Ebay standard envelope issues
SoxPatsFan
Posts: 228 ✭✭✭✭
I'm referring to the special rates for cards under $20.
I bought 2 cards recently that used this service. The first did not arrive after 10 days, and had no tracking updates at all - not even an origin scan. I completed a "did not receive" through Ebay & the seller asked me to wait a few more days as his post office was often slow. I decided I'd give it another week to see if there was any tracking update. I ended up getting refunded 4 days later. The card showed up in my mailbox a week later, with still no tracking updates.
Another card - which I received days ago - still shows as undelivered with a tracking number but no updates. I left positive feedback so the seller knows I got the card.
I've sold cards using this service, but after these experiences I'm becoming hesitant to use it again.
By the way, I contacted the first seller and offered to send him the money, but he told me not to bother. It was only an $8 card.
Comments
The standard envelope service is a gamble for all involved. You, the buyer, must wait and wonder if your little card will show up. I've had a few lost and got refunded. Upgrades for raw sets. Nice cards that vanished. Oh well. The seller is obligated to refund you if it doesn't show up, but the USPS could just be playing volleyball with it. The old days were more fun, though. I recall sending a domestic mail piece which somehow got rerouted to Israel before being delivered.
.
Major issues: card not correctly packaged, insufficient postage, thick cards...any of these will cause problems...I know as a dozen or more cards I've won disappeared into the USPS vapor. And it's not going to get any better, that's for sure!
For ESE, sometimes you have to wait up to 3 weeks. After that, as a buyer and seller, its best to start the refund process. Doesn't matter who initiates it as its under the item number. Sellers are covered under the insurance process and the process is a simple online 3rd party form that takes less than 48 hours for them to process to get your money back.
As for sellers having bad/unauthorized packaging, its pretty clear what's allowed but it could take some trial and error.
I have experiences similar. I'll add one more scenario, as I have experienced both you described as well as the tracking showing the card delivered when in fact it was not. Not to me, at least. That has happened a few times now for me, with many more never showing delivery that did show up.
It's pretty ridiculous. It may as well not have any tracking and just take the risk like a stamp.
I have one card that was sent using this service. Last seen? Bethlehem, Pa Dec. 26th, 2023! Another appears to be stuck in Atlanta as of 3/30/25...but there may still be hope on that one!
The handling and tracking is completely machine handled with the exception of the actual mail carriers. Once its machine scanned at its final destination, it apparently estimates the delivery date based on average time normal mail takes from that hub to the mailbox its supposed to go inside. Sometimes its off a few days otherwise, its probably lost
I dropped off some cards at a local 'postal' store that wasn't USPS and they never scanned any of the eBay envelopes for tracking, as I don't have a USPS or even a mail box near me.
Instead, I now put them in my mail box and the mail carrier seems to scan them each and every time. I also bought these bright green stickers that say "scan for delivery" - some say that was a waste of money but I needed to try something.
The entire process is critically dependent upon the USPS scanning the envelope. If they don't, seller loses out and is forced by eBay to give a refund to the buyer.
I still maintain its a great service and worth it - when the USPS does their job.
Erik
Maybe this is clear to everyone, maybe it is not. It took a USPS employee to explain it to me. The standard envelope tracking number is not like the normal USPS tracking number. In fact it means nothing to the USPS. If they enter the “ES” number into their system, it is unrecognized. As others have mentioned, only machines that process mail can update the tracking, not a human with a scanner.
Is it perfect? No. But at 69 cents versus a minimum of $4, a seller can reimburse a lot of $10 or even $20 lost cards and still be way ahead. I’ve used it a ton as both a seller and buyer. It has saved a lot of money and my undelivered rate is no different than it would be for any stamped mail.
The only thing I can’t explain is why stamped mail hardly ever takes 2-3 weeks, but standard envelope does often.
Agree with what you’ve posted detroitfan2. I had the post office explain that to me as well. They have nothing to do with the tracking of this due to it not being part of their system.
Has anyone had an issue were something shows delivered but it wasn’t?
I’m dealing with that now and hoping that it shows up at some point. The card was purchased on March 4 and shows delivered on March 11. I have yet to see the card and not sure what recourse I have. If you dig into the tracking on eBay, it gives you a USPS tracking number eventually, but when you go to the USPS website, it shows status not available.
My eBay Auctions
My PSA Sets
Yes, I've had it say the item is delivered and it is not.
Each time this happened, after a few days it eventually showed up - except once. I had to "eat it". Contacted seller and he told me to wait & then said perhaps someone else in my house got to it.
My guess is if it does not show up, you are SOL.
I guess the biggest question I have is at what point in the process is it scanned it as received and scanned in as delivered?
