libbyparsons
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posted on February 14, 2001 07:00:50 PM new
I just got an email from someone who had bought a video from me about a week and a half ago. I mailed it Media Mail and they have not received it yet. Typical? How long does this normally take to mail? I received a package on the 12th that was mailed the 6th but a week and a half?
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iwannabuy
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posted on February 14, 2001 07:06:35 PM new
I usually tell people that "media mail may take 10 - 14 days." It isn't supposed to take that long, but I tell them that just to be on the safe side. I believe you have to wait 30 days before the p.o. will even start looking for it.
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libbyparsons
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posted on February 14, 2001 07:08:00 PM new
Wow. Up to 2 weeks. Okay, thanks. I know the 30 days thing, I just don't want people flipping out thinking I didn't mail their items when I did!
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iwannabuy
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posted on February 14, 2001 07:14:46 PM new
Notice I say "may take 10 - 14 days." It shouldn't take that long but it seems to me that the p.o. isn't as diligent with delivering the media mail as they are with the priority. I swear my mailman doesn't deliver media mail if it's raining and the item won't fit in my mailbox. He just waits and delivers it the next day so he won't have to get out of his truck.
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seyms
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posted on February 14, 2001 07:29:48 PM new
I send books to my sister in Hawaii from NJ.
It frequently takes 10 days but it once took 99 days.
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zclone
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posted on February 14, 2001 07:32:04 PM new
But isn't it true that if you ship just media mail, regardless of 30 days, they can't trace it without confirmation or some other form. Just sending it media has no "traceability".
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psyllie
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posted on February 14, 2001 07:35:21 PM new
I sent two books media mail to Hawaii (from Pennsylvania) on January 2. They're still not there. My post office did accept a trace request, but I haven't heard anything from that yet, either 
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eternallythankful
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posted on February 14, 2001 07:47:40 PM new
I sent a CD via Media Mail to Hawaii from PA a couple of weeks ago and it got there in 3 days. What a deal!
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MAH645
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posted on February 14, 2001 07:49:46 PM new
I sent a video to someone Media Mail and it took 14 days.Most get there faster but I've had two in the last month take awhile.
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misscandle
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posted on February 14, 2001 08:24:24 PM new
I ship from Hawaii, and I state in my TOS to allow 4 to 6 WEEKS if it is by Media Rate. I have had items received in as little as 4 days (Hawaii to Colorado), and as long as 5 weeks (Hawaii to Alabama). Generally, 3 weeks is the norm. No rhyme or reason behind it.
Also, our postmaster tells us they will not begin a trace on a package until 45 days have expired. The "price of paradise" is often cited by government officials as an excuse for shoddy service.
On the other hand, whenever I ship packages to my family, I use Express Mail and almost always get a full refund because they don't meet their guaranteed delivery time. I don't feel bad for them, because it is THEIR rule, the package is in THEIR control, and a deal is a deal. I haven't done that for any auction shipments, though. I suppose there would be no ethical problems if I refunded the shipping costs to the buyer. Still feels uncool, though. Weird, because I generally show the P.O. no mercy. Must be getting old.......
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libbyparsons
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posted on February 14, 2001 08:24:58 PM new
OOH! I just got another email from someone wanting to know where their item was. IT was mailed on the 8th. I hope I don't end up getting negged over mail being slow, I dont have control over that!
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seyms
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posted on February 14, 2001 08:58:07 PM new
My last 2 shipments of media mail to hawaii from central NJ took over 30 days each to arrive.
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litlux
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posted on February 14, 2001 10:08:33 PM new
The three factors in media mail are your post office, their post office and the intervening postal sorting centers.
My local postoffice (Provincetown, MA) is excellent, and when the other elements are aligned, media mail will arrive in 3-4 days. And that is 25% of the time.
When the sorting or final destination does an adequate job, another 50% get delivered in 5-12 days. 20% more arrives within 13-21 days and the last 5% takes longer, or never shows up.
So when I offer it, I state 1-4 weeks, depending on the post office.
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borgt
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posted on February 14, 2001 10:09:12 PM new
I add thie following to my Item Shipped email, and get very few inquiries now:
"Please be patient for items that are sent via Media Mail (book rate.) USPS book rate mail typically takes 4 to 12 days to arrive, occasionally longer. Shipping times depend upon distance and USPS workload."
