Amazon must be smoking the good stuff…
Just tried to create an MCF order for the hell of it for one of our direct orders I didn’t feel like doing myself. $12+. Same shipping speed doing it myself through Shopify - $5.40.
Does anyone actually use MCF? It used to be so cheap. Now, not so much.
I did a long time ago. Must be 8 years or more by now.
Mostly we used them to send eBay items when we got an order. We always did the premium shipping service, since the standard service would not arrive on time.
It worked ok for us, the fee was close, mostly less than what it cost us to ship. Also since we are on the east coast we could pick and send west coast items using MCF.
Again no recent experience.
Don’t even bother looking. This was an order going to Elmhurst Queens. Yes, I’m not very far from there but even so. Amazon’s FC isn’t far from there either and the 2 products this person bought have plenty of inventory in NYC FC’s.
Weird that Amazon would be so far off from reality being the best in the biz supposedly.
Even if it was $2 or $3 more, I probably would have used it but more than 2X - nope, not on general principal
Yes one of the most impressive orders we ever had. Someone ordered in that region one of our items. It was delivered (FBA) in 2 hours. They left a glowing comment about our service (nothing to do with us) and I appreciated that.
I did but don’t anymore. Cost really wasn’t the issue, it was the handling time. Basically, they promise you a delivery date, not a ship date. That’s all fine and good but too many times I had customers asking why there is no tracking for their order. The time it took to look up the MCF order and respond to the customer was more than it would have taken to actually ship it myself. That and the fact that they can’t be bothered to tell you an address is undeliverable and cancel the order without telling you makes it unusable.
I’m kinda sorry I didn’t use Amazon. Went to my local PO today and the line was out the door because there was 1 clerk and a customer with 6 giant boxes that needed to be measured / weighed so he could buy the labels. Waited 10 mins and left. Went to the other PO in the area (2 miles away) and it was line out the door as well with 1 clerk. In total, over an hour to drop off 1 box… Not worth my time.
Leaves me wondering how the PO is bleeding $ for the last 20 years… Seems to be plenty of business with no workers being paid to do it.
Have a great weekend all!
Steve
It is also slow if you don’t pick expedited. If you need a tracking number within 2 days, you don’t get it with their standard shipping.
Our PO is similar, only two guys on the counter. One is out every Tuesday since he works Saturday. Lines out the door.
They had two people “observing” them last week for three days. The counter person introduced me as a good customer… 
I said, why not get them on the counter after two days. Nope, they just smiled at me.
Have not seen them since.
They let our Postmaster go, no idea why, I knew him for over 20 years, no clue who the new one is or if they even have one. It has been two years since he left.
There are customers at my local post office who will stand in line for 20-30 minutes just to buy three stamps. Only three stamps to put on the three letters they are holding. And they will do it again next week or next month when they need three more stamps. If you suggest to them why not buy a book of ten stamps instead so they won’t have to wait in line next time, they look at you with bewilderment and confusion. (Ten stamps is a small purchase even for someone of limited means).
And then you have people who show up at the PO without their ID to pick up a registered letter or do a change of address. (The USPS recently changed the guidelines for submitting change of address forms. Now you must show your ID when you submit the form. I was told the change was made due to the threat of identity theft). These folks end up going back to their car or even all the way home to retrieve their ID.
If the line is too long at the main PO, fortunately there is another PO in a grocery store about a half-mile away. It’s not full service but OK for package drop-offs or buying postage for small packages.
I only have to deal with more than one or two people ahead of me in line at the PO during the two weeks before Christmas.
It does not mean the line moves quickly because everyone including myself indulges in non-productive conversation. Isn’t that what a trip to the PO is about in anywhere but a big city.
People waiting on line talk to each other as well.
When I want something out the same day that does not fix in the pickup slot in our lobby, I will go to the PO and drop the box (es) on a counter where they sit until a clerk as time to scan them. Usually takes about an hour before they are scanned. But if there is no line, which is often, I will engage with the clerk.
I do not have many urgent demands on my time.
If we walk in and there is one person at the counter, it’s busy. If they are talking, we might join in or the clerk will just wave us up, take the packages, scan them and say thank you … all while keeping the prior conversation going. If we are they only one, well we had better be patient as there is going to be a 5 to 10 minute talk about something. There are long stretches of time when the clerk doesn’t see anyone so anyone coming in is a welcomed conversation. Life in a small town has it’s perks.
When we were in the LA area, we hated going to the post office. It was always 45 minutes to an hour.
It’s about to get worse tomorrow (15Oct`23), as is illustrated by the SHC’s 2023 Multi-Channel Fulfillment holiday peak fulfillment fee (link, Seller Help Content).
I find it interesting to note that the cut-off date for the increased cost is 14Jan`24, rather than the 31st of that month (the ‘traditional’ cut-off date for the Extended Holiday Returns period).
As luck would have it, just got a direct order of something we don’t have in stock in our own facility…
$12.43 to ship to Washington State for 4 units. It’s about $3 more than doing it ourselves from NY. This is also not using Amazon packaging or their van…
I have to say that’s not too bad when everything is factored in and it’s supposed to be delivered in 48 hours which is better than the last time I looked.
Also very convenient. Order placed at 5:13. MCF order created in 90 seconds. Back to football…
Off-Topic Alert! Feel free to exile this post to the junk drawer. 
And the Jets win! 
Our friend @TheOrangeCrush will not be pleased, but I am.
Da Jets are my second-favorite team (began the day they drafted Broadway Joe), and I’ve been suffering slings and arrows for many, many decades after 12Jan69 (SB III), including throughout the just-broken 0-12 run against The Team Formerly Known As Da Steagles, for having taken that position.