I have had a few eBay Standard Envelope shipments returned to me stamped "Nonmachinable, postage due". I have reprinted the labels, reshipped and all were delivered. I use #6 envelope Safe-T-Mailers cut in half, which are just a little bigger than a 2x2, and I mash them down as flat as I can. For a GB 1 pound coin, I'd probably try it.
ok. it is nice to have affirmations that one is not in fact, crazy.
i changed a lot of my listings a while back to indicate that some western states (by region/price) will have to have an adjusted invoice for larger/heavier (non-coin) items. where as for the longest time, this was not the case. something in the system HAS changed, despite gas prices coming back down BECAUSE.
a coin that just sold, a raw quarter, sold for $27, so standard envelope is not an option BUT the first class starter rate to CA is $4.26 from my midwest location!!!!! for just 1oz
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
a coin that just sold, a raw quarter, sold for $27, so standard envelope is not an option BUT the first class starter rate to CA is $4.26 from my midwest location!!!!! for just 1oz
If it was me, I'd just use stamps and not worry about tracking. $20 to $30 is kind of a "dead zone" when it comes to shipping.
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
a coin that just sold, a raw quarter, sold for $27, so standard envelope is not an option BUT the first class starter rate to CA is $4.26 from my midwest location!!!!! for just 1oz
If it was me, I'd just use stamps and not worry about tracking. $20 to $30 is kind of a "dead zone" when it comes to shipping.
i thought about it but since we can add up to 3 coins per package, i just asked the buyer to buy one of my low dollar coins and then i can combine the 2 since the max value on 2 or 3 is $50.
heck i do a couple transactions like that and that will buy a $5 bag of cat food that'll last 2 weeks or more! even feeding the whole dam neighborhood of cats. LOL
well it MAY not work after all. while the value is permitted up to $50 for 3 coins, it SEEMS as though, none of those coins in the order may be over $20 as it is not letting me make a label, even once i've combined them in the bulk order page. hhrfmmpp
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
it SEEMS as though, none of those coins in the order may be over $20 as it is not letting me make a label
I believe that is the case.
.
they seem to have the specs for SE shipping on LOCK DOWN within the ebay system, while there is a link to go to a page to delete a SE shipping label, one cannot.
And the usps is raising their rates on many services soon; but my postmaster said that after Christmas the cost of a first class stamp, etc. will be going back down.
@logger7 said:
And the usps is raising their rates on many services soon; but my postmaster said that after Christmas the cost of a first class stamp, etc. will be going back down.
It's their annual holiday surcharge. It's in effect now.
I don't know, I never looked before. I was curious after your earlier post.
On a somewhat related note, not every Standard Envelope gets scanned by the post office yet eBay dings you for no tracking even though there's no way you can be sure the post office is doing their job.
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
has anyone shipped internationally using SE shipping?
i mean real international, like another continent far away. not canada/mexico etc.
thanks
Yes, all the time. But it's really not the same service at all. It involves 3 separate carrier services.
what is a ballpark cost for the same size/weight envelope as used for SE shipping? i probably should open up international shipping again, finally.
$12 to Canada. $14 to Europe. It is NOT the same service. It's a couple bucks cheaper than 1st class and carries $100 in insurance - which would cost $25+ using Priority.
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
has anyone shipped internationally using SE shipping?
i mean real international, like another continent far away. not canada/mexico etc.
thanks
Yes, all the time. But it's really not the same service at all. It involves 3 separate carrier services.
what is a ballpark cost for the same size/weight envelope as used for SE shipping? i probably should open up international shipping again, finally.
$12 to Canada. $14 to Europe. It is NOT the same service. It's a couple bucks cheaper than 1st class and carries $100 in insurance - which would cost $25+ using Priority.
ok. so for low-dollar stuff i made the right decision. it becomes un-economical unless there are a crap ton of low dollar items in one package.
really appreciate the info.
i did create an international policy for one listing for someone that asked and i wanted to see what the shipping will be but the item doesnt end for a while so appreciate knowing in advance and in those options i dont recall seeing the SE option (i did but there was some caveat) but i had to put in the weight and do some other stuff, so i'll report back after the listing ends.
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
has anyone shipped internationally using SE shipping?
i mean real international, like another continent far away. not canada/mexico etc.
thanks
Yes, all the time. But it's really not the same service at all. It involves 3 separate carrier services.
what is a ballpark cost for the same size/weight envelope as used for SE shipping? i probably should open up international shipping again, finally.
$12 to Canada. $14 to Europe. It is NOT the same service. It's a couple bucks cheaper than 1st class and carries $100 in insurance - which would cost $25+ using Priority.
ok. so for low-dollar stuff i made the right decision. it becomes un-economical unless there are a crap ton of low dollar items in one package.
really appreciate the info.
i did create an international policy for one listing for someone that asked and i wanted to see what the shipping will be but the item doesnt end for a while so appreciate knowing in advance and in those options i dont recall seeing the SE option (i did but there was some caveat) but i had to put in the weight and do some other stuff, so i'll report back after the listing ends.
