USPS - shipping items over $250 - Signature Confirmation

Cougar1978

Under ebay / Paypal rules if you don't want to be on the losing end of a dispute as a seller in shipping an item over $250 you will need signature confirmation.

How smoothly has this worked for you with USPS? What form has worked best for you? A guy at the coin club was trying to use the green return receipt form with an insured shipment. The clerk told him the system would not take it then once the manager was involved it had to go priority. At another location he was told he could not do this because the green form was "only for certified mail." He has been quite frustrated with this. He goes on to say "At the po near my home, they know what they are doing and no problems." He says he is tired of being caught between ebay / paypal and USPS. Is there some misunderstanding here on his part or is it simply the incompetence of USPS counter personnel.

I suggested he might try form 153.

Should he have been using the pink form 153 - signature confirmation?

As a shipper how has this process worked for you and what is your recommendation for smooth operation. I have found the competence of USPS counter employees can vary from location to location.

bigjpst

I almost always print my postage online. Ebay, Paypal Multi order shipping, and the USPS site with Click n ship all have a simple one click function to add sig. confirmation.

derryb

Yes, pink Form 158 for usps sig. conf. - meets ebay/paypal requirement for proof of signature

Note that proof of signature to ebay and paypal means they be able to view an on-line copy of the recipients actual signature. For USPS this can be either sig. confirmation (Form 158) or electronic return receipt (no form required, purchased at counter, cheaper than sig. conf., available with registered mail and possibly others).

Unknown to many ebay sellers is this:
Ebay seller protection requires proof of signature for items $750 (yes, $750) and above.
Paypal seller protection requires proof of signature for items $250 and above.

As a seller, your buyer can hit you with either an ebay or a paypal claim (his choice), so stick with the $250 figure for proof of signature.

Over the years I have filed both ebay and paypal claims and find paypal 10000000% better with handling claims. I was always in the right and always won the claims, but ebay just drags things out far too long.

I use paypal and usps website on-line shipping labels for anything under $750 and for items over $750 i use registered mail but that requires a visit to the PO.

grote15

<< <i>I almost always print my postage online. Ebay, Paypal Multi order shipping, and the USPS site with Click n ship all have a simple one click function to add sig. confirmation. >>



+1

mrpotatoheadd

If you use the USPS Postage Price Calculator to calculate the postage charge, it will only present you the options that are available for whatever class (first class/priority/etc.) of mail you choose. If you can select an option there, you should be able to use that option when paying at the counter.

Cougar1978

Thanks - It gets me the USPS postal clerk could have produced form 153 and solved the problem, helping the customer instead of stupidly saying "the system won't take it" (green return receipt). I have to wonder if these people have any training at all in the forms commonly available in the post office.

keyman64

I always do insured with signature confirmation and I have not had problems. Expensive stuff goes Registered Mail plus insurance and signature confirmation.