posted on September 27, 2000 09:39:05 AM
Unclaimed items in St. Paul, one of 3 national centers, is holding off local auctions to sell on Ebay. This article
posted in the St. Paul Pioneer Press (09/27/00) Wonder if any previous unique eBay "lost in the mail" packages will show up on eBay "again"?
(Hopefully someone can show this as a link for me, as I've tried a couple times?!)
[ edited by toybuyer on Sep 27, 2000 09:40 AM ]
[ edited by toybuyer on Sep 27, 2000 09:41 AM ]
posted on September 27, 2000 10:22:47 AM
I think that is a riot!...What a great position for a "seller" (in this case USPS) to be in...No more searching for inventory, no more drivin' around at dawn to hit every driveway sale in town...nope, just sit back & let the merchandise roll in!!!....Then just pick & choose what you wanna sell! (yeah, I know it's not quite as easy as that & that somewhere along the line they are payin' for these items - eg. insurance claims - BUT it just seems sooooo ironic!)....
BTW, dontcha think THEY could offer FREE SHIPPING!!!!!
posted on September 27, 2000 10:41:14 AM
Not only do they NOT offer free shipping on stuff they probably didn't pay anything for (how many people actually insure most of this stuff??), but they INFLATE the shipping/HANDLING fees!!! What I don't get, is that everything has bids, and most of it is going for higher than the same stuff by other sellers on ebay!! Personally, I'd stick with the "little guy", the USPS gets enough of my money!!!
posted on September 27, 2000 11:03:41 AM
Ok I thought there was a dead letter office, and that they try to find the person it was intended for or the sender. (I know I just watched an Austrailian movie about their dead letter office, and they try for years to do this, course it was a movie! )
Dang I haven't looked at thier auctions yet, do they open these or just auction off unopened packages?
posted on September 27, 2000 11:36:31 AM
idlemonster.. Personally, I'd stick with the "little guy", the USPS gets enough of my money!!! DITTO!!
ShellyHerr...Check 'em out..see the link for further info (don't want any AW trouble)..Stuff is opened, photo'd & described-most of what I looked at as "NEW"...hmmmmmm How do they know that???...It's worth a look see!
posted on September 27, 2000 11:47:01 AM
Yep just looked. Interesting, as I won't mention a particular item, but one that was a 'hot collectible' at one time, and now is not at all, is getting high bids? I don't understand it.
At least one of their 'catagories' I looked at had bids on everything, and good bids!
Some of the stuff to me, anyway, looked like it might have been gifts sent to people!
And since I didn't read everything, or it doesn't say, who IS profiting from this?
The postage had been paid at one time, this stuff was undeliverable, and sent to dead letter, so what? they divy up the profits with the employees? This just doesn't look right to me for some reason.
Yes I did read the part where they have been auctioning these items since 1900? or somewhere around that time?
Man they must really be raking it in now with ebay? Or will be....
posted on September 27, 2000 12:09:57 PM
I spot several .gov addys as bidders.
OTOH, the USPS has been selling stuff like this for ages. Usually, it's stuff rendered unclaimable, undeliverable, or plain lost in the mail system for whatever reason.
They usually sell whatever isn't delivered at several Mail Centers (St Louis, Los Angeles, and a few others I can't remeber) and everything is sold in big homogenous lots of the same nature with a few exceptions (Kinda like Seizure auctions, only different).
You basiclly buy the whole bin of everything, regardless if you just want one item. Take it or leave it.
Some of the more weirder items found at these Mail Centers:
Car Tires (Yes, Car Tires)
1500 Playboy Magazines, some dating to the 1960's
Various shipping supplies, including 100 lbs of shredded paper, 15 bags of peanuts, and 900 video boxes
Used computers, some damaged beyond use and cosidered either part sources or scrap
Bumper to a WWII era Jeep.
50 posters of Metallica (guess someone was irate of them because of Napster)
and the list goes on....
:\\\"Crystalline Sliver cannot be the target of spells or abilities.
posted on September 27, 2000 12:29:24 PM
Good for the post office!! Bet they make more money this way than they did at their regular auctions...and that is good for the postal customer...could help to keep rates from raising quite so fast.
Could be good for the ebay seller too...a lot of the people bidding on their items were low feedback or 0 feedback. Might be these are people who normally attend postal auctions and they signed up to bid on the postal items...but they could easily start surfing the rest of the auctions. More members of the bidder pool is a good thing!
But it also has it's down side. I would think there are a lot of ebayers who buy merchandise from the postal auctions...and other governmental auctions. By these sources going online the merchandise available to the seller shrinks, making it harder to find merchandise and eventually driving the prices up. Charities (goodwill), government agencies, businesses (airlines) are all turning to ebay or their own online auction sites. I think the average ebay seller is going to have to learn how to hustle.
posted on September 27, 2000 04:00:34 PM
Oh this is just lovely. MORE incentive for the USPS to "ahem" LOSE? our stuff. Yeah, it looks REAL lost sitting up on ebay with tons of bids on it! Something doesn't feel at all good about this.
posted on September 27, 2000 04:17:05 PM
I haven't checked out any of their auctions yet, but I will.
