Postal Service Strikes Again

[royal0014]

I received a knife in the mail last year and the sender had sealed it in a length of PVC pipe. Charlie

Some postal employee would see that as a challenge ...

[mrwatch]

Back around 1970, I worked for a musical instrument company. Shipped new guitars by UPS. Got some back with holes in them. A friend carves big collector grade fish. ships them to a guy to paint them. Don't know how but some arrive sticking out of the box. 1966 I Built a Heath Kit radio, sent it USPS to them cause it didn't work. They said it arrived damaged, and case was damaged and like obsolete, took a long time to get it back. maybe PVC pipe is good.

[jlw257]

When I buy a knife I send the seller a UPS Next Day Air Label . It worth the extra cost and the Knife is here the next day.

[Lansky1]

This is appropriate for this thread ... got this on the USPS tracking when I was expecting delivery of a minty 32 stockman yesterday ...

I've received MANY packages to my physical address over the years - never been a problem. No "unable to deliver" note was left. I think the mailman forgot my package in his truck & didn't want to backtrack to deliver it. We will see how this plays out. When a package is "out for delivery" and doesn't make it for some obviously bogus reason ... my frustration can be summed up via Roman Maroney from that old Johnny Dangerously movie --->

[zzyzzogeton]

That package was not run over by a truck. That is burnt wheel rubber. It jammed in one of the drive rollers that shoot letters and priority mail envelopes scooting through the system at close to 30 MPH.

Google youtube videos about post office mail handling. Watch how fast those letters are flying through the system. They are being moved with rollers similar to the hard rubber wheels on a grocery cart.

If you watch some of the package handling videos, you'll see why shipping a knife in an box with no heavy cardboard sleeve longer than and firmly taped to the knife is a really bad decision. It also explains why fixed blade knives can show up with their points jammed through a box and/or the sheath. Those packages can be dropped off the end of a conveyor belt as much as 15 feet. Drop a fixed blade knife loose in a box point first 10 to 15 feet and then have another package land on top of it.

Boxes should be tightly packed to reduce crushing. A box that is 90% air will be crushed by another box that weighs 10# to 40# and falls on it.

Padded envelopes are supposed to be for mailing SMALL THIN items and papers/documents. Padded envelopes ARE NOT designed to be used for mailing knives, breakable items or object thicker than about 3/8".

For a knife purchased on ebay, people who ship me a knife in an envelope automatically receive 1 star ratings for shipping costs.

[Lansky1]

That package was not run over by a truck. That is burnt wheel rubber. It jammed in one of the drive rollers that shoot letters and priority mail envelopes scooting through the system at close to 30 MPH.

Google youtube videos about post office mail handling. Watch how fast those letters are flying through the system. They are being moved with rollers similar to the hard rubber wheels on a grocery cart.

If you watch some of the package handling videos, you'll see why shipping a knife in an box with no heavy cardboard sleeve longer than and firmly taped to the knife is a really bad decision. It also explains why fixed blade knives can show up with their points jammed through a box and/or the sheath. Those packages can be dropped off the end of a conveyor belt as much as 15 feet. Drop a fixed blade knife loose in a box point first 10 to 15 feet and then have another package land on top of it.

Boxes should be tightly packed to reduce crushing. A box that is 90% air will be crushed by another box that weighs 10# to 40# and falls on it.

Padded envelopes are supposed to be for mailing SMALL THIN items and papers/documents. Padded envelopes ARE NOT designed to be used for mailing knives, breakable items or object thicker than about 3/8".

For a knife purchased on ebay, people who ship me a knife in an envelope automatically receive 1 star ratings for shipping costs.

This is interesting ... I think you're being a bit harsh though with your 1 star rating. I've received close to 200 (post 1970 era Case) knives via ebay over many years, the vast majority have been received in padded envelopes - never recall having any damage as a result of crushing, etc. Obviously, it can happen, as we've seen in this thread - just seems from experience, this is a low probability occurrence. Personally, I re-use all those padded envelopes and keep my shipping costs as a seller down to $3 instead of $8 for the USPS priority box (as a buyer, I vastly prefer NOT paying for the sellers convenience of using the USPS priority box, and charging ME for that).

