Parcel Plus vs. Priority Mail

It's all a catch-can. I've had things shipped to me Priority which have taken 2-3 weeks to get here (Priority delivery, unlike Express, is NOT guaranteed) while regular parcel post has sometimes taken 2-3 months. Whichever way you go you should absolutely take out insurance. When you pick up your package, look at it carefully before accepting it. If it in any way looks either damaged or retaped or otherwise tampered with, open it in the presence of a postal worker. That way if anything is damaged, it'll save you a lot of aggravation when making an insurance claim.

Hope this helps!

Robert,

Most of the time Priority Mail arrives within a week or two but this year alone I've had two instances where Priority Mail took 6 months to arrive and one instance where it took 4 months to arrive. More importantly, packages sent to me Parcel Post have failed to arrive while packages sent Priority Mail with insurance and tracking have always eventually shown up.

priority is better for tracking, but it won't be 3 days! We shipped our boxes Priority and then some parcel. Some of them arrived at the same time, a month or so later! Get used to spending money! It's the little things that get ya.
Good luck!

Hi,

My .02.

Thus far (7 months on STT), the longest it has taken for a Priority Mail package to arrive from the states has been two weeks. However, I agree with all of the other posters that delivery times can be very unpredictable.

Because I have ongoing business in the states, I receive Priority Mail envelopes and packages almost weekly and the vast majority of them DO arrive from the states within 3-5 days max.

BTW I have noticed that my Priority Mail Insured packages tend to arrive pretty much like clockwork within 3-4 days. My Insured Parcel Post packages average 2.5 to 3 weeks.

When I moved down here last year, I bought a laptop beforehand, so I could carry it on the plane. For my circumstances, it made sense, as I was able to keep working during the 4 weeks that my desktop PC was en route in the container.

Mell is right. Packages with insurance and delivery confirmation get better service. A few months ago, after a package mixup, I spoke with "an official" at the post office and she said that packages with delivery confirmation are well tracked and tend to arrive on time and without mixups. I started doing that for all outgoing packages and notified my friends to use delivery confirmation for all incoming packages and I've had no more problems (so far...). It's worth the few extra cents.

Is it a store bought computer or a custom computer? For my custom computer, when I would go back to St. Croix every summer, I would just take it apart, bring the parts on the plane with me, and re assemble them on St. Croix. Of course, this would require getting rid of your case in the states and getting a new case in St. Croix.

Why would you take it apart?

on the business items I ship to businesses on STJ or STT it only takes 3-5 days with priority mail.

I take it apart to bring it to St. Croix and put it in a case I had at home. This saves the expense of shipping it down, as well as the risk of it being damaged in the mail. I don't like laptops, as I play PC games and laptops are not the best for PC gaming.

Wow it seems as if some of you have really had horror stories.. I could not imagine functioning without my computer for 4 monthsS!!! YIKES! But it seems like priority mail is the way to go... so I'll try that route and cross my fingers... I will mail it friday (22nd) morning and hopefully MAYBE if someone is smiling that day it will be there by the next friday (29th).

Thanks for the info guys!

I just packed up a bunch of stuff to mail back from STX and chose parcel post because of the cost differential with priority mail and I didn't have anything that I sent that was urgently needed. I did send my computer in box and got it within about a week. I insured it (I've heard that keeps the contents from getting "lost"), and boom, it showed right up. When we sent our stuff down parcel post, it all took less than four weeks; who knows how long it might take to show up here in KC... Also, can anyone else speak to this question: it seems to have cost double or even triple to send the same stuff from STX to KC parcel post as the other way around. Is that true? Did I just make it up? Did it just seem that way?

Mike

This is a bit off topic, but often the underdog does a better job for less as they are trying to be 'the better option' in whatever. In this case, has anyone done a rate comparison and a delivery reliability comparison? I have seen their trucks around STX, and know that they offer many professional groups discounts, but have personally never used them. As I have received (or not.......2 boxes still in Lower Slabobia) countless smashed boxes, this might be an option.

If no one has checked them out, I will send my next delivery or package via DHL and report back.

Dan

I have received packages on STX via DHL, FedEx and UPS, and they all seem about the same from a receiving point of view. They all have to call me for directions, although they might not get to my door until the next day. All packages were small, and arrived in good condition. Receiving via USPS is the least convenient because I have to pick it up from the PO, after waiting in line, and then waiting for them to find it.