Question About US Postal Service Online Shipping Calculator

Isn't the "day shipped" asked for so they can state the expected day of delivery?

As far as what time it is shipped, I guess to be sure that you are putting it someplace where it will get picked up that day.

I don't think it has anything to do with pricing.

Although you didn't specifically mention it in your post, I assume you know that you can print paid shipping labels on  the USPS site. Registering for an account is necessary, and a credit card/paypal account is used to pay for postage. There is an ability to send tracking information to the recipient (and get it yourself if desired). In my case the preprinted labels allow me to simply drop packages at the post office counter without having to stand in line. The system works for priority mail but not for ground shipping. The site also allows ordering priority boxes at no charge.

@CNJ Jim posted:

Isn't the "day shipped" asked for so they can state the expected day of delivery?

Don't know.  I thought when you do this you are simply requesting a quote for how much it costs to ship a package weighing X lbs. to XYZ zip code.  When you enter the info a number of options come up, e.g. Standard Ground, Priority Mail, etc.  And in each case it will say "3-5 business days" or whatever.   So that would tell you the expected day of delivery.  And when you go to the post office clerk and pay, he or she says "package should arrive Monday" or whatever.  

As far as what time it is shipped, I guess to be sure that you are putting it someplace where it will get picked up that day.

Oh, so that only has relevance if they're picking up from you?  Okay.  I always enter this information with the assumption that I'm dropping off the package at the post office.   I'm not requesting that they pick up.  It would be nice if you had the option to skip that step if you don't require pickup, but I suppose that's nitpicking.

I don't think it has anything to do with pricing.

Could be.  Maybe I was looking at it the wrong way.  

My guess is that date and time are just to ensure that you get an accurate time in transit estimate based on when your local office closes.  The date may also factor in for already announced postal rate changes, e.g. today is Wednesday, you want to ship Monday, and rates go up on Friday.

I ship USPS from home & gives 2 choices for time of pick up...at usual time of delivery: no charge or special pick up for $20 extra

I sell a fair amount of stuff on the eBay and always use USPS to ship. It is very handy to calculate the postage, print the shipping label, have my eBay account billed, and then put the package on my front porch. There is also a discount for using USPS through eBay. I have never seen any information that time of day or day of the week has anything to do with pricing.

     As others have said, it's to help the calculator estimate the date of arrival. If you go to the PO late in the day, it may estimate the date of arrival a day later than if you had gone to the PO earlier in the day.

   John

So you can get an expected arrival date.

For some items, this information may factor into your decision as to what shipping level you choose, such as first class vs priority vs express.

Jim