Shipping overcharge

[lani1752]

I bought something and paid for shipping. The seller paid for ground shipping but used a flat rate priority box to ship. I had to pay $11.41 to pick it up from the post office. I would have refused it but my hubby picked it up and paid. The seller doesn’t think they should pay it. I’ve contacted eBay but they’ve closed my case without doing anything. Help! What’s my next course of action? At this point I’m thinking I’ll just eat the $11 but it doesn’t seem right. 

[monica-sells]

that's a little odd...in most cases, that underpayment would have been assessed to the sellers account...

not sure why that did not happen.....

unfortunately, i don't think there are many options for you, since you mentioned they 'colsed the case'....

maybe someone has an idea for you....

[mtgraves7984]

What’s my next course of action?

@lani1752 

You might consider carefully worded feedback. Sometimes bad sellers become a bit more accommodating after receiving a negative...

[mr_lincoln]

Hi @lani1752 

-Had the Seller purchased the label through eBay the APV system would have charged the Seller the additional postage.  You have been scammed by that Seller.

-Sellers get away with this by buying the postage off eBay so it is just another package in the USPS system that has under paid postage, so the recipient gets the Postage due notice.  The Seller's local post office "should" have stopped it at the counter or drop box but I recently learned USPS is letting this stuff go through.  Our local Post Office asked me about a situation they had because I ship so much.  They had a person from another zip code area drop off large packages (approx 20 x 20 x 12) in the drop off lane.  When they scanned them in then looked up the package details the dimensions the shipper used for their label and found it was 5 x 5 x 5.  The Seller was getting away with shipping a huge box for less than 10 bucks when it should have been more like $ 65 as they explained it to me.  This happened several times and their upper management was given the person's name and address but they instructed the Local Post office to let the packages go through ... I was like WHAT???  THAT kind of attitude indirectly costs ME money.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@mr_lincoln wrote: ... Had the Seller purchased the label through eBay the APV system would have charged the Seller the additional postage.  You have been scammed by that Seller.

-Sellers get away with this by buying the postage off eBay so it is just another package in the USPS system that has under paid postage, so the recipient gets the Postage due notice.  The Seller's local post office "should" have stopped it at the counter or drop box but I recently learned USPS is letting this stuff go through....

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They are letting packages go through because the APV system works for ALL postage purchased online, not just through eBay. Local PO's have specifically been told to let the APV system handle packages with underpaid or overpaid online postage, rather than tying up the PO counter staff or the recipient's carrier. Especially at the PO counter, the staff would not have any effective way of figuring out how much postage was owed for that online-rate label.  I wonder if the buyer's Post Office wasn't aware of this, and charged the package recipient even after the APV system had caught the error.

https://link.usps.com/2017/10/05/what-is-apv/

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/ship-smart/ebay-shipping-partners/avoid-extra-postage-costs....

[mr_lincoln]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

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@mr_lincoln wrote: ... Had the Seller purchased the label through eBay the APV system would have charged the Seller the additional postage.  You have been scammed by that Seller.

-Sellers get away with this by buying the postage off eBay so it is just another package in the USPS system that has under paid postage, so the recipient gets the Postage due notice.  The Seller's local post office "should" have stopped it at the counter or drop box but I recently learned USPS is letting this stuff go through....

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They are letting packages go through because the APV system works for ALL postage purchased online, not just through eBay. Local PO's have specifically been told to let the APV system handle packages with underpaid or overpaid online postage, rather than tying up the PO counter staff or the recipient's carrier. Especially at the PO counter, the staff would not have any effective way of figuring out how much postage was owed for that online-rate label.  I wonder if the buyer's Post Office wasn't aware of this, and charged the package recipient even after the APV system had caught the error.

https://link.usps.com/2017/10/05/what-is-apv/

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/ship-smart/ebay-shipping-partners/avoid-extra-postage-costs....

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@nobody*s_perfect 

If Sellers buy their labels through eBay APV works, I know that from my own experience.  If a Seller buys postage online and not through eBay how does eBay know that specific label is for an eBay shipment?  If they do not have their postage purchasing site linked to an eBay account eBay would have no clue ... they could manually load the tracking number to the Sold file and eBay would never see the label or its cost.  In that scenario USPS would indeed use the Postage due notice for the recipient.

