USPS - Holiday Slowdowns in Full Force Already?
 

Over the past week and a half, every one of my eBay purchases seems to be moving along at a crawl, averaging 7-9 days getting from Point A to Point B. If it has to go for authentication, that’s 7-9 days to get there, usually ends up near a weekend so sits there for another 4-5 days and then another week or more to get to me. By the time that’s all done, not much less than a month door to door. From past experience, the entire process usually averages about 9-10 days for me. Imagine when we actually get closer to Christmas. Not good, but the shipping prices still keep going up every couple of months. How do they justify the price increase? Oh, I forgot, the mail sorters/carriers are in short supply because of COVID, right? That’s how every other price increase started across the entire world economy, correct?

It's been inconsistent for me. I've bought maybe 10 cards on ebay the last few weeks. Most have arrived in a normal time frame. But a few get the slowdown treatment. I am still waiting on one that was at authentication ove Thanksgiving. It took a week to get to authentication, then a week at authentication, and now it's been a week and it stalled at one of the large hubs on the way.

I saw a sign at the post office yesterday that said that prices will “temporarily” increase during the holiday season (starting in October through January 19th, 2025).

Recall that the USPS is not a business, they lose money every single day/year. It’s more of a public service than it is a business / profit center. I think it’s smart for the USPS to raise prices during the surge season. The PO was packed every day this week (I’ve been selling quite a bit recently). If this were a business, I’d expect higher prices due to the supply/demand forces.

And what’s your alternative??? Good luck getting a better price with FedEx or UPS! Prices, in my opinion, are only going to go up. Gotta fund those deficits somehow. I was blown away when I saw that first class stamps are now $0.73. When did that happen??? Again, not surprised at all. And I’d expect more of the same for the foreseeable future.

I see more Amazon trucks every day than USPS/FedEx/UPS combined. I can see them taking over in the future. Lower prices and more efficiency. Replace mail boxes with Amazon lock boxes at everyone's homes... Who knows.

Don't complain.

Sincerely,

Canada

How true. I bought something on eBay from Canada in mid-November and it was shipped before the strike started but apparently didn't make it across the border in time so I'm still waiting for it.

Have a $5500 registered package sitting in DC for 12 days on the way to VA. It's an hour and a half from destination. Yes. They're slowing down a lot.

Yes, everything goes up except for low to mid grade vintage baseball cards :)

I mean it's the second week of December, it makes sense that there's slow downs. Ive been doing some online shopping for my girlfriend and every website I was on basically said order before the 5th of December or we can't guarantee delivery by Christmas. I just always kind of assume that USPS/UPS/FedEx get swamped starting black Friday through the end of the year and plan accordingly. It happens basically every year and has been that way for years. Is what it is.

Everything that we are talking about was ordered between 11/28 Thanksgiving Day and 12/2 Cyber Monday. Don’t really think the holiday gift giving had started yet at that point. Am I wrong?

I thought prices at Publix Supermarket were “temporarily” increasing during COVID because of all the shortages of supplies, workers, chickens/cows, etc. Except that they never went back down again. This is in stark contrast to vintage sports cards that went to the moon and came back down to reality rather quickly once it became apparent that the human race was not ending. Still waiting for those food prices to come back down again.

Yes, I believe you are wrong. Holiday buying begins in full force the entire month of November these days.

We just went through the one simultaneous shipping surge and national holiday event, so small wonder that parcel post is slow. FWIW, correspondence has been finding its way to me in normal times thus far.

And again, it bears repeating; the USPS is NOT a for-profit endeavor, it is a national social service. It is charged by Congress with making mail service available to every corner of the nation, no matter how inefficient, at a uniform cost. If Congress sees fit to alter the nature of mail service to maximize efficiency, don't be surprised if it costs fifty cents to send a letter from LA to NY in a few days and five bucks to send one from Wyoming to North Dakota in two weeks.

I've never bought a card that I wasn't able to wait a few weeks for. It's not like I'm flipping them and need to time the market. It will just go into my collection, never to come out again. So what difference does it make to me if it takes a couple weeks longer?

But, but....socialism BAD, privatization GOOD, no?

I second the emotion. LOTG consignment check and RMY winnings stuck in transit. Apparently the courier services have stalled out too. A minor inconvenience for me compared to the serious in-your-face hardships incurred by small businesses and commerce in general across Canada.

Absolutely no delay when buying a card at a show. :D:D:D

Its been a weird week for sure. I had one package delivered to the wrong house down the street. I had a package originate in So Cal and made its way to Atlanta. I live in Colorado.

Just this week.

It’s okay for the post office to raise shipping charges on 4 different occasions in 2024, cause…… Certainly not in appreciation for more efficient service provided. Used to see maybe one increase per year. But, why not jump on the bandwagon with everything else increasing, except vintage sports cards in low to mid grade condition.

