UPS overcharging for shipping!

[central-vacmasters]

Im getting fed up with UPS and eBay regarding the additional fee's I'm being charged after-the-fact! I'm generating my shipping labels directly from eBay; entering in the size & weight of the package (rounding up on sizing) and choosing the most cost-effective shipping option. In these three cases, UPS Ground was the cheapest/quickest shipping method...

After the first overcharge notice, I put a call into eBay to see what was going on. I was told they would forward the inquiry to UPS for evaluation/dispute/credit. After speaking with eBay, I double checked my package size/weight and everything checked-out fine. Although my weight for the package was 1.7# and the UPS corrected weight was 2# (according to UPS, my sizing was correct). So I went and generated another shipping label for the same order, this time using the 2# shipping weight; I was quote THE SAME PRICE as the 1.7# label... No big deal, as I already knew UPS rounds up to the nearest pound; so either way, my eBay quoted price was the same.

So what should have been a $8 - $10 shipping charge, turned out to be an ADDITIONAL $11.75 more!

I called eBay each time I received the notice about the shipping adjustment and each time was not given any explanation as to what is wrong with my package that would warrant a more than 100% increase in shipping cost.

If UPS wants to charge eBay sellers more than what was quoted to us at the time of label purchase; then they should give us a detailed explanation for the added charge. Otherwise, this is just theft/fraud...

[central-vacmasters]

This isn't a one-off sale; its an item I stock and sell may of. If I can not accurately calculate my shipping costs, I can not sell the product and still make a profit! Not too sure what you're referring to about what an employee enters for a weight/size; eBay remembers or holds the package credentials in the listing. Not too mention, I can see what "we" entered in for shipping credentials and what UPS claims the actual was. As mentioned, the only difference was the weight; and what we entered for the weight and what UPS said the weight was does not affect the shipping cost... 

[central-vacmasters]

I take it you have never tried to contact UPS via phone for ANY reason; its an absolute nightmare to try and speak with a human! FYI, we also have our own UPS account...

[central-vacmasters]

I've tried many other shipping services; with our daily volume, most slowed us down too much. Our most recent venture was using Veeqo. While the discount (I think it was a couple % cash-back per label) we received was substantial; the bottle-neck in speed was horrendous. I timed a few labels and it took about 3x's longer to generate a shipping label. Veeqo was the only service that was cheaper than eBay/Amazon shipping because of that cash-back discount...

[central-vacmasters]

Not technically a cardboard "tube"; they were poly bubble mailers that I guess had a tube-shape (3x3x27" or 3x4x27"). Regardless, eBay should calculate the correct shipping charge based on the package credentials we enter!

[central-vacmasters]

I use both, I choose the cheaper rate; or at least what I thought was the cheaper rate based on what eBay quoted for the label @ time of purchase.

[wastingtime101]

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@central-vacmasters wrote:

Not technically a cardboard "tube"; they were poly bubble mailers that I guess had a tube-shape (3x3x27" or 3x4x27"). Regardless, eBay should calculate the correct shipping charge based on the package credentials we enter!

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Anything not in a cardboard box is subject to a surcharge from UPS/FedEx when you buy the label through eBay. Polymailers, bubble mailers, odd shapes, round tubes, items wrapped in plastic, too much tape, etc - the carriers will nail you.

Unfortunately eBay does not yet factor in "irregular" packages when quoting costs and I agree with you that they should.

$11.75 is the current surcharge for the type of package you're using so you'll have to factor that either by adding a handling fee to those listings, upping the ship cost, or upping the item cost. Or change the packaging to cardboard boxes. Or buy the labels elsewhere until/unless eBay updates their system to account for irregular packages. Or switch to USPS. For the moment, those are the best options for dealing with this @central-vacmasters .

[central-vacmasters]

And another; this time FedEx! I even went back to eBay shipping and reentered the package credentials and again, was quoted the same price as original quote! If eBay cant correctly quote/calculate what the actual freaking shipping will be, then they needs to recalibrate their algorithm on the back-end...

