posted on October 28, 2000 12:17:45 PM new
HI all -
I've had a marked increase in the past weeks in book-rate instead of Priority shipping requests from my customers. Then this week alone I've heard from 4 customers that their items have not arrived. I have not changed how I pack and label the parcels, but I am sending more that way because of customer demand.
I've tried recommending insurance but people say "I'll take my chances."
I am not sure what to do - stop offering book rate until after the holidays? Require insurance?
Just wondering if anyone is having the same trouble. I remember reading a thread on this a few weeks ago.
posted on October 28, 2000 12:25:45 PM new
Book rate is wonderful-usually.
Sent a book to my sister in Hawaii from NJ-usually takes 10-14 days-and this one took 99 days. Set the current world's record from NJ to Hawaii despite a trace that did no good.
posted on October 28, 2000 12:28:26 PM new
Hi Keziak
We've had the same problems with book rate (Special Standard). Way too unpredictable. We've never had one totally lost, but some have taken close to a month to be delivered. Others take just a few days or a week.
Yours will probably be deilvered in due time but...thae customer is getting what they wanted. Not your fault.
Just try to get them to upgrade shipping and insure. That's all you can do except to explain to them that it can sometimes take weeks for delivery with book rate.
posted on October 28, 2000 12:34:06 PM new
Don't recommend insurance, require it. It's for the seller's protection, not the buyer's. If you have a book that takes 99 days to reach its destination, your buyer will claim you never mailed and how will you prove you did? Delivery confirmation would cost 60¢, so why not just spend the extra 25¢ and be insured against damage too?
posted on October 28, 2000 01:04:41 PM new
I use book rate for all books unless there's a time-sensitive situation or the book is really rare or the bid price warrants an upgrade.
I have not lost one book in the past year. I do recommend that you use:
SEALED labels that are Zip code + 4 and BARCODED. You can create a barcode label easily enough right on the web.
It might pay off to use Delivery Confirmation if you are having trouble. I know that some folks don't think much of it, but it does help identify where the bottleneck might be.
Keep in mind that Book rate is on a space-available basis--they move when the truck has room: some books get there with Priority mail speed and others are three weeks in the pipeline. The tradeoff between speed and price makes it a bargain even with DC used.
FWIW, I almost always hear that the book "shows up" about two days after they email me asking where it is!!!!
posted on October 28, 2000 03:24:54 PM new
Speaking as a buyer of books (not rare/collectable, just reading books), I always use 'special standard' (book rate). Usually I'm in no hurry - already have roughly 100 books in the house still unread - and why should I spend $3.20 (priority) plus .35 (delivery confirmation) plus .80 (insurance) on a book that costs two or three dollars? If a seller 'required' any/all of the above, I simply wouldn't bid.
As a seller of books (mainly plain old reading books), I ship special standard unless they request otherwise. I've *never* had anyone request this.
I've never had a book 'go missing'. Yes, it might take awhile but as long as you *make sure* your buyer knows this and that you can't take responsibility if it's lost, you're covered.
posted on October 28, 2000 04:01:34 PM new
I've sent hundreds of book by Book Rate, with very few problems; in the few cases when the book was a little slow getting there, it did show up.
I offer a choice of Priority or Book Rate, quote the price for both in my EOA emails, and offer insurance. I state in my auction listings as well as the EOA email that I will not take responsibility for uninsured packages. (On higher priced books, I include the insurance in the shipping price, and the buyer will have to email and specifically ask NOT to have it if it is not to be included.)
I agree that careful packaging and very careful addressing goes a long way toward preventing lost packages. I always include the complete address inside the package, also. I have yet to have a lost package.
I have read on other discussion boards that where you are mailing from, or where the package is going, has an affect on how long it takes for Book Rate mail. (I don't mean just distance; apparently how far you or the recipient live from a major distribution center makes a difference.) It seems that most of mine leave Atlanta the evening or day after I mail them, and reach their destinations within 5 days to a week.
The only packages we have received recently that had damage were Priority Mail.
posted on October 28, 2000 05:42:24 PM new
I would guess I have sent and recieved at least 200 books using bookrate without a hitch. I worked for a short time in a mail sorting center. We did the bookrate / 3rd class mail last, however all mail reguardless of what it was had to be out the door within hrs of being received. Watch the zip codes an incorrect zip can delay a package for weeks.
I also worked in mailorder, would you believe that occasionally we had customers who would lie to us! They would tell us the item never arrived so they could their money back or a 2nd item for free! I'll bet some of those same people now shop on eBay.
posted on October 30, 2000 10:03:09 AM new
Hi - for those of you who voted for "insure", why do you choose that over Delivery confirmation? I am just wondering. I am thinking about charging a book rate amount that would automatically include either DC or insurance, and I am wondering if DC, because it's cheaper, would be more acceptable to the buyers? The main plus I see in having DC is that I can prove that I mailed the package.
posted on October 30, 2000 11:13:01 AM new
The use of bookrate depends on what you charge for enduring grief.
Some of us avoid grief at almost any cost; we do not want to answer emails about "where's my package". For us, bookrate is a bad buy, and we require Priority shipping, always.
Others don't seem to mind explaining the vaguarities of bookrate to impatient customers; they pass the savings on to their customers, presumably resulting in increased sales and thus increased profits. So it seems worth it to them.
posted on October 30, 2000 11:26:53 AM new
I use DC but it's only 15 cents less than insurance on bookrate. I don't use it unless there's a reason to...I get very few "where's my package" emails, so few in fact that I am surprised to see them.
Most every book seller on the web uses bookrate as their normal method. I think the reason for the bad rap is the variability factor. It would be nice to say 3-7 days delivery time which is often the case but I can't
