Experience with UPS COD service?

[BrassedOn]

I’ve got a person to person sale in progress several states apart.

If you have used UPS’s COD (cash on delivery) service, what was your experience?

(It’s not actually currency, but check or money order or cashiers check collected at delivery.)

[Tom]

Regarding COD, I've never done that via UPS, but...

COD is common in the freight / trucking industry even today, especially for smaller consignees and shippers without large, high-volume accounts with trucking lines. In most cases you don't even need any sort of "credit" with a freight company to setup a COD shipment, you just ship the load and then make your payment to the driver when they show up to deliver. No payment = no delivery. The major carriers even accept personal checks for payment ( )...as someone that lives/works in a major metropolitan area, paying for goods and services with a personal check these days is nearly unheard of - they simply are not accepted. Cash is king (or plastic ).

Shipping an instrument via UPS seems like the scary part to me, not the COD.

[tofu]

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[tofu]

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[tbonesullivan]

Well, in general counterfeit money is 20s, so that really doesn't make sense. They take 1 dollar bills, and turn them into 20s, so they have the right "Feel". $50s and $100s are usually treated with far more scrutiny, so a lot of counterfeit makers don't even bother with them. Places that do accept them usually have the UV light you use to verify the security features, which last I checked, would be almost impossible to replicate.

Of course, many places around here are set up almost to only take credit cards exclusively. Show up with cash and they almost don't know what to do.

[Three Valves]

*** Hat!!

When we went to Club BK after band practice in High Scholl, my Whopper with cheese, ketchup, onion and extra pickles only, with fries and a milk shake was less than $4!!

[BrassedOn]

Thanks for the responses, both informative and/or entertainingly off-topic.

Yes, I'm talking about private sale between individuals without the intervention of Ebay or whatevs.

For those who have not considered COD, basically, the reason to use COD would be that without using Reverb or Ebay to collect your mulah, money and horn have to change hands safely, securely. So how do you do that so the buyer isn't sending bucks before the seller sends the horn? If COD happens as it supposed to, the buyer signs for the horn, hands over the appropriate payment (seller can require cashiers check), and buyer gets the box. UPS sends payment to seller. I believe the seller/sender is not charged for returning the non-completed delivery.

Yes, with COD, the buyer could disappear or not accept the delivery (but not after receiving the box), and the horn would be sent back. Sure some loss of the shipping dough, but you get back your horn!

Advantage to the seller? Well, overcoming the reluctance of a buyer to send big bucks to a total stranger in the form of a cashiers check or via paypal for a promise of a large brass objects. And advantage of not giving Paypal a % of the purchase cut. UPS COD is a flat fee.

Of course, always the same shipping concerns in terms of damage risk to heavy brass objects moved by humans in a big hurry. UPS, USPS, Greyhound, Airlines, DHL, ..... pick your poison.

I think the main risk in COD is the person flaking 3 times and not being present to accept the delivery. Also, if the buyers were to see that the shipping box has been mangled in shipping, they can decline, and not have to deal with it. I think appropriate. The seller would have to deal with a horn damaged in shipping regardless.

If anyone else has experience or other method of fair safe exchange of horn for simoleans, please share.

[Three Valves]

This is why I gave my tuba to Baltimore Brass to sell for me.

[Tom]

Sounds like what you’re after is an escrow service. COD is not the same thing.

You’re wanting to solve a banking issue, not a shipping related issue.