Silk Road forums
Discussion => Shipping => Topic started by: antigrid on July 22, 2012, 09:00 am
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For the vendors out there, what are your thoughts on mailing multiple orders out at the same time from the same blue mail box drop location? For instance, let's say I am mailing two orders at once, obviously outer packaging is the same, same label format, and both would have correct amount of postage stamps for the flat rate box/envelope. Would this look suspicious? Should they both be from the same return address since it will be obvious they are being sent from the same person being that they have identical labels, packaging, and the use of actual postage stamps?
Seems like it makes sense, but then again using the same return address links them. Is the only option to drop them off at separate locations? Are there certain drop locations where this would be less obvious when sorted (either due to volume or some other factor)?
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Why would two identical packages in a mailbox look suspicious?
When the postman comes to collect is he going to open the box and exclaim "Holy mother of god"
Or is he going to put them in the van along with all of the other packages?
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I think it's a valid concern. I don't believe that dropping off a couple packs at the same location is a terrible thing , but keep in mind, you(if you're doing much business) are gonna be making frequent drops and you WILL need to switch it up. Don't always use the same mailbox(s) and change up your packaging and return address regularly.
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For small scale vendors, I don't think this would be a problem.
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I think it's a valid concern. I don't believe that dropping off a couple packs at the same location is a terrible thing , but keep in mind, you(if you're doing much business) are gonna be making frequent drops and you WILL need to switch it up. Don't always use the same mailbox(s) and change up your packaging and return address regularly.
Definatley change mail boxes etc but 2 packages in the same mailbox isnt going to cause any issues.
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If all packages look identical with same return address and different to addresses, then dropping off 10 in one mailbox in a business area would not look strange at all. Business send out samples and mailings all the time and when they do they normally send out a bunch.
However, I limit my self to 3 or 4 at a time.
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I'd argue it would look more suspicious to have identical packages dropped in different boxes. Probably not much of a concern in major metro areas, but in smaller areas it's possible that the employees at the local facility could notice that the same person sent 20 packages from 20 different blue boxes, and I can't think of a legitimate reason for someone to go to the trouble of doing that.
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I'd argue it would look more suspicious to have identical packages dropped in different boxes. Probably not much of a concern in major metro areas, but in smaller areas it's possible that the employees at the local facility could notice that the same person sent 20 packages from 20 different blue boxes, and I can't think of a legitimate reason for someone to go to the trouble of doing that.
My thoughts exactly, I always see people that own Ebay/Etsy businesses and drop tons of packages into the same drop box for convenience. It doesn't look weird to anyone unless you make it look weird.
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There really seems to be a lot of paranoia over packages looking off. I think for the most part people are just hyper aware of anything that could be a flag when in reality legitimate packages may often have the same flaw. It definitely pays to be careful but I think if we start trying to avoid every possible flag our packages are likely to start to stand out.
How many businesses use stamps but package their items 100% perfectly every single time? The businesses that have packaging perfected are not likely to be the ones using stamps. I'd imagine a package that avoids every single flag could be a flag in itself ;)
Just think about how a small one man legitimate business(the kind of business most likelt to be sending stamped packages) would ship their packages and do it the same way and you'll blend in. I'd certainly avoid using the same blue box over and over because it would be easy to do a stake out that particular mailbox. But running around town to many diff boxes is likely to look much more suspicious than someone dumping a bunch in one.
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You are definitely overthinking things. Just relax. Make sure your shit is vacuum sealed and discrete. There is a thread somewhere on the forums giving tips on shipping goods. I believe it's stickied.