I went to the post office today to mail a package, since I’ve found them to be the most economical for smaller items. I tend to ship much more with UPS or FedEx, and this was a good reminder why. With UPS and FedEx, I can go to their website, type in addresses and options, print one label, and make a quick drop at one of their locations well into the evening.
The Post Office keeps slightly shorter hours, so I have to make post-lunch runs instead of working. There’s always a line, even if you’re just dropping off a prepared package. Every service you want requires you to fill out a separate form with duplicate information, which are then added to the multitude of stickers being manually affixed to your package. Those services cost nearly as much as the base postage, so in total I only saved a few dollars over a commercial service, though that savings was quickly eaten by the extra time spent standing in line and filling out extra forms.
