Ship using USPS labels through eBay? Watch out for scam charges!
amwldcoin
Posts: 11,269 ✭✭✭✭✭
I just got charged $2.49 for underpaid shipping! My package was shipped as 4 ounces and my receipt from the PO shows it weighed 3.2 ounces. I was just charged $2.49 because the USPS said it weighed 16 ounces! The funny part is if it weighed 16 ounces it would bump it to Priority rates which would be close to double the surcharge!
I guess I better go back and check this hasn't happened before. The only reason I caught it was because I didn't ship anything today! This was over 10 days after the package was delivered!
My real gripe and my conspiracy theory is the USPS figures most will let it slide as it will probably take hours of my time to resolve for $2.49!
Well I will pursue and will start with trying to do with a charge back through PayPal.
This could be the start of a class action lawsuit if this is commonplace.
Anyone here had this happen?
Comments
Ugh. I've seen it happen a couple of times (always seems to be when the same "grouchy" driver picks up our mail... our normal guy, everything sails through or we get credit for overpaid shipping!).
Not sure what to do about it. If you pursue this and get some good leads, I'd love to hear!
I have not noticed. How do you know what item it was for? Why did you check weight at PO?
I hand deliver and get a receipt at the Post Office for everything I sell. More times than not it gets delivered a day quicker and takes 1 step out of the delivery equation. All packages are weighed when scanned and the weight shows on the receipt. This was 1 certified Barber Half and I have shipped 1000's of them! They all come in just under 4 ounces the way I package them.
Flat Rate, I sleep better at night....
This happened to me too with an eBay label, and the overcharge was more money. It was a small package they said weighed a pound, when it weighed a couple ounces. I called customer service at usps and got them to reverse the charge.
How did you get charged? Is your account somehow encoded in the tracking number? Did they take the extra $2.49 out of your PayPal or eBay Managed Payment balance? I'm surprised they just didn't charge the recipient postage due. This is scary. To the best of my knowledge this has never happened to me but I haven't signed up for Managed Payments yet and I use eBay labels almost all the time.
On the other hand I have received packages that weighed over a pound and the label said 4 ounces. Always ticked me off that the seller was cheating the post office and eBay (out of final value fees) at the expense of honest sellers.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
I actually had one go the other way, and they credited me back 1.50 or so. few days after delivery
Yes, ebay charges your method of payment on file. I got nailed a while back on a priority package to Hawaii. Turns out they use 1 pound increments. 1 gram over 2 pounds cost me $10!
I bet that is as rare as an 1822 Half Eagle!
" I got nailed a while back on a priority package to Hawaii. Turns out they use 1 pound increments. 1 gram over 2 pounds cost me $10!"
Not gonna happen if you use the "Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes or Padded Envelopes"
Typically this is the sort of thing that happens at the receiving PO. I once received a coin by express mail from a member here. The PO clerk wondered about the shipping charge [which was printed on the label] and checked it. She didn't whack me for the underpayment.
I received a small refund about a year ago also. Maybe $1.50 or so.
Wisdom has been chasing you but, you've always been faster
A mistake is not a scam.
Dang,. That word is overused in these parts.
By the way, 16 ounces is still first class with Ebay labels, not priority.
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are you positive? i'm pretty sure i've tried typing in 16 and iirc, it bumped it up automatically so i had to use my cubic-rate shipping account and used 15.9 and slid it in first class.
It wouldn't fit in a flat rate box! It was a large seashell!
Hmmmm, a 6x9 envelope that's 3/8" thick weighs a pound! I'm surprised they would even check the weight!
A 5 inch by 8 inch by 1/8 inch thick sheet of lead weighs just over 2 pounds and would easily fit in a eBay 6X9 inch padded mailer.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
In the ebay system, you use 15.9 for 16 oz
I'm 100% positive. It does actually print it out as 15.9 ounces. Here's a screenshot direct from eBay.
Actually, if you put in 1 pound it actually prints it as 15.9. [See the screenshot I posted.]
I'm not saying it weighed a pound. I'm saying it is only a "scam" if someone is intentionally trying to cheat someone. I doubt USPS is trying to balance their books with your $2.49. And there is ZERO benefit to the postal employee to intentionally bill you $2.49
And a 6x9 envelope that is 3/8" thick is 300 cubic centimeters. The density of silver is 10.49 g/cm3. So if your envelope had a silver bar in it, it would weigh almost 7 pounds. [Not that the dimensions have anything to do with this...but, you brought it up.]
Flat rate boxes come in different sizes. How big was this seashell that it didn't fit in either a medium or large flat rate box?
Flat rate, you spend more....
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
It was a big un! The large flat rate box wasn't tall enough. The cost of the large flat rate was on par or a little higher than 3 pounds if I remember correctly.
Even the square flat rate? That is an awfully big shell!!!
did you have to pay extra for such a small cube box? 1" x 1" x 1"
LOL. How much time did you want me to spend trying to explain something that anyone on here could have verified on their own?
Do you like this better?
from the screen above the seller is able to choose his shipper and choose his product as well as edit weight and package size, then see price before buying label. also one is not required to use ebay shipping. one can still buy and print labels in paypal. Without a paypal payment you have to manually enter buyers name and address to purchase a paypal shipping label. Then there's alway usps.com to buy labels.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
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thanks for taking the time. i see now that i cannot put in 15.9 (which is probably what i tried to do previously) but like you say, entering 1lb yields nearly or possibly the same result. i will have to also pull up that info on another shipping site i use to compare costs.
USPS.COM does not offer first class package rates or options, and their priority rates are way higher than Ebay.
This happens to me once or twice per year and they have not provided a way to appeal it.
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I'm curious how this turns out. It's not worth my time to spend whatever crazy amount of time it will take on the phone with the USPS. So I filed a claim through Paypal and included a picture of my receipt that shows the weight of the package when it was scanned. The clock is ticking and hopefully Paypal will rule in my favor.