Goulets 1, Us Postal Service 0

[whichwatch]

When I saw the package, my heart sank. Yes, it was clearly marked with a huge label that said "Fragile". It made me wonder what the package would look like if it weren't marked Fragile.

 

It was only a pad of Tomroe River paper I had been wanting to try, and a bottle of La Colour Royale so I could try mixing some of Amberlea's Inkyman Sapphire. But they were going to provide some fun! I envisioned Purple-blue paper and a soggy mess. I should have known better. Despite USPS's best attempt, they were simply no match for the Goulet's shipping team. The paper and ink looked as pristine as the day they took it off their shelf.

 

Thanks Goulets!

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B0FF8723B-8D3C-488B-9E21-F3B61DD97D1E%7D/origpict/G1m.jpg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B83813B46-8379-4B9B-AD0F-8468F6E4479C%7D/origpict/G2m.jpg

[amarjit]

this is with most of all government post. Even in India we get lot of post which are being mishandled

[graystranger]

I hope you sent this photo to Goulet Pens! Brian has received flak for using so much bubble wrap and plastic (as being un-eco friendly), but he has said that if we have seen what has happened to some of their shipments, we would understand why they do this. Your's is a great example.

 

I think the shipments I get from Goulet Pens could be dropped from a plane and survive. So well engineered. Compact, and they do this with a surprisingly small amount of packing material.

 

I have never had anything happen to any of my orders, except one. I live 100 miles away from Goulet Pens. One order traveled north on I-95 all the way to Maine before the post office detected their mistake and re-routed it. I think I still got it in 4 or 5 days, and the box was in perfect shape. But, traveling 100 miles does not provide much chance for damage. It all depends which cities the shipment has to go through, I imagine. If it passes through large metro post office facilities, greater chance of damage.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[inkstainedruth]

YAY! Goulet blue plastic wrap strikes again!

You're lucky that the post office didn't puncture the paper.... I would still take the matter up with a postal inspector, though, because that is really unacceptable.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[grainweevil]

I've long suspected that postal employees the world over see a fragile sticker as a challenge. Glad to see they lost this round.

[Erik Dalton]

Yea, they take extra care, use extra bubble wrap and packing materials it's all part of the super customer service these guys are so well known for. I hope they never change.

Long ago when I was was a mid'n preparing for a life at sea, The Old Sea Captains would drum into our heads: " prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and chances are pretty good you'll return home safely".

Brian and crew get it. We are all the better for it.

[amberleadavis]

BTW, how did the Noodler's Inkyman Sapphire turn out?

[Chuck400b]

1- There is no magic fragile mail stream system. There has not been for awhile, decades

 

Machines read the labels and there is no ability for the machines to read Fragile, Do Not Bend or anything else of that matter.

 

Putting that sticker on it does nothing.

Shipping/Transit damage is a fact of life in every business, for both wholesalers, retailers and customers. Most businesses accept a set amount of damage and by using different shipping methods and insurance they find a happy medium in cost vs time vs expectation.

 

2- All the environmental cost of the Goulet packaging and the labor to do it is somewhat crazy when you look at the fact that they are commercial plus shippers and receive $100 of free insurance from the USPS on every Priority Shipment.

Goulet insane packaging does make me feel guilty when I order from them.

[whichwatch]

BTW, how did the Noodler's Inkyman Sapphire turn out?

 

Hi Amberlea!

 

You may remember that I posted an extensive comparison of PPS with Inkyman Sapphire, Sailor Bung Box Hatsukoi ("First Love"), Noodlers Liberty's Elysium, and Private Reserve American Blue quite some time ago. My Noodlers La Colour Royale was definitely the purple ("original"?) variety and after trying 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, and 4:1 I found the 1:2 mix was best for Inkmyn Sapphire.

 

I thought the Bung Box Hatsukoi was closest to the real thing in terms of color, but my Inkmyn Sapphire was also pretty close, with the American Blue and Liberty's Elysium further away. I have a bottle of PPS, one of Hatsukoi, and enough of the two Noodlers inks to mix plenty of Inkmyn, so I probably have enough of the color to last my lifetime and then some.

 

I thought Inkmyn Sapphire was great stuff, amazingly close to the color of real PPS, and at the price of Noodlers inks can't be beat. The lack of color consistency in Noodlers inks is a real issue though, and would probably keep me from trying more of the La Colour Royale.

 

I thought of you (Ink Queen or Ink Goddess) when I was at the Chicago Pen Show last week. Laura S was attending the ink sampler tables and she had a name tag that said "Ink Czarina". I don't know how the titles compare, but I sure am glad to have gotten to know you both!

Edited May 8, 2016 by whichwatch

[Chrissy]

I recently received a letter in a USPS 'apology plastic bag' that said they were really sorry that my item of mail had been damaged. There was exactly half of the torn envelope. Fortunately, there was just enough of my address left on the envelope for Royal Mail to work out where to send it when it arrived on this side of the pond.

[BlueJ]

 

Hi Amberlea!