The international rate is good up to 8 ounces and doesn't have the envelope thickness restrictions. It is a bargain but still a package rate.
Cliffs Notes version, in case you don't want to read the whole thing: A discussion between a bunch of eBay sellers who have lost (or are afraid of losing) Top Rated Seller status and discounts because enough of their eBay Standard Envelope shipments don't get scanned into the system. eBay doesn't have an answer for them and doesn't seem to care.
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
has anyone shipped internationally using SE shipping?
i mean real international, like another continent far away. not canada/mexico etc.
thanks
Yes, all the time. But it's really not the same service at all. It involves 3 separate carrier services.
what is a ballpark cost for the same size/weight envelope as used for SE shipping? i probably should open up international shipping again, finally.
$12 to Canada. $14 to Europe. It is NOT the same service. It's a couple bucks cheaper than 1st class and carries $100 in insurance - which would cost $25+ using Priority.
ok. so for low-dollar stuff i made the right decision. it becomes un-economical unless there are a crap ton of low dollar items in one package.
really appreciate the info.
i did create an international policy for one listing for someone that asked and i wanted to see what the shipping will be but the item doesnt end for a while so appreciate knowing in advance and in those options i dont recall seeing the SE option (i did but there was some caveat) but i had to put in the weight and do some other stuff, so i'll report back after the listing ends.
The international rate is good up to 8 ounces and doesn't have the envelope thickness restrictions. It is a bargain but still a package rate.
Good news is that you don't get charged the final value fee on International shipments.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
@tommy44 said:
Good news is that you don't get charged the final value fee on International shipments.
wow. what an incentive to sell internationally! this is 100% (for numismatics?)
the irony of my inquiry above is that the seller with a name like ameer is why i thought they were overseas, which they are BUT they use a USA address and probably have stuff re-shipped in bulk or something but because they are trying to pay from overseas with a paypal account with a foreign address UAE but the address is here in the usa, the system and/or my settings wouldn't allow the payment despite trying a couple things and i was using that transaction to gauge if i wanted to venture back down the international shipping route or not but it sounds like the cost is really too much for the stuff i was considering but despite what was mentioned above, i never got the chance to even try to print a label because they "couldn't" pay AND they had a usa address anyway.
so for now, i'm kinda a bit swamped and just will put the whole endeavor off until another time. too many fires going at once will surely result in someone getting burned. i'd rather not for myself or others.
since i checked all my accounts recently, probably even for ones i don't need to do this but JUST in case, if you check the RMA option at the bottom of this page, it will prohibit buyers from being able to AUTOMATICALLY get shipping labels when a return is started. so this is a bit of a big deal because they are going to be able to get a return label for whatever recommended service is given them which could be significantly more expensive that other options you may have access to in the ebay system or not.
i've mentioned it before but imo, it is important enough to mention again, even being off-topic. hope it helps.
YOU WILL NEED TO PROVIDE A LABEL WITHIN A SMALL WINDOW OF TIME (24-48 or so) OR EBAY WILL DO IT FOR YOU. just to be clear.
this is especially important for those of you using multiple accounts where a return that is started could fly under the radar just long enough that a label could be generated but not be voidable. rare when it happens but stings when it does.
if the ebay app would permit multiple account sign-ins like the gmail app, this would pretty much be a non-issue. manually logging into every account often enough to get all messages gets to be a bit annoying. (i need to look into which accounts are NOT sending email notifications because i can/do get all gmail notifications so this would be a work-around)
for the tech-minded out there, you are able to create multiple profiles within a browser so i think this may permit you to have multiple accounts logged into with one browser. i could try this but sounds a little odd but probably because i'm not used to doing it.
i guess my next step is to verify i get emails for all ebay communications since my gmail app will be the catch-all for those messages and hence have instant/easy access to messages received for all accounts.
I recently had superb tracking on a one ounce parcel I ordered, from "in transit" on day of shipping to "delivered" and other updates in a timely way. It makes me wonder if the shipper did something special to get such superb tracking. I just use a standard self sealing envelope and paste the shipping label with clear tape.
I just had my first problem with the SE service. Package was returned to me for insufficient postage. Paid the 3 oz rate and package weighs 2.3oz. Notified my buyer that I would ship again he requested a refund. Oh well.
I'm not sure what your recourse on that would be but bringing it to the attention of your postmaster may help as well as their customer service number.