Well, one package officially lost now and all others still have not arrived yet and running behind estimated delivery times and that’s with the holiday slowdowns figured in to the equation. Great job USPS is doing!

I have 2 stories. On Dec 3rd I bought a card in the morning from California. Seller had it in the mail that day. Then it bounced around California until the 8th. Then appeared in El Paso Texas and sat there until yesterday at 1:46am. The original estimated delivery date was the 10th. Since that never happened they changed the estimated date until the 14th. I am hoping it is correct.

Still have not heard anything from anyone on this. Last Thursday I was supposed to receive a shipment of supplements. When UPS arrived the lady said I should have 2 boxes but she could only find one. Said if she found the other she would drop it off later in the day. When it never showed up that day I checked tracking and see this.

Estimated delivery
Information not available.

The package has been damaged. All merchandise has been discarded and the sender will be notified.

UPS will notify the shipper about the damage.

I've encountered a few significant recent delays with indefinite due dates... and every one is stuck somewhere in California. All others- no problem.

USPS prices go up for the same reason that most prices go up - people will still pay them.

For the first time in a very long time, I am thus far successfully avoiding the holiday USPS scary times. No online card shopping for me until 2025. :D

Can’t believe REA, Huggins & Scott, PWCC, etc… are all still using USPS this time of the year. Hopefully, they are using expedited FedEx & UPS on higher priced items. Only thing on par with USPS during the holiday season is FedEx Ground / Home Delivery. Jeez.

LOTG also used USPS Priority for me but the rep said I can call after each win to make sure another service is used for extra $. If I have to pay extra to avoid USPS., don’t mind

Since when (with the two I've highlighted)? I've always had my items shipped via courier from them. Is this just for really cheap material? I've certainly bought stuff from them that totaled less than a grand, but usually it's been more. Regardless, I have no recollection of their ever using USPS. Maybe this is a new thing after Rob retired and Brian took over both companies.

I've been getting USPS on only about 3 days a week. My "informed delivery" tells me what is *supposed* to come, but on many days nothing arrives.

I have packages marked "delivered" that show up the next day.
The worst was a USPS signature-required package - valued at a few k of baseball cards. It was marked delivered and signed for. Was worried for a few hours before the delivery guy showed up, and said that they marked them delivered early to avoid a 6pm deadline. I questioned the legality of signing my name for me....and the liability if it got lost. Sigh.

I bought a card on ebay on Nov 30th. I live near San Antonio, TX.

The card was mailed on Dec 1st in Lake Worth, FL (near Palm Beach).

On Dec 6th, it arrived in Dallas, TX

Here's where everything went haywire:

On Dec 9th, the card showed up in Questa, NM (a rural town in extreme northern New Mexico, north of Taos).

On Dec 10th, it showed up in Albuquerque, NM.

This afternoon, it arrived in Shreveport, LA.

So, I'm sitting here, near San Antonio, TX, still waiting for the damn card to get back to Texas.

Steve

Last month, I bought a Mike Trout autographed baseball on ebay.

The seller shipped it in an aprox 8"x10"x12" box, with styrofoam peanut filler. When it got to me, it looked like it had actually been run over by a truck; the box itself was smashed, the plastic ball cube was shattered into tiny pieces, the ball had been cut into by the sharp plastic, and the PSA/DNA COA was mangled and punctured, as were an Ultra Pro sheet protector and a hard cardboard backing.

Luckily, after contacting the seller, sending everything back to him, and my local post office admitting that the box got to them smashed, I got a full refund.

I hope the seller ultimately gets refunded by the USPS, as the package was insured.

Steve

I am not an advocate for shipping in ball cubes for precisely this reason. Find another way. Cover it in a ton of bubble wrap and it will be safer.

Ball cubes are rinky-dink garbage. The older ones were made with stronger material. The modern versions are so flimsy. Just a terrible product.

If you insist upon using a plastic case to ship, then use the ones that are round, conforming to the shape of the ball. Less chance of problems. But again, go crazy with the bubble wrap.

Bought a card 11/27 ,just left the authenticator today, 12/11.
Sent an express mail Monday from NC to Michigan, and was there in less than 24 hrs.
Who knows.

I had a first time mail problem today. I sent two packages from Florida to NJ last Thursday. One got there on Monday. The other had zero updates until this morning, when it all of a sudden showed up in Greensboro, Georgia and said it was being prepared to be delivered today. I had no idea the poor mailmen in Greensboro, GA went all the way to central NJ.

I called their office today. They asked for the tracking number and halfway through the lady finished the number for me. She said the sticker with the tracking number arrived there stuck to the side of a different package and they didn't have the package I sent, just the sticker. She told me it happens occasionally and the package should still get there, but there's zero way to track it now.

