ESUS tracking unreliable even when I follow all guidelines

[stori3d_past]

In recent months I have added coins to what I sell on eBay. I thought the regular envelope with ESUS tracking would be a great solution, but it is incredibly unreliable. I have found (not easy) and am following all the guidelines for printing labels. I have even started printing directly onto the heavy-stock envelope so there is no issue with tape or with torn labels.

Two weeks ago, the dozen envelopes I sent out with ESUS were scanned fine. This week, 8 of the 10 that I sent out did not get scanned. There is literally nothing more I can do on my end. I print the labels directly on the envelope, I make sure the envelope is properly sized & flat, I hand-deliver every envelope into the post office within 24 hours of the sale so I know it's on its way fast as possible. And yet 80% of these this week will look to the buyer like I can't even be bothered to ship them.

This of course can make buyers grumpy. And it means I have to spend a lot of unnecessary time documenting what I sell, making lists of the letters that aren't being updated, sending heads-up emails, even taking photos of the envelopes as proof that yes, they're on their way.

It is not viable to sell a $4 coin with $4 "USPS Ground Advantage" shipping, but it's also unviable to spend so much effort on what should be simple & hassle-free small-value sales. If a system is going to fail 80% of the time, that system needs to be fixed.

-- Harry

PS: I should add, in addition to the above, I make sure to tape down the coin to the folded packing slip that I place inside the envelope, and then tape down that slip to the inside of the envelope itself. That way I guarantee that the contents aren't moving or jostling around at all. I've literally dotted all the 'i's and crossed all the 't's to make sure the ESUS system can read these. And yet often it still doesn't. It's maddening.

[worldcoinauctions]

Sounds like you are doing everything right. Out of several thousand of these I've sent a very small number got no scans at all, and fewer of them were not delivered. Just how it is. The USPS usually gets it there even if it doesn't always scan. I've only had to refund 3 in the past year. Sure I'd like the better tracking (though I just had one that didn't get scanned until it was out for delivery) but you are right, it isn't worth it for the low value coins. I offer the option, but I pray the no one does it, on a $1 coin $4 shipping will put you in the negative from the fees.

[stori3d_past]

It does seem like some post office distribution centers do the job better than others, and the one I'm stuck with seems to be among the worst. I just hope eBay is able to hear some of the feedback and figure out ways to make their system work better for everyone. Selling (and buying) simple $2 or $3 coins can still be a lot of fun, I'd love to see ESUS working like it's supposed to.

[1786davycrockett]

@stori3d_past 

One of the easiest methods to solve your "scan" problem is to physically drop your ESE shipments in the "Metered Mail" slot located in the lobby of many post offices around the country.  This mail is thus pre-sorted at the time of drop-off, and can be immediately routed to the sorting machines at the USPS Distribution Center, which is generally located in another city, and often another county, as well.

(Handling your ESEs to the USPS counter employee or your USPS delivery driver may delay your ESEs from receiving that first "Accepted" scan.  Similarly, dropping the ESEs into the USPS "blue boxes," or your home mail box, or an office mail system may ALL delay receiving that initial "Accepted" scan.)

And keep in mind that that final "Delivered" scan is only indicative that the ESE has been received at the post office matching the ZIP Code of the buyer's address -- and NOT the residence of the buyer.  It generally takes at least one additional day for USPS to actually deliver the ESE to your buyer -- but there may be additional delays due to weekend deliveries, or three-day holiday deliveries, or weather conditions, or mechanical and/or computer problems, or USPS employee shortages.

Try the "Metered Mail" slot method of mailing your ESEs, and see if there is a noticeable improvement in receiving the initial "Accepted" scan, as well as in the speed of delivery to your buyer.  I've been using the ESEs for several years now, with no problems, no returns, and no unhappy buyers.

Good luck.

[wastingtime101]

Hey @stori3d_past - how's the alignment of the label on the envelope? Label should be placed in the upper right corner with 1/8" clearance from edges. If it's placed too far from the corner the machinery won't scan it. Some sellers experience no scans because they center their label.

