eBay

teenytrinkets · ‎08-03-2020

Just curious...does anyone pay for signature delivery for higher priced items, even when it's not necessary?

ypdc_dennis · ‎08-03-2020

During the pandemic it is a mostly useless option since most delivery companies are not collecting signatures.

In the good old days, I would only add when really uncertain about the buyer.

I am more likely to select Do-Not-Safe-Drop as an option.

-..-

reallynicestamps · ‎08-03-2020

I agree that the Do Not Safe Drop/Hold for Pickup option, which is usually FREE, my favourite price, is more useful.

EBay has said they will waive Signature Confirmation in high value Item Not Received disputes, but frankly, I would not trust either the Resolution Centre robots or the minimum wage Customer Service clerks to agree to that waiver.

recped · ‎08-03-2020

@teenytrinkets wrote:
Just curious...does anyone pay for signature delivery for higher priced items, even when it's not necessary?

NEVER! If it is an available option for me (Canada or USA) I will use it the rare time I'm over the PayPal/eBay limit.

As a buyer I DETEST Signature on delivery but I understand that some merchants have policies and will use it. In those cases I can only hope they will use UPS, FedEx or Purolator with whom I have agreements to deliver using an on file signature release.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎08-03-2020

@teenytrinkets

If you had something a buyer and a seller were truly concerned about being left on a step you could use Canadapost's Flex Delivery service for pickup with signature/Id at their closest depot. (For shipments in Canada). I've used in the past when I'm expecting larger parcels and don't want them left on my front step to walk away by themselves. Would require that that depots address prior to payment. Not sure if something like that is available in USA.

Sign up is free

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpc/en/personal/receiving/alternative-delivery/flexdelivery.page

travis7s · ‎08-04-2020

No, I've only used it when required for Seller Protection for orders over $750.

lady.stark · ‎08-04-2020

Same here, I only used it when the order was over $750. Which happened maybe just once.

Or - if it was automatically included with Xpresspost (on some occasions, I didn't have a choice to use that service, because of weight and size of parcel).

ricarmic · ‎08-04-2020

I only use expresspost when I have to for PAYPAL or private insurance purposes.

reallynicestamps · ‎08-04-2020

Got an email from Canada Post today with updates on their Safe Drop and Signature procedures.

One point is that extended pickup times have been returned to normal.

With COVID-related restrictions easing across the country, fewer Canadians are now at home during the day. As a result, we’re making some modifications to our existing Knock, Drop and Go procedures for the delivery of parcels, while ensuring that employees and customers can safely remain at least two metres apart. The modifications take effect Tuesday, August 4, for two delivery processes:

• The process for handling “Do Not Safe Drop” items as indicated on the shipping label: The delivery agent attempts delivery, while maintaining physical distancing. If the customer is not home, the agent no longer leaves a “Do Not Safe Drop” item at the delivery address. The item is carded for pickup at a retail outlet • Our normal safe-drop policy, with minor modifications: The delivery agent rings the bell and knocks at the door, then steps back and waits for an answer. If someone is home, our employee will leave the item at a safe distance and proceed to the next delivery. If no one is home, our employee will leave the item following our normal safe-drop policy. If there is no safe-drop area, the item is carded for pickup at a retail outlet.

Please also note that effective July 31, we return to a 15-day time limit for customers to retrieve their carded items from the post office. Since March, we’ve provided customers additional time to do so.

To avoid close customer interactions, we still do not request signatures from customers for deliveries to the door. In addition, we are still not delivering Proof-of-Age, Proof-of-Identity, Collect-on-Delivery (COD) and customs-owing items, which are to be carded for pickup in the depot and transferred to a retail outlet.

sylviebee · ‎08-05-2020

I've never Xpresspost unless there was a very good reason to do so, but after spending way too much time tracking down items lost in Chicago I've started to use it for more expensive items....... say over US$500.

That's because I found that trying to get the POs attention to track an item lost in the American Corona-Virus Soup that is boiling over down there was so time consuming for me and overly stressful for buyers.

Now, if I have an item over about US$500 I use the CPOs Snap Ship service and ship insured with Xpresspost. The extra time it takes to ship from CPOs' site and the extra cost is well worth it.

I'd prefer not to have the signature option added to Xpresspost but it's not an option. In any case, most POs aren't requiring the signature at this time.

When it's insured directly with the Post Office they really care about those items.

If an item is insured with third party insurance ......... not so much.

lady.stark · ‎08-05-2020

@sylviebee wrote:
When it's insured directly with the Post Office they really care about those items.
If an item is insured with third party insurance ......... not so much.

Can you clarify this for me? I do not understand your statement... every Tracked Packet, Expedited and Xpresspost shipments have $100 insurance automatically included... so they are all insured with Canada Post... ?

sylviebee · ‎08-05-2020

Yes, but $100 doesn't get their attention in the same way as $500 insurance does.

Also, for what it's worth if anything, when the search for a package is done by the USPS I have the impression that they are unaware that some shipments include that $100 insurance.

My buyers who searched from their end were told that the Tracked packages I shipped had no insurance .

hlmacdon · ‎08-05-2020

@sylviebee wrote:
Yes, but $100 doesn't get their attention in the same way as $500 insurance does.

Also, for what it's worth if anything, when the search for a package is done by the USPS I have the impression that they are unaware that some shipments include that $100 insurance.
My buyers who searched from their end were told that the Tracked packages I shipped had no insurance .

US buyers are used to dealing with USPS when there is an insurance issue, for an international package USPS doesn't have any insurance involvement. They are generally quite helpful when tracking down individual packages outside of a pandemic situation, but with the major international intake centers or the larger distribution centers things are getting shoved away in containers fairly randomly so there isn't much appetite to search for them. Was reading about a similar situation where a retailer had a firearms shipment disappear into a carrier distribution center and they told the retailer the shipment was lost after it hadn't moved for some time. Shortly after the ATF became involved the shipment was unsurprisingly located very promptly.

Hold for pickup or do not safe drop are the better options as others have mentioned. For larger, more expensive items I will sometimes use that option for major metro areas as carriers have a habit of leaving things in plain sight. A small percentage of customers will complain but they also complain when their package is stolen and they are out of item and money.

reallynicestamps · ‎08-07-2020

I'm seeing a lot of muttering among my FaceBook friends (running to a mixture of mildly left to wild-eyed radicals plus a lot of science fiction fans, writers and illustrators) who are saying that the guy 45 made head of the USPS has ended overtime and hiring of temps specifically to slow down the USPS service.

He is a big stockholder is several courier firms like FedEx and UPS.

This is in addition to the understandable slowdowns in all shipping (including couriers) from heavier than usual online business and low staffing due to sickness, family leave, and safe distancing.

widgetc · ‎08-07-2020

"'m seeing a lot of muttering among my FaceBook friends (running to a mixture of mildly left to wild-eyed radicals plus a lot of science fiction fans, writers and illustrators) who are saying that the guy 45 made head of the USPS has ended overtime and hiring of temps specifically to slow down the USPS service."

A couple of articles in the new york times have offered that opinion and suggest part of the motive is to reduce the ability to handle mail in ballots.

widgetc · ‎08-07-2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/us/politics/trump-usps-mail-delays.html?searchResultPosition=1

Mail Delays Fuel Concern Trump Is Undercutting Postal System Ahead of Voting

the article is too long to copy here but part is:

In recent weeks, at the direction of a Trump campaign megadonor who was recently named the postmaster general, the service has stopped paying mail carriers and clerks the overtime necessary to ensure that deliveries can be completed each day. That and other changes have led to reports of letters and packages being delayed by as many as several days.