Don't use USPS here's an example...

[kynrek]

I got screwed on a textbook my wife was selling. I sold it on half.com and the post office lost it so I had to give the $75 back to the buyer. The USPS sent the book back to my old address (FAIL! mother and father in laws house) and it looked like someone flipped it off of the back of a truck and rolled it down 3 flights of stairs. Now I can't sell it because it damaged and everyone is done buying books for the semester.
So it was 1. lost 2. damaged 3. returned to the wrong address. Epic fail got to love the USPS.

[Leathco]

I'll start off by saying 99 percent of the time I have no issue with USPS. I also am friendly with my carrier and he's good to me.

Unfortunately, I've had a couple issues. Once was I had bought a Voyager DVD set, new in packaging. When I got it in the plastic casing had tons of cracks in it, looked like it had been crushed under other, heavier packages. The worst part was that the seller had packaged it in a box, not bubble wrap. He had done his part and the package STILL was damaged.

That and I've always had probs with international packages. I got a happy birthday letter from a friend in France almost 3 years after she had sent it. Thats the worst one of all.

[omega_supreme]

Well, for anything within the 14oz weight limit of USPS 1st Class Mail qualification I ship USPS. Anything heavier than that and I price check with FedEx and UPS because they tend to equivalent in pricing in many cases. And anything over five pounds I send UPS ro FedEx without even checking USPS, because USPS will unquestionably be higher on stuff beyond the five pound mark.

Also, simply putting a DVD box set in a box is insufficient. If there's space for the contents to rattle around loosely, then there needs to be packing material buffering the item or you're just asking for trouble.

[nes_pimp]

So far Ive recieved everything Ive ever bought from the state over here to Canada. However an item I once sent to the states never arrived. Im not a fan of Courier, Ive had items arrive a bit quicker, but it has always cost me more then the item I bought. $50 game would cost me an aditional $60+ when it arrives. Ive never recieved anything over 5 pounds so I dont know how the rates are effected when you use courier to ship out of the country.

[Burgertime]

I've only had one issue with the USPS.


Love how they put it into a bag with the phrase "We Care" on it.

[Chuck D. Head]

After 15 years and about 1,000 eBay transactions (just a guess - 713 feedback) I have only had three packages damaged or lost, including incoming and outgoing. One was a USPS package and two were UPS. One of the UPS packages was a computer monitor, the driver left it at my front door with the top of the box sagging in and soaked with a blue liquid that smelled like cleaning chemicals. There is no way he didn't see that. I also had the UPS driver (we called this guy the "big brown clown") drop a personal package adressed to my house at my work, because he recognized my name. When I asked why the hell he decided to do that, he said he didn't want to have to go up my driveway. My maintenance guys opened the box and thought I bought them a Gamecube. Now I package everything like its one of those "drop the egg off the roof and have it survive" contests, but lots of my incoming packages are packed terribly. I guess I have just been lucky.

[omega_supreme]

Quick update. As of last month (March 2013) all packages shipped through USPS receive a mandatory USPS Tracking Number. This officially replaces the once optional Delivery Confirmation Number.