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Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 01:02 pm
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Direct shipping is a very unique thing. You never know what you will be sent. I’ve been sent a few direct ship items over the last few years. I will admit I have filled out a few direct ship forms but I never certain if the items are from those forms or other sources. You can search direct ship and see what I”ve been sent recently.
So like I mentioned I’m no stranger to direct ship stuff I posted two videos about it last year. You can check them out below.
So what’s the point of direct ship?
From what I can tell direct ship is a way for vendors or sellers to get rid of items. I found this listing via Wikipedia that has a similar explanation. For Amazon sellers, I think they hope people will leave a review on the item. Then again who knows. For me, I’ve been sent some generically labeled items that I can’t even find the corresponding seller via Amazon. I’ve also had items that I can find quickly. Either way I share most of the items just so you all can see them.
The items sent can vary from clothing (random sizes) to home goods to electronics (possibly). I was sent a DVD drive once. Other times it can just be weird stuff. I had a packet of nail file belts for an electronic nail file arrive a few weeks back. I even had an eye shadow palette this year too. So you never know what you’ll get until you open the package.
It’s always a surprise
So if anyone happened to see my recent Instagram post today you know I had a letter arrive from China today. These are always interesting because A. I never asked for them and B. I figured they obtained my info from Amazon.
Some like the envelope I received today 8/2/19 was what I assume was a sandpaper sheet for nails.
There was no other info in the pack just the sandpaper sheet in a plastic bag. These are the ones that get me because it’s so random in nature. The worst part is that since they are shipped from overseas I have no idea where the obtained my name and address. Again I’m going ot point the finger at Amazon.
I’ve been a product reviewer for a number of years so I know for a fact many sellers trade info with each other. I just don’t know what ot make of some of these random items. On the upside, I get to keep some China postal stamps though. I also learned that it takes about 3 weeks for a product to arrive on the west coast of the US from China.
What to do with all this stuff?
I did end up being sent items that are so item specific that I have no idea what to do with them. For instance, I have 3 iPhone 6 screen repair kits. I cant use them.
I don’t own an iPhone. To top it all off they are so model-specific I haven’t found anyone who can use them.
I once had a seller ship me about a dozen iPhone screen protectors in a 2 week period. I also wonder how the sellers choose people to ship items too. I often wonder if they view peoples past orders or other review listings. I always find it amusing that they send out many of the latest or newest model phone accessories. This may not be the case for everyone but I ended up with a bunch of iPhone stuff at one point.
The bad part about direct ship is you end up with a ton of items you may not want or even need. I also liked when I was sent items that were mislabeled or sent in the wrong boxes. A great example is a pair of earbuds that were shipped in a wireless box but were wired.
With a lot of items, I ended up sharing them with friends or others who could use them. Some I did resell. Other things were donated. I still have a few items here at home in a box.
Is it worth it?
I think if you don’t mind being shipped random products it may be worth it for you. For me, it happened gradually. As I shared in the video posts above. Also as I said I had filled out a few direct ship forms too. The only thing that freaks me out a bit are the random packages sent from China. They aren’t very often but still, I wonder if some of the items are counterfeit. Granted that can happen here in the US too but I don’t want to give a cable to someone and have it explode or something. (Yeah I know I’m such a downer)
You can find many direct ship forms via freebie sites or doing a Google search. There are also Facebook groups who deal with direct shipping as well. All I can say is do your homework when it comes to these groups. Some are legit others may make you jump through hoops.
Besides that, it’s up to you to decide if this is something for you. I will admit sometimes you luck out and get something worthwhile. I was sent a culinary torch last year. Which I’ll probably use when crafting.
So you never know what you might get.
Have you been sent any direct ship items?
