Why are handwritten labels bad?

Whenever you read a review theres always (well most of the time) a section that says whether there was handwriting or not. And most of the time its a no. I remember reading about how customers bash on vendors when they handwrite their label (To/From: X/Y). I also remember how postal inspectors find hamdwritten labels to be a marker of a suspicious package. Why?

Although im aware of the fact many, if not all, businesses print their labels im also aware of the fact that millions of other people just handwrite the labels and get their packages (normal packages without mail) sent just fine. Does it play such an important part or place your dnm package at such risk? Ive had a domestic package from a very reputable vendor (rhymes with tex) with a handwritten label yet it was fine.

Also how do you print labels, do you just have a machine and buy printing label sheets?

EDIT: can anyone link me to a guide on how to mail/annonymously send things throug the mail. Would like to know how to ship my friend some pills. Have read about impulse sealers, MBB, and mylar. The shipping part and printing labels is still a mystery


Comments


[27 Points] None:

I work at a mail sorting place, we sort mail via the computer. Handwritten labels are much easier for the machines to misread, if they are unsure in the slightest we have to hand sort them.

So yeah, let the machines do the work for maximum stealth.


[10 Points] MLPismyBiznatch:

When you look at the mailstream as a whole, the percentage of items with handwritten labels is in the single digits. The point is to blend in with the crowd, look professional. Handwriting alone won't get you busted, but it is one step in the wrong direction.


[7 Points] None:

The less hands that touch a package, the quicker it arrives, and the less scrutiny it endures by postal workers. By printing labels and following postal guidelines, vendors can ensure their packs get sorted by machines, which means a happier and less reprimanded customer.


[6 Points] Hansbald:

A few things why handwriting is bad: 1. It makes profiling the vendor easier 2. If the sorting machine fails to recognize the written text it needs to be sorted by a human, adding additional risk 3. Humans often do writing mistakes


[1 Points] None:

As well as the other, very valid replies, if a vendor just copies and pastes the address onto a label and prints it, any error in the address stays the customers problem- it's a point of failure that can be eliminated. I could probably copy and paste 15 addresses and have them printing before I carefully checked, wrote and rechecked an address by hand.


[1 Points] None:

[deleted]


[1 Points] None:

There seems to be some sort of belief that packages with printed labels automatically get sorted by computers.

Well at least in the UK that isn't true. Some will be machine sorted and some will be manually sorted and how the label is printed doesn't really matter unless it's poorly written or has an incorrect postcode or something and then it definitely goes to a human.

There's also a good chance that both will happen. They will be sorted by machine and then broken down in to smaller batches by hand.


[1 Points] xemela:

i'm also curious about label makers. Anybody have any info on these? How/where to get them, wheather some are better than others, etc. I know as far as normal printers go, they make microscopic yellow dots that can be used to track what printer was used but I'm not sure how efficient this is, or how buying printers anonymously works.


[0 Points] PierceArrow02:

These guys pretty much said it all, I suppose the only other thing I could even remotely think of, and this is ONLY if it got REALLY serious with the popo profiling, and that is that police can sometimes tell an awful lot just by analyzing your writing, can compare it to known samples, hell they could even be trailing someone and check something they wrote on and left behind to confirm. All the crazy shit you'd think belongs in a movie I'm sure they can easily do IRL