USPS shipping question

[CareBear]

From reading a bunch of passed threads, it seems the best way to ship is USPS, Priority, Registered, with Return Receipt.
I was playing around with the rate calculator and it seem the price for shipping Registered w/insurance is cheaper than non-registered with insurance. Doesn't make any sense to me. And the cost for USPS (with insurance) is LOT lower than UPS. Almost 1/4 of the cost. Is this correct?

Also what is this I read about USPS requiring certain types of tape?

 

[mrssalvo]

USPS registared with insurance is the cheapest/safest way to go although not the fastest.

you do have to wrap it with special tape they usually will give it to your free at the Post office and make sure all package seems are sealed. The first time I ever sent anything USPS registared I taped it up completely wrong the the post office employee ended up having to help me

but I learned quickly what they will and won''t accept

some people prefer overnight UPS or FEd ex just for peace of mind and don''t mind paying the difference in the price to do this.

 

[londonblue]

it depends on what you''re shipping, but for us consumers i had gathered that it is best to ship via usps regiestered & insured. i remember that usps registered mail can insure items up to 50K. and it''s affordable in comparison to fedex and ups where fedex will cover up to $500 insurance on jewelery and i don''t think either cover lose stones? i forget

if you''re not in a hurry, then it''s the best way to go. i don''t know if you can to express or overnight mail w/ registered. it''s quite affordable, they provide the paper tape that you wet with a sponge which dissolves the glue for you to seal all your seams. then they stamp all the seems w/ a red ink seal so it will be obvious if your package is tampered with. then it goes under lock and key and the package must be signed for whenever it passes between usps personnel. at night it''s stored in a lock cage. and i think it travels in a locked bag? i''m not sure.

it was an interesting experience

 

[diamondseeker2006]

No, registered mail cannot be overnight. It is the only safe way to send items over $5000. Vendors here have said repeatedly that FedEx and UPS will not cover if lost (vendors have special accounts that allow them to ship, but we cannot)!!! Even though it takes longer, the package is always under lock and key, and each person who touches the package must sign for it. I took my package in and the postal worker did the taping with their tape as they do it so it is completely sealed so that tapering would be evident. The only part mentioned that I didn''t see a need for was the return receipt, as a signature is required for the acceptance of the package on the receiving end. I just called the vendor to make sure they received it.

 

[CareBear]

Do I need to get it packaged at the USPS location or can I package it at home. Call me paranoid but I prefer nobody sees what I''m packing

 

[Kaleigh]

USPS has been my preferred method of shipping my jewelry. Slow yes, but gets there safely. My post office does the taping of the box for me. I buy the box there as well.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Absolutely package it at home. But then I had them put it inside their priority mail box and then they did the tape sealing. So you have it double packaged.

 

[lizzyd]

I just sent my ring to my jewler on Friday, USPS, registered, insured, return receipt requested.

USPS had recently changed the amount they will insure for, from $50,000 to $25,000. Since I needed more than $25,000 of insurance, my jewler picked up the difference through their commercial insurance, for which I will be billed later. The charge for $25,000 worth of USPS insurance coverage was around $30 or $40 (I can''t remember).

Hope this helps.

LizzyD

 

[jaz464]

Date: 6/26/2006 6:38:34 PM
Author:CareBear
From reading a bunch of passed threads, it seems the best way to ship is USPS, Priority, Registered, with Return Receipt.
I was playing around with the rate calculator and it seem the price for shipping Registered w/insurance is cheaper than non-registered with insurance. Doesn''t make any sense to me. And the cost for USPS (with insurance) is LOT lower than UPS. Almost 1/4 of the cost. Is this correct?

Also what is this I read about USPS requiring certain types of tape?

There is no such thing as registerd with priority. It is either registered or priority (which is guaranteed to be delivered in 3 days or less). Registered is usually much slower, though my package went from FL to TX in 2 days. Also, you don''t have to pay for return reciept if you don''t want to. You will get a tracking # and you can see online when it has been deliverd. The maximum a registered package can be insured for is $25,000, as Lizzyd noted.

 

[diamondlove]

hi Carebear-

I just went through this myself and was very frustrated to find that UPS will NOT ship loose stones so we HAD to choose the much slower route of registered mail with USPS. The post office did let us do Priority Registered mail and we chose it but it didn''t make a difference (as a lot of people have said in older threads). It was only a few dollars difference so we still went with Priority knowing it might not make a difference IN CASE it might. However, it still took 5-6 days to get from Texas to New York.

