USPS Won't ship knives??????

N

Nugg3t

Joined
Oct 15, 2002
Messages
751
I went to USPS today rather than UPS which I usually do, to ship a knife I sold,....The reason is UPS won't ship to a P.O Box.
So I ask the lady for a small box, she gets it then adds, "Let me check if we can ship that" She asks this fellow and he says
"oh No..we can only ship knives if they're going back for repair or a company like Herb Philipsons" At this point I'm puzzled:confused:
I receive about 20 knives or more a month from trading/buying, I would say 90% the knives are sent USPS. This guy told me it was illegal to ship knives via USPS. I told him I think he's full of **** because I just sent 2 knives out less than a week ago at the same USPS location, which I did. He then told me again it was illegal.......

So what's the deal?
Do people secretly package the knives and then send them out?
I live in NY and I realize with everything going on in the city they might pay more attention to these things. But I live 6 hours from the city and doubt that is a factor.
 
I use USPS all the time, never had a problem. I think it depends on the people working there, and whatever is up their a** that day. I suppose they could have changed policy in the last week or so, if they did, its gonna really suck for them, as they will lose a lot of business. -- Charles
 
There's a thing online that lists prohibited items and knives are not on there--actually I think autos are, but not anything else. I'll see if I can find the doc.

And I send and receive through USPS all the time, as Charles can attest to.

edited to add: Here's the link to the publication manual. If you click on "Restricted Matter," you can find a heading (section 44) for Knives. It's a little vague, but it does say that knives/sharp tools/etc. must be securely packaged so that kind of implies that it may be sent. You guys'll have to read and decide for yourselves. I never have a problem mailing them, but that just may be my post office.
 
I've not shipped a knife from USPS but certainly have received stuff that has been shipped from USPS.
I think those guys are full of cow excrement and you should tell them to get the prohibited items list and read it.
 
I've sent & received knives by USPS all the time. When they ask whether I'm 'shipping something flammable, perishable, dangerous, etc.', I just say no! The first couple of times I shipped a knife, after they asked their questions I did say - 'it's a knife for a collector' and they never 'raised an eyebrow' or 'flinched'. Maybe I'm just lucky so I better 'knock on wood'! ;)
 
Just read the publication again (for like the 5th time), and section 441.1 defines a "General" knife and then section 443.1 indicates that a "General" knife may be mailed as long as it's securely wrapped in a "strong container as required in DMM C010" and have "sufficient cushioning material." So yeah, it's legal to ship knives USPS.
 
I just shipped two knives on two different visits to the post office today. The first time, the clerk didn't ask me anything. The second time, a different clerk asked if I'm shipping "liquids, blood, flammables, hazardous or dangerous materials, blah blah blah" and I just said no. If they ask specifically what it is, why couldn't someone just say "precision hand tool" and avoid the sheeple-scaring K word?
 
A knife is a hardware item. I tell them I am shipping hardware. Period.

Why even enter into a discussion about knife shipping with the Postal person?
 
I have received knives before by USPS that were marked Cutlery on the outside with no problems.
 
I've never had a problem with them ; New York is gettin' a bit "antsy"
what with "Gulf War II" and the lingering threat of Bio / chemical
attacks. Good piece of advise : Go to the Post Office with the knife packaged ; unless you're sending it overseas it's NONE of the "clucks"
business what's in the box! That's the way I do it down here, anyway.

AET ;)

Calyth : Make that Horse excrement! ;)
 
It is ok to ship knives, however it seems to be easier if they dont know it.

I get my priority boxes from the PO, and take them home. When I trade a knife I box it up and take it to the PO. Usually the lady just asks if its fragile and I say no. If she asks what I am shipping I just say a gift for a friend. No point in dealing with folks who dont know their own rules.
 
I've mailed numerous knives from several different NYC post offices, and if the person behind the counter ever askes me what I'm mailing, I simply tell them that I am mailing a tool. I am seldom asked any questions from the counter help because it seems that the general attitude is that everything about their job is a miserable extremely exhausting experience, including asking questions or even greeting the customers in a polite fashion. I'm sure all of you fellow New Yorkers can relate to my experiences.
 
Yeah I've shipped knives through USPS before and had absolutley no trouble what so ever. In fact everytime I got to my post office everybody in there is kind and courteous:D

Ryan
 
Huh wont ship a knife huh..probably some bitter old loser who is stuck in a dead end government job..with no future trying to get his rocks off on his mini power trip..screw them..they didnt have any trouble delivering anthrax..I have shipped every knife USPS. the post master is the guy at the counter..he asks me..

Post master: Shipping more knives today..?
Ren TDTB: Yep..that and killing terrorists with my osama voodoo doll. And putting up roadside crosses..and collecting scat and snuff films..
Post master: that will be $3.75

no objections there..go back to the post office and tell them to drink a gallon of your piss.
 
The Clerks at my local Post Office know me so well that they know what I ship, and never bat an eye over it. In-fact, I receive my packages via "General Delivery", and they usually have the package waiting for me when they see me walk in the door!
 
I ship them all the time and have never had a problem. That clerk is getting confused with autos or he/she is setting policy themselves.
 
yeah, cause obviously the USPS regualtions state that knives can only be shipped back "for repair, or Herb Phillipsons" (WTF?!! -- which paragraph of the postal code is that in?) Apparently this guy at your PO is a few slices short of the proverbial loaf. If there were some reaon not to ship knives, then shipping them to the manufacturer would be no different!

And WTF is Herb Phillipsons???

I just sent a Moran to England USPS and they didn't even bat an eyebrow.
 
This may be a bit of a tangent, but I'll have to read the sign more closely in my Post Office where they say that guns, knives, and other weapons are illegal to carry in the Post Office. Though I've never gotten in trouble when I've used my Emerson CQC7 to open a box of kukris from the UK right in the post office lobby.

Like others have said, next time you go, have the item already packaged. It is perfectly legal to ship well-packaged knives. You probably got an antsy clerk on a bad day. Or maybe someone tried to ship a leaky bottle of bleach the day before. Weirder things have happened. Just a few days ago, a package containing a specimen of the West Nile virus (on a bird corpse) burst open at a post office, so maybe they were edgy over that...
 
Never had any kind of problem with the USPS. In fact, I prefer to ship USPS over UPS because of the speed of the delivery and ease of shipping.
Matt
 
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