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kudzurose
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posted on February 15, 2001 07:49:55 AM new
litlux is right - location is everything.
The closer the sender and the recipient are to major mail distribution centers, the faster the mail will get there.
I get emails all the time from people who are shocked at how quickly they received their Media Mail - I'm sure it is because I am so close to the big distribution center at Atlanta.
'Course things still go wrong sometimes - I sent a money order to a seller in Oregon on Feb. 1 (First Class), and it's not there yet!
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sandvet
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posted on February 15, 2001 05:00:57 PM new
I stopped shipping media mail unless it is absolutely insisted on by the buyer and this is why...I bought a lot of videos and requested book rate + insurance. After a month of no show, I thought I must have been ripped off and demanded a refund. Several days later, the seller refunded my money and asked that if the package showed up, since it was insured and I'd have to sign for it, would I please refuse it and send it back. I'm thinking, yeah right, blah, blah, blah. No kidding, it took 8 weeks and 4 days to get from coast to coast!
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USMarines
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posted on February 15, 2001 06:00:01 PM new
Hi Media Mailers:
We use extensively Media Mail with Delivery Confirmation (Tracking Number) $0.50 and report no problems thus far.
Our shipments arrive generally in a short frame of time, depending of the distance and the mail distribution center it must travel through. We are fortunate we are located in the heart of the US, Missouri.
Here are a few samples from our database for some of the latest deliveries in calendar days:
NC 27455 ~ 4 days
NY 11358 ~ 6 days
OR 97537 ~ 9 days
NY 10467 ~ 7 days
TX 75042 ~ 3 days
CA 94501 ~ 11 days
CA 94901 ~ 10 days
NJ 08824 ~ 11 days
PA 17111 ~ 8 days
HI 96789 ~ 17 days
PA 15009 ~ 5 days
MI 48076 ~ 12 days
OH 44030 ~ 5 days
NY 14526 ~ 6 days
CA 91711 ~ 5 days
NY 11237 ~ 7 days
OK 73019 ~ 3 days
NC 27455 ~ 3 days
IA 50022 ~ 3 days
TX 76502 ~ 6 days
WA 98121 ~ 4 days
NC 28211 ~ 8 days
MN 55119 ~ 4 days
MD 21817 ~ 7 days
From the above sample 74% were delivered in a week or less (some in just 3 days) and 22% was delivered in two week or less and only 3% in this case Hawaii was delivered in 17 days. We attribute our success rate in shipping to the use of the Delivery Confirmation Receipt.
Hope that anwers your question,
 Rudy
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kudzurose
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posted on February 15, 2001 10:44:57 PM new
Hi, Rudy - I don't understand how Delivery Confirmation increases your success rate in shipping. I am very pleased with the time in which my MM packages are delivered, and have never had one either damaged or lost out of hundreds sent. And I almost never purchase DC.
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runkpocker
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posted on February 16, 2001 12:34:27 AM new
I generally tell my customers to expect a 5 to 14 day wait although I've had some of the books I've sent Media Mail take up to a month. I'm located in the Land of 10,000 lakes and the packages that SEEM to take the longest are the ones I send to the Southeastern U.S. I can't figure out why, though.
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granee
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posted on February 16, 2001 01:09:52 AM new
The Post Office TENDS to handle packages with DC with more "diligence" than those without it, simply because they know someone is watching to see when/if it arrives at its destination.
Media mail that is LIGHTWEIGHT is sometimes sent by air along with first class/priority, meaning it arrives more quickly than the heavier packages that are sent surface mail (by truck on the continent, and by ship when going to Hawaii).
If you have the STANDARDIZED postal address and BARCODE on your shipping label, it will cut a day or more out of the delivery time. Those who have meter services (such as Pitney Bowles, eStamps, etc.) that process the address when printing your shipping label know what I'm talking about. If you DON'T have an address service, you can print your OWN label for free at the following website:
http://www.cedar.buffalo.edu/adserv.html
Just process the address, click "GIF Image", and print it on your label paper. If your address WON'T PROCESS, click "USPS Home" (to the left of the address server box), then "Find Zip Codes" and get the standarized address from the P.O. website; copy it to the Cedar Address Server box and try again. (Some rural addresses and very new addresses won't process, so you'll have to write them by hand.)
