UPS shipping
Shipping service
People recommend UPS for domestic ground shipping and on-time delivery. The most common caveat is surprise customs brokerage and paperwork fees on international shipments.
People recommend UPS for domestic ground shipping and on-time delivery. The most common caveat is surprise customs brokerage and paperwork fees on international shipments.
42 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 32
- approval share
- 24%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Best domestic ground shipping
“UPS is still probably the best domestically for ground shipping”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts” “UPS is generally pretty good.”
Comment from 14 Oct 2026 in “How Amazon pushes up prices all across the Internet” Tracking and delivery better than FedEx
“UPS tracking is better than FedEx, but it is very likely to damage your package.”
Comment from 19 Mar 2026 in “US Postal Service expects to run out of cash in a year” “Yet UPS still delivers packages better than FedEx.”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “Blizzard Workers Win Historic Union Contract” Few problems, delivers on estimate
“My problem rate with Fedex or UPS is maybe 0.1% of packages.”
Comment from 4 Jul 2026 in “What does privatization of the US Postal Service mean?” “UPS, Fedex, etc., tend to deliver when the estimate says.”
Comment from 14 Oct 2026 in “How Amazon pushes up prices all across the Internet”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Surprise import duties and brokerage fees
“UPS or FedEx would happily lose the package and then still try to bill both sender and receiver for customs brokerage”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts” “UPS does not enforce payment. They will hand out the package before receiving the taxes and tolls.”
Comment from 18 Jan 2026 in “Statement by Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands,Norway,Sweden,UK” “hearing the horrors of shippers (UPS, FedEx, DHL) charging import fees equivalent to 1000%”
Comment from 6 Mar 2026 in “Judge Orders Government to Begin Refunding More Than $130B in Tariffs” - Comment from 18 Jan 2026 in “Statement by Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands,Norway,Sweden,UK”
- Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “The last-ever penny will be minted today in Philadelphia”
Hard to reach for disputes
“UPS has been completely non responsive and still won't show me the customs forms.”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts” “Impossible to get ahold of anyone at UPS to discuss/dispute this.”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “U.S. postal inspectors shut down website selling counterfeit postage labels” Packages sometimes damaged or lost
“UPS or FedEx would happily lose the package and then still try to bill both sender and receiver for customs brokerage”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts” “I would say 10-20% of UPS packages have some delivery issue from damaged to lost.”
Comment from 19 Mar 2026 in “US Postal Service expects to run out of cash in a year” “UPS tracking is better than FedEx, but it is very likely to damage your package.”
Comment from 19 Mar 2026 in “US Postal Service expects to run out of cash in a year” Aggressive billing and collections threats
“UPS says that's the money I owe. They will send to collections if you go long enough without paying it.”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts” “It's pretty clear that UPS is scamming people and hoping they don't fight the obscene charges.”
Comment from 17 Nov 2025 in “When UPS charged me a $684 tariff on $355 of vintage computer parts”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UPS shippingThis page | 10 | 32 | 24% | 5 | — | — |
| USPS | 5 | 5 | 50% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 43 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“UPS is generally pretty good.”
“UPS, Fedex, etc., tend to deliver when the estimate says.”
“Impossible to get ahold of anyone at UPS to discuss/dispute this.”
“UPS is also full of holes. No verifications whatsoever.”
“No verifications whatsoever.”
“If I ship UPS I can have the buyer pay upon delivery”
“Yet UPS still delivers packages better than FedEx.”
“nobody wants to pay 4x for shipping and then get another bill afterwards”
“My problem rate with Fedex or UPS is maybe 0.1% of packages.”
“it was UPS that caused the delay”
“It shows 404s for me on Firefox and works perfectly on Chrome.”
“Have you tried calling UPS with an atypical problem?”
“I would say 10-20% of UPS packages have some delivery issue from damaged to lost.”
“UPS tracking is better than FedEx, but it is very likely to damage your package.”
“I've been really surprised with the stability once I moved by Pis to my UPS”
“DHL and UPS do a somewhat okay job of it but isn't easy”
“hearing the horrors of shippers (UPS, FedEx, DHL) charging import fees equivalent to 1000%”
“UPS is definitely pocketing most of whatever refund they get.”
“UPS who demanded an additional $32 when the first bag showed up”
“UPS has been tacking on a ridiculously high paperwork fee for the service of processing tariff payments”
“UPS didn't even deliver the product.”
“making me pay a fee to them for processing it too”
“No recourse at all, I just had to eat the ~$700.”
“they gave me the package and then sent me a bill for import duties a month later”
“UPS does not enforce payment. They will hand out the package before receiving the taxes and tolls.”
“I've lost free UPS pickups for returns”
“It's pretty clear that UPS is scamming people and hoping they don't fight the obscene charges.”
“better not use UPS; goods moving under ATA carnet are on their prohibited list”
“while UPS made an error there is plenty of responsibility that can be taken by the buyer and seller”
“UPS or FedEx would happily lose the package and then still try to bill both sender and receiver for customs brokerage”
“I'm not paying to receive a mystery prize box.”
“I will warn anyone in the States to never again use UPS for shipping abroad.”
“UPS is still probably the best domestically for ground shipping”
“I hate UPS with the passion of a thousand dying suns.”
“UPS has been completely non responsive and still won't show me the customs forms.”
“Our business got charged a 200% tariff on a UPS import from Japan, completely incorrect.”
“UPS seems to be the biggest culprit”
“UPS says that's the money I owe. They will send to collections if you go long enough without paying it.”
“card networks allow partial refunds, but UPS wants to... mail a cheque?”
“UPS is going to defraud customers on brokerage fees regardless of the scenario”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.