I can't believe something like this hasn't been posted before. But here goes.

I myself enjoy shipping parcels of dried beans on occasion, and I imagine others do something similar from time to time. So just like in third grade, it's occasionally nice to sign up for a pen pal in another part of the country.

If anyone out there is interested in sending a package to someone across the country (or receiving one). send me a PM containing your mailing address. I will match requests anonymously with others making the same request. If you send me an address, I will look at others I currently have that would be zone 5 or further from you and send their details in reply.

A few ground rules that we should all be able to live with. I am open to suggestions if you have things that should be added here.:

- Do not share the addresses you receive with anyone. We all get plenty of unwanted mail as it is.
- Make sure to include a real address that is controlled by you. It must be an address that someone could use to ship a small package to you.
- Include only items suitable for a rated G general audience. If you wouldn't want a stranger's 8 year old to inadvertently come across it, don't mail it to your package-pal.
- Include only things that you are content to never see again in your package. Or if you would like something returned for re-use, include a fully-addressed, fully prepared ready to mail package inside the package you mail. Make sure to leave it unsealed since the other person must be able to truthfully describe the contents inside when they return the inner package to you. Any return will be best effort. Making it easy for someone to do so will improve your odds of getting it back.
- Include a note that says "A gift from your package pal" or similar, so folks know it relates to this exchange.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2019 04:11AM by JustForFun.

Actually, it has been posted several times before.

This has been done multiple times, via PMs, without need for a "middleman". I have several "post office buddies" around the country. We often send the same package back and forth until the box wears old, without ever opening it.

@myst4au wrote:

This has been done multiple times, via PMs, without need for a "middleman". I have several "post office buddies" around the country. We often send the same package back and forth until the box wears old, without ever opening it.

Hilarious.

The "middleman" offer just keeps it a bit more anonymous for those that may wish that. With a third party matching the names, nobody but the middleman has a clue what userID goes with what address..

It appears OP is talking about actually penpals not post office buddies for USPS shops. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I got the impression the OP was referring to post office shops.

OP, if that is what you meant, here is a link to one of the threads:

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I got the impression the OP was referring to post office shops.

Seems like too much detail for that. Sending thank you notes etc.

Yeah, I wouldn't be including thank you notes, either, but not everyone is wired the same way. I have a USPS buddy who I chat with in the forum and send packages to, I don't include any notes or anything, though she usually sends me a thank you via PM. I have friends and family members I send packages to as well. I don't put any notes in the boxes, just stuff, and sometimes they text and say thanks, other times not. But that's my personal experience. I still get the impression the OP was referring to post office shops. Why else would they be sending a bag of dried beans (usually 1 lb.) or talking about zone 5?

@ShoppingDad wrote:

It appears OP is talking about actually penpals not post office buddies for USPS shops. Correct me if I'm wrong.

What? There's a shop that this would feed into? Who knew? Good thing I posted it here on the MYSTERY SHOPPING FORUM then, eh? [sarcasm]

@ShoppingDad wrote:

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I got the impression the OP was referring to post office shops.

Seems like too much detail for that. Sending thank you notes etc.

No problem. I'll know to expect yours to be all business. [sarcasm] LOL

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2019 06:35PM by JustForFun.

And even in the mystery shopping discussion on the mystery shopping forum. Not in general chat.

@JustForFun wrote:

@ShoppingDad wrote:

It appears OP is talking about actually penpals not post office buddies for USPS shops. Correct me if I'm wrong.

What? There's a shop that this would feed into? Who knew? Good thing I posted it here on the MYSTERY SHOPPING FORUM then, eh? [sarcasm]

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Yeah, I wouldn't be including thank you notes, either, but not everyone is wired the same way. I have a USPS buddy who I chat with in the forum and send packages to, I don't include any notes or anything, though she usually sends me a thank you via PM. I have friends and family members I send packages to as well. I don't put any notes in the boxes, just stuff, and sometimes they text and say thanks, other times not. But that's my personal experience. I still get the impression the OP was referring to post office shops. Why else would they be sending a bag of dried beans (usually 1 lb.) or talking about zone 5?

True, when the initial contact is a 1:1 PM direct from sender to sender, the notes aren't necessary. Remember that in my scenario the sender and receiver are - at least initially - unknown to each other. There's been no direct PM between them at all, and may never be one. So the first contact would be the arrival of the random contents box. Send a note or don't. But it may be a good idea to dispel the stalker persona somehow.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2019 04:55PM by JustForFun.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I got the impression the OP was referring to post office shops.

OP, if that is what you meant, here is a link to one of the threads:

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

Thanks. This too is useful.

Upon re-reading the original note, I think it is both. The OP is proposing a "penpal" to send boxes to for USPS shops., complete with thank you notes. I personally send packages for USPS shops as an MS assignment, and I and my "shipping buddies" minimize all effort by covering or removing the labels and never opening the boxes. Time is money. Sometimes I do use these shops to send packages to friends and relatives, and they, of course, open the boxes and keep what is inside which is a present I selected for them or their children, knowing who they are. How could I possibly send a meaningful "gift" to an anonymous person? To each their own. I presume that there are people who want anonymous penpals to send packages to.

@ShoppingDad wrote:

It appears OP is talking about actually penpals not post office buddies for USPS shops. Correct me if I'm wrong.

