OT-Kinda: Ordering Parts and Shipping Cost

[Upscale]

I think much of it has to do with insurance and liability. Initially, when I was put on Bridge City Tools' waiting list for a Jointmaker, I was told that USPS would not insure it for delivery, whereas UPS and FedEx would. So, I was prepared to swallow the cost and go the insured route when the order was filled. Two months later when I got lucky and they came up with a Jointmaker for me, I was told that USPS would insure it. So, I had it shipped USPS happy to avoid UPS and FedEx handling and brokerage charges which would have been substantial on an order of that high value.

I got the order problem free with no duty or handling charges, but I think now that I was given the wrong information when I was told that USPS would insure an order like that. In any event, it all turned out well, so I'm complacent.

I'm guessing that order costs and details are more quantifiable with the bigger shippers.

[Leon]

Which proves my point, you would have to send some one to the post office, and iroically the post office does not deliver to every home.

[dpb]

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No, it says exactly the opposite -- U_S_PS _also_ has onsite pickup either on call or scheduled.

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Agreed, they don't deliver to the house here, because we choose to use a PO Box rather than have a rural box...

However, I don't know that there's any residence in the US which doesn't get USPS service that would choose to do so altho there are very rural areas out here that have rural delivery routes that run 3 days/wk, for example, rather than daily since they may be a 200-mile round route w/ a half-dozen ranches total. If they want/need it quicker, there are self-access boxes at the PO that are 24/7 accessible.

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[J. Clarke]

A friend of mine gets US mail but it comes to a box that's about a half a mile down the hill from his house. The house is on a paved road, and there are other houses on the same road that have the same arrangement.

There was a similar deal at my parents' house in Florida.

This is fine for paying the electric bill but it's not so good if you're trying to run a business that involves shipping product.

UPS always delivers to the door and picks up at the door.

[Leon]

They don't deliver to new neighborhood homes in the Houston area at all. You have to go to the "block" mail box to get your mail. Like living in an appartment complex. USP will deliver to your door.

[Kevin]

For priority mail, which is minimum about $5. They will pick up 1st class packages from the mailbox, if they fit.

-Kevin

[Edward Hennessey]

Another component in the overall equation which might have gone without mention in the thread is that UPS covers $100 worth of insurance automatically on an item with an established replaceable value. USPS charges extra for insurance.

If a qualifying shipment is lost or damaged in that process, the liability/cost is on the sender under the UCC.

People buying on eBay are frequently snookered by the seller's notificastion that the responsibility for insurance is on the buyer at extra cost. Nonsense. When notified, eBay and Paypal support the UCC interpretation and the purchaser in resolving such complaints.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey