*Alert* Unpaid postage, item will not be delivered Label bought thru eBay
So a package seemed to be sitting since 1/29 with no scans until I learned the trick with FedEx/USPS tracking.
When I went to track it using the correct tracking, I got this
*Alert* Unpaid postage, item will not be delivered
I was on the phone with USPS about all this and she told me that I will not receive my package back since the label was not paid for.
I paid thru eBay. This was a FedEx Economy which gets handed off to USPS.
My weight was accurate and the dimensions listing on label were actually larger than the box I shipped but that shouldn't matter. They usually bill eBay and then eBay bills us if we didn't pay enough.
I spent hours on FB chat with eBay last night and no one there knew the 92 trick. It took a while to explain all this and they have never heard of a package not being paid for.
Once again, I get the opportunity to refund a buyer on a pricey item AND be out the item AND not be able to make a claim with insurance when I did nothing wrong.
eBay said to file an appeal but I feel like we all know how that will go.
I will not be using fedex for anything, and only insured USPS which is already a joke.
nikkitm22
·1 year agoI'm a buyer here & this is the first time I have encounteted "UNPAID POSTAGE" issues w/ different sellers for at least 2 different orders for an ipod cord & some movie dvds & 1 more order of 3d glasses overseas is not moving at all so it seems, tho' most of my orders seem to be arriving okay outside of that, but this is out of the ordinary. I'm guessing ebay's postage system may be the root issue & I would think twice to purchase postage through ebay if they are unresponsive on this as others are saying.
wastingtime101
·1 year ago@nikkitm22 Did your sellers ship FedEx Ground Economy? If so, they are the ones that erred by dropping their packages with USPS instead of FedEx. They paid for a FedEx label and gave the packages to USPS which is why USPS is claiming unpaid - because USPS wasn't paid.
eBay even added a warning to not drop off with the wrong carrier when the seller buys the label.
nikkitm22
·1 year agoI'm not sure if these sellers of mine purchased a Fedex ground shipping label through ebay & then gave the package to USPS, but if so, it is VERY ODD that tracking shows these items as received by USPS showing movement even via tracking from whatever state received to ANOTHER state where THEN they are determined UNPAID, --you would think at arrival they would be refused right away knowing the weight & where they need to go upon receipt if the full costs were not received. This may be a label mistake (of sellers buying fedex ground labels here & dropping them off through USPS tho' I think most of us would know a FEDEX shipment is for FEDEX & not USPS) or ebay is suddenly not paying USPS only SOME of it's sellers shipping collected or USPS for some reason is thwarting certain packages diverting them elsewhere (THO' why take a cheap ipod wire & used dvds I bought?), OR some kind of scam has been run through the barcode of labels printed through ebay that scammers may be diverting this paid postage to their own accounts OR get their items shipped for very little costs & this is possibly happening elsewhere too (i.e., my Amazon DVD order has also not arrived yet THO' it had an arriving today alert & I ordered this through ebay too) which might be caught up in such a scam that might be making systems assume all costs were received that USPS in past times would deliver regardless of being insufficient which seems most likely to me since I suspect our new government may be cracking down on such fraud which btw I believe has been losing billions through USPS for many years that was USA backed at our tax-payers expenses. I personally would deal DIRECTLY through a mail carrier such as USPS if I were a seller & manually enter the tracking number to help avoid this.
pancake*maker
·1 year agoI'm dealing with this too. The eBay rep told me they would never use Fedex ground economy and that many sellers are having this same issue. Only use the regular Fedex service. I just had to refund one of the orders. I filed a claim with Fedex but have very little confidence that I'll be reimbursed. I have a couple more that are MIA. These were all taken directly to Fedex.
automoben
·1 year agoDealing with the same issue. It is an outright lie by USPS employees to mark it as insufficient postage while package is lost. This way they avoid any responsibility and you can’t file a claim. eBay should delete the FedEx economy option. I will not be using anymore. Had to refund 4/6 of the last orders I used this on. Many of us have dealt with this and it could be a class action lawsuit. Sorry you lost money as well, I lost about $100 profit and learned my lesson.
ryry-jj
·1 year agoReceiving...."erroneous information by a Company employee!" is a tough one...you'd expect the employee to know better...but as I've said, that is the reason for dropping FedEx packages off at USPS, but it is not an excuse to be forgiven for it, unfortunately.
I have also said, we are all in the shipping business when we sell on line, so we all need to be experts on the policies of each courier we use....I know that is not an easy task, but in the end it is our job
ryry-jj
·1 year agoThink of it this way, USPS isn't seizing your items, people gave their items to the USPS without paying for a USPS service, and the USPS isnt going to do anything cost wise to get it back to you, nor do they offer a service to do so. Shippers paid FedEx, but they want USPS to fix their mistake
idoovad
·1 year agosorry to be aggressive about it. Here is the exact situation: We have been shipping with FedEx Ground Economy and paid attention to who delivers it. 98% of the time FedEx themselves deliver it with their Ground trucks. The 2% of the time it goes to USPS, it usually takes WEEKS for USPS to deliver. It seemed like a win at the time, because ground economy is sometimes $10-30 cheaper than Ground for the same service.