Caveat ... I don't buy or sell truly expensive or vintage knives - if I were to delve into that realm, yes I would re-use a small box, and still charge the buyer no more than $3 for shipping ... can you tell that's a pet peeve of mine )

[ScoutKnives]

I’ve lost 2 expensive knives in the last couple years due to padded envelopes , envelopes came empty with a hole were the knife came out .
I am more than happy to pay extra for safe shipping .

[orvet]

Personally, I re-use all those padded envelopes and keep my shipping costs as a seller down to $3 instead of $8 for the USPS priority box (as a buyer, I vastly prefer NOT paying for the sellers convenience of using the USPS priority box, and charging ME for that).

How can you ship a package for $3, even first class?
I just shipped a Barlow, knife and package weighed 5 ounces. Even using PayPal discounted shipping the postage was over $3. If you're buying your postage at the post office it's over $4.50 in most cases.

I'm not a huge fan of reusing shipping envelopes unless the item is completely unbreakable.

There are some knives that I think are okay to shipping a bubble envelope, but I wrap the knife heavily in bubble wrap, take that together put it inside of a small bubble pack envelope and then seal that again inside of a larger bubble pack envelope. I haven't had any report
Of a damaged knife. I have had several customers comment on how well wrapped their knife was.

I agree getting a knife in a bare bubble pack envelope usually makes me cringe, but that really raises my hackles to find a knife shipped to me in a plain envelope with no padding. That can definitely affect the feedback!

I view shipping from the perspective of an old retailer, it has to be treated like part of the cost. If I buy a knife for $20 and the seller charges $7.95 for shipping, I have in essence paid $27.95 for that knife.

I will pass on a $5 or $10 parts knife when the seller wants to charge me $7.95 shipping for priority mail. I don't usually need a parts knife bad enough to pay more for shipping then for the knife itself.

[Lansky1]

Personally, I re-use all those padded envelopes and keep my shipping costs as a seller down to $3 instead of $8 for the USPS priority box (as a buyer, I vastly prefer NOT paying for the sellers convenience of using the USPS priority box, and charging ME for that).

How can you ship a package for $3, even first class?
I just shipped a Barlow, knife and package weighed 5 ounces. Even using PayPal discounted shipping the postage was over $3. If you're buying your postage at the post office it's over $4.50 in most cases.

I'm not a huge fan of reusing shipping envelopes unless the item is completely unbreakable.

There are some knives that I think are okay to shipping a bubble envelope, but I wrap the knife heavily in bubble wrap, take that together put it inside of a small bubble pack envelope and then seal that again inside of a larger bubble pack envelope. I haven't had any report
Of a damaged knife. I have had several customers comment on how well wrapped their knife was.

I agree getting a knife in a bare bubble pack envelope usually makes me cringe, but that really raises my hackles to find a knife shipped to me in a plain envelope with no padding. That can definitely affect the feedback!

I view shipping from the perspective of an old retailer, it has to be treated like part of the cost. If I buy a knife for $20 and the seller charges $7.95 for shipping, I have in essence paid $27.95 for that knife.

I will pass on a $5 or $10 parts knife when the seller wants to charge me $7.95 shipping for priority mail. I don't usually need a parts knife bad enough to pay more for shipping then for the knife itself.

Hi Dale - the USPS shipping for a typical slipjoint using the eBay discounted shipping system for First Class typically comes in between $3.28 and $3.50 somewhere. I just reuse packaging and don't charge more than $3 (if I have to eat a few cents, I'm ok with that ... I just think there are alot of guys out there like me that HATE to pay $8 for the USPS Priority box & I think it helps my sales on eBay). I wrap the knives in another layer of foam plastic to protect them - agree, I hate to get a knife that is just floating around loose in a package that isn't wrapped to protect it.

John

[Railsplitter]

Perhaps a bit off topic but this discussion reminds me of another pet peeve that I have regarding shipping.

When a retailer includes the name of the contents in the return address. For example, "John Doe's Knife Shop" or "Jane Doe's Jewelery Store" or something similar. As long as the actual return address is complete, those things can be abbreviated to avoid broadcasting what's inside the package.

To be fair, I can think of at least 2 knife retailers who have altered their company name on return addresses for this very reason. Others, not so much.

[zzyzzogeton]

That package was not run over by a truck. That is burnt wheel rubber. It jammed in one of the drive rollers that shoot letters and priority mail envelopes scooting through the system at close to 30 MPH.

Google youtube videos about post office mail handling. Watch how fast those letters are flying through the system. They are being moved with rollers similar to the hard rubber wheels on a grocery cart.