[hertzyinmn2015]

Yeah , I hear ya This is no joke just happened to me this morning . Hear is an example of what UPS does. I use ebay labels . Dec 11  I sell a small sign. It weighs 3.25 pounds , AND YES UPS WE ARE SMART ENOUGH TO OPERATE A SCALE. I purchase the Label that will help get me the best rate as shipping products are expensive not to mention my time. SO I click UPS and guess what it says right there I saved 35% using EBAY LABELS. I print it Haul my tired ass all the way down to the drop off location where the crabbiest family works in town and get this they do not even work for UPS . UPS closed the store in a town of 30000 people. SO Here we are 11 days later and guess what I get a message somewhere in BOO hoo mississipi some UPS agent decides my weight is wrong By 3/4 of a pound and charge me another charge thats double what the original is . NO way to complain. No help. Its a scam they have done this before and I will now charge people more . You try to help to save a little to help people but they just stick it to ya , Or you can spend 2-3 hours in there loop of lies to get the 10 bucks . But add that 10 by the thousands of cusomers that get taken . Someone with authority needs to look into this ,Thanks For letting me vent if you made it thus far. MErry Christmas Ebayers

[fern*wood]

If your item weighed 3.25lb, did you enter 4 lb when you printed your label?  There is no way to enter a quarter pound and this should have been rounded up.

I'm curious about the folks saying Pirate ship doesn't charge the UPS and Fedex upcharges if you print with them.   Do they just absorb these, because when I used those services I was often charged weird things like rural delivery or something that wasn't charged by ebay when I printed.  I stopped using either service entirely, but the Pirateship claim is intriguing.

[wastingtime101]

On that new FedEx charge @central-vacmasters first screenshot, bottom right, expand the part that says "see cost breakdown" because the wt/dim per FedEx is less than what you entered. So the charge has to be for something else, like "additional handling" for a nonstandard package - same as your UPS cost adjustments.

To answer @fern*wood : It's not that Pirate doesn't charge for those things, it's that PirateShip factors in most surcharges upfront - does not quote one price then bill additional after the fact unless seller errs in the data they enter. That's the difference. On Pirate you can select package type as a round tube or a polymailer and they will factor in the UPS/FedEx charges upfront. eBay does not currently factor in irregular / nonstandard package surcharges so sellers get hit with them after the fact.

eBay has no way to dictate the package type the way Pirate does. In fact, if eBay ever rolls out USPS cubic pricing as some reps have alluded to in the past (during Seller Check Ins), sellers will see higher cubic charges on eBay than Pirate for polymailers. eBay needs to catch up with the times and add an option for package type (polymailer, box, tube, etc)

[tinakay38932013]

In the past month I have been experiencing the same thing with UPS, virtually every 2 days there are notices of new charges to me for shipping.   The most insane was when I combined a teacup to the same buyer with a large order from them.  I added the extra item in the total weight and rounded up to the next pound.  A week later I got charged $4.55 for underweight of the larger package and $4.98 for shipping charges for the teacup.  Now I find, that I can't combine orders anymore into one box.  I must pay separately.

So I said...enough to UPS and started paying a bit extra to Fedex.  Last night I got a charge because my box weighed 4.6 pounds and I rounded up and paid for 5 pounds.  I'm now being penalized for putting a higher weight than warranted.  I'm feeling scammed.  I absolutely despise these charges constantly coming out of nowhere.  Maybe I should put 2 pounds extra to avoid but will I be penalized for overpaying again?  I'm beyond annoyed...

[bran_vail]

I had this happen with Fedex as well. Noticing by your dimensions that it appears you may have used a tube?? IF so, the employee I talked to at Fedex stated that they up charge handling on tubes because it has to be walked through their system and cant go on the conveyor belts because it just rolls. Ebay needs to add a shipping tube dimension if this is so. That way we dont get hidden fees and know exactly what these carriers are going to charge us for these situations. 

[central-vacmasters]

Of course you can enter a quarter pound; 3 lbs, 4 oz is the same thing as 3.25 lbs. Regardless of what we enter for weight, its automatically rounded-up. I have enter the actual weight and I have entered the rounded-up weight, and the quote $$ is the same...

[central-vacmasters]

"So the charge has to be for something else, like "additional handling" for a nonstandard package - same as your UPS cost adjustments."

I'm entering in the correct package size; eBay should factor that into the quoted shipping price. If the package-size is a corrugated box, or a poly mailer (or even a round freekin tube); that shouldn't matter! The size is the size and the weight is the weight!! Its not like I'm shipping things in a trash bag w/ random lose items. Poly bubble mailers with the items secure (non-fragile items in fact), sometimes w/ additional packing tape to hold shape properly/secure.

Even if they do charge a fee for a poly bubble mailer, the fee shouldn't be more than the actual shipping charge, or 2x's more in FedEx case; MAYBE 10%, or even 20%; but 250%...

And FYI, I ship the same items on Amazon and have not encountered additional fees...

[68barbie]

It's been my experience that Pirate Ship WILL charge you the difference. I had four of the same item going out one day- all same size boxes, weight, etc. Three out of the four shipped just fine, one of them had 1" added to the dimensions and incurred an additional charge.  It was a small difference, $1 or $2, but Pirate Ship did indeed charge it to my credit card.

-C