But to your point, yes, I believe there are many local POs that have no clue about the APV system for eBay & USPS or they DO know but still try to get more postage.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@mr_lincoln wrote: ....  If a Seller buys postage online and not through eBay how does eBay know that specific label is for an eBay shipment?  If they do not have their postage purchasing site linked to an eBay account eBay would have no clue ... they could manually load the tracking number to the Sold file and eBay would never see the label or its cost.  In that scenario USPS would indeed use the Postage due notice for the recipient....

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No, USPS (via APV) would still bill the sender, i.e, the individual who purchased the label.  The APV system applies to ALL online postage purchases, not just those purchased through eBay.  It's a basic part of the sorting center equipment.  The charge for any underpaid label (or the credit for overpaid) would go through whichever provider was used to purchase the postage.

[kathiec]

@lani1752 

This thread has kind of veered away from your question. Sadly, at this point eBay has no way to force the seller to pay the postage due. Should this happen again you have the option to refuse the package and open an item not received case. Normally eBay doesn't cover refused packages, but their Money Back Guarantee has an exception if the package arrives postage due. You would need some kind of proof from USPS of the postage due.

This time I recommend the route of a carefully worded negative feedback. Don't mention contacting eBay. Just say something like "Paid $11.41 postage due when receiving package; seller refuses to reimburse". You also might try disputing the charge with your credit card. That's kind of a long shot, but many card issuers allow disputes for partial amounts. And it doesn't hurt to try.

One of the very few negs I've ever left was for someone trying to cheat the PO by putting a flat rate box inside a flat rate envelope. It was detected and I got stuck with the postage due. So I feel your pain.

[lani1752]

This link is very helpful.  That’s exactly what happened and I’m at a loss as to why the seller doesn’t think he owes me or why eBay isn’t reimbursing me. Does anyone have an actual phone number or a way to contact them? I sell enough to know not to use a priority box on ground shipping. 

[toomuchstuffagain35]

How did you pay? If you paid through PayPal you can open a case for postage due.

Or if you paid by cc you could contact your cc provider and see about a dispute for postage paid.

[cardsforauction]

I thought it would be a return to sender if postage is not correct? Could you just refuse to accept the package if postage is due and the package will be returned to the seller?

[argentsol]

The seller can't use Priority Mail shipping materials unless they have paid for Priority Mail shipping. The USPS doesn't allow it.

Now, if they took an indelible marker and marked out EVERYTHING on the box that indicates it's a Priority Mail Flat Rate box they can use it for ground shipping.

I do that with some leftover Priority Mail padded mailers I have. EVERYTHING indicating it is a p-mail box has to be thoroughly covered up. I use a sharpue wide tip angled black marker for this.   

I reuse packaging materials, envelopes, and boxes and I mark out all the USPS labeling, scan bars, q-codes, weight specs, etc so that USPS doesn't mistake it for a more expensive shipping method. 

All that said: you should notify eBay and they will help resolve the issue.  You absolutely should NOT have been charged at the post office.  The seller needs to reimburse you. 

Good luck with this! I hope your seller reimburses you quickly! 

[argentsol]

I learned about using usps p-mail boxes for ground service the hard way. I found out that USPS doesn't allow it and WILL charge the buyer at pickup for the difference in cost. 

I quickly refunded my customer and apologized and it was a lesson well-learned. Lol. 

Ebay should be notified about it if the seller is refusing to pay the extra shipping since the seller caused the issue.  

[argentsol]

This. I under charged for postage once and USPS had ebay take the money out of my account.  My Shipping is linked to ebay. 

I did it once on click n ship outside of ebay and they did the same thing, except not through ebay. They charged the card I had on file. 

[mr_lincoln]

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@cardsforauction wrote:

I thought it would be a return to sender if postage is not correct? Could you just refuse to accept the package if postage is due and the package will be returned to the seller?

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@cardsforauction 

As it relates to eBay: If a Buyer "refuses" delivery and the package is returned to Sender the Buyer loses their eBay MBG.

The Post office will try to recover underpaid postage to complete a delivery.