hi, i am pretty sure i know where the new mailing shops are, but none show up in my job list. i thought i read before that you have to take a test or something to see these shops? but i don't see where to take the tests. can someone please give me a clue on what i'm missing please

The new company isn't posting as many shops as the previous MS company. I only saw two in my area last month, when there were 30 or more in my area with the other company

yes they have very limited area of such shops

The new MSC posted a few test locations the first week of May. Then they pulled the whole program back and said USPS was making some changes. Then they posted a comment to the effect that USPS was difficult to work with. Last update was about a month ago and they are no longer responding to requests for updates. So, who knows where things landed or if these are ever coming back.

There is a pretty long thread about all this, including the new, vastly reduced fee schedule (no reimbursement of the shipping or box costs) that the new MSC was offering so much of the excitement about these "coming back" waned.

They are posted in my area this morning. I don't have anything I need to ship though.

I see a bunch of them. Still $15 with no reimbursement. No thanks. I saw them for the first time yesterday.

I would imagine they will move a lot slower than in the past because who would do these unless you need to ship something. Maybe around the holidays, birthdays or the rare instance when something of mine sells on ebay, but otherwise, what's the point?

They showed up in my area as well but I absolutely would not do them without a reimbursement. Let's see how fact they are taken.

17 within ten miles of me. I'll be interested in seeing how quickly they go

The many posts on this forum about USPS shops not paying anything caused me to eventually dispose of all my packed and ready-to-ship boxes and envelopes about a week ago. I should have waited to dispose of them, because I got an email today from my MSC that informed me they would have new USPS shops available soon and paying the same as when they were with last year's MSC.

Now, I have to get new boxes and mailers, stuff and seal them, and hope that my former shipping buddies will still be available.

I just looked at the listing for the new MSC. This is a direct quote: "Shop is paying $15 to help reduce your shipping cost. There is no separate reimbursement." You also have to check in on the app and take several photographs.

I am curious to see if any get taken. I suppose there will always be someone shipping items for eBay or to a relative, but that currently isn't me.

@AZwolfman wrote:

The many posts on this forum about USPS shops not paying anything caused me to eventually dispose of all my packed and ready-to-ship boxes and envelopes about a week ago. I should have waited to dispose of them, because I got an email today from my MSC that informed me they would have new USPS shops available soon and paying the same as when they were with last year's MSC.

Now, I have to get new boxes and mailers, stuff and seal them, and hope that my former shipping buddies will still be available.

Are you sure the email is legit? Was it from the naked company as they have this project now. Its odd no one else received this, and they are now on round 2 of posting these and the pay is very much just $15 and No reimbursement for shipping or boxes.

@AZwolfman wrote:

The many posts on this forum about USPS shops not paying anything caused me to eventually dispose of all my packed and ready-to-ship boxes and envelopes about a week ago. I should have waited to dispose of them, because I got an email today from my MSC that informed me they would have new USPS shops available soon and paying the same as when they were with last year's MSC.

Now, I have to get new boxes and mailers, stuff and seal them, and hope that my former shipping buddies will still be available.

@myst4au wrote:

I just looked at the listing for the new MSC. This is a direct quote: "Shop is paying $15 to help reduce your shipping cost. There is no separate reimbursement." You also have to check in on the app and take several photographs.

I am curious to see if any get taken. I suppose there will always be someone shipping items for eBay or to a relative, but that currently isn't me.

@AZwolfman wrote:

The many posts on this forum about USPS shops not paying anything caused me to eventually dispose of all my packed and ready-to-ship boxes and envelopes about a week ago. I should have waited to dispose of them, because I got an email today from my MSC that informed me they would have new USPS shops available soon and paying the same as when they were with last year's MSC.

Now, I have to get new boxes and mailers, stuff and seal them, and hope that my former shipping buddies will still be available.

The first wave will probably see people taking them before they learn the hard way. The wave that follows will be the best example. I can't wait to watch these sit.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2024 12:52PM by KA047.

I didn't like doing these shops anyway. After having one of my USPS shops rejected because I chatted with the clerk and took a minute or two longer than necessary to leave the building (I also walked over to the other side of the lobby to check supplies and was told I only needed to give them a quick glance), I hated the idea of spending retail rates for Priority and holding my breath to see if the shop is accepted. The sting of that rejection had me nearly running out the door when finished with the clerk on the shops I did afterwards.

