Thought I would resurrect this thread . . . a recent post by Serl (who's a great guy) got me thinking:

serleran wrote:And then, there are the ones who refuse to allow other shipping methods, which I find to be total BS, outright. For example, maybe I don't want my item in 2-3 days (priority) when I can get it in 3-5 (flat rate) for half. I think I'm going to stop bidding on all auctions that don't let me pick my shipping method. After all, once I pay for it, its no longer the seller's item... its mine; they have my money and my item; why should they be the ones to dictate how I get my own stuff? I can have it sent to me however the hell I want, and if it gets lost or screwed up, it should be my fault because I didn't request it be sent in a better manner.

Needless, this little thing with eBay pisses me off to no end.

I must say, that several months later I am happy and content at home . . . I have not set foot in a post office (except to buy stamps    ) for 4 months.  Hats off to the postal service!  All packages including ALL international packages get picked up at my door.    Prior to this, I still had to go to the post office 2 or 3 times a week to send out international mail.

But what does this have to do with Serl's post?  Well, automatic international shipping is ONLY for Priority Mail International.  This is often a good deal, especially the Flat Rate Envelopes.  But often I could still send it letter post for cheaper - especially when shipping to Canada.  Except . . . automatic shipping isn't available for Letter Post.  So, screw it, I won't offer to mail it that way.  I'm not driving to the post office so I can mail one stupid item for $4.00 less.

And another thing . . . Media Mail is NOT available for automatic shipping UNLESS the purchase is through ebay/paypal.  So, sometimes on private transactions, I have to go to USPS online shipping and Priority is the only option.  Again, now I am completely spoiled and won't go to the post office, so I have a little loophole where I paypal myself 1 cent from my Wife's account and then use this transaction to Print a Paypal shipping label and edit the address to the one where I want the package to go.

And, of course, I don't have a FEDEX or UPS account and even though it might be easy, I would NEVER ship that way as I'm unwilling to devote even 2 minutes of time to figuring out how to do it (and I'm sure it would take more than 2 mintues! )  Of course, in 5 years no one has ever requested I use those methods anyway, so it hardly matters.

All those hundreds of trips to the post office are all just a distant memory now . . .  

Xaxaxe wrote:Isn't it great?  

I just had my latest set of stamps delivered (Marvel Comics stamps! Woot!), meaning I can keep on extending my long streak of never actually entering a post office.

I cringe a little bit when I see USPS complaints here. Overall, in the nine years that I've been interested in USPS policy (motivated by wanting to sell on eBay, of course) they've improved their service, adjusted to the demands of internet auctions, rolled out numerous innovations, and made it possible to literally never have to stand in a line.

It's definitely cut way down on my PO time...I still have to go to mail USPS international first class, and to check my PO box, but otherwise I have maybe one line a week instead of five...very nice!

Mike B.