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keziak
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posted on February 16, 2001 03:16:39 AM new
I'm starting to get email now from customers asking where their stuff is, and they aren't email in 10 days either. One customer is in NJ and I'm in Virginia and it's been 3 weeks.
: - (
keziak
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jmr82
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posted on February 16, 2001 04:22:02 AM new
Lately media mail has taken 3+ weeks to get to destinations. I mail from either Maryland or Virginia (home or work) and find mail going south (Georgia in particular) is very slow. Another instance, a package going basically across town (DC area) took over 2 weeks, other times it will be at the destination the next day. The post office doesn't have any explanation for this, but states it is the lowest priority, but shouldn't take over 8-10 days. It does get frustrating when the emails start coming.
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kudzurose
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posted on February 16, 2001 08:27:21 AM new
Thanks for that info, granee!
jmr82 - They are so busy down here in GA processing my outgoing packages, they're letting the incoming ones pile up in a corner -- just kidding, of course. As we all know, there are NO guarantees with the USPS. I sent a money order to a seller in OR on the first, and it is not there yet. So I've got to send another, and then deal with the PO on lost one . . .
The one thing that irks me the most about the USPS is that we pay for a service, and then they sell us insurance to guarantee they will do a decent job of the service we have just paid for . . . . and then a lot of the time when they mess up they balk at paying the insurance claim . . . there is something wrong with this picture!
Now somebody will come along and tell me how much better our postal service is than anywhere else in the world . . .
KR
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jtw74
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posted on February 16, 2001 08:35:15 AM new
actually the Post Office does pretty good with all the volume of mail they handle. It is like airplanes, you don't hear of the thousands that land safely per day every day, just of the one that crashes!!
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ozwaxc
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posted on February 17, 2001 08:25:09 PM new
I tell customers that media mail takes 3 days to 3 weeks.
But in the past 3 months I've had about 6 packages disappear - even though I used the bar coded addresses. I thought that would help, but its about the same as the percentage that got lost last winter.
Why is it always this time of year that things get lost? Is it the weather? Or the let down after the Xmas volume? (Oh, gee, we got through another Xmas, now we can slack off?)
But I have also had some media packages take just a day or two if they were close by...sometimes as fast as priority.
Karen
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wbbell
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posted on February 17, 2001 08:54:17 PM new
I just wanted to mention that you have to wait 45 days before you can launch an inquiry into undelivered Media Mail. (And the only reason I know this is because I just launched such an inquiry. )
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Collegepark
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posted on February 17, 2001 09:48:42 PM new
I had someone get ticked and neg. me because his "Media Mail" package took three weeks to get from Md. to Texas. I ALWAYS get delivery confirmation and insurance on Medial Mail as it's the only type where I've had problems with loss, though very infrequent. I always love it when the P.O. screws up and I catch hell for it. I end up posting with the neg., "folks, if you want priority ask and be willing to pay".
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psyllie
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posted on February 17, 2001 09:56:50 PM new
My package showed up today! Mailed from PA to HI on 1/2/01. Arrived in HI 2/17.
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hkkozera
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posted on February 18, 2001 06:47:09 AM new
I use Delivery Confirmation on ALL Parcel Post and Media Mail packages. I also spend the extra time at the PO having them scanned at the time of mailing. I always email the buyer with a link to the USPS site so they can see that thier package was mailed. If the USPS takes 3 weeks to deliver the package, at least the buyer knows it wasn't my fault.
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USMarines
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posted on February 18, 2001 09:34:33 PM new
Hi granee and hkkozera:
I too use Delivery Confirmation (DC) on all my shipments in and out.
Yes, the USPS is more careful with mail that has DC's attached to it, since it must be scanned at each location along the way to its destination.
Another benefit I was told is that CD mail is 99.97% delivered and incredible accomplishment if it is true.
The main benefit to us is that our clients know when the item was shipped, where the item is presently in transit. That additional service for $0.50 which the buyer pays, save us hundreds of email inquires about where their merchandise is? If, it happens to be delayed somewhere in its way to its destination.
Thank you granne and hkkozera for your sound advise.
Regards,
Rudy
USMCQuantico
Semper Fidelis!
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