USPS Mail Theft

[teza11]

Hi all,

Please keep your eyes open for this pair of N36 A&G Indian cards. They disappeared while going through U.S. Postal Service earlier this week. I suspect that the culprit will try to sell them in the coming weeks. Each card has very clear identifiers that I have circled in red. Now considered stolen property, I will prosecute to the full extent of the law.

Regards,
Jeff

[Peter_Spaeth]

The week is three days old. Why do you think it's not just a typical USPS delay?

[teza11]

Delivery was made on August 5th. No contents. The envelope was cut open along right side edge.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by teza11

Delivery was made on August 5th. No contents. The envelope was cut open along right side edge.

Ah. That sucks.

[MikeGarcia]

Originally Posted by teza11

Delivery was made on August 5th. No contents. The envelope was cut open along right side edge.

..Sorry for your loss ; this is every member's nightmare scenario: the delivered empty package , box , envelope.
What do you think made this particular piece of mail stand out to the perp ? How could the thief know about anything of value inside the envelope just by looking at it or holding it ? Was it perhaps an inside job by a USPS person who had advance knowledge about the value of the contents ?

I assume your local authorities are already looking into the chain of custody.? We all here hope this ends well for you. Please keep us posted , thanks.

[parkplace33]

Very sorry to hear this. Will keep a watch out.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Hope you will use Registered Mail from now on if you're forced to use USPS.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by MikeGarcia

..Sorry for your loss ; this is every member's nightmare scenario: the delivered empty package , box , envelope.
What do you think made this particular piece of mail stand out to the perp ? How could the thief know about anything of value inside the envelope just by looking at it or holding it ? Was it perhaps an inside job by a USPS person who had advance knowledge about the value of the contents ?

I assume your local authorities are already looking into the chain of custody.? We all here hope this ends well for you. Please keep us posted , thanks.

Most postages have the cost displayed. Just by knowing postal rates you can see if and how much insurance it has. Most cards and other small things of value I send in a small flat rate box with zero insurance. Have never lost one and I have sent 100s of them. The most valuable being around 30K with most of the value being one card(25K). I have used Registered once when sending a small handful of 100s to a fellow member but that could have been delivered faster in a covered wagon with old horses.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Most postages have the cost displayed. Just by knowing postal rates you can see if and how much insurance it has. Most cards and other small things of value I send in a small flat rate box with zero insurance. Have never lost one and I have sent 100s of them. The most valuable being around 30K with most of the value being one card(25K). I have used Registered once when sending a small handful of 100s to a fellow member but that could have been delivered faster in a covered wagon with old horses.

I don't mean to sound disrespectful or foreboding, but that only means that you're far overdue for something to happen to one of your mailings. When that happens, you'll be changing your tune quite quickly. I wish nothing but the opposite for you.

[visualplane]

When you ask for insurance, you have to state the value of your item. It also states the value on the receipt.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

I don't mean to sound disrespectful or foreboding, but that only means that you're far overdue for something to happen to one of your mailings. When that happens, you'll be changing your tune quite quickly. I wish nothing but the opposite for you.

I have sent so much stuff that even if I lose something big just the savings I have from not getting insurance would easily cover any loss. Yes it will suck and I will probably act like a spoiled child for a very short time.

Insurance is there to make the people selling it money and let postal employees know what packages to steal.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Most postages have the cost displayed. Just by knowing postal rates you can see if and how much insurance it has. Most cards and other small things of value I send in a small flat rate box with zero insurance. Have never lost one and I have sent 100s of them. The most valuable being around 30K with most of the value being one card(25K). I have used Registered once when sending a small handful of 100s to a fellow member but that could have been delivered faster in a covered wagon with old horses.

Ben,

Trust me, I also completely realize that there are definitely many shipping situations which merit doing it the way you do, but another option to consider is using a courier instead (if the additional cost befits the value of your shipment). Insurance is up to you, of course, but I'm not talking about that aspect here.

I made the switch from the postal system over to (mostly) UPS some years ago and it's one of the best moves I've ever made. Using the numerous discount third party shipping services found online, you're not really paying that much more per package. At most, what, $10 more (uninsured)? For a valuable shipment, it's incredibly worth the extra few bucks.

Everything has gone wonderfully with UPS with the exception of two shipments, but even those wound up with positive outcomes! Each time, it was easy to get a rep on the phone and they were extremely helpful.