 

You may remember that I posted an extensive comparison of PPS with Inkyman Sapphire, Sailor Bung Box Hatsukoi ("First Love"), Noodlers Liberty's Elysium, and Private Reserve American Blue quite some time ago. My Noodlers La Colour Royale was definitely the purple ("original"?) variety and after trying 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, and 4:1 I found the 1:2 mix was best for Inkmyn Sapphire.

 

I thought the Bung Box Hatsukoi was closest to the real thing in terms of color, but my Inkmyn Sapphire was also pretty close, with the American Blue and Liberty's Elysium further away. I have a bottle of PPS, one of Hatsukoi, and enough of the two Noodlers inks to mix plenty of Inkmyn, so I probably have enough of the color to last my lifetime and then some.

 

I thought Inkmyn Sapphire was great stuff, amazingly close to the color of real PPS, and at the price of Noodlers inks can't be beat. The lack of color consistency in Noodlers inks is a real issue though, and would probably keep me from trying more of the La Colour Royale.

 

I thought of you (Ink Queen or Ink Goddess) when I was at the Chicago Pen Show last week. Laura N was attending the ink sampler tables and she had a name tag that said "Ink Czarina". I don't know how the titles compare, but I sure am glad to have gotten to know you both!

 

According to my recent experiments, a 70:30 mix of Liberty's Elysium and Navaho Turquoise is also a good approximation to PPS. The hue is very close, but it does not shade as much as original PPS. I would also say the Noodler's inks are wetter than the original Penmans.

Edited May 8, 2016 by BlueJ

[Bookman]

I recently received a letter in a USPS 'apology plastic bag' that said they were really sorry that my item of mail had been damaged. There was exactly half of the torn envelope. Fortunately, there was just enough of my address left on the envelope for Royal Mail to work out where to send it when it arrived on this side of the pond.

 

I received half a postcard in one of these bags a few months ago; the side with the message on it had been eaten by a postal machine. But I recently received a postcard in one of these bags, and there was nothing wrong with it. However, the postcard was fragile. Obviously some postal worker along the line recognized the fragility and put it in the envelope to assure special handling.

 

And re the OP and Goulet Pens, nobody else is going to say it so I will. I wish the Tootsie Pops were bigger. And one more thing. No company with which I've had commercial dealings has given me better customer service than Goulet Pens.

Edited May 8, 2016 by Bookman

[MCWB]

2- All the environmental cost of the Goulet packaging and the labor to do it is somewhat crazy when you look at the fact that they are commercial plus shippers and receive $100 of free insurance from the USPS on every Priority Shipment.

 

You know what's less hassle than insurance? Not having to use it in the first place...

[bobje]

The postal services of various countries are a frequent target of derision, but I'm always amazed by how well they do. Even though I've sent and received thousands of pieces of mail, over a period of several decades, I can count on one hand the number of times I've been dissatisfied.

[Helen350]

The postal services of various countries are a frequent target of derision, but I'm always amazed by how well they do. Even though I've sent and received thousands of pieces of mail, over a period of several decades, I can count on one hand the number of times I've been dissatisfied.

 

Thanks Bob for helping us to remember the hundreds/thousands of times we have received what was shipped without incident!!!! I am also amazed at how well they handle millions of mailings of all types on a daily basis! When I think of my pen shipments from India, China & Italy--I've received them all without incident. In the past 5 yrs there has only been one incident, and the postal supervisor resolved it quickly. I will always appreciate Goulet's careful packaging--just in case.

[alextkeane]

My Goulet package was about as well packed (but I had two ink bottles so I was actually pretty happy to see how well they had been taken care of). I'm about to move, so I just put the insane amounts of bubble wrap in with my packing supplies figuring that if I use it again, that's less stuff I have to buy later.

[Drone]

1- There is no magic fragile mail stream system. There has not been for awhile, decades

 

Machines read the labels and there is no ability for the machines to read Fragile, Do Not Bend or anything else of that matter.

 

Putting that sticker on it does nothing.

Shipping/Transit damage is a fact of life in every business, for both wholesalers, retailers and customers. Most businesses accept a set amount of damage and by using different shipping methods and insurance they find a happy medium in cost vs time vs expectation.

 

2- All the environmental cost of the Goulet packaging and the labor to do it is somewhat crazy when you look at the fact that they are commercial plus shippers and receive $100 of free insurance from the USPS on every Priority Shipment.

Goulet insane packaging does make me feel guilty when I order from them.

 

1. Fragile marks are human readable and at several (if not more) points in the transit of a parcel, humans will handle the item. And how do you know a parcel will always be handled by automation? You don't. Machines do break down, parcels are trans-shipped into non-automated systems, robots and drones don't pick-up and deliver (yet), humans do, on-and-on. Also, Insurance claims for damaged shipments of fragile goods usually require the packaging to be labeled as Fragile; which makes sense for the reasons already mentioned.

 

2. Insurance claims for small amounts typically cost a business more to process than it is worth. So to minimize losses, effective and efficient packing is used. This especially the case for a volume mail-order retailer of low-cost consumer goods, like Goulet Pens.

