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Thread: USPS sells your lost mail?

  1. #1
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default USPS sells your lost mail?

    Hi all, so most of us have experienced the USPS losing our packages at one time or another. I never really gave much thought though to where they eventually wound up. The answer is " For SALE" it turns out. The USPS has a postal recovery center ( called the MRC --mail recovery center) that they aggregate lost packages and then a private party ( called GOVDEALS ) auctions them off. These auctions bring in millions to both parties.

    I found this article really interesting so I am passing it on..

    https://kutv.com/news/get-gephardt/g...your-lost-mail

    They didn't make it.
    "I can't remake these quilts,” she said fighting back tears. “They don't realize how much time goes into these, and to see that it's lost and they may never see it is really hard.”
    Erickson says her local postmaster gave her the devastating news that her package had been declared "dead." The best case scenario is that it's on its way to a secretive facility known as the Mail Recovery Center (MRC).
    Think of the MRC as the lost and found of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).


    It has a staff whose job it is to open packages and try to track down the owners. Anytime they don't find the rightful owner, within a few months, the USPS gets to auction it off and pocket the profits.

    Pressing the USPS for specifics on how much they auction and profit from the auctions, Get Gephardt was stonewalled.
    A spokesperson stated that USPS doesn’t want to give away "trade secrets," saying:

    The information requested is being withheld in its entirety.
    The USPS works with a private company called GovDeals to manage the auctions, which are conducted online. Online photos show large boxes stuffed with just about everything you can imagine.
    The photos allow bidders to see what is on the surface of the boxes but not what is beneath.
    GovDeals declined to answer questions about the auctions, referring Get Gephardt to USPS for comment. In addition to refusing to provide records, USPS refused an interview for this story.
    Unsatisfied, Get Gephardt traveled to Georgia, looking for answers and hoping to find Erickson’s quilts.
    At the GovDeals warehouse, bidders are forced to make an appointment to inspect the merchandise. Upon arrival, Get Gephardt was told cell phone activity is prohibited.
    Inside, Get Gephardt observed a huge warehouse with about a dozen bidders meandering among the 287 shipping boxes of lots actively being auctioned. That was only about half of the warehouse’s visible space. The rest of the warehouse was off limits.
    GovDeals conducts auctions of USPS lost mail, which profited the federal agency $11 million last year. (Photo: GovDeals)



    A warehouse manager stated that thousands of items that could be seen beyond temporary barriers are things that will be up for bid at future auctions.

    GovDeals hosts auctions about every two weeks and everything up for bid comes from the USPS, a different manager said.

    The GovDeals facility backs right up to the MRC. It is securely guarded, similarly to what you might see at a military base.
    There were fences, barbed wire, lots of no trespassing signs that warned violators will be prosecuted and a guard who jumped out the front door when he saw Get Gephardt approaching.



    Get Gephardt asked for an interview and was told that no one was available and that filming of the facility, even from the public street out front, is forbidden.
    “You can't take pictures here,” said the guard, who identified himself as John. “Don't take pictures. It's totally off limits, no one is supposed to know we are here."
    John stated the filming the facility “could be dangerous” but refused to elaborate.
    While 2News photojournalist Mike Fessler filmed the facility from public property, USPS called the Fulton County police - which responded.


    An officer questioned Matt Gephardt then seized his and Fessler’s driver licenses, detaining both of them for about 30 minutes while he went into the MRC and then to his vehicle.

    While the USPS seems to be going out of its way to avoid answering reporters’ questions, it was forced to answer when asked by the USPS’ inspector general.
    In a scathing 2015 report, the MRC, "did not effectively handle customer inquiries or manage undeliverable items it received," the inspector general states.
    2015 IG Audit by on Scribd





    In fiscal year 2014, of the "88 million items" that came through the door, a mere "2.5 million" made it home. That's less than 3%.

    What the postal service sold off profitted it $11 million that year.
    The report also said the postal service does a lousy job of helping customers who have lost their stuff.
    People like Erickson, who says she is holding out hope that her quilts show up at the facility and she's among the lucky few whose lost items make it home.





    Check out the auctions...

    https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?f...ew&agency=4703


    maybe you will see something they "lost" there on you!

    al
    Last edited by brewmaster15; 05-01-2019 at 11:54 AM.
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  2. #2
    SimplyDiscus Sponsor and MVP Nov.2015 Disgirl's Avatar
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    Default Re: USPS sells your lost mail?

    Makes me wonder if boxes of dead tropical fish end up there too?
    Barb


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  3. #3
    Registered Member kilnakorr's Avatar
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    Default Re: USPS sells your lost mail?

    I'm know our postoffice and customs opens any packages if the address label has been damaged.
    A great tip I got years ago, is to always ask the sender to put a copy of the invoice or similar with name, address and contact info inside the package preferable on the top.
    Makes it easier to find the owner.

  4. #4
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: USPS sells your lost mail?

    Quote Originally Posted by Disgirl View Post
    Makes me wonder if boxes of dead tropical fish end up there too?
    Barb
    Thats definitely not a box I want to be tasked with openning.. eweeeeeew!
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    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: USPS sells your lost mail?

    As a side note a recent change at the usps is they now enter the address into the computer for first class and priority mail and have you verify it... this is then linked to the tracking number. Its a royal pain for a guy that comes in with a bunch of packages but as long as the tracking number is intact they should not lose the box any more... in theory.

    It takes twice as long now at the usps drop off counter though.

    Al
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    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
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    Homesteader Adam S's Avatar
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    Default Re: USPS sells your lost mail?

    Quote Originally Posted by brewmaster15 View Post
    As a side note a recent change at the usps is they now enter the address into the computer for first class and priority mail and have you verify it... this is then linked to the tracking number. Its a royal pain for a guy that comes in with a bunch of packages but as long as the tracking number is intact they should not lose the box any more... in theory.

    It takes twice as long now at the usps drop off counter though.

    Al
    Does that apply to Click N Ship as well?

  7. #7
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: USPS sells your lost mail?

    No Adam.. click and ship its already linked to tracking but any walk ins it does. It really is a pain when I have them.Its almost enough to make me switch over entirely to priority mail.

    al
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    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

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  8. #8
    Registered Member bluelagoon's Avatar
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    Default Re: USPS sells your lost mail?

    I really find USPS is like the pony express. Speed is not their thing. My last package from California took 15 days to get from the west coast to the east coast, after going to Malaysia first. That's how easy things get lost.
    Last edited by bluelagoon; 05-02-2019 at 09:41 AM.

  9. #9
    Gold Member FischAutoTechGarten's Avatar
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    Default Re: USPS sells your lost mail?

    Sometimes govdeals.com has interesting items:

    https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?f...51&acctid=5476

    82 pieces of 4' X 8' X 1/2" tempered glass sheets.... in Canada... about $375usd starting bid.... no one has bid... 2 days left. That's 82 120 gallon aquariums or 164 60 gallon cube tanks.

    C'mon... somebody knows they want it...
    Peter
    Cuerpo en Green Valley, Arizona, USA y Corazón en Alamos, Sonora, Mexico

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  10. #10
    Homesteader Adam S's Avatar
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    Default Re: USPS sells your lost mail?

    Full-sized sheets of tempered glass... Someone's getting a real bargain .

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