[stori3d_past]

Thanks, yeah I've seen that. I have tried to get mine as close to the edges as possible. It's tricky because if you're printing directly to an envelope, eBay's printer placement options aren't great. And if you're printing to a separate label that you then tape to the envelope, it's hard to keep the tape from interfering. A system that makes you jump through half a dozen hoops and then makes you position your label absolutely precisely is one that still needs improving, IMHO.

[stori3d_past]

There's no "Accepted" scan for the ESUS envelopes. The folks at the Post Office don't even know what the ESUS bar-code is. And the hand-scanners don't work on it. I asked a Post Office clerk if he would scan one once so I could understand how it worked. He put his hand-scanner on it and it didn't read anything. The ESUS ones are only getting read by the automated machines at the big Distribution Centers. See below. One of the 2 that did miraculously get seen by the scanner. Its first scan is at the Distribution Center, no "Accepted."

(I do put them all in the Metered Mail slot at the big local USPS branch. I make a special trip after every auction so I can deliver them into the right slot personally so there's the best chance of them getting into the system the quickest.)

[wastingtime101]

The clerks cannot scan metered mail. If I were you I'd take a look at what changes USPS is making locally. DeJoy has this "delivering for america" plan he's been implementing and it's been a disaster. The current phase of the plan is making major changes to sort facilities which is causing a massive slow down in every region it's implemented as mail has to travel further. As a part of those changes some of the sorting machinery is getting moved around. So I'd do some research and see if you can find info about sorting machinery disruptions at your nearest facility where you used to get the scans @stori3d_past .

[stori3d_past]

Posting this follow-up in case anyone from eBay ever looks at these.

What is most frustrating is that when the Post Office fails to record these, that is reflected by eBay in my rating. Because the envelopes are being missed and not validated, every month I'm at risk of being kicked out of "Top Seller" status. Again through no fault of my own. I have done everything a reasonable person should be asked to do, and eBay is blaming me. I want them to focus their attention on the USPS Distribution Systems that are causing this and not on the sellers who are doing their best.

-- Harry

[stori3d_past]

Thank you much for this info. I'll follow it up and try to get that info so I can understand what's happening at our Scarborough ME facility & try to make someone there aware of how it's affecting folks.

- H

[wastingtime101]

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@stori3d_past wrote:

Thank you much for this info. I'll follow it up and try to get that info so I can understand what's happening at our Scarborough ME facility & try to make someone there aware of how it's affecting folks.

---

I mentioned USPS was making changes and Scarborough, ME is one of the affected locations. It's not one of the locations being consolidated - rather other facilities will be consolidated into Scarborough and they'll face increased volume. Maine has been in the news since November. DeJoy is hitting states one-by-one and destroying mail service.

Here's an article from just a couple days ago:

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/02/29/bangor/bangor-government/maine-postal-workers-politicians...

One from December:

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/me/maine/news/2023/12/26/post-office-postal-hampden

As far as I can tell, they haven't gone through with the Hampden consolidation yet and people are still trying to fight it, but that doesn't mean they haven't been taking preparatory steps at the Scarborough facility.

Obviously this is not the confirmed reason for the issues you're facing. It's just an educated guess @stori3d_past .

[tobaccocardyahoo]

FWIW

The bar code on ESE is a repurposed routing bar code which was used in the past by bulk mailers.

I assume that the routing is now performed by the same method used for all First Class Mail, and this service is effectively of no additional cost to USPS.

The black holes in the PO and delays before shipments live the sorting centers are occurring with multiple services, not just ESE. I suspect there is too little volume for some destinations and they are not leaving the originating PO or the first sorting center until there is enough volume. I see this with Ground Advantage and shipments are not delivered late.

I think that some sorting center near some destinations are over capacity, and probably awaiting additional equipment to be transferred from to be closed sorting centers.

USPS has suffered from equipment in the wrong place for many years. The first round of equipment transfers was sorters which were running 4 hrs/day to sorting centers where they run up to 24 hrs/day.

DeJoy is the first Postmaster General to have logistics and transportation experience. Most were just political hacks. USPS was created by the biggest hack of all Larry O'Brien.