Anyone else starting to feel the holiday shipping crunch with your orders? I have one I sold that went from MN to FL (not it’s destination state) and is just sitting there for over a week. Also have one I bought that was estimated to be delivered last week. Same thing. Hasn’t moved in several days.
I’m tempted to shut down sales until January.
I’m starting to notice a bit of a slowdown. I expect it will get worse. Anything I sell I may pre-warn buyers it could take a bit so I don’t get an angry message going, "I bought this a week ago and it says you shipped the next day, where’s my comic, you handsome jerk?
Absolutely! I’m avoiding all shipping/sales/purchases from this point on. Not worth the anxiety and risk. I talked to a Postmaster in person today and he seemed nearly to the point of breaking.
I have one package that I mailed on 11/25 priority that thankfully was delivered today. It had zero movement and zero tracking other than “accepted blah blah” from the 25th till Dec 5th. A very large package of books for pressing that will be sent to CGC. My anxiety was through the roof.
I also have a very expensive book I sold,that was shipped on the 30th…and it has not moved one step since that day. Thankfully, the buyer is being very nice. Obviously I shipped, even sent him a pic of the tracking receipt, it’s fully insured, etc, etc…but still.
The postmaster told me they are absolutely in a nightmare scenario right now. COVID, holidays, still reeling a bit from mail in ballots. Packages are simply loaded onto cargo trailers and transports and sitting. There is nobody to take them…and nobody to sort them when they do.
He told me not to even expect the cargo container my heavily insured item is on to move for awhile. He was able to cross check my package, along with other packages on that cargo manifest, and none of them moved. So I think the positive in all of this is that things aren’t hopefully lost…but the longer they are not where they should be, is the longer there is a risk of something happening.
I can also ad, he told me a few of the very worst distribution spots right now are Allen Park, MI, Indianapolis, and Providence RI.
That’s really good information. SOOOO much holiday shopping has shifted from in-store to online, and I just have no idea how the system can support it. Well, @devildog, you basically describe how it already can’t support it. And, it makes me stressed thinking about comics in this environment. I tend to think the longer a book is in ship mode, the better chance it has arriving in shambles.
I guess this is a good reminder to get your mailperson a holiday gift if you can afford it. They’ve had a shitty year, and December isn’t going to be any better.
Same… A package I bought right before Thanksgiving is apparently sitting in Tennessee for well over a week now…unless they lost it. Hoping it is just bigtime late.
We are definitely seeing it right now with outbound shipments. Every couple of days I go over all our shipments to make sure nothing has gone wrong and in the past two weeks I have seen a few that are later than they should be to be delivered and even some that are later then they should be to be scanned in. We drop off all packages at the post office directly, so we know they got them, but for some reason there will be 1 or 2 random packages that show as not dropped off a few days after they were. Weirdest part is they are completely random. I dropped off 16 packages Monday morning and 15 are in transit and 1 is still waiting for them to scan. Same thing happened last week, but 4 days later they scanned it.
This started happening to me beginning in early November. I noticed any package that was moving through major hubs like Philadelphia or Chicago would get lost for about 10 days. Now it is a longer delay. Besides that some got crushed. Usually the packages coming my way 
I’m really, really starting to feel horrible about the mail situation. I don’t sell that often but when I have, I pride myself on packaging well and ensuring getting the item out is of the utmost priority.
That book I sent the buyer on the 30th still haven’t moved an inch.
I know it’s out of my control…but I feel like a real heel over the situation. A buyer trusts me enough to spend a large amount of money and I’ve not made good on the deal. Just really sucks…I also get crazy anxious over stuff like this.
I got a message today for something I sold on Mercari. They asked if I was sure I had actually shipped it as the tracking showed it just sitting around. I assured them I did and the mail is just really slow. They at least calmed down once I was sympathetic to how they wish the comics arrived sooner. I can’t control the mail, people, I want you to get your stuff fast too. Especially if it is Mercari as I don’t get paid till you have it…
The one thing I sold and shipped I sent the buyers a note a day later saying, “Hello, USPS has seen lots of delays lately. A priority mail package I shipped out a few days ago took 3 days to leave the city. So just wanted to assure you your package has dropped off already to be sent since there’s been no tracking updates yet”.
yeah, I’ve communicated with this fellow non stop, submitted a ticket, sent screenshots of the actual receipt, etc, etc…It just sucks cause it puts us in a bad situation where everything is completely out of our control.
I wish the tracking system would be a bit better…something that just gives a bit more reassurance…or at least a few more automated updates. For a seller to see nothing other than “accepted at xxxxxxx” and then absolutely nothing for days on end…uggggg.
If this all does work out in the end (and I believe it most likely will). I’m going to send this kind and patient buyer another gift box of some key comics that are in line with what he bought as a gesture of good will. (I just won’t be sending the damned thing till after the holidays lol)
That’s no fun.
Seems like it wouldn’t be that hard to slap an RFID tag on the trailer and link it to every package scanned into that trailer, so that at least you can see:
“still in the trailer behind your post office”
“still in the trailer behind your post office”
“still in the trailer behind your post office”
“still in the trailer behind your post office”
“still in the trailer behind your post office”
“still in the trailer behind your post office”
“still in the trailer behind your post office”
“still in the trailer behind your post office”
Also of note, in speaking personally with my area postmaster/manager/whatever she is called.
She specifically said there is zero system in place relative to “first in/first out”…essentially a free for all, random situation in which if the cargo trailer with your items is picked…good on you.
It’s why, ultimately, the deliveries are so random as well…things that show up in a couple days versus weeks.
And yes, as sellers, number one rule is, take care of the buyer.
I had a buyer once notify me that the package tracking says it was delivered but he got no package. So I told him I’d inquire but he’ll have more luck inquiring at his local USPS to look into the matter.
I told him to keep me in the loop.
2 weeks later I’ve heard nothing so I reach out. The buyer replies with, “I just went ahead and found the book from another seller since then.”
I’m like, well, that’s about the most trustworthy response ever. He didn’t demand a refund, didn’t ask for another book… So I just went ahead and refunded him the entire amount anyways. Never found out if it ever arrived or not.
Well, Christmas time always gums up postal deliveries but this is getting pretty bad. Like some others I think I am just going to close up shop and not sell for a few weeks.
We kind of expected it to get even worse than usual this year (considering how bad it was at times even in like August) so we’re past the deadline for our “order by X to get it for Christmas” dates unless people use express shipping. Just no way of knowing how long something will take. Even then it’s kind of a risk this year, but at least it’s prioritized.
I had two orders that were causing me an ulcer.
One sat in FLA for nearly 10 days. Next update was it was ready for pickup by the buyer (different state). Since has been picked up, but I haven’t seen feedback yet.
The second is 3 slabs coming from Hot Shot Comics. Same thing. Sat for over a week with no movement. Now it’s in MN and scheduled for delivery tomorrow.
No idea on condition of these two orders, but at least they aren’t lost.
Ugggg…still nothing. Sent this buyer the book on 11/30…nothing but an accepted tracking that day & a “delayed” tracking on the 4th.
I feel horrible for the buyer, but also bad myself. Post office is zero help…nothing they can do. Tried opening tickets, got a call…but it was pointless.
I really hope I don’t take a massive loss on this.
Package sounds lost at this point. Hope it didn’t cost you too much. Most of the time if books are over $50, I make sure it’s priority with insurance to cover costs.
@agentpoyo Priority with $900 of insurance…so it would be smart of them to find it.
Clone Wars #1 cgc