Drove me nuts but I guess safer is better AND it was much cheaper than UPS would have cost if they had even let us use it.


DL

 

[elmo]

Date: 6/26/2006 9:14:18 PM
Author: jazmine
There is no such thing as registerd with priority. Also, you don''t have to pay for return reciept if you don''t want to.

Excellent point about tracking online. You used to have to pay for delivery confirmation to get that with registered, but that''s no longer the case.

However there is in fact registered combined with priority service. You pay a few dollars more (priority rate) and can use the free priority boxes. But the package is handled as registered. I''ve heard from several folks including post office employees that registered priority is no faster than first class registered because of this. However I''ve had several things go cross country in two days this way, whereas first class mail sent registered takes a week or more.

 

[jaz464]

Interesting...my P.O. told me they could not do it priority registered.

 

[elmo]

Date: 6/27/2006 7:36:01 AM
Author: jazmine
Interesting...my P.O. told me they could not do it priority registered.

Next time, if they have the electronic point-of-sale system which most branches now do, have them first enter registered, then the system will show them what options are available. Priority is an option under registered. You still have to seal up the ends of the priority box with paper tape. (Delivery confirmation is also still an option even though it is no longer needed.) On occasion I've had to walk postal employees through this

, I get the idea that the number of registered packages handled at some branches is fairly low.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 6/26/2006 9:14:18 PM
Author: jazmine

There is no such thing as registerd with priority. It is either registered or priority (which is guaranteed to be delivered in 3 days or less).

There is such a thing. From the USPS website at www.usps.gov:

You can use Registered Mail with:
First-Class Mail® - Letters, envelopes, and small packages weighing 13 ounces or less.
Priority Mail® - Cost effective delivery in an average of 2-3 days.

I used Registered Insured Priority service when I was shipping an earring stone. I was told by the desk clerk that registered priority is only covered up to $1200, so it's not likely a feasible option for an ering unless you can buy additional insurance (which I don't believe you can, but ask).

ETA: Should have read the rest of the thread, but I think the link is still helpful for everyone.

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 6/27/2006 11:03:06 AM
Author: aljdewey

Date: 6/26/2006 9:14:18 PM
Author: jazmine

There is no such thing as registerd with priority. It is either registered or priority (which is guaranteed to be delivered in 3 days or less).

There is such a thing. From the USPS website at www.usps.gov:

You can use Registered Mail with:
First-Class Mail® - Letters, envelopes, and small packages weighing 13 ounces or less.
Priority Mail® - Cost effective delivery in an average of 2-3 days.

I used Registered Insured Priority service when I was shipping an earring stone. Registered priority in insured up to $1200, so it''s not likely an option for an ering.

ETA: Should have read the rest of the thread, but I think the link is still helpful for everyone.

HI:

I live in Canada--and have received packages shipped by USPS, insured/priority. Great service.

cheers--Sharon

 

[elmo]

Date: 6/27/2006 11:03:06 AM
Author: aljdewey
I was told by the desk clerk that registered priority is only covered up to $1200, so it''s not likely a feasible option for an ering unless you can buy additional insurance (which I don''t believe you can, but ask).

Clerk is wrong, registered is $25k regardless of whether priority selected.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 6/27/2006 11:39:20 AM
Author: elmo

Date: 6/27/2006 11:03:06 AM
Author: aljdewey
I was told by the desk clerk that registered priority is only covered up to $1200, so it''s not likely a feasible option for an ering unless you can buy additional insurance (which I don''t believe you can, but ask).

Clerk is wrong, registered is $25k regardless of whether priority selected.

Yeah, I didn''t think she was right, either.

Doesn''t it kill you that folks cannot get a consistent answer the very employees that work for the P.O.? Frustrating.

 

[whatmeworry]

Yeah I''ve had the clerk tell me they can''t send priority and registered, even though the Options chart clearly says that you can. Confusing...So I sent it priority/insured/return receipt

 

[CareBear]

Thank you all for your input!
Does Priority require the person to sign for it upon delivery? Or that''s only with Registered mail?

 

[whatmeworry]

Hi Care Bear, no Priority does not but I added a delivery confimation option to my package.

 

[CareBear]

Has anyone been able to print a shipping label on the USPS website? I keep getting errors=(