Posts by Melissa Phillips4

Just pay the shipping now. You can always recoup the cost by bumping up the price on your next sale.
I’d suggest listing it on eBay. Demand for phones there is huge, you'll move it fast, and the money goes straight into your account.

Look, I honestly don't know what kind of brilliant advice I can give you, other than this: never, ever ship anything COD. I learned the hard way when someone totally ripped me off over the shipping costs; they refused to pick up the package, it got sent back to me, and I ended up losing the initial shipping fee plus having to pay extra just to get my own stuff back. That's why I stopped doing cash on delivery entirely. If someone isn't willing to just Zelle or wire the money upfront, fine—no big deal, I'll find another buyer. But doing COD? You never know what kind of people you're dealing with.

William Robinson2 said:Is there any way to receive a package anonymously? Like, without giving the sender my home address and all that? I saw they have PO boxes, but I don't really get how that works... I just need this for one single shipment..

Use General Delivery. You write it like this:
Full Name
General Delivery
Washington, D.C.
Then you show up at the post office with your ID.
But you have to provide your actual name. There's no way around that.

Tyler Vaughn5 said:Do packages arrive on Saturdays? And is it possible for mail to get from the Midwest or Florida to Washington, D.C. in just one day?

No Saturday delivery.
From the Midwest, one day to D.C. is doable. From Florida, it's a stretch... sometimes it took me three days from Miami, but something from Maui arrived express in two.
Too many variables. Three days is the max for transit.

Thanks

Does anyone know when the USPS processes payments? How long does it usually take to hit an account at a different bank if it isn't Chase?

At least four days, maybe up to two weeks.

coppernomad10 said:Where are you guys getting your shipping boxes?

Usually I just grab some old tech packaging from around the house.
If I'm out of luck, I hit up a local store. They always have plenty of junk lying around they don't mind giving away. 😁

placidbadger67 said:I have a question.
I'm expecting a package from the USA, but I want to keep my home address private (for instance, having the sender only see my name or something similar). Is there any way I can pick up that package at my local post office using my ID or something?

Use Poste Restante.

12 days

quietcanyon13 said:Starting on the 5th and running through the end of the week.

Thanks, 🙂

Does anyone know when the transaction statements actually arrive?
I set mine up to be sent via email, thinking they’d show up by the 1st of the month, but nothing.

What's the bare minimum setup for Windows 7?
I'm looking to install 7 on an old machine.
1.2 GHz Intel Pentium processor, 768 MB RAM, 40 GB HDD.
Will this actually work? Thanks.

Does anyone know if I have a shot at getting them to resend this shipment for free? It was returned to my address before it even reached the recipient. Someone obviously flipped the envelope upside down during sorting at the USPS facility.

It ought to be around $0.80, but I seriously doubt service costs are going down here in the States. Just two months ago, they were hiking prices everywhere else...
we'll see, I guess.

mistycrane19 said:Hey... I’m dealing with a weird situation here...

I'm living in Brussels and wanted to send some cash back home to my parents in the States ($250). Dammit, I had to use the mail because FIFA caused a massive mess back in the US, and obviously, the money never arrived.
In the past, when I sent money, the amounts were smaller, but this most important one—clearly didn't make it. 😠

Now, since I don't know much about these tracking numbers, I’d really appreciate it if someone could explain things to me because I need to send more money again.

The point is, they absolutely loathe foreigners here and try to squeeze every single cent out of them by any means necessary... so, I seriously need help finding a way to deal with these vultures.
I used to send packages by plane; they always arrived within three days. I have no idea what that signifies.
thanks 🙂

Can't you just use Western Union?
If you use a package, it has to be insured, and then you declare the value as $250.
Or you can do it through a bank; you just need the account number.

By the way, they’ve covered their tracks perfectly because everywhere it says you aren't allowed to send cash in an envelope. They can just claim you were sending something illegal and that they "destroyed" it.
Nothing surprises me anymore; they steal letters with postcards and stamps, so why wouldn't they steal cash?

northernhawk29 said:I sent a package to the USA over a month ago with a tracking number. The clerk told me it would take about a month to arrive.

When I check the status, all I see is:
Receive item at office of exchange
Insert item into bag

Can I actually expect our postal service to update the online tracking once it hits the recipient, showing "received" or something similar? Last time I bought sneakers from the US via USPS, even with a tracking number, the status just shows the package was accepted/sent, but never confirms delivery.

Some countries don't provide updates. Sometimes you have to check the website of the specific foreign postal service you're sending to. There are no set rules; the systems aren't fully integrated. Often, the info is incomplete. Most of the time, you only see updates when it's processed here.
When I sent something to Korea, it showed it reached the international mail center in Vienna, but nothing after that.
A few weeks ago, I sent something to Honduras and the local site actually showed it had been delivered there.

Megan Flores8 said:Hey there.

I have a question similar to the last one (Johnny Cash.). Someone from far-off Nigeria (?) contacted me regarding my laptop listing and is insisting we handle this via COD (cash on delivery).
Since I’ve never sold anything this way, I’m completely in the dark. I also went through your first post, but I can't find the specific info I need.
Mainly, I want to know: how safe is this really (is there a chance they won't see the cash OR the laptop)? Also, roughly what would the shipping cost me? Thanks.

A few months back, the USPS already posted a warning on their site about these kinds of listings.
http://www.usps.com/main.aspx?id=2442

On top of that, you can't even track this person down because they’re likely just using a P.O. Box. In most African countries, standard home mail delivery basically doesn't exist.

Is anyone else seeing delays with certified mail this week?
It’s been five days for a shipment traveling from Washington, D.C. to Washington, D.C., and it still hasn't arrived.

Brandon Young2 said:I’m the idiot here.🙂 I sent a phone worth $600 to an electronics repair shop via standard certified mail. Paid the $5.00 shipping fees and everything, but instead of my phone, I basically just mailed them a pair of socks. It vanished. Thirty days later, a claim notice arrives—no phone, nothing. The USPS excuse? "The package was lost in transit between USPS Rab and USPS Washington, D.C." Sure. I got my $25 reimbursement, so that part's settled. But then, admitting I messed up, I 🙄 contacted USPS Washington, D.C. directly to tell them they clearly have thieves in their ranks. Someone saw a package headed to a major repair center—one of the biggest in the US—and decided to grab it. I told them to talk to their staff. Their response? "Sir, you should have used registered mail, blah blah blah..." I told them fine, I'm at fault, but all my personal data is on that device and someone is stealing it. They didn't care. Nothing from them.
Is it even worth reporting the theft to the police separately since the IMEI could potentially track the location?

That sucks.
You really should have used registered mail.
And if the phone is worth $1000, if I understood correctly, it would have been cheaper to just drive or take a bus to Washington, D.C. to drop it off at the shop yourself, or hand it to a friend heading that way.
That would've cost you way less than this mess.

urbangardener0 said:It’s none of her business and she shouldn't even be asking when we're just talking about a standard package moving through domestic transit without special handling requirements. If she keeps pushing, tell her to just get her regional manager's contact info. ☕

They have zero right to ask what's inside.
But experience varies depending on which USPS branch you hit.

At my local branch, they never ask what’s in an international registered envelope. But back when I was shipping out of Washington, D.C., they actually had the nerve to ask what was inside, acting like I was required to present an open letter just so they could inspect it personally. 😁

I shut them down immediately. Asked them if they took me for some kind of criminal. If they want to scan a letter, fine, but there is absolutely no way I'm opening it or disclosing the contents.
As if paying full $9.25 shipping fees 😁 wasn't enough.
They went quiet after that.