COMPLETE BS

[Wailua Boy]

I just made a run to my local post office about 30 mins away. Once I informed the lady I was shipping aquarium fish, she immediately said that was prohibited and even if it were allowed the box would need air holes. I said lady, these are fish in oxygenated bags and I have all the proper permitting in place. Regardless, in 30yrs of working here she has never heard of such a thing.(granted this is a very small town PO) At this point I'm started to get a little heated, I said I'm amazed you aren't familiar with the mailing of live animals and can you verify this with a superior. She said was alone this time of day. Being closing time, a huge line had started to form; so I just took my package and left. She seemed very offended that I would attempt to ship a living animal.

 

[D_Nicepumpkin]

Well, my local post office requires me to call ahead if I'm bringing in plants or fish, normally the counter workers are naive to the situation and I am greeted by the shift manager instead

 

[Wailua Boy]

Well, my local post office requires me to call ahead if I'm bringing in plants or fish, normally the counter workers are naive to the situation and I am greeted by the shift manager instead

That's not a bad idea. What shocked me was, she actually picked up the phone made a call or pretended to. She envisioning little Nemo in a bag, little does she know I'm a captive breeder, I triggered the spawning of these fish; I think I have right to mail them out if I choose to. I just had to drive an additional 20 min to the next P.O.

 

[D_Nicepumpkin]

As long as it's over night, I see no issues

 

[krichardson]

As long as it's over night, I see no issues

Too bad you were not the counter person he had to deal with.
A few years ago I ran into the same problem at a UPS center.The woman who waited on me was quite pleasant until she asked what I was shipping and when I told her her demeanor completely changed.She sternly said that UPS does not ship live fish and the fish probably would die in transit anyway if they did.I left without protest and had to go to the far end of the city to the other UPS center where my package was accepted with no questions asked.

 

[Wailua Boy]

Too bad you were not the counter person he had to deal with.
A few years ago I ran into the same problem at a UPS center.The woman who waited on me was quite pleasant until she asked what I was shipping and when I told her her demeanor completely changed.She sternly said that UPS does not ship live fish and the fish probably would die in transit anyway if they did.I left without protest and had to go to the far end of the city to the other UPS center where my package was accepted with no questions asked.

Funny you say that because I noticed the same. Once I mentioned aquarium fish, it was obvious she had some kind of problem. She said, "you can't mail any kine la dat. You can't mail living animals in cardboard boxes". I was kind of embarrassed, once she mentioned the part about "animals in cardboard boxes" people in line started whispering, like I'm smuggling puppies or something.

 

[SumoNinja]

I can't really fault her for her ignorance. not that i'm defending her, it was definitely an unfortunate situation for you

I would speak with a manager about it for sure though so they can educate their employees to deal with that sort of thing in the future

 

[krichardson]

That whole experience is one of the reasons why I am reluctant to ship when I do decide to place any of my fish up for sale.

 

[jpierce3]

I never mess with the clerks at the USPS for any shipping. There are a lot of good ones, but just as many bad ones. I print all of my shipping labels for USPS through Paypal. If you have an account, under selling tools there is a link for Multi Order Shipping. Generally, the postage is cheaper than going to the PO as well. Just make sure you measure your weights accurately.

Print out the label on paper, cut it out and use packing tape to stick it on the package. You are good to go.

 

[krichardson]

How do you go about measuring the package for weight?