If you watch some of the package handling videos, you'll see why shipping a knife in an box with no heavy cardboard sleeve longer than and firmly taped to the knife is a really bad decision. It also explains why fixed blade knives can show up with their points jammed through a box and/or the sheath. Those packages can be dropped off the end of a conveyor belt as much as 15 feet. Drop a fixed blade knife loose in a box point first 10 to 15 feet and then have another package land on top of it.

Boxes should be tightly packed to reduce crushing. A box that is 90% air will be crushed by another box that weighs 10# to 40# and falls on it.

Padded envelopes are supposed to be for mailing SMALL THIN items and papers/documents. Padded envelopes ARE NOT designed to be used for mailing knives, breakable items or object thicker than about 3/8".

For a knife purchased on ebay, people who ship me a knife in an envelope automatically receive 1 star ratings for shipping costs.

This is interesting ... I think you're being a bit harsh though with your 1 star rating. I've received close to 200 (post 1970 era Case) knives via ebay over many years, the vast majority have been received in padded envelopes - never recall having any damage as a result of crushing, etc. Obviously, it can happen, as we've seen in this thread - just seems from experience, this is a low probability occurrence. Personally, I re-use all those padded envelopes and keep my shipping costs as a seller down to $3 instead of $8 for the USPS priority box (as a buyer, I vastly prefer NOT paying for the sellers convenience of using the USPS priority box, and charging ME for that).

Caveat ... I don't buy or sell truly expensive or vintage knives - if I were to delve into that realm, yes I would re-use a small box, and still charge the buyer no more than $3 for shipping ... can you tell that's a pet peeve of mine )

You may consider me to be harsh, but most of my purchases are fixed blade knives, swords, bayonets and axes. When a package arrives with the blade sticking out of the package, maybe even jammed through the sheath damaging it as well, the seller is NOT the one who gets chewed out by the postmaster.

I've received packages with the plastic sheaths broken (such as dive knife sheaths, FN-FAL bayonet sheaths) due to being sent in "padded" envelopes. While FN-FAL sheaths can be found but vintage dive knife sheaths are seldom found in stand alone mode, so from a collector viewpoint, said collectible has immediately lost 50% of its value.

[espn77]

As a seller why would you care to charge $7.90 to ship in a box? Not your cost, it's the buyers cost. Unless the shipping cost is more than your knife is worth?

[WillyCamaro]

I don't know why all ya fellars are complaining about. Costs $10-$15 most times to ship knife/knives to me up here in Canada. And tack on 25% import if not lucky. Bubble mailers are even more expensive. I think we all are a bunch of cranky "old" guys...

[orvet]

As a seller why would you care to charge $7.90 to ship in a box? Not your cost, it's the buyers cost. Unless the shipping cost is more than your knife is worth?

Speaking for myself, not only do I sell knives, but I also buy knives and collect knives. I don't mind paying a fair price for the knife, but if I buy a knife for $79 and pay $7.90 to have the knife shipped to me then my cost of that knife has increased by 10%, not horrible, depending on the knife . If it's a $40 knife, my cost has increased by approximately 20%, which is significant. If I find a good candidate for a donor knife or a knife I want to restore, or just a HOK I really like and I pay $20 for it the $7.90 shipping raises the price of the knife by about 40%.
Adding an additional 40% value of a knife have it shipped is usually a deal-breaker for me unless the knife is way undervalued by the seller.

I know a lot of our members are younger folks who are trying to raise a family and they don't have unlimited budgets for pocket knives. The same is true for many of our retired members; they live on a fixed income and every dollar they spend on shipping as one last dollar they can spend on knives.

When I sell the knife I tried to consider the value and asking price of the knife when I list the shipping cost. If it's a knife I'm selling for less than $50, I will probably listed with first class shipping to keep the price down for my customer. If it's a unique knife, or customized knife or one that sells for $70 or more I generally list it with priority mail shipping and often with Insurance included. I do that to protect my buyer and to protect myself. Even then I will usually knock a few dollars off of the priority mail price, kind of an effort to help the buyer out on the price of shipping.

When it comes to selling a knife I like to make the price of the knife and shipping as reasonable as I possibly can. Ideally I want to list a knife at such a good price for the knife and the shipping that I personally would be interested in buying it.

Just my 2¢ worth.