Since my original post on this topic back in March (I had no claims yet) I have had to make 2 claims, the first got paid within a couple of days. I just submitted my second today, to a buyer that left positive feedback over a month ago but now "doesn't think they got it". The tracking doesn't show the final delivery but does show all the other scans it had along the way .
@bigjpst said:
I just had my first problem with the SE service. Package was returned to me for insufficient postage. Paid the 3 oz rate and package weighs 2.3oz. Notified my buyer that I would ship again he requested a refund. Oh well.
I've had a few like that. I printed another label and sent them off. They were all delivered.
@bigjpst said:
I just had my first problem with the SE service. Package was returned to me for insufficient postage. Paid the 3 oz rate and package weighs 2.3oz. Notified my buyer that I would ship again he requested a refund. Oh well.
I've had a few like that. I printed another label and sent them off. They were all delivered.
@bigjpst said:
I just had my first problem with the SE service. Package was returned to me for insufficient postage. Paid the 3 oz rate and package weighs 2.3oz. Notified my buyer that I would ship again he requested a refund. Oh well.
I've had a few like that. I printed another label and sent them off. They were all delivered.
Same thing with me.
I have a theory, based on a conversation with the clerk at my post office. I don't think most postal workers know what an "eBay Standard Envelope" is and considering there's something in the envelope other than a letter or invoice or some other piece of paper, their first thought when the envelope ends up in their hands is "nonmachinable". So it gets stamped and returned to you. The machines, on the other hand, seem to handle them just fine as long as a human doesn't get in the way.
@bigjpst said:
I just had my first problem with the SE service. Package was returned to me for insufficient postage. Paid the 3 oz rate and package weighs 2.3oz. Notified my buyer that I would ship again he requested a refund. Oh well.
I've had a few like that. I printed another label and sent them off. They were all delivered.
Same thing with me.
I have a theory, based on a conversation with the clerk at my post office. I don't think most postal workers know what an "eBay Standard Envelope" is and considering there's something in the envelope other than a letter or invoice or some other piece of paper, their first thought when the envelope ends up in their hands is "nonmachinable". So it gets stamped and returned to you. The machines, on the other hand, seem to handle them just fine as long as a human doesn't get in the way.
I've been waiting to get one returned to me because of the comments here about it. I haven't had one. I drop my stuff in the "metered mail" slot of the post office which also happens to be the distribution center for my fairly large city, so maybe mine enter the system without trouble easier because it's already at a distribution hub? I like your theory about individual employees just making a call about it before it reaches a machine.
@goodmoney4badmoney said:
I like your theory about individual employees just making a call about it before it reaches a machine.
I honestly think that's what happens. Otherwise, the ones that are returned that I reprint and resend would keep coming back.
I agree, and remember this coming up here before. That was the way I planned to handle it, but figured that I would let the buyer know why there was a delay. He didn't want to wait, or maybe thought I was being shady.
I am new to this Standard Ebay Envelope thing, but want to learn more.
Would a 9X12 thick card envelope be a good way to send a slabbed sports card? I assume we have to weigh it and pay accordingly before printing the eBay label, correct?
I say 9X12 because in case someone drops the envelope the corners act as buffers so the slab does not crack. I have received a few slabbed cards in small bubble mailers where the slab had a corner crack or split in half.
"So many of our DREAMS at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we SUMMON THE WILL they soon become INEVITABLE "- Christopher Reeve
@DeutscherGeist said:
I am new to this Standard Ebay Envelope thing, but want to learn more.
Would a 9X12 thick card envelope be a good way to send a slabbed sports card? I assume we have to weigh it and pay accordingly before printing the eBay label, correct?
I say 9X12 because in case someone drops the envelope the corners act as buffers so the slab does not crack. I have received a few slabbed cards in small bubble mailers where the slab had a corner crack or split in half.
Therev are size and weight restrictions. The package you describe would not qualify, in my experience.
I had an ebay standard envelope shipment on a $5 silver coin; the buyer said please "expedite". A month after it showed delivered the buyer said it went to a city an hour or so away and wanted a refund. I checked with ebay who did not know what happened; I shipped it with the address ebay gave me, this is the first time in 10 years I shipped something with them where the buyer said it went to the wrong address like this.
@logger7 said:
I had an ebay standard envelope shipment on a $5 silver coin; the buyer said please "expedite". A month after it showed delivered the buyer said it went to a city an hour or so away and wanted a refund. I checked with ebay who did not know what happened; I shipped it with the address ebay gave me, this is the first time in 10 years I shipped something with them where the buyer said it went to the wrong address like this.
