I had shipped some dimes I sold on ebay and they lady sent me an email showing me how it arrived to her with the dimes missing, of course. I can only imagine what they did to this envelope. Her USPS office said they'd call her if they found the contents which I highly doubt will ever happen. I won't say where I think it is. The pics are kind of small but they give you an idea of what it looked like, I hope. The notice on the plastic bag said the contents were missing. I blacked out the addresses. I already gave a refund. Thankfully it was under $10.
Padded shipping bags are absolutely worthless for protecting coins in shipment. An envelope-sized container of 6 thicknesses of file folder (3 on each side of the coins) works much better, and can usually be sent as a non-machinable letter instead of a package. You could ship up to 8 dimes for $1.12, depending. At the big box stores, file folders are about 5 cents each, or used ones are OK, but the outermost surface shouldn't have any writing showing. ============ P.S., if you didn't pay the extra 21c fee for hand-cancelling, they will run it through the cancelling machine, and that's where it got ripped to shreds. IT...WON'T...FIT.
yep, I had two refunds today same thing https://www.cointalk.com/threads/rough-week-for-the-usps.259834/#post-2088068
You think it's nonsense, I've been doing it ten years, and shipping for over 30 years. Keep doing what you're doing, makes more business for the rest of us.
That's right. But bubble mailers (if over ¼ inch thick, including contents) don't go at letter rate, either. File folders DO, saving the shipper a lot of money over time.
I doubt it makes more business for anyone. This is the first time since 2001 I have had anything come up missing or destroyed. That's pretty good odds. And just imagine all the time it takes to cut file folders and stick them in envelopes, weigh the envelope, stick postage on it or have them do it at the PO and stand in line forever. I just take mine to my friend, she scans them all so I know they are in the system and I go home.
I hate that - That's why I hate Ebay selling. Sent coins out that the buyer said the envelope was empty even though the USPS showed envelope was delivered!!! Had to refund even though you know they received the coin! I quit selling on Ebay!
Looks like the USPS acknowledged the contents were missing before delivery, so the addressee didn't get (steal) the coins... "The notice on the plastic bag said the contents were missing."
SAf-T- Mailer and drop it in an envelope. I even had a dealer who just used the mailer. Taped the edge and put an address label on it. Never had any problems. As long as you don't stuff them so they bulge out a lot they run through the machines just fine.
USPS destoying or losing mail is very rare. I've been buying and selling on eBay for many years. It is surprising how many sellers have little regard for appropriate packaging (not directed at Keemao, that package looked appropriate and yet an exception to my first statement). I once received a plain # 10 envelope with some coins just loose inside, and a hole in the envelope. When I retrieved it from the mailbox, a coin promptly fell out as I picked it up. Fortunately they were all there. I notified the seller that they were received, but only just barely...
Many sellers unfortunately do not carefully pack things. One time a few months ago I bought a brand new sealed Blu-ray movie, he sent it in a standard first class envelope without any padding, it arrived smashed and the only thing left that wasn't damaged was the disk. It was one of my first negative feedbacks I left, I try never to do this though. I hope the guy got the message to take better care of their items. Sometimes I get bulk lots of coins shipped in priority envelopes (not boxes!). When I sell lots of coins, they go in Priority flat rate boxes. If it's ONE coin, at the very least I will ship it in a padded bubble mailer WITH additional bubble wrapping I purchased from USPS. So even if a package gets banged up I have confidence in the coin making it safely.
This is the only time in 14 years you have experienced this yet you title your post with the perjorative "leave it to the usps to destroy mail"? How about praise for the thousands of times the USPS did satisfactorily handle your mail, incoming and outgoing, without drama. Stuff happens. Move on. (Cited from: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/leave-it-to-the-usps-to-destroy-mail.259844/)
Also, OP does not appreciate how many jobs have been cut at the local level, AND that we have some of the cheapest letter postage in the world. Our second-largest post office in town does not even have a supervisor on duty now, and two clerks only during the lunch hour and the last hour of the day. I think they do a great job, considering.
