Media Mail (book), Refused Delivery, postage due on the return
Do I have any recourse or am I out $9 to get my book back?
Buyer purchased a large book from me which I shipped via Media Mail for $9.50. The buyer's apartment complex refused delivery because they are now handling deliveries differently which the buyer claimed they did not know about. Buyer made a complaint for item not received. Ebay refunded both the buyer and myself. USPS now wants $9.50 from me postage due for the return and is holding the item at the post office. Best I can tell is that USPS does charge postage on refused deliveries for media mail.
Did the whole ebay sale really cost me $9.50 despite ebay refunding the sale. Do I have any recourse?
31 comments
mam98031
·1 year agoNo you don't have to accept it. I get these from time to time. I usually pay the postage as long as the package looks in good shape and then resale the item. This is one of the sad things for sellers with Media Mail. We do get charged if we want the package back.
Not the same with Ground Advantage. If a GA package gets return, I've never paid any additional postage.
But if it isn't worth getting it back, you do not have to pay for the return shipment.
winterpalace25
·1 year agoIf you got paid and your buyer got made whole, I don't see a problem. If the book isn't worth $9.50, don't buy it from the PO. If it is worth a lot more, then buy it and resell it. You are out nothing if you abandon the book since eBay chose to be so generous.
inhawaii
·1 year agoBad news: Yes, you will haver to pay for return postage.
Good news: You are not required to refund the buyer.
It is the buyers responsibility to make sure the package can be delivered.
Some sellers will refund he buyer less shipping, but you are not required to.
So you'll be out shipping both ways, but at least you'll get the book back to re-sell.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoBad news: Yes, you will haver to pay for return postage.
Good news: You are not required to refund the buyer.
It is the buyers responsibility to make sure the package can be delivered.
Some sellers will refund he buyer less shipping, but you are not required to.
So you'll be out shipping both ways, but at least you'll get the book back to re-sell.
According to the OP eBay refunded both the buyer and the OP. Since the seller has in essence already been paid I would just let the PO keep it.
janet9988
·1 year agoWHY would the seller HAVE to pay?
a_c_green
·1 year agoBecause the original Shipping method was Media Mail, which does not have the same free return privileges as those of Ground Advantage or Priority.
The seller can abandon the package if they don't want it back, and then USPS can sell it off to recover their costs.
sextons-sweet-deals
·1 year agoIs the book actually sitting at your local post office and did you receive a note in your mailbox from USPS for package pick-up with postage due?
I don't quite understand the apartment complex handling package / refuse delivery. USPS should have placed a note in the buyers' mailbox that they can pick up package.
a_c_green
·1 year agoMe neither. If my apartment management pulled a stunt like that, someone in the office would get reamed.
OTOH, I also agree that the carrier should have left a pickup notice in the mailbox. Seems like there might be some kind of local tiff brewing between the apartment building and the post office that delivers to it.
buyselljack2016
·1 year agoI see nothing sold that would be worth paying the correctly required $9.50 to get back.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoTalk to the postmaster at the post office. In reality you have already been paid so if they won't give it back to you let them keep it.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoWhat exactly is USPS going to do with the item?...if no one pays $9.50...?
I get items back every month from the USPS with return address on the item...it being an address or buyer issue.
Seller and buyer got a refund which is odd.
To me, it sounds like a refused delivery...
I think we are missing something here to the story.
theteamsetguy
·1 year ago@12345jamesstamps ,
They will eventually auction it off in a bin along with other undeliverable mail. I think they have auctions a couple of times a year.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoWhere? Never heard of them.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoWhere? Never heard of them.
USPS sells it's items through https://www.govdeals.com/ as do several other government entities. You can find just about anything including the proverbial kitchen sink.
1963vintage
·1 year agoI just talked to my Carrier Annex today on this issue, refused to pay for a returned book and was told Refused packages go to the "Mail Recovery Center." They are opened and the USPS employee didn't know what happened next. Maybe a Postal Employee at the MRC could answer this question.
stuff4divas
·1 year ago@wormwood1978 maybe the book did not qualify for mm. does it have any advertisements in it?
robbie31415
·1 year agoYour argument would only be valid if postage was due on the first delivery to the buyer.