.
not much you can do when using the provided shipping address and obviously you have no liability.
i messed up and sent a 1935 mexico 5 cent instead of a 1935 20 cent. they are about the same size and look and i didn't write the denom on the flip. i caught it before delivered but after shipped and messaged the buyer in hopes of making it easy on everyone by perhaps doing a return to sender or something.
well, after about a dozen back and forths, i think we are actually worse off than had i said nothing. it isn't anything mean, insulting, complaining, just a MMMMAAAJJOOOORRR complication language barrier and perhaps a brain barrier.
while i am NOT fluent in spanish, i do know enough to fumble through a brief conversation, especially in text with a translation page up BUT despite my sincerest efforts, i just decided to let the chips fall where they may.
i was really MOSTLY just trying to ensure it wasn't shipped back first class package rate $4+ from cali to me.
it is my mistake and SOMETIMES in these situations, the buyer actually keeps the wrong coin as usually my mistakes like this are because i send something VERY much like what they purchased and then we agree upon a price and they end up with both coins and a little discount but i obvious will do a return/swap as well.
how about those situations where buyers/sellers either don't or more or less can't communicate properly to resolve simple problematic situations. SHEESH
it reminds me of this real "gem" in florida that bought a non-coin from me where the pictures and description showed 2 different but similar products. they say the size they want in the comment section but DIDN"T specify which type, so i send a message or 3 (lol) and a text or two and nothing (shoulda canceled) but i figured the products were simliar enough i may just get lucky (low dollar anyway) but no communication. THEN, after the buyer gets it and goes on a mini-tirade about them wanting the other kind, i made a message as calm as i could, just refunded, blocked and moved on. or so i thought. L O L
turns out i didn't save the block list or something and they buy ANOTHER one. Now i know what type they want but yet again, didn't specify which type. refund/blocked.
months go by. i get ANOTHER purchase from said person, on their same account. ABSOLUTELY blew my mind that yet again the block list didn't update. after doing this for years with adding/removing people, i figured i just made a mistake but now i think it was the ebay system not saving the update.
i truly wanted to send them the item, as i had finally just split the listing into two to prevent any future problems but kinda annoying because multi-quantity listings do pretty well the more sales one listing gets. what can ya do. sometimes in life, we can ONLY get a certain level of result, no matter how hard we try. don't force it, look for an easy and clean way out, politely accept it and move on.
oh, i forgot to mention they actually bought one before all this happened a couple of month previously and i luckly sent the correct one. (one of the few times i have a repeat buyer where i could have seen what they bought previously but enough time passed, it fell from memory, ugh) i also think that ebay hadn't started adding that green "repeat buyer" text or that i noticed but i REALLY like that feature so if i get someone that buys from me several times but over a long period, i can sneak in an extra item or two or offer a coupon/discount in the future.
LOL - i actually added some free items to a bulk buyer one time and it short-circuited them and thought i was trying to pull a fast one or something, even though they got MORE than they purchased. over the course of 2 -3 returns, i got everything back. i didn't complain as based on their messages, i knew it was one of those chew off your leg to get out of the trap and get away ASAP. lol
well after a few more communications, the item came back return to sender basically, so that part went off w/o a hitch but trying to reach an effective solution had simply gone past my desire to put effort into it. not the language barrier but the comprehension barrier was too steep although i thought there may be a chance.
that said, it was my mistake, not the buyers.
refunded and relisted both items and told the buyer they are active if still interested.
is it just me or do some of you get buyers that cannot grasp the concept of bin OBO? sometimes when i have to re-list an item for whatever reason and the original buyer is going to want to purchase it, again (dont ask), then i will usually list it at a higher price with the OBO option because in the past when i just relisted it, others come along and see the newly listed items and buy it. (took me a while to figure that one out lol)
then the potential buyer whines, gripes, gets confused as to how to proceed or they are unwilling to buy the same item at the higher price. SO, is the OBO option really that difficult to grasp the concept of?
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
is it just me or do some of you get buyers that cannot grasp the concept of bin OBO? sometimes when i have to re-list an item for whatever reason and the original buyer is going to want to purchase it, again (dont ask), then i will usually list it at a higher price with the OBO option because in the past when i just relisted it, others come along and see the newly listed items and buy it. (took me a while to figure that one out lol)
then the potential buyer whines, gripes, gets confused as to how to proceed or they are unwilling to buy the same item at the higher price. SO, is the OBO option really that difficult to grasp the concept of?
Try it with an auction. A BO offer for an auction should be HIGHER than the start price to allow you to circumvent the auction process. 90% of buyers offer lower bids or, my favorite, the starting bid. LOL. My favorite customer of the week made a BO on an auction of a comic which started at $199. He offered $425. I ended it immediately and prayed for blessings upon him and his family.
My practice for auctions that don't sell is to usually raise the price 10 to 20% because everyone is going to want to BO lower and because I don't want people to think they can just wait out an auction and get a lower price. [I start my auctions at 5% over my total costs. I have no room to go down.] One guy noticed and sent me a screed saying this wasn't a shoe store where I could raise the price and then discount it 10%. LOL. I responded that it was retail and half the people are always going to offer less than "list price".