They also sell those things which are turned in on claims. Yep, as some of you know, they take the entire box and all its contents. If any aren't damaged, they go in their auctions. I've always resented that, and sometimes I've opted out of filing a claim -- if enough of the contents were undamaged. Of course they know very well how their policies work for themselves and us.
posted on September 27, 2000 04:32:01 PM
I see they are selling (among other things) movies and music.... WOnder if the Vero Vampires will pounce on them - and what ebay's response will be?
posted on September 27, 2000 04:39:47 PM
Damn sky, falling again.
I don't see this as any different from them auctioning off the huge lots at the regular auctions they hold every 3 months; except that they will make lots more money.
The reason they get such high bids is because bidders know that the item actually exists and will be shipped. The post office isn't going to disappear in the middle of the night with their hard earned money.
By the way, they are having one of those big auctions tomorrow in San Fransisco. Bring $$, a truck, and nerves of steel; it's not for sissies
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Don't take life so serious, it ain't nohow permanent.
posted on September 27, 2000 04:48:53 PM
Gee, I'm not impressed. I looked at one...
poor grammar, lousy terms (all sales final, no refunds if item is misrepresented, shipping costs are not well stated), lousy
pic, poor spelling.
I'd be tempted to say that most sellers have nothing to worry about, except I don't understand why there are such high bids on most items. Go figure.
posted on September 27, 2000 05:23:09 PM
OK What I want to Know is how many of these Items will be lost in the mail again and sold on Ebay again by the USPS again in a few months from another town there should be a law
WWW.dman-n-company.com
posted on September 27, 2000 05:31:03 PM
>>>>>>>Damn sky, falling again.
I don't see this as any different from them auctioning off the huge lots at the regular auctions they hold every 3 months; except that they will make lots more money.
The reason they get such high bids is because bidders know that the item actually exists and will be shipped. The post office isn't going to disappear in the middle of the night with their hard earned money.<<<<<
Just to clarify, I started this thread for information not as a "sky's falling" tactic.
I think most of us know that USPS will make more money this way than in huge lots, just common sense. But it's another "source" that may dry up for some sellers. I do appreciate some of the posts that have a flare of humor in them!
(I'm still putzing around trying to get html coding to italicize or bold!)
[ edited by toybuyer on Sep 27, 2000 05:32 PM ]
[ edited by toybuyer on Sep 27, 2000 05:33 PM ]
posted on September 27, 2000 05:40:09 PM
I know that this has been going on forever, but I think that it is ridiculous that the USPS has an incentive to "lose" packages.
Sure, something has to be done with the packages that really can't be delivered, but if these items were donated to a charity who could then auction them off, I suspect that there would be a lot fewer packages that are "undeliverable."
And if the total sales price of all these goods were then DEDUCTED from the USPS's budget, the rate of "undeliberable" packages would probably drop to close to zero.
Of course, they will then just raise postal rates.
It's WAY past time that the postal system be privatized.
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All rights reserved. All wrongs reversed.
[ edited by amalgamated2000 on Sep 27, 2000 05:41 PM ]
posted on September 27, 2000 06:23:42 PM
I just checked out USPS's collectibles on ebay. They are selling a framed commemorative stamp and they spelled it commerative in both the title and the description.
I find it an absolute scream that an organization who makes a large portion of their profit from the sale of commemorative stamps, that are never postally used, cannot even spell the word correctly.
When I worked for the USPS, I used to bring home copies of the memos we received so my husband could read them. The misspellings, poor grammar and nonsensical content always provided a chuckle.
posted on September 27, 2000 07:45:42 PM
Well, USPS "lost" a $200 set of old Preston comics (cereal premiums)we sent last year. Think I'll do a quick search and see if they show up!
Jamie from Puget Sound
posted on September 27, 2000 07:56:19 PM
How interesting. In the book category many were either Disney related or Cooking related. Two very hot topics. Hand selected, nah! Any idea how the funds will be recycled into the USPS or maybe donation related? They do state that the auctions have been going since 1900, and to think I never was notified...Any post's at the post office you shop at?
posted on September 27, 2000 08:27:58 PM
honestjon
Do you go to the P.O. auction in San Francisco? We used to go but it's so expensive and so crowded. The last time it took us over an hour just to get into the elevator with our stuff . I think it's so funny watching people tear out of the building with those huge carts and baskets. Trying to cross the street with cars whizzing by. Really looks like a circus.
posted on September 28, 2000 12:05:38 AM
I did go to one earlier this year, that's how I got on the mailing list. But I missed the preview so I did not buy anything.
I won't be going to this one because I don't have enough storage space for one of those huge lots.
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Don't take life so serious, it ain't nohow permanent.
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