MM doesn't include free RTS. It's one of the drawbacks for saving money with the service.
nobody*s_perfect
·1 year agoThat has nothing to do with this discussion, since there is no evidence that the USPS opened and inspected the package. Postage in this case is due to RTS, not to MM eligibility. The OP is being asked to pay the same amount for the return postage as he paid originally to send the package. Here's the only book that the OP has sold recently; it seems to be an ordinary trade hardcover.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Waterfowl-Ducks-Geese-Swans-of-the-World-Frank-S-Todd-Hdbk-1979/126486583996?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2349526.m43663.l10137
jerseyboymusic
·1 year agoSo if something is RTS, USPS CHARGES for that now?
luckythewinner
·1 year agoWe are only talking about Media Mail, not all USPS services.
nobody*s_perfect
·1 year ago"
1.8.3 Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Mail, USPS Ground Advantage — Retail, and USPS Ground Advantage — Commercial
Mailpieces sent as Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Mail, USPS Ground Advantage — Retail, or USPS Ground Advantage — Commercial mail that cannot be delivered as addressed or forwarded to a new address, unless otherwise requested by the sender, are returned to the sender at no additional charge."
https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/507.htm#ep1113764
But Media Mail isn't mentioned in the above text; and eBay MM labels are not at a Commercial rate, they're at the retail rate.
carlmarxx
·1 year agoThe USPS has been charging return postage on Media and Parcel post to the shipper for years .
az93
·1 year agoFed ex charged me to get a return they said they couldn't deliver. Buyer said they never even tried to deliver. They charged me even more than the original fee to send it. I will always remember this because it was the last time i used fed ex. Many, many years ago...
1963vintage
·1 year agoWe are discussing Media Mail. Media Mail is a one-way service. If sent to a PO box, for example, and buyer does not pick up and the box gets full, USPS looks for any mail with tracking and returns it. So if a seller wants their book back, they have to pay USPS to re-deliver it or you can refuse it and USPS sends it off to "Mail Recovery Center."
a_c_green
·1 year agoThe book would be returned if it was not picked up within a fixed period of time, but it's not returned just because it doesn't physically fit in the box. For oversized packages, a pickup notice is placed in the box, the package is stored elsewhere in the PO, and the recipient can pick it up at the Front Desk during business hours.
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year agoMaybe I am missing something as well. If eBay refunded you (total price), what difference does it make if you get the book back or not?
robbie31415
·1 year agoThis is correct view.
They don't need to pickup book if the cost isn't worth reselling for a second time. If shelling out the money nets them more money.
Also, if eBay wasn't refunding both parties and the seller was on the hook. The seller could deduct $19 from the refund. As RTS voids the MBG for most reasons.
nobody*s_perfect
·1 year agoIt's extremely unusual for eBay to refund both the buyer and the seller. Technically the buyer was not entitled to a refund under eBay's buyer protection policy (AKA the "Money Back Guarantee," MBG) because they refused delivery for a reason other than "Postage Due." Perhaps eBay decided to give them a break because the refusal was done by their building manager rather than the buyer himself.
If you got a full refund from eBay (which I think means that you got to keep the buyer's payment even though the buyer got a full refund), then if you ransom your book at the PO you will in effect be buying it back for $9.50. So if the value of the book is more than $9.50, you come out ahead on this transaction thanks to the buyer's refund coming from eBay rather than out of your pocket. And the $9.50 can be deducted on your taxes as a business expense.
If the value of the book is less than $9.50 or if you just don't want to bother reselling it, then let the PO keep it.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoBest I can tell is that USPS does charge postage on refused deliveries for media mail
That is correct.
Did the whole ebay sale really cost me $9.50 despite ebay refunding the sale
eBay paid the USPS to ship your item. They are not going to take the loss for you.
Do I have any recourse?
It is the buyer's fault that he failed to properly take delivery.
You have no recourse against eBay because they did what you asked (i.e. bought a postage label for you). And you have no recourse against the USPS because they did what you asked (i.e. mailed the item for you).
Neither eBay not the USPS have any sort of mechanism for you to collect money that you feel your buyer owed you. Selling on eBay is risk-free.
klhmdg
·1 year agoNo you do not.
If you want the book back you will need to pay the return shipping.
USPS charges return shipping on all but Priority shipments, per my PO.
You can pay to get your item back and use the $9.50 as an expense on your taxes.
robbie31415
·1 year agoYour PO is lying to you, that's incorrect information.