USPS vs. UPS: A Book-Shipping Hint

Last week I was at BookExpo America in New York City.  Part of the fun of being there is getting ARCs (Advanced Readers' Copies) of forthcoming books.  Publishers are feeling strapped nowadays, so there were fewer ARCs than usual.  Still Saturday afternoon I packed up what I'd garnered and took them downstairs to the UPS booth where I paid $45 to ship them home.  I hadn't expected to be back at BEA Sunday morning, but there I was and I had even more ARCs to send home.  I had a brainwave.  The main post office, only three blocks away, used to be open 24 hours a day.  I walked over with my ARCs.  Bingo!  Even though the Post Office is suffering from the economic environment, too, its main office on Manhattan is open Sundays from 11 to 7.  I sent one more pound of books via the United States Postal Service than I had via UPS the day before.  For $10.50, less than a quarter as much, and they arrived Tuesday.  Still waiting for the UPS books.  Good thing to remember when I'm in NYC again next month gathering books at ThrillerFest.

Comments

[Keith Raffel]

The UPS-shipped books did show up yesterday, nine days after shipping. The USPS books took two days.