Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
08/17/2020 at 2:29 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 476: #SaveTheUSPS and Crocs are Cool again #80752
To the extent that may be correct (which I don’t concede until I’ve seen the data and methodology) and if slowdowns started after he cut overtime, part of it is probably simply fewer man-hours to do the work but I’m sure the overtime policy change pissed some people off. I’ll say it again that I really appreciate the tough job that 90 percent or more of postal employees do with pride but I’ll bet also there’s a small group whose reaction to the overtime cuts is obstructionist and also there are some who are resentful that the Postmaster didn’t come from within their ranks (which we are reminded of ad nauseum in the press). I wouldn’t go so far to call it an organized slowdown but I’ve worked with enough federal employees in my lifetime to know how some of them think.
Personally, the worst problems with domestic mail I’ve had this year are with Priority Mail packages and those issues started in March and are continuing to this day. As for First Class Letters with a stamp, I use USPS Informed Visibility tracking for my postcards and DVD disks. Although I’m getting Covid-19 warnings to allow an extra 2-3 days for delivery, with one exception my letters since June are taking no more than 3 days to get delivered anywhere in the country and 2 days to be delivered in the Southeast. The longest was one that took 6 days to be delivered in California, but two other recent CA letters were delivered in 3 days. All but the one are within the USPS published delivery standards.
I recall when first class letters could be counted on to take 5 – 7 days to arrive.
08/17/2020 at 12:08 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 476: #SaveTheUSPS and Crocs are Cool again #80742Congratulations on the new cat and successful family integration. (Easy when you know how, right?) Three is a good number – that’s what we have now. One was a semi-feral youngster who adopted us when we lived in Tennessee for a while. The other two were brother and sister ranch cats from Texas Hill Country, gifts from a cousin who wanted to pare their colony down. (The vet bills on those two alone made them the most expensive “free” cats we’ve ever had.)
Old man eyesight sucks. Being in my mid-60’s now I would have had to get new prescriptions about every six months for the last 20 years or so if I really wanted to be able to see up close so I rely heavily on my cheaters. I buy them at Dollar Tree stores where they are only $1 each, getting a variety of strengths up to magnifying-glass magnitude for different tasks, and enough pairs to spread around the house, garage, and vehicles. (Dollar Tree only – none of the other “Dollar” stores have them that cheap.)
And I was one of those silly croc-wearing boomers until a friend’s teenage daughter blurted out “you are such a loser” when she saw me in them one day. I sure do miss them. Maybe I can wear them again now without risk of a crushing blow to my ego.
It is a shame that post office issues are so political. Differences of opinion on how to run and fund the post office and attempts to control costs have led to accusations of kneecapping and election tampering and resurrection of the conspiracy theories on privatization. The USPS received a funding bill in March and they’ll get another one, though it may not contain the entire Congressional wish list and there will be drama before it happens, you can count on it.
Postmaster General DeJoy says the USPS can handle the election mail. (I know, the union disagrees.) The infamous USPS letters to the states regarding election mail were not the reported dire warnings of impending doom but in fact contained detailed analyses of whether specific state election laws and procedures were compatible with regular USPS delivery standards (which standards were sent to the states in May – before DeJoy took over – in preparation for the election) and had nothing to do with USPS funding or cost cutting measures. I read the letters. Some states are in good shape but some states’ procedures were not well thought through, like not having a deadline to request a mail-in ballot, and the USPS wanted to make sure the states with issues could address them for a successful election. That doesn’t sound like they want to let mail-in voting to crash and burn.
Despite Trump’s unartful tough love in trying to tie USPS funding to his preferences about certain USPS rates and procedures (he is obsessed with killing Amazon’s “good deal”, among other things that should be decided way below his pay grade), he has said recently that he recognizes the unique and important mission of the post office and that private carriers can’t do what it does. Conservatives need and appreciate the post office just as much as everyone else. They just differ on what should to be done to fix it.
08/15/2020 at 3:41 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 475: Spotting Problems, Solving Problems #80690Jay your interview of Chris the Coin Guy was in Episode 138 back in 2014 if that’s who you were thinking of. I also wonder how he’s doing. I find that in 2020 I can still snipe items for resale on eBay though I now use Gixen rather than doing it manually. But I don’t buy gold coins.
I believe they are doing something. Last Thursday I received an email from eBay Main Street about the “Package Coalition” and with a link to generate emails to my senators to support S. 4174 for emergency USPS funding. I’d post the link here but it appears to be inextricably linked to my information since I submitted it. The Package Coalition is here: https://www.packagecoalition.org/
Actually VA is one of the easier states in which to operate a business. You can apply for the state sales tax certificate Sharyn describes above at:
In VA the business license is different and is issued by the city or county you’re in. It is generally required if you’re operating a business there, no matter whether you’re a sole proprietor or big corporation. They want their annual fees which are partially based on your gross receipts. Requirements vary and may include zoning clearance, etc.
