eBay

ronbaby · ‎08-10-2020

I have a spare lithium ion battery for a laptop that I recently sold on eBay. I probably should have just put it into the box with the laptop before I shipped the laptop, but I was too scared to do that because I wasn't sure if that would violate federal USPS regulations or not. (The regulations apparently make it A-OK to ship this kind of battery IF it is installed into the equipment it is designed for.)

Anyway, now I want to ship the thing, stand-alone, to the laptop buyer. My question is: How exactly may I do this? What are the applicable USPS regulations? Is it even allowable to ship a stand-alone Li-Ion laptop battery via USPS? If it is, then must I send it a certain way, e.g. first-class but maybe NOT express mail? Must the outer package have some sort of special label on it, saying that there is a Li-Ion battery inside?

Thanks in advance for any help / insight.

aldente28 · ‎08-10-2020

https://www.usps.com/ship/shipping-restrictions.htm

https://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/welcome.htm

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silverstatetreasureboxes · ‎08-10-2020

I have actually bought lithium ion batteries for my old LG phone twice from a seller on ebay, they shipped them 1st class from CA to Nevada and they were just in a little box in the 1st class envelope and arrived with no problems.

ronbaby · ‎08-10-2020

Thank you, but the links you've posted are not really helping, because each one leads me to a bunch of very formal technical gobbledegook that I just really cannot decipher without some further help. Example:

"b. Domestic Mail. A miscellaneous hazardous material that can qualify as a mailable air-eligible consumer commodity material (ID8000) when intended for air transportation, or an ORM-D material when intended for ground transportation, is permitted for domestic mail, subject to the applicable 49 CFR requirements. Only UN3077, UN3082, UN3175, UN3334, and UN3335 Class 9 materials are mailable by air transportation; mailpieces including eligible quantities of these materials must be marked with the proper shipping name “Consumer Commodity.” Additionally, lithium batteries, dry ice, and magnetized materials are permitted within the specific limits provided in 349.221, 349.222, 349.23, and 349.24."

WHEW! That's real clear.... NOT!

Honestly, I didn't want to have to get a Master's degree in all of these technical details, just to be able to ship one single laptop battery! So I am still hoping that someone who knows the ropes will just simply answer the questions I posted, and tell me what I need to do in order to ship this one laptop battery.

davidstarcher · ‎08-10-2020

https://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52c3_027.htm

Mailed Without Equipment. The following additional restrictions apply to the mailing of lithium-ion cells or batteries without equipment (individual batteries):

The lithium-ion cells and batteries must be mailed in “the originally sealed packaging.”
The sealed packages of batteries must be separated and cushioned to prevent short circuit, movement, or damage.
The shipment must be cushioned to prevent movement or damage, and must be contained in rigid outer packaging, sealed and strong enough to prevent crushing of the package or exposure of the contents during normal handling in the mail.
Unless both mailed from, and intended for delivery to, the state of Alaska under 349.222d(7), mailpieces must be sent by surface transportation only.
The mailpiece must not exceed 5 pounds.
Mailpieces must display a DOT-approved lithium battery mark on the address side, in addition to the text “Surface Mail Only, Secondary Lithium Batteries — Forbidden for Transportation Aboard Passenger Aircraft” or “Surface Mail Only, Lithium-ion Batteries — Forbidden for Transportation Aboard Passenger Aircraft.”
Cells having a watt-hour rating of not more than 20 Wh, and batteries having a watt-hour rating of not more than 100 Wh may be mailed via air transportation only when both mailed from, and intended for delivery within, the state of Alaska. Each mailpiece must contain no more than 8 cells or 2 batteries.
Mailpieces must display a DOT-approved lithium battery mark on the address side.

The lithium-ion cells and batteries must be mailed in “the originally sealed packaging.” is probably the most relevant condition for what you want to mail. It looks to me that FedEx doesn't have that restriction so you might consider sending it with them instead.

postingid7659 · ‎08-10-2020

You're not supposed to ship paint USPS, but I discovered if you print labels yourself you can send it first class (3 oz spray cans) in plain boxes without issue. Could not ship over the counter that way, because of the rattle in the can, but with a label the clerk never sees it so that solved that problem.

When you go to print the label look for a checkbox that asks if the item is hazardous or not. Check the box. I could see no discernible difference in the resulting label. I wrote ORM-D on a couple and the last couple I didn't. No issues with shipping.

Presumably if you look up the 349.221, 349.222, 349.23, and 349.24 sections they will explain somewhere what the actual limit on battery shipments are.

voguevintage · ‎08-10-2020

USPS Standards for Domestic Shipments Containing Lithium Batteries

Each cell cannot contain more than 1 gram of lithium
Each battery cannot contain more than 2 grams of lithium
All packages must contain a complete return address
For non-installed batteries, your package must have a DOT-approved lithium battery mark (UN3090)

So, the short answer is, yes, you can. Domestically, at least. Shipping internationally is much more difficult.

If you've ever been to the Post Office and paid for postage for a package there when they do their entire run down "anything liquid, perishable, fragile, potentially hazardous..." somewhere in there is lithium battery. Just like you can ship all of the other things, you can ship lithium batteries too, but you're suppose to tell them and they have special stickers they place on them. If you've ever ordered ANYTHING with a lithium battery from Amazon you've seen these.

My best advise though is just to make sure it's safely secured and ship it. The USPS is actually not allowed to inspect mail unless they suspect it is problematic, which requires a supervisor's permission and paperwork. The only exception is media mail, which they can inspect at will.

acrc3113 · ‎08-10-2020

Unless you are a certified shipper of hazardous materials, know how to properly pack and label such a shipment, prepare the proper paperwork, and ship with an entity capable of safely transporting your hazardous cargo, I highly recommend against it. IT IS A FELONY TO KNOWINGLY DECEIVE THE POST OFFICE OR ANY OTHER CARRIER AS TO THE CONTENTS OF YOUR SHIPMENT. Shipping hazmat requires a ton of paperwork and carriers of such articles have restrictions as to how and where they may safely transport those items.

Some folks will always try to beat the system. That's what jails are for. In trying to get around the system, someone may get injured or worse. When you go to the post office to mail a package, ever notice the screen that asks you specifically if you are mailing Lithium ion batteries ? Don't think about this too hard. Just don't do it.

voguevintage · ‎08-10-2020

Lithium batteries and hazardous materials are two different postal classifications. The screen asks you because there are limitations on lithium batteries and specific requirements but you CAN ship them. They just want to know because they want to put a sticker on it noting there is a lithium battery inside. Similar the liquids and perishables, which they also ask about on the screen. You can ship both, but they want to know and will note it with a sticker or other mark. You can even ship many hazardous materials without any special licenses (although not all), you just have to let them know so they're aware. Again, there may be a sticker or mark placed to the package. In some cases packages containing certain things make require additional special handling and this may increase the cost of postage.

aldente28 · ‎08-10-2020

So the short answer is it depends on weight and function.

Check the weight allowed, then google your battery part number to find out how much lithium is in it. If it's under the weight limit, you're probably set. Just print that out in case USPS ever comes for you with black helicopters in the middle of the night.

If you show them a good faith effort to conform to the regulations, I'm guessing you're fine - not that I think it would ever come to that. They're probably more concerned with people shipping boxes full of batteries that could explode in an accident, or some such thing.

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