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12-08-2013 01:34 PM
Recently I sent a small order of 89 pennies to US. The buyer opened a case item not a described. I messaged the buyer asking what happened. I was told that of the 89 Canadian pennies I sent him he got 9. I was baffled and asked for some pictures which he then forwarded to me. Apparently the US Postal service had opened the package to inspect it and stole 80 of the pennies (probably dropped them on the floor, too lazy to pick them up). After some back and forth messages the buyer agreed that the US post did a number on his order.
I have attached some pics to show you. You can see the US Postal service bag & some note is Spanish. Why do these people who get paid good money do these things? No wonder people don't trust the government. This probably happens all the time and there is nothing we can do about it. Pretty sad.
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Re: Thanks US Postal service for almost getting me a negative strike.
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12-08-2013 07:43 PM - edited 12-08-2013 07:44 PM
'recped' is right -- the gist of the note in Spanish (a very apologetic note from the P.O.) is that the parcel was damaged as a result of high-speed machinery, and that certain packaging cannot withstand the processing involved with such machinery. They did their best to repackage the parcel and apologize very politely for the incident.
My guess is that the envelope you used to ship these could not withstand the weight of nearly 90 pennies and likely burst open somewhere along the automated line, and who knows where the pennies ended up - probably scattered all over. With all the other stuff moving along the line, it likely wasn't possible for the postal workers to stop everything to search for all the missing coins.
It looks from the photo as if you might have shipped the coins all together inside a zip-lock bag that you put into the envelope. If you're shipping a large number of coins again, my suggestion would be to tape them flat onto a piece of cardboard (you can stick them down 2 rows deep if necessary), then sandwich another piece of cardboard on top (perhaps with a layer or two of tissue paper in between to hold everything in place). Then tape the two layers of cardboard firmly together with packing tape, and slide the whole thing inside a strong zip-lock bag that can then go into a bubble envelope.
Packing them this way may be more trouble and time to do, but I think it would be far less likely to get stuck in machinery and will get to your buyer in one piece. You can buy "removable" Scotch tape that will do the job nicely but not leave permanent sticky glue on the coins.
Re: Thanks US Postal service for almost getting me a negative strike.
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12-08-2013 03:43 PM
USPS didn't "open" it, your packaging was deficient and it fell apart.
Now it's possible that your package fell off a conveyor belt and was run over by a fork lift or got caught in a sorting machine, USPS did the best they could to recover the items and send them along as opposed to just tossing it all in the garbage.
When you process MILLIONS of packages every day there will always be a few that get messed up.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
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Re: Thanks US Postal service for almost getting me a negative strike.
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12-08-2013 07:43 PM - edited 12-08-2013 07:44 PM
'recped' is right -- the gist of the note in Spanish (a very apologetic note from the P.O.) is that the parcel was damaged as a result of high-speed machinery, and that certain packaging cannot withstand the processing involved with such machinery. They did their best to repackage the parcel and apologize very politely for the incident.
My guess is that the envelope you used to ship these could not withstand the weight of nearly 90 pennies and likely burst open somewhere along the automated line, and who knows where the pennies ended up - probably scattered all over. With all the other stuff moving along the line, it likely wasn't possible for the postal workers to stop everything to search for all the missing coins.
It looks from the photo as if you might have shipped the coins all together inside a zip-lock bag that you put into the envelope. If you're shipping a large number of coins again, my suggestion would be to tape them flat onto a piece of cardboard (you can stick them down 2 rows deep if necessary), then sandwich another piece of cardboard on top (perhaps with a layer or two of tissue paper in between to hold everything in place). Then tape the two layers of cardboard firmly together with packing tape, and slide the whole thing inside a strong zip-lock bag that can then go into a bubble envelope.
Packing them this way may be more trouble and time to do, but I think it would be far less likely to get stuck in machinery and will get to your buyer in one piece. You can buy "removable" Scotch tape that will do the job nicely but not leave permanent sticky glue on the coins.
Re: Thanks US Postal service for almost getting me a negative strike.
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10-01-2018 06:22 PM
THANK YOU... I WAS SKIMPING on packaging back then... I dont sell on ebay anymore.. This place is a fee market full of junk from china and malaysia .. lol.. The big fish have eating the little fish so Ive moved on.
Re: Thanks US Postal service for almost getting me a negative strike.
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10-02-2018 04:06 PM
@coretek1 wrote:THANK YOU... I WAS SKIMPING on packaging back then... I dont sell on ebay anymore.. This place is a fee market full of junk from china and malaysia .. lol.. The big fish have eating the little fish so Ive moved on.
You're very welcome (from 5 years ago!). I agree with you, and looking back over the last 5 years nothing has improved for smaller sellers. I'll likely be closing up shop in 2019 and focusing elsewhere too. Best of luck to you!
Re: Thanks US Postal service for almost getting me a negative strike.

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10-03-2018 12:59 AM
I would tape each penny onto a hard cardboard inserts for protection, no moving inside. Pity that you didn't pack them well.