People think they are "smarter" than average and not taken in by retail gimmicks. Yet, just yesterday, I got a thank you from a customer for free shipping. It was a carded figure and I add $12 to my costs to cover shipping if it goes to the west coast. This guy was on the east coast and my actual costs were only $8. He thanked me for paying $4 more than he would have if I had charged him the actual shipping costs.
Before Christmas, I ran a volume discount on some of the toys. I offered $5 off each additional purchase. I sold dozens of toys in pairs or triples even though, again, the $5 discount amounted to less than half the additional shipping cost for someone on the east coast.
It's hard to prove for unique items like collectibles. But I'd be willing to bet your sales volume would go up if you increased all your prices by 25% and then had a 20% off sale. And, of course, make sure you include "free" shipping.
@jmlanzaf said:
Before Christmas, I ran a volume discount on some of the toys. I offered $5 off each additional purchase. I sold dozens of toys in pairs or triples even though, again, the $5 discount amounted to less than half the additional shipping cost for someone on the east coast.
ya. love when a customer gets more than one item. time, effort, profit etc and they also get a better per-item cost basis.
nice post.
agree about the last paragraph. strange things happen with price changes, discounts etc.
I had a PCGS certified coin that someone bought on ebay, all of $12. Somehow I couldn't see paying more than $4 to ship it which was included so tried a small bubble mailer; I read their legalese afterwards, ie no bubble mailers. No tracking but it got to the buyer no problem. The question is does the system match up shipping labels with contents or a human being? Does the fact that certain even slim envelopes would not make it through the tracking system for ebay standard envelopes means that get to the destination anyway?
for my part, i cannot say if it is a human or machine in any one instance but i suspect it is probably both but with machines probably doing more because of the speed/ease of envelopes going through at the speed and qty that they do.
glad to read one of yours "sneaked" through the system and arrived unscathed.
i have had a couple packages i was charged for that were claimed to have not been the service in which i shipped them and provided some evidence that they were. refunds were eventually given.
i don't recall maybe once that a buyer messaged me (long ago) to tell me there was a surcharge due to accept their item. maybe it was twice. VERRRRRRRY rare and i know i'm not above making mistakes so i appreciate the ones i accidentally shipped improperly or that were a little overweight for their postage level that managed to creep through.
Postage for bubble envelopes paid through eBay is around $4, tracking is included. Tracking on eBay standard envelope shipments is not as reliable as the kind with the barcode that gets scanned by the mailman but they generally get to their destination just fine.
Comments
I have had a few eBay Standard Envelope shipments returned to me stamped "Nonmachinable, postage due". I have reprinted the labels, reshipped and all were delivered. I use #6 envelope Safe-T-Mailers cut in half, which are just a little bigger than a 2x2, and I mash them down as flat as I can. For a GB 1 pound coin, I'd probably try it.
ok. it is nice to have affirmations that one is not in fact, crazy.
i changed a lot of my listings a while back to indicate that some western states (by region/price) will have to have an adjusted invoice for larger/heavier (non-coin) items. where as for the longest time, this was not the case. something in the system HAS changed, despite gas prices coming back down BECAUSE.
a coin that just sold, a raw quarter, sold for $27, so standard envelope is not an option BUT the first class starter rate to CA is $4.26 from my midwest location!!!!! for just 1oz
If it was me, I'd just use stamps and not worry about tracking. $20 to $30 is kind of a "dead zone" when it comes to shipping.
i thought about it but since we can add up to 3 coins per package, i just asked the buyer to buy one of my low dollar coins and then i can combine the 2 since the max value on 2 or 3 is $50.
heck i do a couple transactions like that and that will buy a $5 bag of cat food that'll last 2 weeks or more! even feeding the whole dam neighborhood of cats. LOL
well it MAY not work after all. while the value is permitted up to $50 for 3 coins, it SEEMS as though, none of those coins in the order may be over $20 as it is not letting me make a label, even once i've combined them in the bulk order page. hhrfmmpp
I believe that is the case.
.
they seem to have the specs for SE shipping on LOCK DOWN within the ebay system, while there is a link to go to a page to delete a SE shipping label, one cannot.
"Label charges for this program are non-refundable and non-voidable once the label is printed."
https://pages.ebay.com/sell/standarddelivery/termsofservice.html
They don't actually charge you until it is shipped for eBay standard so you don't need to void it.
And the usps is raising their rates on many services soon; but my postmaster said that after Christmas the cost of a first class stamp, etc. will be going back down.
It's their annual holiday surcharge. It's in effect now.
My eBay account shows charges of 57 cents for several eBay Standard Envelope shipments that were never recorded in the USPS system.
