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Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.
Common logic says that a shipper should be able to use any of the Priority boxes they have if they are willing to pay the standard Priority Mail rate for weight and dimensions. The not-so-common logic is that the USPS stocks the flat rate boxes at the Post Office and often people unknowingly use them even when the regular rate is cheaper and/or when Regular Priority boxes are not stocked. In other words the USPS is not your friend.
Of course he’s trying to RUN THE COMPANY INTO THE GROUND !!!
DeJoy’s investments include stakes in XPO Logistics, UPS, J.B. Hunt, Forward Air Corp, and Saia Inc, with total investments in USPS competitors of between $30 million and $75.8 million. These financial stakes in competing companies are illegal for DeJoy or his wife to own while he remains an active federal government employee.
I have been using the large “C” regional boxes, which service USPS discontinued months ago. (I sure wish I had ordered more of them when they were available!!!) I black out the “REGIONAL” references on the boxes and use them the same as any other Priority Mail box I am shipping. Have never been turned away or told I can’t do this.
USPS accepts all kinds of printing on boxes for Priority Mail, as long as the sender crosses out / blacks out things that might confuse USPS along the way, such as bar codes and anything that would look like an address. I grocery shop at a co-operative that gives empty boxes out free – they surely keep my shipping costs down and my environmentally conscious customers don’t mind a bit, because re-using boxes is one more use before the landfill. They don’t care if they are marked Organic Pizza Crust, as long as what they ordered is safely packed inside.
A Regional box is just another Priority Mail box, as long as you cross out or black out the “Regional” information on it.
Word to the wise: Don’t try this with Flat Rate boxes, even if they have been used. A Flat Rate is a Flat Rate forever.
USPS = Incompetent. Their employees will lose your packages and wash their hands off with a shoulder shrug.