Someone above said the actual mail carrier doesn't scan items out of your mail box or when they deliver it - if that's true, that's crappy. When UPS or Amazon or FedEx (they've gone down hill) sends something to my house, they register it on their handheld device. If the USPS mail carriers are not doing that - it would defy common sense to me.
That said, I've never seen a USPS mail carrier with a handheld device - hmm...
Can anyone elaborate?
Erik
The standard envelopes are only read by the machines processing the mail. The carriers can't scan it because they have no scannable bar code to do so. Usually, I see within a day or two the item scanned in at a major USPS hub and maybe once more out for delivery. Very rarely do I see it closed out as delivered.
I will sometimes ask for upgraded postage if it is something I will not be able to replace easily. Just not worth the risk. For stuff that is cheap and easy to replace, I am in fuill agreement. great service, despite the fact that I seem to lose more of these than I have even with normal mail. I am starting to track the losses now and i am up to 3 in 2025 already, with 1 in late 2024 when I started, so 4 lost packages. I was refunded on half. The other half were my loss because they showed delivered!
I have 2 not delivered, but shown as delivered already in 2025. Since they show delivered, most (if not all) sellers are not going to have any sympathy or eat the loss themselves, and frankly i don't blame them. it's no longer their problem thanks to USPS. Ebay won't reimburse you, so you are SOL.
I don't buy a lot of common stuff, so this option is looking less and less attractive for me. If it's not delivered, I at least get a refund, but the card or item I really wanted is lost and likely not easily replaceable. I'd rather pay $3-4 more and ensure I get the item.
Understood, but again this shipping method is for cards under $20 only. So if the average card is $10, you’d have to lose 40% of your cards to break even paying an additional $4 for shipping. In my experience, that isn’t happening, and in fact I would be willing to bet that the two you haven’t received will eventually show up.
I am surprised how many people are having the situation where the card says it’s delivered when it isn’t. I have never had that happen, but have had plenty that were delivered when the tracking said they’re not.
The only one assuming risk with this service is eBay. The buyer and seller are both covered 100%. They are low value cards, so if it doesn't show up its not like you lost an irreplaceable holy grail of a card. It's one of the rare times that eBay has implemented something that benefits everyone.
The disappointment of losing a "low value" card isn't tempered by the thought that eBay will suffer the loss. I've had a few cards vanish over the past year or so, and while it may be interpreted as no biggie, to me it feels rather stupid to simply shrug it off and say "Oh well", thus allowing a error-prone system to keep operating as it has. They should do something about this. It's a problem. It caused me to STOP buying low value cards. F them. It's not a benefit.
.
It can be avoided altogether as a seller simply by paying the $4+ to ship every $5 and $10 card you sell to get the regular tracking. As a buyer you can also choose to use only sellers who charge $4 shipping to ship your $5 and $10 cards for that peace of mind that you desire.
Nick, not sure the buyer is covered if it says delivered when it actually wasn’t. This has never happened to me in many many transactions both ways but some are saying it’s happening to them.
Well aware of the terms and conditions. I've been both a buyer and seller on eBay for over 20 years. What causes frustration to myself, as well as others, is I'm certain that it's just another fly in the ointment to them. As always, I will adjust accordingly.
.
Not to beat a dead horse but if it says "delivered" and the buyer truly didn't get it, it is not 100% - you're SOL.
As a seller, I've yet to experience somoene asking to utilize it because it never arrived.
I still maintain it is a great service for selling a card under $20 for what is only 69 cents.
Erik
Wrong. If the tracking shows delivered, even if it wasn't, the buyer is out the $ and the card.
I absolutely loved the idea when it first came out. The thought of saving several dollars per shipment was appealing, since I was buying a lot at the time and shipping kept rising and the average shipping charge was over $5 a transaction.
I will continue to use it for very basic items that can be replaced easily if lost, but anything that I may have difficulty replacing, I will ask for ground advantage instead. it's worth a few extra bucks to know it's going to arrive.
However, 2 things have really soured me on this method. 1). The loss of several cards and especially losing cards that despite being cheap monetarily, are not easy to replace at any cost and nobody taking responsibility for a tracking system that can't be proven. 2) Abuses by sellers, charging upwards of $5+ and still sending standard. Personally, I think anything over $1 is too much. It's not uncommon to be charged $1.50-$3 or more for standard shipping. This is not an ebay issue, but rather seller greed.
i absolutely get way more cards deliver that don't show any "delivery" with the tracking, then the next biggest group are those that show delivered and were, but as I shared I have had at least 2, maybe more before I started keeping track, that showed delivered but weren't. I tried filing a case on one and it was almost immediately rejected because the card showed delivered! Ebay absolutely does not cover the buyer for a lost item that shows delivered on a system that the USPS doesn't even recognize!