Anyone else ever had this problem?

Out of the 5 packages that I have been waiting on for over 2 weeks each now, one is officially lost, one arrived today, one has been in the next town from me for the last two days now but still hasn’t made it here yet. The other two are still in the postal system somewhere, moving VERY SLOWLY. 1 for 5 doesn’t sound so bad but a major leaguer with a .200 batting average probably isn’t keeping his job for very long, huh? As I recall, didn’t work out too well for Mario Mendoza. lol

Yes things are a mess right now. I had a package sit in LA for a week, then pop up in Indianapolis (not a usual stopping point) and now it's been sitting there for 3 days and counting.

Here is the tracking of the cards I'm currently waiting on from ebay. Let's just say things are moving slowly.

#1

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1ed9bd6989.jpg

#2

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...82fa42ccc3.jpg

#3

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8b6cb1e4cc.jpg

#4

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...bc2ed0070d.jpg

#5

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e488974d5b.jpg

My priority shipping is the same as ground makes no difference. Just hoping everything arrives eventually.

Need to get DOGE on the case! USPS has to be hugely inefficient. That said, i sent a flat to Australia for $18 recently, vs quotes from UPS ($250) and Fedex ($200). Easy decision. It wasnt a rush, though UPS/FEDEX may not even be faster from previous experience. We’ll see!

LOL :eek:

Went to USPS today to drop off one small package.

A few comments:

1) my USPS is actually pretty reliable. But they had 1 person working the counter on a Saturday. Yikes.

2) Guy in front of me pulls out 14 packages that were covered in eBay tape. Another guy behind me lost his marbles. It was almost comical

3) Make sure to be kind to the USPS employees. Easy to dump on them… it’s just mail. I’m guilty of missing the mark here, but I’m working on asking how the two regular guys there are doing and remembering their names.

Story on the Indianapolis hub

I can confirm this facility is a mess. Took 10 days to get a package from the Southside of Indy to me in a northern suburb

https://www.wthr.com/article/news/lo...8-3d3ef470aeb0

I'll give some positivity:

- I sold 12 items on eBay between last Monday and Thursday and all show as delivered in my order hub.

- My SGC sub which was mailed by me from Nashville to Boca on Nov. 28 has been back in my hands for nearly three days.

- I mailed my REA check on Dec. 10 and my package is listed as being delivered tomorrow.

Knock on wood.

I would buy some Powerball tickets! 🤣

This X 10
Unless you’re a flipper…take a deep breath

I went and read the article and they were quoting a person who owns a business (United State of Indiana) who has 250 packages in limbo. Curious to see what his business was, I went to his website. Apparently he sells various curios and other such stuff related to Indiana to ex-pats. Not one to let an opportunity lie, he recently added this to his site:

https://unitedstateofindiana.com/cdn...8913&width=823

I have been fortunate with packages this season. (knock on wood).
.

I mailed a check for my Huggins & Scott winnings through Priority Mail from Louisville, KY on December 16th with delivery to their PO Box in New Jersey. It was due to arrive by December 20th. Checked the tracking on the 20th and it was in Spokane, Washington. USPS is a total crapshoot this time of year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've always bought 1500$ or less at a time from REA and they've always shipped my winnings via FedEx and then FedEx gives it to USPS for final delivery. I live in a major city and they been sending me my winnings that way for at least 5 years.

I've received many 5 figure shipments direct from REA to my PO Box via USPS. You have the option on your user page to select how and where you want your material delivered as with nearly every other AH.

USPS this week. NY to Wisconsin REGISTERED took 5 days


Now that is amazing

A moving blur
 

A hand-off to hand-off Registered package , that far , that fast , that week , is indeed "amazing".

Ordered a GU patch w/MLB authentic sticker on ebay around Nov 1. On Nov 4 the seller shipped with tracking, leaving Brooklyn NY. On Nov 10 I brought it to the attention of the seller that the item still showed no handling by USPS. He worked with his local post office, and after a week they called it a lost package. Seller refunded my money.

But! On Dec 31, tracking was picked up in LA. Today it was supposed to be delivered. I got the email notice it was on my front porch. I eagerly rush home to find my missing prize. And....it's not there! UGH!

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

I have a card on the way to Ohio from Alabama. It made it to Indianapolis in 3 days, which usually means 2 days before it hits my mailbox. Instead, it headed to Pennsylvania and has arrived and departed from Philadelphia 3 times in the last 4 days. Who knows when it will arrive as it passed by my house last week.

Damn, thought I was getting off easy. Been awhile since I've had an issue. Packages I've sent out have got where they're going, and packages I've bought have gotten to me in a timely manner.....until now.

Won a 1970's Non-Sport BBCE Wrapped Unopened Box on Ebay. It's a box I don't see pop up often, and thought I won it at a great price, so looking forward to getting it.

