Secret Santa-ing 2020

[Splain | 2,561]

I remember these threads in previous years, for everyone participating in Secret Santa to discuss their progress and keep up the hype!

This is not the official reveal thread. Santa himself will start that thread on Christmas Day for everyone to reveal their goodies, and their identities if desired. None of that here! Don't spill the beans!!

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

USPS is really bad lately.   Ordered a few things online for my SS and they're still somewhere out there in "in-transit" land.

[RH | 4,898]

11 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

USPS is really bad lately.   Ordered a few things online for my SS and they're still somewhere out there in "in-transit" land.

Yes, it is. Between my wife and I, we get a slow trickle of packages coming in nearly daily, whether eBay, Amazon or another distributor.  Starting with purchases in the middle of November, I've noticed most standard delivery services are taking much longer.  People are definitely shopping online this year and it has been quite evident.  In fact, I'm even seeing 2 or 3 day priority delivery being delayed by more than a week.  I sent a game 2-day priority mail in the middle of last week, and even though tracking shows it's landed in the town of the buyer, it's been sitting in their sorting facility ever since.

I mention this so we budget time-wise accordingly.  Package delivery is getting much slower.

[Gloves | 11,771]

Similarly, as you might expect, things are slow here too. UNLESS!... You buy from amazon. I've gotten my amazon packages EARLY for the most part. I'm gonna send out my package pretty soon here, don't want delays to ruin it if I can help it. 

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

17 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

USPS is really bad lately.   Ordered a few things online for my SS and they're still somewhere out there in "in-transit" land.

Yeah, I have a wave of eBay selling going on right now and received an angry/frantic email from someone that had a package sit in the regional distribution center for 2 full weeks!

[Mega Tank | 960]

48 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

USPS is really bad lately.   Ordered a few things online for my SS and they're still somewhere out there in "in-transit" land.

I had a package picked up on Monday. It still has not been scanned in. USPS rep claimed it is "human error" to call in at the end of the week if shipping hasn't updated. 

[spacepup | 2,404]

I'm enjoying the search so far! I have a few things already here, a few things ordered and in-transit, and then some stuff I'm looking for to round it out some.  I bought something from ebay a bit quickly and then noticed it was from Canada, so hopefully it arrives in time ha! 

Hopefully everyone is having fun with it!  And remember, it's not all about how much you spend - sometimes my favorite gifts received were those that took some effort or thought, made me laugh, made me smile, etc.  There are lots of ways to do it - so have fun and keep up the great work folks!

[Deadeye | 1,596]

Ordered gifts and got half so far.  Waiting on the remainder.  

[a3quit4s | 4,096]

Got something delivered from FedEx not along ago - it was sent smartpost or whatever the service is that hands off to USPS for last mile delivery. It came like a week late so they didn’t even bother with the USPS handoff, delivered it themselves lol

[RH | 4,898]

1 minute ago, a3quit4s said:

Got something delivered from FedEx not along ago - it was sent smartpost or whatever the service is that hands off to USPS for last mile delivery. It came like a week late so they didn’t even bother with the USPS handoff, delivered it themselves lol

I think this service is the specific problem.  But I say that.  I sent a priority mail package about 10 days ago and it's still not arrived to the buyer.  Who knows.

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

Got all my gifts ordered, just waiting for them to arrive. The tracking numbers all claim they should get here on or before December 5th, we'll see if that rings true or if I also experience delays.

[AverageOliver98 | 716]

I was able to purchase all my stuff last week and it managed to get to me within the expected arrival dates. (It was slower then previous years though)

[Scrobins | 1,725]

Assembled everything for my gift, dropping it off at the post office later this week. I hope my person likes everything. I didn’t experience much in the way of delays.

Not that I can say too much about it, but a big part of the reason many of you are experiencing delays is because in addition to it being peak season generally AND pandemic-related surges in e-commerce, FedEx and UPS are dumping their excess package volume into the USPS mailstream, essentially overloading the USPS to unburden their own services, which is causing several other downstream issues as postal workers work to process everything.

[fcgamer | 4,722]

I was lucky I could grab some things for my SS at a local shop about twenty minutes from me; even if I hadn't though, anything I'd order locally would arrive within a day or two.

Shipping mine out tomorrow, wanted to send it earlier but I started trying to adjust my sleep schedule, and still being in the transition stage, I've been going home and crashing numerous nights.

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

 

Me after making gift purchases and THEN looking up how much it cost to send to SS.

Edited December 3, 2020 by FireHazard51

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

Also me the next day.

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,012]

4 hours ago, Gloves said:

Similarly, as you might expect, things are slow here too. UNLESS!... You buy from amazon. I've gotten my amazon packages EARLY for the most part. I'm gonna send out my package pretty soon here, don't want delays to ruin it if I can help it. 

Dude same here. I had two orders come a day early in the past week. 

[JamesRobot | 5,793]

I've got all my gear.  Just gotta wrap everything, put on the finishing touches, and ship.

[drxandy | 3,225]

Still waiting for bits of my gift to arrive in the mail, I feel like this year is going by so much faster than last and I'm not prepared haha

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

41 minutes ago, drxandy said:

Still waiting for bits of my gift to arrive in the mail, I feel like this year is going by so much faster than last and I'm not prepared haha

Personally this year has been quite a slog. I would've liked it if this year went by quick for me considering how shitty of a year it's been, haha.

[Psychobear85 | 141]

Was lucky to find everything I needed locally 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

Got mine in-hand, just have to make the time this weekend to wrap and get the package out into the mail.  If I don't get it done early enough tomorrow, I'll get to USPS early in the morning Monday.

[a3quit4s | 4,096]

I bought three games from eBay like early last week and they are still out and about like wtf USPS

Oh the game are for me haha 

 

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

2 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

I bought three games from eBay like early last week and they are still out and about like wtf USPS

Oh the game are for me haha 

 

I've bought some stuff for me and some for my peep, and I'm waiting on some of both.

They did retrieve a package that they tried to return to sender though because my "address didn't exist".   The house has been here for 94 years.

[fcgamer | 4,722]

I sent my person their gift yesterday, and I think they'll really like it

The way I generally do these things though, is that if I later find other things they asked for, I might send them a second box later, we'll see.

I always feel great this time of year, and love hooking people up with deals and being generous, especially in a time where the hobby's become polluted with vultures and sharks.