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"Free shipping" that arrives postage due

Beginning in 2014, I have been having problems with vendors occasionally selling items postage paid but it arriving with postage due. The problem according to the post office is the vendors either not paying attention to weight limits or else are using inappropriate packaging. It is apparently so common in occurrence that USPS employees suggest it is a deliberate skimming practice but I suspect it is probably just involving a simple misunderstanding of the limits?

In all of the previous cases the vendors rapidly repaid me for the overcharge. The most recent one however will not respond to me at all despite a few days of very polite contact attempts.

My only two options provided by EBay seem to be either requesting a refund or else giving a vendor a bad rating. Another option would of course be ignoring it and accepting the overcharge.  A better option would be really nice.

This is obviously an increasingly common issue (based on similar posts) so perhaps EBAy can add a category so that resolution only requires excess or incorrect postage charges be addressed and reimbursed? Another helpful element might be giving vendors more complete and clear details about how to avoid this from occurring. I have no idea how to suggest either idea to EBay though, hence this post for hopeful discussion.

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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due

The response of there being nothing they can do about it would get a negative from me. Even if it is just 1.10.  The brush off from the seller isn't acceptable IMO 

“Birth certificates show that you were born. Death certificates show that you died. Photographs show that you have lived.” -Unknown

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Message 5 of 31
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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due

The best way to go aobut this would be to attend the weekly talks with ebay.  Hopefully that can get the ball rolling.  As for your seller not cooperating, I would message them one final time asking for a small refund on the remainder of what you have to pay due to their error, or you will refuse the package and report them to ebay.  Don't tell them you will also give them a neg.  It's not hard putting the correct postage in the system.  I have a scale and just have to enter the weight and type of postage.  I think sellers like that may not realize that it can actually cause problems if they don't pay attention.

Message 2 of 31
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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due

Perhaps the seller is "out of town" or "away from a computer for a few days due to any number of reasons -- sickness, etc."

 

Are we talking a few cents or dollars here in postage due? 

 

A seller's scale may show 10 ounces, but post office scale may have weighed the package as 11 ounces. 

 

If you have sent multiple messages to the seller, he will get them. 

 

Personally, I would not make a big deal out of it for under $1.00 -- either scale could have been off.  MISTAKES can happen.  You have brought it to their attention.  Give it a few days for them to respond. 

 

If they don't respond -- don't buy from them again.  Pick another seller!

 

Just another note:  While recently at the Post office dropping off packages, one package when put on the scale weighed 4 ounces.  I had 3 ounces for postage on it.  Clerk took it off the scales and put it on again -- guess what?  3 ounces this time!  So, perhaps YOUR post office needs to check their scale if they are off by an ounce?

Message 3 of 31
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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due

Thanks.

It is just $1.10. The vendor responded today to say that there was nothing they could do about it.

The postage due charges that I've received this past year have never been less than $1 and have been as high as almost $6.

USPS says it is due to the weights being off (none of those are a minor difference of an ounce) or vendors using the sticker on the wrong type of parcel. It is apparently so common in occurrence that USPS staff believes it to be deliberate not accidental (as if it is somehow going to be of benefit to sellers which it is not).

This just seems like an area that could be nicely resolved with better communication between EBay and vendors and that would contribute to better trust and transparency in the EBay marketplace.

Message 4 of 31
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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due

The response of there being nothing they can do about it would get a negative from me. Even if it is just 1.10.  The brush off from the seller isn't acceptable IMO 

“Birth certificates show that you were born. Death certificates show that you died. Photographs show that you have lived.” -Unknown
Message 5 of 31
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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due

Thanks.  I hate that idea as I've never left negative feedback but sadly it is good advice.

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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due


@outpost1 wrote:

Thanks.

It is just $1.10. The vendor responded today to say that there was nothing they could do about it.

The postage due charges that I've received this past year have never been less than $1 and have been as high as almost $6.

USPS says it is due to the weights being off (none of those are a minor difference of an ounce) or vendors using the sticker on the wrong type of parcel. It is apparently so common in occurrence that USPS staff believes it to be deliberate not accidental (as if it is somehow going to be of benefit to sellers which it is not).

This just seems like an area that could be nicely resolved with better communication between EBay and vendors and that would contribute to better trust and transparency in the EBay marketplace.


I would have a hard time accepting that answer from a seller.  Of course there is something they can do about it and they should. That's a ridiculous thing to say and a ridiculous way to conduct business.  I know I would send a message telling them so too.