The first bad experience came when my package was inexplicably dropped on the doorstep of a similar-sounding address 60 miles away from its actual destination. The UPS rep gave me the exact (incorrect) address. Thankfully, this happened in the tiny state of Connecticut. I quickly called the recipient of the package. He just happened to be driving by the area where it was misdelivered and fetched it off the porch in short order!

The other one was for a package that was coming to me. It was being sent from the Houston area. Instead of coming northward, it wound up being destined far south to some UPS pickup point in a minuscule Texas border town. This place looked like the wild west. There were literally tumbleweeds on Googe Streetview photos when I looked the place up. The "town" seemed to consist of tumbleweeds and this business where my package was to be sent. How my shipment was misdirected here is anyone's guess, but again, the UPS rep figured it all out and got it back on track. When I spoke to the UPS lady, she could pinpoint via GPS exactly what road the driver with my package was on, and where. I checked out the coordinates on Streetview. Complete desolation, but UPS knew where it was. While USPS can likely utilize a lot of their own, similar technology, good luck finding someone there to pick up the phone, let alone care. By the time you hear anything back, if you even do, your package was already misdelivered a week ago and then it's tough luck for you.

I realize that others have had poor experiences with my chosen method, but just like you, I'll be sticking with this one until something unforgivable happens to me! That's just the way it goes for all of us.

[G1911]

That sucks, sorry Jeff.

[1880nonsports]

and happens to be 2 N36 cards on my short list too. Sorry Jeff!

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Most postages have the cost displayed. Just by knowing postal rates you can see if and how much insurance it has. Most cards and other small things of value I send in a small flat rate box with zero insurance. Have never lost one and I have sent 100s of them. The most valuable being around 30K with most of the value being one card(25K). I have used Registered once when sending a small handful of 100s to a fellow member but that could have been delivered faster in a covered wagon with old horses.

I send in a small flat rate box with zero insurance. I'm on your side Ben.

I've always thought the insurance label read "Take me".

You would have to open a lot of nondescript small flat rate boxes to hit the jackpot. Better odds in Vegas.

Not to mention the difficulty in collecting a USPS claim.

I would add that for the really valuable parcels, it's Registered Mail Period

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

I've always thought the insurance label read "Take me".

I'm in Canada. 99.999% of the baseball collecting world is not. I have to prevent each and every label from reading "steal me", each and every time. Sometimes, this has caused problems at Customs when they feel it isn't specific enough. Well, my description wasn't dishonest--I'm simply trying to avoid others' dishonesty, so tough luck to them. Cards are always "cards", never trading cards, or much worse, "sportscards". I could go the "Printed Matter" route, but could see where they could accuse me of deception if they wanted to get nitpicky. An autographed baseball? "Ball". I would relish them calling me up and trying to challenge that what I sent wasn't a ball. It's not our fault the system is full of thieves.

"Ball" might cause enough curiosity to a theif. May make the switch to "orb". J/K

If I was shipping a Ruth game used bat, should I go the flowery old Mastro route? "Contents: Mighty Thor's Hammer"? Nah. Too many comic book/memorabilia thieves would confuse it for some stupid comic or movie collectible.

[EddieP]

Back in the day of paper stock certificates the broker would tell you to send them via registered mail.

[philo98]

One of the reasons I have collectors insurance. This isnt a plug for them, but my policy is through Collectors Insurance Services and although I have not had to use the benefits of the policy, I know of a few that have, all for stolen mail. The policy covers at home fire or theft, etc etc but also has a clause where it covers stolen or lost items by mail services. Also, you can split the policy for multiple locations, for example safe deposit box and home or for what I have temporarily, safe deposit box and storage facility.

[Buythatcard]

This reminds me of a story when I first started selling on eBay. I sold a 99 cent Topps coin. The buyer claimed that the envelope was slit on the side and that USPS stole the coin. I was a newbie seller and refunded the 99 cents plus shipping.
About a year later, the exact same thing happened. Once again it was a 99 cent Topps coin. The buyer said that USPS stole the coin because the envelope was slit on the side.
Bells started going off in my head. I referred back to a database where I kept track of every single eBay transaction that I ever had. Sure enough, it was the same buyer.
Told him to go f_k himself. Never heard from him again.