# Post office vs Pony express



## martinv (Apr 30, 2009)

So, I needed a cheque sent to Seattle the other day.
Yes, I could have sent the funds electronically but thought I might mail it.
I asked the Post office (Victoria) how long it would take for delivery.
10 days!
Lets see, you can drive there in a few hours.
Throw it on the Clipper ferry and it would be in downtown Seattle in a few hours.
I haven't used the Post Office for anything in a long time and this just confirms that I still won't be.
They did offer faster delivery for $40.00 but I declined.
Thought you might all enjoy the humour except that we all pay taxes to support this "public" entity.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

martinv said:


> So, I needed a cheque sent to Seattle the other day.
> Yes, I could have sent the funds electronically but thought I might mail it.
> I asked the Post office (Victoria) how long it would take for delivery.
> 10 days!
> ...


To be clear, Canada Post makes an operating profit, so tax dollars do not go toward the service per se. It's a user-pay model. That said, I am certainly open to outsourcing a large portion of Canada Post's operations.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

martinv said:


> I haven't used the Post Office for anything in a long time and this just confirms that I still won't be.


Do you not buy anything online? If you do, then you're using the Royal Mail.

Yes, the service is slow but it is very reliable. Stuff that is properly packed and addressed almost always arrives within 1-2 weeks and I've had very few things lost through the years. Yes, a few things have been damaged but it's not epidemic and only represents a small % of mail I send/receive.

For the average-joe ebay seller, of which there are millions, the post office allows them to be able to ship your goods.

If you want faster service, you unfortunately have to pay for it. But that concept applies to everything in life, not just the post office.


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## CanadianCapitalist (Mar 31, 2009)

martinv said:


> So, I needed a cheque sent to Seattle the other day.
> Yes, I could have sent the funds electronically but thought I might mail it.
> I asked the Post office (Victoria) how long it would take for delivery.
> 10 days!
> ...


Canada Post delivery standards say regular mail to the US takes 4 to 6 business days. It may well be right because that's been my experience. Even international post to faraway places only takes about 10 days. 

http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/guides/deliverystandards.jsf

However, I find Canada Post to be outrageously expensive for anything more than a standard letter. I often mail out small packages (books and such) and the postal rates are so high.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

CanadianCapitalist said:


> However, I find Canada Post to be outrageously expensive for anything more than a standard letter. I often mail out small packages (books and such) and the postal rates are so high.


Agreed. Our rates used to be very low but then when CP realized that people were making money selling stuff on ebay, they wised up and increased the rates. For someone selling items that need to be boxed it is very difficult to make a profit. After the post office, paypal and ebay take their fees you are taking a big loss. Most times if you charge buyers the actual mailing rate for just regular parcel post they won't bid because the postage is too high. Parcels today seem to cost double what they cost even 10 years ago.

Lettermail is a better deal but that's only for flat stuff like paper and CD's that weigh less than 500 grams.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

Note that sending things to the US (especially parcels) tends to take a lot longer than to most other countries, presumably due to security delays. I routinely send small parcels to friends in Ireland and France, which usually arrive there in 4 to 5 days. The same small parcel (same size, same contents, usually a CD or two) sent to the United States often takes two weeks, even if it's to an address in Vermont that's just a two-hour drive from here.


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