Home Forums Gear Free Classifieds USPS alternative?

Have had 2 issues with USPS lately. Got a lost Money Order now for the 6mm Classic i recently bought here. Was sent Certified Mail with tracking but no one can tell me where it is. Recently had to spend $32. to stop payment on a lost check and now looks like another stop payment expense on the money orders. Whats the best option to avoid USPS for sending payments?

I just learned that if a package is sent with tracking you can "recall it" (return to sender) as long as it hasn't been delivered yet. It cost me $17.50 to do it but I was able to get my MO back without waiting the 90 days. If they can't return it to you, the refund the charge is what it said.

USPS, Has become a joke,I'm in the same boat

Aren't MO's SO much better than a personal check?

I made some Parts for a slide off a rare antique pistol for a friend who delivers mail in Colorado. I shipped them in a small Flat rate box with tracking, they went from here , to Tulsa , to Denver, and disappeared. We were both sweating it , then 3 weeks later it was scanned in Puerto Rico. The Denver druggies put it in the wrong Bin...Doh. It finally showed back in Denver and was delivered 3 days later to my friend after a Caribbean cruise. Almost 6 weeks total shipping time.
As far as money goes, Paypal has worked for me , Or I mail a personal check.

It's not lost, its just "arriving late"

160user thats good to know. Will be an option.

I’ve recently sent several certified bank checks via USPS using standard first class with a stamp. So far, every member has received their funds. I wonder if you’re tipping your hat with all the certified mail business. My bank can always cancel the check and reissue. Costs me nothing but a “forever stamp”. IDK

Right now I have 3 triggers for my Remington 541 S and T rifles out there. Somewhere. No tracking data.

Check this out! Past week I sent a $2600 cashier check to a gentleman by Priority with tracking. It disappeared in Atlanta. Thank goodness for my small town credit union. On a major bank there's a 90 day hold on a cashiers check. My credit union let me file an indemnity agreement to cancel the check, had funds redecorated that afternoon, and I went in the next morning and did a wired transfer from my credit union to his credit union. This was our second transaction and I'd already received his goods. I was a nervous wreck! My reputation and integrity was being tested. I thought I was going to have to come up with another 2600 and wait 3 months to get the first back. I got very lucky. Next time on a big check I'm sending it UPS if I don't elect to do the wire transfer. The wire transfer cost me $20. The cashier check and postage cost me about $13. The extra $7 was the best ease of mind I ever spent!

I’ve had two payments lost in the mail thru usps in the last 3 months. One I had to do a stop payment thru my bank so that was another $25 cost. Yes the post office has become a joke.
In February I mailed a payment to Utah from Missouri that took 19 days to receive, luckily the recipient waited

In our small town the Postmaster told me he's trying to hire 5 carriers and 2 rural delivery people but he can't find anyone who wants to work. The reason I was talking to the Postmaster is because the Post Office has delivered 3 of our packages to the wrong address since December. Luckily they can tell where the packages were scanned so we know where they were delivered. We only got one back. FedEx isn't any better around here but at least they send me a picture of my package on someone else's porch.

Whether buying or selling I like PayPal, but will take any old check or money order as payment as long as you want to put the transaction into the hands of the usps. I can either ship your item tomorrow, or in 2 weeks at best after waiting for the check to get delivered and then clear. As far as shipping whenever I sell anything it gets sent ups. Knock on wood never had an issue.

Pretty much USPS SOP lately......

Personal checks have their problems too.

I recently sold a rifle on the classifieds and USPS lost it for a week. Your right It feels like your reputation is on the line. From now on I’m going to spend the extra money and have my dealer ship any firearms I sell.

The small town in Northern Wisconsin where we have a cabin..... the rural carrier used his route to deliver drugs / dope.
You never knew what was gonna end up in your mail box.

Retired last fall from a large sporting goods retailer. I worked in their call center and 98% of my job was cleaning up after UPS screwed up. The company switched to FedEx a month or so before I left and it only took a couple of weeks to realize FedEx was as bad or worse than UPS. I'm selling odds and ends of gun related stuff left over from my gun shop and dealing with USPS is nothing shy of horrible. Have noticed if inbound payment is sent to me with a printed label it gets here days faster than hand written labels.

I sent two USPS money orders USPS priority ($10) on Monday and they arrived at the sellers on Wednesday as scheduled. He shipped the handgun via UPS on Wednesday and it is scheduled to arrive at my FFL tomorrow. So a week for the full transaction assuming gun arrival tomorrow. No complaints here.

The advantage to having a dealer ship for you is that the BATFE can be involved in the event it gets “lost in the mail” whereas a non-FFL holder doesn’t have that support.