Hmmm...did they change it? It used to confuse me that I didn't get immediately charged for them
I don't know, I never looked before. I was curious after your earlier post.
On a somewhat related note, not every Standard Envelope gets scanned by the post office yet eBay dings you for no tracking even though there's no way you can be sure the post office is doing their job.
just a minor rant.
shipped an item that fell on the i think 12/13 oz barrier and went from $5.08 or so to $6.36 or so from midwest to cali for first class. OUUUCH
that DID including the pre-pre-pre holiday additional fee.
has anyone shipped internationally using SE shipping?
i mean real international, like another continent far away. not canada/mexico etc.
thanks
Yes, all the time. But it's really not the same service at all. It involves 3 separate carrier services.
what is a ballpark cost for the same size/weight envelope as used for SE shipping? i probably should open up international shipping again, finally.
$12 to Canada. $14 to Europe. It is NOT the same service. It's a couple bucks cheaper than 1st class and carries $100 in insurance - which would cost $25+ using Priority.
ok. so for low-dollar stuff i made the right decision. it becomes un-economical unless there are a crap ton of low dollar items in one package.
really appreciate the info.
i did create an international policy for one listing for someone that asked and i wanted to see what the shipping will be but the item doesnt end for a while so appreciate knowing in advance and in those options i dont recall seeing the SE option (i did but there was some caveat) but i had to put in the weight and do some other stuff, so i'll report back after the listing ends.
The international rate is good up to 8 ounces and doesn't have the envelope thickness restrictions. It is a bargain but still a package rate.
An ebay discussion on this: https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Ebay-Standard-Envelope-not-getting-a-carrier-scan/td-p/32873606 If letters are almost always delivered, would delivery failure with these be due to improperly packaged items in an envelope slim enough to make it through the letter machines?
Cliffs Notes version, in case you don't want to read the whole thing: A discussion between a bunch of eBay sellers who have lost (or are afraid of losing) Top Rated Seller status and discounts because enough of their eBay Standard Envelope shipments don't get scanned into the system. eBay doesn't have an answer for them and doesn't seem to care.
Good news is that you don't get charged the final value fee on International shipments.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
wow. what an incentive to sell internationally! this is 100% (for numismatics?)
the irony of my inquiry above is that the seller with a name like ameer is why i thought they were overseas, which they are BUT they use a USA address and probably have stuff re-shipped in bulk or something but because they are trying to pay from overseas with a paypal account with a foreign address UAE but the address is here in the usa, the system and/or my settings wouldn't allow the payment despite trying a couple things and i was using that transaction to gauge if i wanted to venture back down the international shipping route or not but it sounds like the cost is really too much for the stuff i was considering but despite what was mentioned above, i never got the chance to even try to print a label because they "couldn't" pay AND they had a usa address anyway.
so for now, i'm kinda a bit swamped and just will put the whole endeavor off until another time. too many fires going at once will surely result in someone getting burned. i'd rather not for myself or others.
since i checked all my accounts recently, probably even for ones i don't need to do this but JUST in case, if you check the RMA option at the bottom of this page, it will prohibit buyers from being able to AUTOMATICALLY get shipping labels when a return is started. so this is a bit of a big deal because they are going to be able to get a return label for whatever recommended service is given them which could be significantly more expensive that other options you may have access to in the ebay system or not.
i've mentioned it before but imo, it is important enough to mention again, even being off-topic. hope it helps.
YOU WILL NEED TO PROVIDE A LABEL WITHIN A SMALL WINDOW OF TIME (24-48 or so) OR EBAY WILL DO IT FOR YOU. just to be clear.
https://www.ebay.com/rtn/Return/SellerRules
this is especially important for those of you using multiple accounts where a return that is started could fly under the radar just long enough that a label could be generated but not be voidable. rare when it happens but stings when it does.
if the ebay app would permit multiple account sign-ins like the gmail app, this would pretty much be a non-issue. manually logging into every account often enough to get all messages gets to be a bit annoying. (i need to look into which accounts are NOT sending email notifications because i can/do get all gmail notifications so this would be a work-around)
for the tech-minded out there, you are able to create multiple profiles within a browser so i think this may permit you to have multiple accounts logged into with one browser. i could try this but sounds a little odd but probably because i'm not used to doing it.
i guess my next step is to verify i get emails for all ebay communications since my gmail app will be the catch-all for those messages and hence have instant/easy access to messages received for all accounts.
I recently had superb tracking on a one ounce parcel I ordered, from "in transit" on day of shipping to "delivered" and other updates in a timely way. It makes me wonder if the shipper did something special to get such superb tracking. I just use a standard self sealing envelope and paste the shipping label with clear tape.
I just had my first problem with the SE service. Package was returned to me for insufficient postage. Paid the 3 oz rate and package weighs 2.3oz. Notified my buyer that I would ship again he requested a refund. Oh well.