Got the "Ebay Delivered Package" notice in my E-mail. Excited, I run up to my Mailbox....and this is what I find waiting for me.

:(:(:(

I believe this is the 2nd Ebay purchase in 20+ years or so...that just showed up as an empty box for me.

That's terrible! Did they deliver a box - knowing it was cut open and empty?

Yup! Even put a sticker on it that says "Received Unsealed".

Not sure exactly where on it's journey that sticker would have been put on the box.

Screenshot of the tracking. Apparently it was noted as a Damaged Box the morning before it was put on the truck and delivered to me.

"Visible Damage" has never once shown up on my USPS tracking. I have received countless crushed, mangled, man-handled, flattened, tattered, torn and rain-soaked boxed from them. And have never seen that particular disclaimer in the tracking.

Sorry it happened to you, and hope you get proper resolution.

Update to my previous post....

went to my post office today after a second day of non delivery. My PO staff member used a computer to find the tracking and an image of the package. She said it appears that the tracking number assigned to our missing package was "canceled", and then the PO regenerated it for a new package that was shipped to a completely different person with a completely different address. Somehow our canceled tracking piggy backed on the new package (on ebay) to make it look like our package was mysteriously found and delivered. She said our package is still missing.

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

Well my card that left Indianapolis, traveled past Ohio, spent the week going in and out of the sorting facility in Philadelphia, has now passed Ohio once again, and returned to Indianapolis. Quite the journey this card is on.

I was just forced to refund an eBay sale that went missing in the St. Louis package center.

I often cringe a little when I get a package from a seller that has "eBay", a card seller, or an auction house's name splashed all over it; I am sure that they make attractive targets for dishonest package handlers. Cards should be shipped like porn: anonymous packaging.

Got 2 things with Christmas gift cards:

1 shipped by Post Office. Tracking never moved beyond "package in possession of Post Office". 6 days later it just showed up.

What is the purpose of tracking if it doesn't work?

1 shipped by UPS. Came 3 days after purchase, with regular tracking updates, in between Christmas and New Years. No issues at all.

Well, now nearly two weeks after Christmas and packages still moving much slower than usual. What’s the excuse now?

Feeling for you, buddy.

The only thing I needed to see in your tracking history was Philadelphia distribution center. That center is known to open boxes especially if you think it’s cards.

The only thing I needed to see in your tracking history was Philadelphia distribution center. That center is known to open boxes especially if someone think it’s cards.

Did the shipping label contain any wording about about sports, cards, etc… I stopped using USPS years ago. My father worked for USPS (35 years ) and has nightmare stories. Theft was rapid before 2003 (mainly if a worker thought it was cash or jewelry ) so he can only imagine what it’s like now.

No, there was not.

Also, as much as I want to blame USPS, I'm starting to think it was a horrible packing job from the seller.

The picture I showed above, of the opened box. It slid open like that on it's own. It was not taped closed. I suspect if was never properly taped closed. It looks like the seller re-used an old box that was sent to them (nothing wrong with that), but neglected to put any additional tape on top of the old tape job. You can see on the side (which I've blurred out most of it), they didn't even properly block out the old Shipping and Return address, before they slapped another label on a different part of the box, to send it out to me.

It looked like they had a bunch of other BBCE boxes that sold at the same time. Most of them, more expensive then mine. Hope they shipped those out better then mine.

Also, their response to me after I sent them pictures and an explanation, didn't exactly give me confidence this won't be a long drawn out game of chicken.

I'll quote below:


:(

Usps
 

My wife said the "Postmaster General"said prepare for
the mail to get even slower.
I had a package get lost not too long ago.
I had a tracking number but its' last seen location said it was lost
I lost it at a distribution center.
Go online to USPS customer service.You need to talk to a person..
They found mine.

It's almost as if having people head agencies whose sole mission is to stop the agency from functioning properly is a bad idea...

Just cover your ears.

DeJoy was hired to manage USPS out of existence.

That was quite a scene.

It’s now a full two months removed from the holiday season and the USPS shipping times have been no better over these past two months than they were during November and December. Every single package coming from PSA to Florida (when I am the buyer/recipient), thanks to ebay’s for wonderful authenticity guaranty program, takes more than a week to arrive and averages close to 10 days. At the same time, every package going from FL to PSA (when I am the seller/shipper) gets there the second or third business day after shipping. Any thoughts as to why this is?

Never mind, PSA is shipping everything going through the post office via Ground Advantage. I ship everything Priority Mail. I believe that PSA was shipping everything priority mail also when the authenticity guaranty program started but I’m sure that cost cutting measures have brought about this change. Just another way that customer service takes a back seat to the almighty dollar. That’s the way of the world these days though, isn’t it?

Agreed. USPS etiquette is terrible.