Darn, just when I thought I had all my ducks in a row, slammo. I did not.

I had been debating about the Sc. C Post Office shops for awhile now after aborting (asking to cancel beforehand) my initial ones from months ago. They have been bugging me ever since. They are everywhere AND usually pay a decent amount for the time involved.

I still had the canned food and the correct boxes and thought I had the whole thing worked out, but nooooo.

I had been to the USPS site and thought I had calculated the cost for this oversized box and it came out to around $15.00 so I go ahead and take a Sc. C job since the are bonusing them.

Rude awakening - the postage was 39.95 and this was for nearly the minimum weight allowed for the shop - and that amount supposed to be the MAX reimbursement for this shop. Oy.

It wouldn't be so bad if you could recoup these expenses within a week - but 4-6 weeks is just too long to wait to get back that much cash outlay. I had another one scheduled and had to cancel it. $90 in expenses for just two assignments (not even paying $20 each) is way too much to handle.

The perplexing part comes from how that $ figure is determined, and what happens along the way.

If you go the USPS website and enter the "correct" information for the 14x14x14 box it says that the onsite cost will be $34.30 - so why was I charged 39.95 ?? I figured it out - the clerk did not actually measure the package but just put in dimensions of 15x15x15 and that jacked the price to 39.95. Wow !!

If I were a "real" customer and that happened I would be plenty P.O.'d. As a shopper, I have no choice but to go along with the scenario.

So just a heads up to anyone contemplating doing these - be prepared to spend about $45 each (box plus postage) AND to anyone who needs to mail an oversized box - make SURE that clerk measures correctly.

That is the point of the shop. Making sure they charge you correctly. The large outlay for the return is why I don't do them.

I have done a number of these shops and can offer this advice. Walmart is the only store I have found that carry the 14x14x14 boxes for 72 cents. If they don't have them in the store, you can order them on-line delivered to the store for free. Put in 3 cans of vegetables with bubble wrap or other lightweight packaging to stay in a good weight zone. It does require a large financial output but they pay more for these shops.

I had one mis-measure the box and charge me for 15 instead of 14 inch. It put me over the reimbursement. I reported the error and the fact that I didn't say anything so as not to reveal myself as a shopper. They paid me for the full amount I was charged.

Make sure you buy a new box for these. You cannot make your own box to fit the appropriate dimensions or re-use a box. If they don't charge you correctly you have no way to prove you actually used an oversized box. So be sure to buy a box, not recycle one or cut one to size, and keep the receipt.

Siamese5555 -

I already had the boxes - 14x14x14 is the only size available pretty much anywhere I go. I have seen that size at Walmart but passed on them hoping to find a smaller size, assuming it would cost less to ship it ( I did find out that the UPS store has one of the smaller sizes but it costs over the $5 reimbursement). Maybe if I had used one of those other sizes the package wouldn't have been incorrectly charged.

I actually only put in one large can of vegetables and packed it inside a smaller box so it wouldn't catapult all over that gigantic box - then stuffed it with paper. It came out just around 3lbs - the receipt however said "billable weight" 17lbs !! What a difference (I suppose the oversize box calculates into "pounds" for shipping purposes).

Has anyone done these and had their shipping cost come out under $30 ??

If they charge you correctly, no, it will never come out under $30. That's the whole purpose of this shop. The post office charges more for larger boxes. They make sure to give you box size/weights that will trigger the postage calculation on the dimensions of the box instead of the weight. That's why it's called a dim weight shop. They are trying to make sure that the employees are charging the dim weight instead of the actual weight. They will almost always be very close to the reimbursement max.

BGriffin - Thanks, that is what I was wondering. Now I know I will probably not choose to do these again unless they
bonus up pretty high and I have a lot of spare expense $ to use.

I would think that given how so many shoppers feel about them that they would find some other method for offering these shops. Either quick reimbursement or some kind of debit card just for doing Sch C jobs. I would think that would solve this dilemma - ie: we would be perfectly willing to do them if they weren't such a financial burden.

I was thinking of doing one of those dim shops... now maybe I won't.....

Off track, but I just did my first Priority Mail shop and the clerk insisted on media mail, (no he didn't say anything either, just did it),....no wonder they have us doing these. I would be pissed off to learn that it wasn't shipped as I had asked for it to be done.

I've done several of the regular post office shops. I do it like it says in the description- do you have a package you need to mail, birthday gift, Xmas? I picked up some fishing shops and bought fishing gear and mailed it to my brother. It was a win-win. He received some stuff for his trip that I was able to score for free AND I mailed it to him (better than driving four hours)!

I love the post office shops for things like this. I know another person who uses them for her eBay sales. You have to be really organized for that kind of serious Post Office shopping but we all find what works, eh?