[Chuck400b]

 

1. Fragile marks are human readable and at several (if not more) points in the transit of a parcel, humans will handle the item. And how do you know a parcel will always be handled by automation? You don't. Machines do break down, parcels are trans-shipped into non-automated systems, robots and drones don't pick-up and deliver (yet), humans do, on-and-on. Also, Insurance claims for damaged shipments of fragile goods usually require the packaging to be labeled as Fragile; which makes sense for the reasons already mentioned.

 

2. Insurance claims for small amounts typically cost a business more to process than it is worth. So to minimize losses, effective and efficient packing is used. This especially the case for a volume mail-order retailer of low-cost consumer goods, like Goulet Pens.

 

 

As someone who has shipped between 300 and 1000 items a year since 2004 Ok lets look at this.

 

The only time a Human looks at your package is when you drop it off to a human, or at the last mile for sorting and delivery. That is it. In fact the USPS has only recently started using machinery in the mail stream that actually checks packages for proper weight and postage applied. Until that machinery came online the only way short paid postage was caught was at intake or delivery.

 

It is actually still that way for letters, as letter go through the mail stream processing the machinery either looks for the fluorescence of a certain wavelength of ink that is incorporated on the stamp/label, or a postage meter ink imprint, or if that is not present the barcode to the left a stamp that you sometimes see on machine generated label faces called a FIM code. Underpaid postage is only caught by the delivery carrier, sometimes by the intake clerk if you hand them across the counter.

 

About FIM codes http://www.endicia.com/tools-resources/harrys-hints/facing-identification-marks

 

Currently the USPS has a Special Handling Fragile Rate class where items are handled more carefully then the normal mail stream. It costs an additional fee of $10.70 per item mailed.

 

http://struggleville.net/usps-special-handling-fees/

 

http://about.usps.com/publications/pub370/pub370_v10_revision_012016_tech_015.htm

 

Other then that, for the most of the time a mail piece is in transit it is rarely touched by a human. That is why the USPS gives guidelines for packaging and shipping your item, in addition to that since other people may or may not follow those guidelines you as a the sender must consider the fact that your item may: have items up to the 70lb Max weight fall on them, that there could be machinery issues at the processing points, your item could be exposed to improperly prepared or illegally shipped items.

 

Case in point I once received BACK from the USPS a $48 book that i had shipped in a box for protection, I received it back in the USPS envelope It looked like someone had taken a sander to the package and that sander had eaten down through the box and, the bubble wrap and the hardcover of the book. My only opinion was it had somehow gotten caught between belts and was worn away before the line was stopped and they dug it out.

 

I had an entire weekends shipment ruined one time as, I placed them all in the lobby collection box together on Sunday, it gets emptied Monday and I received complaints from customers about all the items. Apparently another mailer had sent animal urine as a lure or something and his boxed items broke spilling onto the exterior of my mailed items. (As I talked to the Postmaster, she said they had pulled the leaking item and chastised the shipper, but sent my items on the way.)

 

As a seller/shipper you cannot plan for everything.

 

Fragile stickers that a fee is not paid for are not read, they are a warm PR experience for Sellers to give buyers.

 

(off topic in cold winter when I ship glass or ink I do have a warning sticker I place in the outside of my packages telling buyers to allow item to come to room temperature before opening to prevent heat shock from cracking glass)

 

Goulet Pens gets Commercial Plus Pricing (CPP) a pricing tier that is only available if you spend at least $100,000 a year in postage and ship at least 50,000 Priority or above packages. It includes $100 of free insurance per item. Actually processing a USPS online insurance claim takes literally less then 3 minutes- you get your check in 2 weeks. Yes if for some reason you start having a lot of claims past a certain percentage you might get a little push back.

 

Back to costs, Goulet pens spends- and the money they spend on packaging is to give you the buyer a feel good- that you got your package and you got it right the first time and probably did not have any problems. You the customer are paying for that for not getting free shipping at sales of above a certain level and by not getting pricing deals.

 

You are simply paying Neiman Marcus Prices for Neiman Marcus service.

 

Why? It probably costs a combined labor and wholesale materials cost of $2+ per item just to package the Goulet way (that is above postage costs) which means Goulet Pens is probably spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to over package items that may not need it.

 

Again as someone who ships myself about 300-1000 items a year when I open a Goulet pen package my joy has lately been mitigated by the trees I feel they are killing for no real reason.

[inkandseeds]

The postal services of various countries are a frequent target of derision, but I'm always amazed by how well they do. Even though I've sent and received thousands of pieces of mail, over a period of several decades, I can count on one hand the number of times I've been dissatisfied.

 

I'd like to second this. My postal carriers are exceptional and go out of their way to be helpful.

[Feanaaro]

I love Goulet as much as the next guy, but I must say I agree with Chuck400b.

The EXTREME packaging does nothing except giving feel-good vibes to some customers, at a substantial cost, bot monetary and environmental. It would be more rational and less expensive to package things reasonably, like many other do, and accept a slightly higher percentage of damaged goods (if even...), which would be covered by insurance anyway.