined
Feb 24, 2006
Messages
276
Most of you guys have had at least one frustrating experience with buying or selling a knife and having the US Post Office take their sweet time in making the delivery. Personally, I have had my share of both.

My most recent frustration is my own damned fault. The post office made me a little nervous, as a buyer I have had two 885UHs dissapear while being shipped to me. So, as a seller, I tried to use reliable/trackable methods. I shipped FedEx overnight and lost money, but no knives. It soon became apparent that I couldn't keep spending upwards of $15 to ship, so I sent (from NY) a recent eBay buyer (from Texas) an 897UH "First Class." First Class disaster! It has been two weeks - no delivery yet. Poor guy filed a dispute to get his money back yesterday. I feel like an idiot! I just hope he doesn't keep my knife and his money (I would not begrudge him one or the other). I just learned the hard way that no matter how light a package is, sending it "first class" across more than one state is a recipe for disaster.

So, I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread inviting all the best tips on shipping a knife to a fellow Schradeaholic through the post office. My tip is, never ship "first class."
 
Priority mail is the only way to go. A knife that size should run between $4 and $5 which would include confirmation if you do it on line with click and ship. Use two boxes, a small priority video tape box and put that box into a large video tape box, both are free from usps. Any time you ship, its us against them, we have to make sure we win.
 
To me, Priority mail is the only way. I even send my payments Priority mail. Yes, it is $4.05, but I know my seller has my payment in two to three delivery days, almost anywhere in the country. First class and parcel post are very slow. I cannot tell you the difference in how the post office handles the different classes of mail, but I've not had Priority fail even once. And it has gotten my Postmaster interested in Schrades. He always asks to see the newest arrival. I gotta give him one for Christmas!

Michael
 
I have been pretty satisfied with the Priority Mail, at least on the receiving end that is. Most make it to me in two or three days from anywhere in the country. I did have one that took more than two weeks though. It was a $3 Imperial Ireland knife and the poor guy was terrified of getting a neg from it. He swore he mailed it the day after the auction ended but being new to E-bay at the time I was skeptical. When it finally did arrive it looked as is if it had been to Ireland and back. It was post marked the same day the seller said he sent it and all was well.
So don't give up it may still show.
Rick
 
USPS with confirmation!! Insured if over $100!
Only way to fly! Buyer pays, gets the knife sooner and for sure.
 
Ive used priority mail without any issues. I use the free boxes at the P.O. and add tracking. Insurance if its over $50.00
2-3 days across the US is the normal. I've had a box arrive from Hawaii in 2.
TTYL
Larry
 
The Post Office offers classes for the small business and on line sellers. I went to one in White Plains NY a few years ago, and it was very informative. After the class they gave us a tour of their automated facility. Its unbelievable to see the speed that packages are sorted and proscessed. Ask at your local PO about any classes that may be in your area, its well worth the time.
 
What really burns me up is a seller who charges me $9.48 to ship me a knife via UPS and then actually ships it USPS First Class for $1.40.:mad:
 
man, is it just me or is service in the postal system lacking here lately?? i recently moved in a different house to accomodate my daughter, and filled out one of them change of address forms online. well, mail still hadnt arrived, so i filled out one manually at the post office. needless to say, we still aint getting our mail. oh well, maybe someday i will befriend a post office employee and maybe he will show me the little room where all the knives lost in the mail are stashed, and maybe, just maybe, he will say "take all you want!". ok, i am waking up now, this dream is to sweeet!!
 
I have been using USPS for over two years never had a package not get where it was going. The secret is to spend 50 cents for delivery confirmation.
Those bright green tags they have to scan must keep them from getting lost.
I started using it after someone said they didn't receive a knife. I sent the guy another knife about a month later and the original and the replacement both arrived at the same time. Appreciating my efforts the guy returned one back to me.

Since I started using delivery confirmation 2 people have complained about not receiving their knives. It was funny how quickly they found them after I gave them the date of shipment and the day it was delivered. They were both larg volume outfits that do alot of receiving and shipping.

For my $$ you can't beat the Post Office.
 
I'm almost afraid to post in fear of changing my luck, but using Priority Mail with delivery confirmation has been 100% effective for me in terms of safety and speed of delivery. I mail any where from 3 to 10 packages a week and so far not a single problem. Fingers crossed now.

Paul
 
Welp, I should not have posted my luck, tempted fate, or however you want to say it. I did not use delivery confirmation back on November 14th when I sent a Priority mail payment in to a seller of an old cowboy photograph. On the 29th, I sent him a "Whuzzup wid dis??". He said that my "check" didn't arrive until the 29th and he had just put (not pot :) ) it in the bank. I sent a USPS M.O., so this statement is a bit suspect. Now, December the 8th, I sent him a "Hey you!". No response yet. Now, why would I want an old cowboy photograph you ask? Oh. You didn't. Well ask then.:)

Michael
 
Michael,
Why did you want an old cowboy photo? , to mount behind your Cowboy Commemorative scrim display perhaps? BTW, the fact that the seller only has pot in the bank might explain his confusion, he's probably FUBAR by now :) :)
Eric
 
This old photo is by Erwin Evans Smith (1886-1947), who photographed everyday scenes of ranch life while working as a cowboy between 1905 and 1915. He visited large ranches in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, including the SMS, JA, Matador, LS, Three Circles, and R2.
This particular 1906 photo is of a group of cowboys on the Turkey Track Ranch in Texas, resting and, according to the original photo caption, "playing mumbly peg during a break". Anyone remember this game??

Besides being an early unique photo of the knife game Mumbly Peg, it is also a picture of cowboys on one of Texas' largest and more promanent ranches. For those of you not up on Tejas history:

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/TT/apt8.html

The Turkey Track Ranch began in 1878 when Richard E. McNalty arrived at the Texas Panhandleqv from Colorado with a herd of cattle bearing a brand that he called Turkey Track (though it was often called Rafter I). McNalty chose a rolling expanse of free grass on Moore Creek in what is now Hutchinson County for his new range, and by 1879 he reported 6,500 head of cattle and fifty-five horses on 7,000 acres of pasture, with about seven or eight employees on his payroll...

By 1890 the Hansford Company owned 85,000 acres of land and leased an additional 350,000, with an average cattle count of 30,000 head. Among the ranch's prominent employees were Tom Coffee, former range boss of the Quarter Circle T, and his six nephews, all of whom stayed to put down roots in the Panhandle. One, Woodson Coffee, later succeeded Willingham as manager. Another noted resident of the Turkey Track was William (Billy) Dixon...



Michael
 
That's a real piece of history there, it's pretty comforting to see that cowboy attire hasn't changed much in all these years. Nothing beats actual photos from the past.
 
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