If you check with your scheduler, you can probably use a credit card for the C shops. Mine lets me. That way you're not out the money as long and you pick up some rewards points as well. they "prefer" you use cash but it's not actually required.

I have never used cash for any of the 100 or so PO shops I've done.

bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have never used cash for any of the 100 or so PO
> shops I've done.

I always use cash for any type of shop that I do. Can't be traced back to the shopper's identity by the associates, but I haven't done 100+ post office shops. I only do Scenario A & B and their clones for the $17.50 & large bonuses this MSC offers, which is why I recommend this MSC to new shoppers, who can pick up $45 bonused USPS B-shops in the sticks. If you've only been shopping for 11 months then alot of those 100+ shops must be for the flat $10 rate and with the report these shops take 45 minutes, which just beats min. wage.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2014 02:53AM by aggiejim72.

Wow-lucky you. I have never seen a bonus on any of these shops. Maybe they eventually all get filled.

aggiejim72 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you've only been shopping for 11
> months then alot of those 100+ shops must be for
> the flat $10 rate and with the report these shops
> take 45 minutes, which just beats min. wage.


Well since everyone else was doing them at $10 I made an offer to do them at $9 so I would get the work...... I *wish* they were 45 minute shops. What with weighing the boxes multiple times to make sure they're right, perfectly wrapping the outside so they don't stand out, and I also take a photo of the box beforehand to upload, I'm sure the company appreciates it. And let's not forget all of that receipt ironing! Those receipts are so long!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2014 04:00AM by bgriffin.

Then why the hell did you tell me to bid $8?!

'cause I'd rather you do them at $8 then me do them at $9?

Wow, you must be slow...

On site time is usually 5-6 minutes and I can do this report in 5 minutes so $10 for 12 minutes if work is closer to $50 an hour.

aggiejim72 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bgriffin Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I have never used cash for any of the 100 or so
> PO
> > shops I've done.
>
> I always use cash for any type of shop that I do.
> Can't be traced back to the shopper's identity by
> the associates, but I haven't done 100+ post
> office shops. I only do Scenario A & B and their
> clones for the $17.50 & large bonuses this MSC
> offers, which is why I recommend this MSC to new
> shoppers, who can pick up $45 bonused USPS B-shops
> in the sticks. If you've only been shopping for 11
> months then alot of those 100+ shops must be for
> the flat $10 rate and with the report these shops
> take 45 minutes, which just beats min. wage.

What photo of the box ??? The report doesn't call for a photo.

Cut the receipt in half - lay side by side. Done

I find these to be extra profitable because I too use them to ship customer orders when I can - saves paying for that shipping - which I have already been payed for. More $ to the bottom line.

A few times I have had to take a product only weighing half an ounce and make the whole thing weigh in at 18oz for the shop.

I put a little disclaimer note in it for the customer since it looked so darned weird.

I had to explain to my brother and sister why I was sending them tuna fish along with some family history for them to edit.

I, too, cut the receipts in half and tape them to the same sheet of paper which I photograph together.

I never thought of photographing the box for proof if there are any questions. I should do that. I had two issues this week on buying ReadyPost packaging but so far have had no questions.

I wasn't serious..........
Apparently I forgot to use the sarcasm font.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2014 03:17PM by bgriffin.

The one and only time I ever ironed a receipt, it turned so freaking dark it was unreadable. What kind of ironing are you doing? LOL

Oh...it was a joke. haha

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2014 10:50PM by Mary Smith xoxoxo.

Maybe it was just your smooth-as-silk-style, that had me confused.

>>>I wasn't serious..........
Apparently I forgot to use the sarcasm font.<<<<

I use the 14x14x14 box and make sure the dimensions are on the exterior of the box. That way the tape measure happy clerk can argue with the actual dimensions. I send two cans of food and the weight with the larger box is about 14 lb 2.4 oz on the receipt. The usual charge is $34.30.

If you are in a pinch to find a box, the Post Office sells the 15x12x10 box for around $3.50. My favorite stuffing is paper bags from the grocery store. They can be crumpled to fill the space with a few bags and a lot less than sheets and sheets of newspaper.

I have had clerks attempt to send my A or D shop media mail and they are told that is not what I want. When they ask about contents, I tell them it is crafts or documents. One time the clerk said that the package felt like magazines, no actually that envelope was filled with about a third of a ream of copy paper, because I had already mailed all of my magazines. I did have a discussion about crafts with one clerk and told her it the contents were for a shadowbox.

I recently did two shops at a very small post office in northern California. The first time I was offered shipping for $5.80. No features mentioned, no additional service offerings.

When I returned a few weeks later, I was offered two mailing options with all features, extra services and products were suggested. That was the fastest turnaround I have ever seen for a shop. Nice to know that they are effective.

Wish they would review services other than shipping.

I agree! I would love to purchase stamps on these shops.

People still use stamps?