Ordering Online: Shipping methods
The thread about shopping online got me thinking… what shipping methods do people use/prefer when buying tea/teaware? Most of mine come UPS. Lupicia comes Fed Ex, Den’s, 52teas, and small Adagio orders come regular mail. As a person in a wheelchair, I do like instant gratification of UPS/FedEx packages coming right to the door- not to mention they come earlier than regular mail!=D
USPS, hands down. Usually the fastest, usually the cheapest, and occasional Saturday deliveries! In my apartment building, the Postal Service has a key so can leave things in/on the mailbox; UPS and FedEx either leave it outside or buzz to be let in.
That said, I always take the cheapest option offered from a company, which is often UPS.
I heard USPS may go to every other day so it may take FOREVER for some of us to get our tea orders!
I like USPS too. Cheaper and just as quick or faster than UPS/Fedex. I got an order from Simple Teas super quick – Ordered on Sat. Got Tea on Monday (and I live in the middle of nowhere). Crazy, huh? UPS/Fedex would never do that… they’d hold it in their warehouse for a week.
I’ve never gotten a UPS/Fedex order in under a week unless I’ve paid for 2 day shipping or unless it came from Salt Lake City (right down the road).
And we also have Saturday delivery with USPS. I don’t think every other day delivery will make orders take forever… just possibly one day longer. It’s just the delivery that is going every other day, right (not the moving the package across the country)?
2 companies that USPS: One is pretty efficient (in getting it shipped and travel time) and the other ALWAYS takes forever to get to me. I even get my things days after people that live several hundred miles from me (further from said company)… but something tells me that has nothing to do w/ USPS…
i live in an apartment and loathe non-USPS orders because we have to sign for them, and i am not home, and there is no where safe to put them, so we end up having to go to the local (not so local) depot to pickup
Yeah I’ve sent birthday presents to friends and they didn’t actually get them til a week later.
Same problem here. My mailman has access and leaves packages outside my door, but UPS and FedEx don’t. I have given up on home delivery and now have most orders shipped to my workplace.
When it comes to tea, I’m usually not too picky about the method of shipping. I typically go for the cheapest option (which is usually USPS or UPS). I’ve never had any shipments from any carriers take over a week (except for the 52teas order I made recently, they know their shipping takes a bit longer than normal though, but it was totally worth it).
If I do make an order with something fragile though, I’ll try and select FedEx over other carriers because of damaged packages I’ve received from both USPS and UPS in the past.
For smaller orders I usually prefer USPS Priority Mail, because it arrives pretty quickly, and for orders that weigh under a pound, it’s pretty economical. Once orders get to weights exceeding 3 pounds or so, FedEX or UPS (or where available, DHL) becomes a more economical choice.
In areas such as insurance claims – I will say that I prefer dealing with USPS over UPS or any other freight service. Just because the insurance is free with UPS (up to $100 value), doesn’t mean that it is easy to make a claim should the need arise. I’d much rather pay under $2 for insurance and have the ease of using USPS should the need arise for an insurance claim.
Login or sign up to leave a comment.