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Buyer refused delivery and now the post office wants me to pay return shipping
My postal worker wanted $12 postage due for a package today and showed me the label. Since I recognized as something I sold on eBay, I had them hold it at the post office until I researched what it was. It seems the package was refused by the buyer without contacting me. Now USPS wants me to pay the return shipping. I don't want the item back and the postage is more than the item sold for. Can I refuse delivery and not pay the postage?
16 comments
kh-vince
·2 years agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
you_got_outbid_by_a_dollar
·2 years agoPriority, first class and ground advantage get returned for free. Everything else you will be charged.
lakefor94
·3 years agoSounds to me like the original shipment had postage due and your buyer refused to pay it.
12345jamesstamps
·3 years agoI got something returned the other day in a standard envelope in my mailbox to someone I mailed to Montana. It said "returned for $4.41 additional postage". It did have .63 postage on it and really don't know why a standard envelope which cannot go parcel post would require such postage. Of course, I put it in another envelope and remailed it. It did go through the San Francisco Post Office per the cancellation. Will see what happens. I have mailed thousands of same envelopes out before. But I don't get a lot of buyers from Montana which this envelope was headed to.
My buyer didn't know anything about the item. So, my item just got returned to me for free and USPS didn't ask buyer for postage due. To pay to get back something you mailed out...that is the first I ever heard.
Normally, the item is returned to you for free per USPS. Something doesn't sound right here.
I had a buyer from a country that someone in the USPS didn't know it was a country and returned envelope to me. I handed the clerk the same envelope with the used postage and it finally got to the buyer without it costing me more. Sometimes, talking to a clerk in the post office politely and professionally things will work out with no additional charge.
mtgraves7984
·3 years agoWas the package refused due to postage due? If so, you'll have to pay that ransom to get it back. If it was RTS'd for any other reason, I don't understand a charge to you for it, either. Never heard of that. Hmmm...
Silly afterthought... surely it wasn't shipped via Media Mail and didn't qualify, right?
southern*sweet*tea
·3 years agoPriority Mail and First Class will be returned free of charge. Any other mail class, if you want the item back you'll need to pay return shipping.
1786davycrockett
·3 years ago@microbuster
USPS announces changes to how media mail returns are handled
by Vervante • September 9, 2020
Media mail is one of the most economical ways to send a package, and we know that many of our clients choose media mail for their preferred shipping method. However, the USPS recently announced a changes to how media mail returns are now being processed.
USPS Changes to Media Mail Returns
In the past, the postal service did not consistently return undeliverable packages sent via Media Mail. We were told they were discarded to save return handling and postage fees. Now the USPS has announced that as part of internal changes, they will be charging the same amount of postage to return it as it cost to send it. Think of Media Mail as a one-way plane ticket. If it is returned, we now have to pay for the return part of the trip. When this happens, we will mark the order returned and add the charges for the return postage in your author account.
Effective immediately, when we receive returned Media Mail packages you will see a line item invoice in your account for the returned postage fee.
From a cost perspective, paying for an occasional returned Media Mail package is generally still less expensive than shipping Priority Mail.
For example:
And, just a few months ago, my post office charged me $3.49 for a media rate package, which was returned to me unopened by the sender -- so I know that at least SOME packages are charged a "return to sender" fee.
nobody*s_perfect
·3 years agoYes, you can. Moreover, under the terms of eBay's buyer protection policy (AKA the Money Back Guarantee), the buyer's refusal of the package voids his buyer protection (unless there was Postage Due and he can prove it). So as well as not ransoming the package, you might not have to refund them for the item.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy?id=4210
IIRC refused packages are RTS at no further charge if the original postage was Priority ,and maybe also First Class packages.
ms.rodriguez*
·3 years agoI got charged once for a parcel post box. The address label tore and it came back to my post office. I paid to get it and then I had to pay to send it back to the buyer. That was a long time ago when I first started here. That was the package that taught me how to put on an address label correctly.
buyselljack2016
·3 years agoOnce upon a time it was dependent upon the USPS "class" of mail as to charging/not charging return shipping for undelivered/returned packages.
Not sure if that has changed.
m60driver
·3 years agoIf the package was refused by the buyer then you will be able to refund less your shipping costs. I have never heard of USPS collecting return to sender postage but if that is the case keep a receipt from the post office. And if the item is worth less than the postage then I would assume you could abandon it at the post office.
dirk12955
·3 years agoI've never been charged by the USPS for a returned item. Never.
Unavailable member
·3 years agoThat’s truly odd. I had a buyer refuse a replacement item because the original item was delivered the day before. I wasn’t charged for it. I guess it all depends on the post office.
nh7235
·3 years agoIf you do, and you bought your shipping label on eBay, PayPal, Stamps, etc.
Since it' still the same tracking number, let us know if USPS bills you that $12 directly where you bought the label?
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoUnless the package has been opened, USPS does not charge for 'return to sender', i.e., refused mail. I would go to the post office and collect it.
pburn
·3 years agoThat might be something you'd want to pursue through USPS--either their website or at your local post office or with your city's postmaster. eBay wouldn't be involved in that scenario.