An LLC is a business entity under state law, a legal structure that owns and operates the business and is in turn owned by one or more people. It’s different from the business license and the sales tax certificate. You can create a VA LLC here:
Thanks for the warning. My default is first class when appropriate but I’ve been adding the eBay International as an option on new listings since it became available. Nobody has selected it so far. It is possible that eBay is still not showing all shipping options to buyers, though, which could explain why.
Yup. The logo was designed by Lester Beall in around 1960 and among other things was intended for use to stencil on the company’s trees for harvesting.
Maybe someone appropriated some of their trees to make bowls and left the marks visible. IP used to own millions of acres of forestland in the US.
Thanks for the tip, I’m signed up! 25<sup>th</sup> Anniversary, indeed. Time flies. I missed that being my anniversary as an eBayer by two years but it has been a long strange trip. I’ll be interested in hearing what their “favorite moments” are.
Of course the party registration was a bit clunky, with an unexplained option to “RSVP with eBay Account” which led to a request to connect my account to “eBay Live” where I was supposed to agree to let them do whatever they want.
Some things never change.
I much preferred the old packing slip that had the price and editable text box. The new packing list with only a few canned messages is really annoying and has created more work for me to hand-write my preferred text. Pain point!
And the canned messages take up more paper. I shrink the print job to 70% so that it is a small slip of paper (and cut the paper to re-feed a single sheet to make multiples) because I sell mostly smalls and some postcards where using a whole sheet of paper can take me over the next postage increment. Being able to print multiple packing slips on one print job, stacked so that several fit on a single sheet, would save me time.
That’s what I need. As for nice-to-haves, I had never thought of the uses MyCottage mentions but those are really great ideas.
No scan at pickup is your carrier. That’s just lazy. If they have time to carry it off and put it in their truck, they have time to scan it. I would address it with the carrier or your local postmaster.
My carriers (different all the time) in DC were awful; at our new place in Jax he’s the best.
Update: Friday night I received 2 emails as Timo described, the first one saying I opened a case and the second one a few minutes later closing the case in my favor. In my call earlier that day the CSR would not close the return and did not mention opening a case. Looks like it was roughly the same time period, as well (July 5 to July 24). So much for having to wait 35 working days, but I’ll take it. I did not mention it above but the CSR did say eBay would automatically close the return at the appropriate time.
I just got off the line with a CSR about a return (he was American! And this was regarding my Starter store) and he said that they are still “temporarily” allowing 35 working days for a buyer to return the item once the seller approves the return, despite everything in writing that says it’s presently 14 calendar days. He wouldn’t close the return for me though it has been 19 calendar days (15 working days) since I approved a return for “doesn’t seem authentic” for a vintage “brick” car phone, which was obviously a bogus reason.
Good tips, Arrowhead and Simon. Another trick for finding international tracking for packages having left the US when USPS tracking drops off (sometimes no results on 17track or ParcelsApp; Aftership is another I’ve used and I’ve seen others) is to Google the destination country’s name with the words “post tracking” as in “Finland Post Tracking”, for example, to pull up the country’s official postal system online tracking.
Shipsaver is another insurer that I like for higher dollar items. (For those thinking of using them, Shipsaver and other insurers will typically have some specific countries and types of items excluded so be sure and read the terms and conditions.)
USPS publishes a list of countries with service suspensions and also service disruption updates by country at https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/international/welcome.htm
Earlier this year there was an air to sea diversion of a significant amount of mail to Europe that delayed a couple of my packages about 2 months but they’ve arrived and I think that was a one-time deal. Recently I talked a buyer in Poland out of opening a case near the end of that two months by sending him a screenshot of Poland Post tracking showing the item out for delivery.
Ebay’s used clothing policy says: “What is the policy? Used underwear and socks are not allowed, even if they are clean.” Some sellers do get away with selling used socks. Like with many eBay prohibitions, some offending listings get taken down and some manage to fly under the radar.
Ebay decided at some point that it would not become a haven for foot fetishists. I learned that after I had a listing for a pair of used skateboard sneakers taken down several years ago. I had put “trashed” in the title since it was a thing with skaters. I called to ask why it was taken down and had an interesting discussion with the CSR about the issue.
You’re welcome. I didn’t see those two sales. The 2007 sold for $13.49 and the 2016 was $15.99. Yeah, they’re no help.
Pink is a cool color, right? It feels like a $40 – $50, to maybe $60 asking price if you want to push it, with best offer, to me.
-
AuthorPosts