The U.S. Postal Service rolled out USPS Local XChange, a new service that lets people buying and selling on platforms like eBay and Facebook Marketplace exchange items through secure post office lockers rather than meeting face-to-face. The launch has not gotten much publicity, with only eCommerceBytes and a handful of postal-industry sites having covered it so far, and USPS’s own information on the launch is scattered across half a dozen pages that don’t fully agree with each other. So it appears that they are still finding their footing with it.
Here’s how Local XChange works:
- You agree to sell your used off-brand Crock-Pot to some idiot on Facebook Marketplace, who sends you $15 on Cash App.
- You collect the buyer’s name and e-mail address to input into the Local XChange system.
- Next, you create a free USPS.com account, pick a smart locker location within 50 miles of your return address, pay a fee, and drop the boxed item into the locker.
- The buyer then gets an e-mail with a Pickup QR Code and has five calendar days to retrieve the item. If the QR code won’t scan, there’s a six-digit backup code.
- If they aren’t able to make it to the post office in time, the package moves to the retail counter for another 10 days, requiring a photo ID for pickup.
- If the buyer still hasn’t picked up the item after the 10 days, it’s mailed back to you.
- For now, notifications are e-mail only. There is no text-message option.
The USPS’s Local XChange page and eCommerceBytes both list the cost of the service as $5.10 per transaction, but the USPS FAQ page says the charge is pegged to the prevailing price of a USPS Connect Local Flat Rate Box and lists $5.51 as of June 29. Either way, the seller pays, and the label becomes non-refundable the moment it’s scanned at the locker.
The program is currently running as a pilot, available only at postal facilities that already have smart lockers installed, for an unspecified time period. USPS said 700 post offices offered smart lockers as of last fall, part of the broader “Delivering for America” lobby-modernization push that also added enhanced self-service kiosks at 2,600 locations. Local XChange is a new use for existing lockers that were already handling deliveries, returns, and oversized PO Box packages.
USPS has a few rules about what can and cannot go inside the lockers:
- Anything that isn’t mailable is also prohibited (like fireworks or mercury).
- Live animals, alcohol, cremated remains, and hazardous materials are also prohibited, with an exception for the small lithium batteries inside electronics.
- Items have to fit the compartment, which maxes out at 22.5″ x 19.5″ x 14.5″, and some kiosks are smaller.
USPS is pitching Local XChange as a safe and convenient way to sell locally. No more meeting a stranger in a parking lot to complete a Facebook Marketplace sale, and no coordinating schedules for a handoff.
What about the buyer though? The primary reason to pay for and pick up an item in person is to verify that the item is what you expect. I would never send some random Facebook Marketplace seller payment in advance and hope for the best.
The service is also fairly costly. How expensive are the items USPS thinks people are buying on Facebook Marketplace? Let alone items that can fit into a small locker. Does USPS think I’m buying a Canon DSLR camera from a stranger online and paying for it in advance? Your average person selling an $8 holiday trinket isn’t going to pay $5+ to stick it in a locker. They’re going to show up at the back of the Ingles parking lot 25 minutes late with all their kids in the car and collect that $8 in cash.
I don’t see the Local XChange pilot being successful. It’s way too niche of a use case, and while it addresses safety and convenience, it ignores every other problem for buyers when shopping on local marketplaces. Swing and a miss.