My Ebay Store
I'm not sure what your recourse on that would be but bringing it to the attention of your postmaster may help as well as their customer service number.
Since my original post on this topic back in March (I had no claims yet) I have had to make 2 claims, the first got paid within a couple of days. I just submitted my second today, to a buyer that left positive feedback over a month ago but now "doesn't think they got it". The tracking doesn't show the final delivery but does show all the other scans it had along the way
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I've had a few like that. I printed another label and sent them off. They were all delivered.
Same thing with me.
I have a theory, based on a conversation with the clerk at my post office. I don't think most postal workers know what an "eBay Standard Envelope" is and considering there's something in the envelope other than a letter or invoice or some other piece of paper, their first thought when the envelope ends up in their hands is "nonmachinable". So it gets stamped and returned to you. The machines, on the other hand, seem to handle them just fine as long as a human doesn't get in the way.
I've been waiting to get one returned to me because of the comments here about it. I haven't had one. I drop my stuff in the "metered mail" slot of the post office which also happens to be the distribution center for my fairly large city, so maybe mine enter the system without trouble easier because it's already at a distribution hub? I like your theory about individual employees just making a call about it before it reaches a machine.
I honestly think that's what happens. Otherwise, the ones that are returned that I reprint and resend would keep coming back.
I agree, and remember this coming up here before. That was the way I planned to handle it, but figured that I would let the buyer know why there was a delay. He didn't want to wait, or maybe thought I was being shady.
My Ebay Store
I am new to this Standard Ebay Envelope thing, but want to learn more.
Would a 9X12 thick card envelope be a good way to send a slabbed sports card? I assume we have to weigh it and pay accordingly before printing the eBay label, correct?
I say 9X12 because in case someone drops the envelope the corners act as buffers so the slab does not crack. I have received a few slabbed cards in small bubble mailers where the slab had a corner crack or split in half.
BST: Tennessebanker, Downtown1974, LarkinCollector, nendee
Therev are size and weight restrictions. The package you describe would not qualify, in my experience.
dang. had to go into my bookmarks after searching a few pages. no pots to the thread in a few weeks.
SO, for anyone wanting some security tips, here is a page i somehow landed on.
https://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/index.html
I had an ebay standard envelope shipment on a $5 silver coin; the buyer said please "expedite". A month after it showed delivered the buyer said it went to a city an hour or so away and wanted a refund. I checked with ebay who did not know what happened; I shipped it with the address ebay gave me, this is the first time in 10 years I shipped something with them where the buyer said it went to the wrong address like this.
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not much you can do when using the provided shipping address and obviously you have no liability.
sucks for the buyer.
i messed up and sent a 1935 mexico 5 cent instead of a 1935 20 cent. they are about the same size and look and i didn't write the denom on the flip. i caught it before delivered but after shipped and messaged the buyer in hopes of making it easy on everyone by perhaps doing a return to sender or something.
well, after about a dozen back and forths, i think we are actually worse off than had i said nothing. it isn't anything mean, insulting, complaining, just a MMMMAAAJJOOOORRR complication language barrier and perhaps a brain barrier.
while i am NOT fluent in spanish, i do know enough to fumble through a brief conversation, especially in text with a translation page up BUT despite my sincerest efforts, i just decided to let the chips fall where they may.
i was really MOSTLY just trying to ensure it wasn't shipped back first class package rate $4+ from cali to me.
it is my mistake and SOMETIMES in these situations, the buyer actually keeps the wrong coin as usually my mistakes like this are because i send something VERY much like what they purchased and then we agree upon a price and they end up with both coins and a little discount but i obvious will do a return/swap as well.
how about those situations where buyers/sellers either don't or more or less can't communicate properly to resolve simple problematic situations. SHEESH
it reminds me of this real "gem" in florida that bought a non-coin from me where the pictures and description showed 2 different but similar products. they say the size they want in the comment section but DIDN"T specify which type, so i send a message or 3 (lol) and a text or two and nothing (shoulda canceled) but i figured the products were simliar enough i may just get lucky (low dollar anyway) but no communication. THEN, after the buyer gets it and goes on a mini-tirade about them wanting the other kind, i made a message as calm as i could, just refunded, blocked and moved on. or so i thought. L O L
turns out i didn't save the block list or something and they buy ANOTHER one. Now i know what type they want but yet again, didn't specify which type. refund/blocked.
months go by. i get ANOTHER purchase from said person, on their same account. ABSOLUTELY blew my mind that yet again the block list didn't update. after doing this for years with adding/removing people, i figured i just made a mistake but now i think it was the ebay system not saving the update.
i truly wanted to send them the item, as i had finally just split the listing into two to prevent any future problems but kinda annoying because multi-quantity listings do pretty well the more sales one listing gets. what can ya do. sometimes in life, we can ONLY get a certain level of result, no matter how hard we try. don't force it, look for an easy and clean way out, politely accept it and move on.
oh, i forgot to mention they actually bought one before all this happened a couple of month previously and i luckly sent the correct one. (one of the few times i have a repeat buyer where i could have seen what they bought previously but enough time passed, it fell from memory, ugh) i also think that ebay hadn't started adding that green "repeat buyer" text or that i noticed but i REALLY like that feature so if i get someone that buys from me several times but over a long period, i can sneak in an extra item or two or offer a coupon/discount in the future.
