The odds of getting something lost in the mail.

[Eltharion the Blind]

How often does something get lost in the mail? Like a package.

[GearHead]

I've never had a package get completely lost, but I've had two that got misplaced for a couple of months. Thing is that each time it had DC, so there was a number to look for. Without it, it'd be pretty hard for them to do a search, I imagine.

It's pretty rare, but once is too much.

[The Drop Zone]

i shipped out 5 boxes to a client on dec 28th all with dc numbers only 2 showed up in the system the other 3 no shows...

then i find out a day later they arrived

i have 6-8 more boxes to send.... needless to say i was quite worried

i have had items lost in the mail or so they have been claimed by some most ill buy they were lost but 2 times to the same person no thank im not buying that

[Zaakath]

I had one get lost a few years ago, but it was a letter. Luckily a USPS M/O that I got refunded.

[kturock]

the PO i work at is the main sorting facility for several hundered miles. some states have 1, some none some a couple, depending on the population.
we get about 1 million pieces of mail, a day. thats 1st class only. that deosn't include magazines, ad's and junk mail. any packages. it also doesn't include items sent from big mail companies the bring them directly to the smaller offices where they get delivered.

if it matters, but a number on it; either with DC or insurance. if it doesn't, don't; but don't complain when it gets lost. if it's not woth the 35 cents before you mail it, it can't be all that important.

[ekister]

Supposedly I lost one package way back when. Interestingly, his package never made it to me. Given that my trade rating is almost 200 and his never got above 20, I hate to make assumptions, but....

It was on that day that I decided anything worth more than $10-20 was going to get some sort of number, and my trading partner was going to pay for it or send it to me the same way.

I have had to mull over leaving neutral feedback on a couple of occasions when someone said they were going to ship a certain way (agreed to use tracking like I did for them) and failed on their end. Never have though since I got my items. LOL

Use the tracking people!!!

[titan136]

I find that large packages never get lost. Some are returned to sender for various reasons but in most cases, larger packages seem to make it there without problems. Its the smaller packages that seems to get misplaced, lost or just dont show up. I dunno why this is, btu in my experience thats just hows its worked out

[kturock]

thats because of the way small packages are sorted/worked. they run on a machine that moves anywhere from 10-30 mp, depending on hat setting it's on. they also get worked into and from sacks and hampers/gurneys. small items can easily be overlooked in either.

they can also slip between the 'cracks', spaces on the machine. lost until the machine is torn apart for a major overhaul; which isn't often.

[DOCAGREN]

Well.. I've had 1 package get lost in the post system.. but it was coming from France.. and it was the payment enevolpe for the Shadowrun DMZ boxset I had. I took 4months or better, and by the time i got the letter looked like it swam across the Ocean to me in Maine... and then reentered the post system (thankfully the cash inside survived).. the fun part was I sent his package back by surface and he got in like 2 weeks..

I also had person screw up and ship out mini to 3 or 4 people at once and "send the wrong" minis to each.. and while I wasnt thinking I forwarded to the person they belonged to but never got my LAMs forwarded to me...

[kturock]

NEVER. EVER. SEND. CASH. if it gets lost or destroyed, you can't get it back. you can't even insure it. the only way, if you MUST send cash, is to send it registered mail. then if it's lost or stolen, you have a chance to get a refund.
note i said chance. if you send $$ to certain countries, EXPECT it to be stolen.

just a word to the wise.

[starslayer]

Anyone who doesn't break down and spend 60 lousy cents for delivery confirmation/tracking is a total FOOL and deserves whatever happens.
Be smart,don't take chances.

[kturock]

it costs less than that. if you get paid via paypal, it costs 14 cents to add it to 1st class. it's automatic, you can't not take it. i just shipped 2 minis for $2.12, with insurance.

[dave (no caps)]

over 10 years of online trading and i never had to claim insurance or lost anything (knock on wood)

[Martelo]

I have lost a few packages over the years... mostly stuff sent to me Once a box I sent to Germany was lost for 3 months without ever leaving the country. Then it was returned to me (large box) and I had it sent first class... made there in 2 weeks.

Just last couple months I had 3 packages from ebay lost! Was refunded for one and 2 were sent again... still waiting for one of them

The problem sometimes I have with trading overseas is that the US and the UK dont give automatic tracking numbers to all packages, so its is harder to trace the smaller ones, unless you are willing to pay extra for it... and for some reason people seem to want to get as much as they possibly can for the "handling" part of "shipping and handling".

[kturock]

all overseas customs forms have numbers. but they will only tell you when they [customs] handled it.

the only ways to get numbers, using usps, is express mail, insured or registered.

al 3 cost more. registered is actually the slowest. it gets tracked like express mail, but not as fast.