Besides, I use Pirate Ship for my eBay shipments and usually Ground Advantage is the best rate for the items I have to ship that are over a pound. Priority is better only if they're going across the country. I did send a few packages to food banks in my state, but it was a real pain in that butt to find stuff to send and make sure the weight was within the limits. I just hated doing those shops and hadn't done one in a long time anyway.

I hardly ever work for the previous MSC either, because they don't have that many shops worth doing in my area, but it is somewhat perversely satisfying to me that USPS took their business elsewhere.

So, no skin off my nose now that the MSC taking over is being cheap about it, but I do feel for those of you who regularly did them and benefited from doing them.

.

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2024 03:39PM by shopnyc.

@shopnyc wrote:

I didn't like doing these shops anyway. After having one of my USPS shops rejected because I chatted with the clerk and took a minute or two longer than necessary to leave the building (I also walked over to the other side of the lobby to check supplies and was told I only needed to give them a quick glance)

.

You were supposed to list the exit time as the time on your receipt. It doesn't matter what time you actually leave the building, they wanted the time from the receipt.

This latest news energized me to look again at the MSC site. I am wondering if there is some trick to finding these. I went to the site , clicked on Available Shops and only saw the same job interview jobs and inventory scans that are consistently listed. There are scores and scores of post offices within 10 miles of my house and not one shop listed for any distance in Los Angeles. Am I checking the wrong place? Iss it that I am looking at the wrong site?

Do you know what mystery company is doing the usps shops? Have searched and cant find.

I checked using an east coast zip code and found them. AT least now I know someday they may come to me. I have a zone 8 child and frequently like to send him deals I find out here he would like. I will not take tons of jobs but to send a quarterly care package I might still do them. Of course they should have reimbursement that covers zone 8 and also some sort of fee but for occasional gifting from the post office a few blocks from my house it is worth it. My 3 or 4 shops a year will not fulfil the contract this msc has so things might still change for the better. And this for me is preferable to the sad pay of non reimbursing shops in my city.

@AZwolfman wrote:

The many posts on this forum about USPS shops not paying anything caused me to eventually dispose of all my packed and ready-to-ship boxes and envelopes about a week ago. I should have waited to dispose of them, because I got an email today from my MSC that informed me they would have new USPS shops available soon and paying the same as when they were with last year's MSC.

Now, I have to get new boxes and mailers, stuff and seal them, and hope that my former shipping buddies will still be available.

You need to specify that you are in NEVADA and the rules for payment are different there.

There are none listed near me that I see in northern California. There are a ton in eastern Pennsylvania around Philadelphia. Considering the majority of the post offices in San Francisco have no parking and the last mystery shopping company had to pay anywhere between $25 and $30 per location to get them done, I can’t see them getting filled at zero fee reimbursement only.

If this is a flat fee I can still send packages to friends who moved a relatively short distance away and at least earn enough over the reimbursement to deduct travel costs from the profit. Profit is a very misleading word here based on the time it takes to drive and write up the report no matter how close the po is.

@Jusa wrote:

You were supposed to list the exit time as the time on your receipt. It doesn't matter what time you actually leave the building, they wanted the time from the receipt.

You're correcting me on how to do it when I've already said I hate doing these shops, haven't done any in a long time, and don't care that I won't do them again? Wow. And you're wrong, to boot. Gee, nitpick much?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2024 09:58PM by shopnyc.

Does anybody know if the size requirement is still the same? I have a watch I need to send back, and the box it came in is 12"x3.25"x3.5".

ETA: But I also feel like if I take one of these, I'll be contributing to the problem of the MSC thinking people will take them at a flat $15, so they'll never raise the fee or add a reimbursement. -sighs-

ETA #2: Never mind, I see where it's 12x12x12, which would work, but I can't ship them a bag of rice along with a returned watch.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2024 10:44PM by drdoggie00.

Welp. Looks like Tokyobay is getting their watch back with a surprise bag of pinto beans. I haven't done a post office shop in years...I'm very nervous.

@Okie wrote:

@jldavis50 I believe people here reference the MSC as the naked company.

It's the naked company, but they're listed on a secret site.