@myst4au wrote:

Upon re-reading the original note, I think it is both. The OP is proposing a "penpal" to send boxes to for USPS shops., complete with thank you notes. I personally send packages for USPS shops as an MS assignment, and I and my "shipping buddies" minimize all effort by covering or removing the labels and never opening the boxes. Time is money. Sometimes I do use these shops to send packages to friends and relatives, and they, of course, open the boxes and keep what is inside which is a present I selected for them or their children, knowing who they are. How could I possibly send a meaningful "gift" to an anonymous person? To each their own. I presume that there are people who want anonymous penpals to send packages to.

@ShoppingDad wrote:

It appears OP is talking about actually penpals not post office buddies for USPS shops. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Actually, it's all about the shops and having a place to ship things in exchange for agreeing to do the same. People are getting hung up on the notes. Those are an optional thing to alert the receiver to the reason for the unannounced shipment from a stranger, nothing more. It's one sentence on a scrap of paper, not a hallmark card.

I'll concede that there are more efficient ways to make these arrangements, for those who don't feel a need to keep their forum ID and their address unlinked. For me, that's important.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2019 05:06PM by JustForFun.

I have a slew of friends and family all over the US, and I send them stuff for my shops. I do a lot of convenience stores shops and have a pantry full of candy bars and snacks from those that I send to their kids. I also work for a nutritional company and get a lot of free samples and full sized product to send to my adult friends and family. So I have no shortage of stuff to put in the boxes. I incorporate the PO shops in my mini day routes, reusing boxes I pick up from my merchandising jobs, and all is well with my method.

I could see how it might be useful for some people who don't know a lot of people all over the country to do what the OP is suggesting as a means to be able to do more shops.

Just found out that there's one vegetable in the whole world that my Zone 5 buddy doesn't like. I sent her some from my garden, along with a few rocks for weight. She told her young daughter that she would be happy to cook the rocks for her instead of that vegetable, they would taste better. Oh, what fun we have!

So I guess you have to answer yes to the perishable question, LOL!!! What is it, a beet?

I also shipped vegetables from my garden to a friend once this summer. I answered yes to perishable, the clerk stamped the box as such and shopped it. Perishable is not a problem.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

So I guess you have to answer yes to the perishable question, LOL!!! What is it, a beet?

Yes, I realize perishable is not a problem. Nor is fragile. I have never shipped either, though. Never shipped any liquids either, although I certainly have pretended to ship perfume!

Well, perishable is relative. A hearty vegetable will be okay in a box for a few days. Really perishable, IMO, would be ice cream. Or figs, they're soggy after a day.

When cucumbers were flourishing, and said buddy had complained of boyfriend troubles, I sent her a few cucumbers with a note that said, "cucumbers are better than men because ... you can legally cut them up into small pieces."

Your PO buddy doesn't like garden fresh cukes???

Dump her.

I shouldn't have asked.

@JustForFun wrote:

@myst4au wrote:

This has been done multiple times, via PMs, without need for a "middleman". I have several "post office buddies" around the country. We often send the same package back and forth until the box wears old, without ever opening it.

Hilarious.

The "middleman" offer just keeps it a bit more anonymous for those that may wish that. With a third party matching the names, nobody but the middleman has a clue what userID goes with what address..

I don't know that I need some random person having my address and the address of a whole bunch of forum members.

Hard pass.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Your PO buddy doesn't like garden fresh cukes???

Dump her.

Oh, she likes cukes. It was the more-recent okra she didn't like.

Okay, I grew up in the south, but I HATE okra...I make my gumbo without it. I don't like it fried, boiled, or any other way you can think of, it's a nasty ass vegetable, if you can even call it a vegetable, because it's a starchy piece of @#$%& green thing that should not be on the planet. There. Rant over.

Okra haters gonna hate! Actually, I'm LMAO.

@SoCalMama wrote:

I don't know that I need some random person having my address and the address of a whole bunch of forum members.

Hard pass.

LOL Man, this is a tough crowd. I assure you, I am anything BUT random.

Your reaction is perfectly reasonable and in your shoes - presumably with plenty of well seasoned other-coast receivers lined up - I may react the same. But if there are folks who are still building (or refreshing) that stable of shipping buddies and want an anonymous match with a such a person I will do it.

I value my privacy and I value the confidentiality my clients rely upon. So I'm not inclined to unnecessarily link my user ID with my real address or name. It's one more building block toward linking real shoppers with real people in real locations, part of what I've agreed to keep confidential for my clients. Sure, I will end up with some addresses and names. Guess what? I also value the privacy of those people who decide to send me an address.

If anyone reading this doesn't want me to have their address and or doesn't see a value in what I am offering there's a simple answer. Don't send me your address. I'll be fine with it, really. If you still want an address but don't care about the extra layer of isolation I'm offering, @JASFLALMT has kindly posted a great link above that will get you there with a public post and a PM or two. But those who would like to potentially get an address in exchange for giving one to "a random person" privately can feel free to PM me with your address. .

@JustForFun wrote:

@ShoppingDad wrote:

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I got the impression the OP was referring to post office shops.

Seems like too much detail for that. Sending thank you notes etc.

No problem. I'll know to expect yours to be all business. LOL

Dont expect mine at all. Enjoy.

@JustForFun wrote:

I'll concede that there are more efficient ways to make these arrangements, for those who don't feel a need to keep their forum ID and their address unlinked. For me, that's important.

Sooooooo, everyone should have no problem sending their forum ID and address to you?

Funniest thing I've read today. Thanks for the chuckle.