Priority vs. !st Class

[jimscott]

I was sending out CP shipments today and before I could specify Priority, a 1st class sticker for $2.31 was slapped on the box. I asked what the difference was in terms of time and was told that it was 3 days & 3 days, but if for some reason there isn't enough space, the 1st class has the potential to be bumped a day. Hmmm.....

 

[rattler]

depends on the plant material shipped. if its delicate or rare, as quick as possible with insurance is my preferance. if is something along the lines of a couple common terrestrial utrics or capensis or something. first class is generally fine this time of year.

 

[jimscott]

That was the same philosophy I took about it. BTW, yours went out Priority!

 

[herenorthere]

Priority mail can cross the country in two days.  I've been told that, although it begins and ends with the PO, priority mail rides a Fedex plane in between.  It's worth asking how late you can drop off a package at your PO without it being delayed by a day.

As long as it starts and ends near enough to Fedex airports, priority mail generally only takes two days.  I can't remember if packages I sent Rattler arrived in that desolate wasteland in two days or if they took three, but there's a black hole in southern Oregon where three days is the best one can hope for and sometimes it takes four.

 

[fc3srx713b]

first of all: hahahaha i know what you mean!
i really dont know the diff...

 

[rattler]

your right Bruce but ive had prority stuff can get lost just like first class. ive had stuff sent via priority dissapear for between a week and 2 months and i wasnt sending it around a holiday. its funny, ive gotten stuff sent first class from Hong Kong, faster than ive gotten stuff priority from 2 states away. that was wierd

 

[jimscott]

The impression I get is that when "push comes to shove", a 1st class parcel will get bumped a day - and that's it. With the plastic pipette containers I ship, which are very small, they are not likely to get bumped.

I would probably take more of a chance when it comes to leaf cuttings, Utrics, and gemmae. Whaddya think?

 

[RL7836]

My experience agrees w/ Bruce - usually 2 days for Priority - sometimes 3. It makes sense to know departure times for trucks at your local post office since missing the truck will often mean a delay of a day.

Also - travel continues over w/e's. 95% of packages I ship via Priority on Sat arrive on Monday. For me, virtually all live plant material goes Priority. I've had a few instances where a sender used non-Priority (don't know what class) and it took over a week. I had a D. derbyensis take over 20 days to arrive because the guy was too cheap to add a little bit of postage and too lazy to ask me if I'd pay more... (no - there was nothing left to rescue). When purchasing or trading - never assume anything!

 

[BigCarnivourKid]

Ron that is a good reason to know what time the departure times for trucks at your local PO. If you have the choice of having plants stay in your house in conditions that are suitable for the plant or in a place where there's no telling how hot or cold it will get, I'd choose keeping them at home. Here, the truck makes one trip at 5:00pm. If I ship at 5:01pm, the plants sit in the PO until 5pm the next day. In the middle of a hot summer or during the winter, they're as good as dead.

I almost always use First Class to ship plants. I make exceptions during very hot or very cold weather. Then I use Priority Mail to make sure it gets there in only a couple days.

 

[herenorthere]

As Ron mentioned, shipping on Saturday for Monday delivery is very reliable. That seems to be the most reliable two day delivery. But the package can't be dropped off too late and, I've been told, the timing doesn't work at all POs.