[cimm]

I always wondered if this is US specific. In Europe, as far as I know, the package would simply be delivered by the neighbor, they return the next day, or you have to get it from the local convenience store or some centralized lock-box.

[PragmaticPulp]

Package theft is a problem, but it’s not as rampant as you’d believe from reading internet comments. The number of packages delivered to houses in the US every day is staggeringly high, so even a small percentage of package thefts will manifest as a lot of anecdotes.

Package theft also varies heavily by location. I live in a medium sized city but I actually don’t know anyone who has had a package stolen off their porch. I’ve easily had over a thousand packages left at my (highly visible) porch all afternoon over the years without a single theft.

OTOH, if I lived in a few certain cities I wouldn’t want to leave any packages lying out for any period of time.

[lotsofpulp]

I also do not know of anyone who has experienced package theft in the US between a few cities on both coasts and suburbs in a variety of states. But they all live in upper middle class or richer neighborhoods or buildings, so there is probably a lot of selection bias.