F-usps

[rant]

So I bought something from a guy on this board. He lives in southern CA (I'm in Birmingham, AL). I sent a money order in a plain 'ol white envelope on February 2nd. I figure my purchase would be in the mail on its way to me by the 8th or 10th, right?

NO... The money didn't show and didn't show and didn't show. I almost got another one to re-send (fortunately we weren't talking much money). Then FINALLY I got a message yesterday (February 20th!) that it had arrived.

It took EIGHTEEN DAYS for a letter to get from Birmingham, AL to southern CA. Am I the only one that thinks that's ridiculous?!?!?

[/rant]

FTR, the guy I bought from was very patient, and will soon be getting a good review in the "good folks to buy from" thread.

 

You obviously use the internet to chat on here try visiting Paypal.com and getting an account you can send money over the internet and leave the USPS to doing there job of sending care packages to our Troops overseas seems to be the only thing they are good for

 

^ because paypal keeps a percentage for every transaction

paypal transactions are considered "reportable income".
the occasional "gift" is OK, but too many and it raises flags

money order = cash

i have very good luck with the USPS.
i too have had the occasional "didn't show" or "took forever", but is way more economical than anyone else

 

At least they turn a profit each year! oh wait...

 

Any business public or private that delivers as many items as USPS or UPS, FedEx is going to have some lost or misdirected deliveries. The good news in your situation was it was not much money and both sides were patient, and in the end it finally showed up. I personally have had both horrible and great luck with all of them.

 

Free vs. Fees


In some cases, it’s free to Send Money. Sometimes there are fees. Here’s how it breaks down.
Within the US (in USD):




Payment MethodSend MoneyReceive MoneyPersonal transfers to friends and family
Fully funded by:

• PayPal balance : Free
• Bank account : Free

Fully or partially funded with:

• Credit card
• Debit card
• PayPal credit

2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
Fee is paid by the sender or recipient-sender

 

Therefore if you send money to someone listed as "Personal" you can send it to them and it is free to send and free to recieve aslong as you have your bank account set up on your pay pal. or use money in your pay pal balance.

and I mean shit if your making a big deal about 2.9% +$0.30 that isnt very much.

But if you use a Credit or Debit card the seller would take a hit of $3.20 on a $100 Item

 

if something is being "purchased" you are not supposed to use "personal"

when you've done as many trans through paypal as i have as a vendor
that % adds up!

 

on a transaction of $4 that fee of 2.9% +$0.30 only nets you $3.58

 

More relevant in socks case would be repeated sales needing to be claimed on taxes as business revenue for the business he doesn't actually have.

FWIW, I ordered some books off Amazon, 2 of them shipped and were supposed to be here on the 19th. The other one shipped later and was supposed to be here on the 23rd. They all showed on the 19th. w00t.

Back when I used to play airsoft I ordered some harder to find spare parts and accessories direct from Hong Kong stores. Pricing was about the same as buying from the states just a larger selection and longer shipping times. It usually takes a good 2 weeks for smaller packages to make the trip. I ordered during the week and Saturday morning when I woke up I checked my tracking number to see if the package had cleared customs by the weekend. Status: Delivered. It was on my front steps at 8AM. Less than a week, from China. Thanks UPS.

 

^

 

In Socks Case I can understand but the OP makes it sounds like he was getting a one time deal off of someone from the site.

 

I have a paypal account and use it for most transactions. The seller in my case didn't have one and didn't want to set one up, which I respected. As the buyer, I pretty much need to do what the seller wants as far as getting him the money, right?

Usually, when buying some oddball thing on TW I send the money as a "personal gift" so that PayPal doesn't take their little piece.

 

That sucks.. that it took that long.. sounds like the jersey i ordered from nfl.com.. it made 4 trips from cinnicinati and back before it finally got to NC

 

I have never had any problems with USPS. I have had problems with Paypal though. Wouldnt let the guy pull his money out of pay pal for two weeks or something like that. Sucks that it took so long for the money to get there. I still need to send a money order to Sock