Message 7 of 31
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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due

." It is apparently so common in occurrence that USPS staff believes it to be deliberate not accidental (as if it is somehow going to be of benefit to sellers which it is not)"

 

Think about that statement for just a second. If that one package was $1.10 postage due and that seller shipped out 50 packages a week??? (That's $55.00 a week that seller has saved in postage just by shorting each package a few ounces!

Many PO's are starting to double check the weight on packages with an Ebay shipping label.

 

So don't just let it slide! Give that seller a well-deserved neutral or neg if they refuse to refund the postage due you had to pay!

 

Message 8 of 31
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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due


@outpost1 wrote:

Thanks.  I hate that idea as I've never left negative feedback but sadly it is good advice.


The deed has been done:

 

"Free shipping" arrived $1.10 postage due. Replied they could nothing about it.

Message 9 of 31
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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due

I have seen it posted here by regular participants that "short postage", ie when a case like yours happens where the seller did not put enough postage on the item and the PO wants its money from you, is covered by opening a case thru PayPal.

 

Apparently PayPal's choices for signficantly not as described include a choice that covers short postage.

Message 10 of 31
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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due

I'm a mail carrier and yes it is often deliberate. I'd say in the last couple months I have seen:

 

A multiple box shipment with photo copied labels, 3 LFRBs with the same barcode.

Wrapped LFRB with Media Mail label.

MFRB with SFRB label

.20 cubic foot and larger (one .75 cubic foot) box shipped at the .10 cubic foot rate (all incoming to several of the Amish woodworkers from a Company in California)

Packages up to 5# shipped with First Class Package labels. One nearly 2# with a label claiming 3 ounces.

 

And a whole lot of packages a few ounces to a few pounds over the label weight.

 

Best thing to do is report them to THEIR post office. Contact them for the postage due amount. And leave appropriate feedback. It does not have to be a neg but the fact that the item came postage due should be mentioned.

Message 11 of 31
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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due


@lja440 wrote:

I'm a mail carrier and yes it is often deliberate. I'd say in the last couple months I have seen:

 

A multiple box shipment with photo copied labels, 3 LFRBs with the same barcode.

Wrapped LFRB with Media Mail label.

MFRB with SFRB label

.20 cubic foot and larger (one .75 cubic foot) box shipped at the .10 cubic foot rate (all incoming to several of the Amish woodworkers from a Company in California)

Packages up to 5# shipped with First Class Package labels. One nearly 2# with a label claiming 3 ounces.

 

And a whole lot of packages a few ounces to a few pounds over the label weight.

 

Best thing to do is report them to THEIR post office. Contact them for the postage due amount. And leave appropriate feedback. It does not have to be a neg but the fact that the item came postage due should be mentioned.


Why wouldn't the local post office just return these packages to the sender?

Message 12 of 31
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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due

Because it costs USPS more to return the package than it does to collect Postage Due.

 

If the customer does not wish to pay the Postage Due amount then it does go back to the sender. They get to pay the Postage Due amount then buy the correct postage to resend it. 

 

In some cases like the Amish woodworkers, I've had to collect nearly $150 in Postage Due over the last few months. Considering the amount that they are shorting their home PO I'm very surprised that it went on so long. The main issue was that the company ships out in several 'A's (big cages) a week that go directly to the sorting centers.

 

After my Postmaster and their Postmaster got done I started receiving packages with the correct postage.

Message 13 of 31
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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due

Refusing the package may result in more headaches though, since it counts as delivered still, throwing a wrench in INR cases.  It would likely work out eventually, but not before many calls and hours wasted to CS.  Not worth the $1.10.

 

OP, If the seller was truly that rude and ignorant, I would not need much more coercision to leave a nice big red dot on their feedback.

 

If I ever accidentally delivered something with short postage, I would apologize profusely and have the refund difference in their account within the hour, and hope my customer was understanding.  After all, nobody enjoys getting ripped off.

 



Off note: How hard would it be to implement a new Buyer Requirement: Prevent buyers from purchasing my items if they have more than [ X ] reports against them for abusing the Money Back Guarantee. Where X is a value between 0 and 1000. I'm on-board for zero!!!! =D Gimme!
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Re: "Free shipping" that arrives postage due


@abus865 wrote:

Refusing the package may result in more headaches though, since it counts as delivered still, throwing a wrench in INR cases.  It would likely work out eventually, but not before many calls and hours wasted to CS.  Not worth the $1.10.


Generally, the buyer is responsible for accepting the item when it arrives. If the buyer refuses delivery, their claim is not eligible for the eBay Money Back Guarantee.

Exceptions:

  • The buyer can provide, via written proof from the carrier, that they refused the package because it arrived empty or was damaged in shipping

  • The buyer accepted and opened the package only to determine that it was an empty box

  • The item arrived COD because it didn't have enough postage on it

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