This one was shipped six weeks before the buyer said where is my package. If you add 92 before the Ground Economy tracking and check on the USPS website, you will get USPS's tracking of that item. We check and USPS had it for a month, with the Alert saying "Unpaid postage, item will not be delivered." Usually unpaid postage means they ask the receiver for money, or send it back to us. This one had no options, and that tracking number does not allow you to file any claim or missing mail request. Very strange that they just said "NOPE, THIS ONE IS TRASH NOW. BYE."
We call FedEx, and they say "USPS has the package and it says, IN TRANSIT." I tell them yea but check the USPS tracking, they say "sorry sir it says IN TRANSIT. We will have to wait. Please call USPS if you have an issue with this order." On an Amazon page, another seller said they showed all the proof of payment of the label to the USPS Unpaid Postage Dept, which took 2 months to respond saying they don't accept that proof and they need proof from Amazon.
I looked around the internet and there are many eBay and Amazon sellers talking about this right now and it seems to be an endless loop of no one knowing what the heck is happening. I will be calling eBay and I will let you know the response.
rossyjr22
·1 year agoI'm also stuck in the loop for a $300 item. I'll call it an expensive lesson to never use FedEx. My wife had it at USPS and the post office actually told her that she could drop the package off there with a FedEx label.
Not even the shippers know their own rules it's infuriating.
thearteryfineart
·1 year agoExperiencing the same thing for a $1000 item. Shipped FedEx SmartPost 4/1, last Fri. 5/16 USPS update:
The package associated with this tracking number did not have proper postage applied and will not be delivered. You are encouraged to contact the sender/merchant to seek reshipment, refund or other available recourse.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoI'd be really angry with USPS @rossyjr22 and you should definitely contact your postmaster to file a complaint and make sure the clerks in your area are trained with correct info.
Sellers should not drop FedEx Ground Economy (SmartPost) packages with USPS. It doesn't matter that FedEx transfers to USPS for second leg of delivery some of the time or that there may be USPS info on the label. Always bring those packages to FedEx.
This was announced by the carriers last year, effective July 14, 2024 - eBay posted an alert on this forum (link).
USPS can and does seize those packages and there is no way to retrieve them.
thearteryfineart
·1 year ago"Sellers need to inform themselves? "
"Sellers should not drop FedEx Ground Economy (SmartPost) packages with USPS. "
Dude have you ever heard of a 'mistake'? 'Error'? And maybe not even that! Given erroneous information by a Company employee!
Why should USPS have the right to seize and keep the packages?
pikabo-icu
·1 year agoWhat do you think USPS should do with them?
If you dropped a UPS package at the post office they would seize that too.
It's the shippers responsibility to know where to drop a package.
You wouldn't take a USPS package to FedEx and expect them to deal with it would you?
idoovad
·1 year agoSellers need to inform themselves? I did drop this off at FedEx.
I need to inform myself that FedEx will drop off a package at their "partner" USPS which won't recognize the label and dispose of the package? Sorry, that's nonsense. Why is FedEx offering a service that takes a package straight to disposal? And why is eBay offering a FedEx service that has a chance of never getting delivered?
We're the ones who are getting hurt here. FedEx offers me a service to deliver my package. They give it to someone to deliver it who they no longer have a deal with and this is somehow my fault?
You seem pretty knowledgeable. Can you tell me why are we being offered this service if the service gives the package to the post office, knowing the post office won't deliver? Buyers and sellers both are taking massive losses. If the service doesn't deliver ebay and FedEX should NOT BE OFFERING IT.
idoovad
·1 year agoWhat are we supposed to do? A $400 package got lost. Jeez why do they even offer Ground Economy?
wastingtime101
·1 year agoIf you erroneously dropped your package with USPS and USPS confiscated the package, you take the loss.
If you dropped your package with FedEx as you're supposed to, then you have up to $100 coverage while it's in FedEx's hands, but not after they hand off to USPS.
Sellers need to inform themselves about the shipping services they choose. eBay offers a variety of services with discounts through their label platform, but choice of which service to use, whether or not there's insurance coverage, etc is all in the seller's hands.
If you want to explain the details of your situation @idoovad we can help advise if you have any options. A lot of sellers shipping $400 items will either purchase insurance or self-insure. Sounds like your situation may not be covered by insurance.
angel6180
·1 year agoI had the same exact issue, i've been on the phone with USPS, FEDEX and ebay for hours to no avail. My shipments are just lost. Does anyone have any recourse?
wastingtime101
·1 year agoDid you drop off your package at USPS @angel6180 ?
See this post:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/Reminder-FedEx-Ground-Economy-packages-can-NOT-be-dropped-off-at/td-p/34973783
angel6180
·1 year agoNo, dropped it off at fedex, they delivered to the correct city and state and USPS took it over and said “no postage†and the package seems to be stuck in limbo. I had to refund the buyer and paid for the label and lost the item
wastingtime101
·1 year agoWhat's the item number @angel6180 ?
carlmarxx
·1 year agoUSPS Stopped delivery of FedEx Smart post for a while ,also USPS stopped delivering UPS Sure post and smart mail recently .
wastingtime101
·1 year agoDid you drop the package off at FedEx or USPS when you shipped?