LOL - i actually added some free items to a bulk buyer one time and it short-circuited them and thought i was trying to pull a fast one or something, even though they got MORE than they purchased. over the course of 2 -3 returns, i got everything back. i didn't complain as based on their messages, i knew it was one of those chew off your leg to get out of the trap and get away ASAP. lol
well after a few more communications, the item came back return to sender basically, so that part went off w/o a hitch but trying to reach an effective solution had simply gone past my desire to put effort into it. not the language barrier but the comprehension barrier was too steep although i thought there may be a chance.
that said, it was my mistake, not the buyers.
refunded and relisted both items and told the buyer they are active if still interested.
is it just me or do some of you get buyers that cannot grasp the concept of bin OBO? sometimes when i have to re-list an item for whatever reason and the original buyer is going to want to purchase it, again (dont ask), then i will usually list it at a higher price with the OBO option because in the past when i just relisted it, others come along and see the newly listed items and buy it. (took me a while to figure that one out lol)
then the potential buyer whines, gripes, gets confused as to how to proceed or they are unwilling to buy the same item at the higher price. SO, is the OBO option really that difficult to grasp the concept of?
Try it with an auction. A BO offer for an auction should be HIGHER than the start price to allow you to circumvent the auction process. 90% of buyers offer lower bids or, my favorite, the starting bid. LOL. My favorite customer of the week made a BO on an auction of a comic which started at $199. He offered $425. I ended it immediately and prayed for blessings upon him and his family.
My practice for auctions that don't sell is to usually raise the price 10 to 20% because everyone is going to want to BO lower and because I don't want people to think they can just wait out an auction and get a lower price. [I start my auctions at 5% over my total costs. I have no room to go down.] One guy noticed and sent me a screed saying this wasn't a shoe store where I could raise the price and then discount it 10%. LOL. I responded that it was retail and half the people are always going to offer less than "list price".
People think they are "smarter" than average and not taken in by retail gimmicks. Yet, just yesterday, I got a thank you from a customer for free shipping. It was a carded figure and I add $12 to my costs to cover shipping if it goes to the west coast. This guy was on the east coast and my actual costs were only $8. He thanked me for paying $4 more than he would have if I had charged him the actual shipping costs.
Before Christmas, I ran a volume discount on some of the toys. I offered $5 off each additional purchase. I sold dozens of toys in pairs or triples even though, again, the $5 discount amounted to less than half the additional shipping cost for someone on the east coast.
It's hard to prove for unique items like collectibles. But I'd be willing to bet your sales volume would go up if you increased all your prices by 25% and then had a 20% off sale. And, of course, make sure you include "free" shipping.
ya. love when a customer gets more than one item. time, effort, profit etc and they also get a better per-item cost basis.
nice post.
agree about the last paragraph. strange things happen with price changes, discounts etc.
I had a PCGS certified coin that someone bought on ebay, all of $12. Somehow I couldn't see paying more than $4 to ship it which was included so tried a small bubble mailer; I read their legalese afterwards, ie no bubble mailers. No tracking but it got to the buyer no problem. The question is does the system match up shipping labels with contents or a human being? Does the fact that certain even slim envelopes would not make it through the tracking system for ebay standard envelopes means that get to the destination anyway?
for my part, i cannot say if it is a human or machine in any one instance but i suspect it is probably both but with machines probably doing more because of the speed/ease of envelopes going through at the speed and qty that they do.
glad to read one of yours "sneaked" through the system and arrived unscathed.
i have had a couple packages i was charged for that were claimed to have not been the service in which i shipped them and provided some evidence that they were. refunds were eventually given.
i don't recall maybe once that a buyer messaged me (long ago) to tell me there was a surcharge due to accept their item. maybe it was twice. VERRRRRRRY rare and i know i'm not above making mistakes so i appreciate the ones i accidentally shipped improperly or that were a little overweight for their postage level that managed to creep through.
Postage for bubble envelopes paid through eBay is around $4, tracking is included. Tracking on eBay standard envelope shipments is not as reliable as the kind with the barcode that gets scanned by the mailman but they generally get to their destination just fine.