eBay charged $90.91 for a USPS Ground advantage shipping label that I got later at USPS for $11.41
I've been on eBay over 25 years. It has been awhile since I sold anything and when I did sell an item I was trying to use eBay to print a label for USPS Ground advantage as that was the method listed in my ad and the way eBay was suggesting I ship it. When I clicked to create label the former roughly $10 amount I had researched on USPS for shipping this small item came up as $90.91 which by the time I saw that I had already been charged. Now eBay seems to be saying I won't get that money back for up to 21 days depending on USPS. This seemed like a setup to get that money on an item which only sold for $52.00 and eBay has already taken money out of my bank for the difference between the postage and the item. Can anyone enlighten me about this scenario and if I'll get my money back? I was obviously selling to make some money not to do all the work and lose almost $40 to eBay for selling something.
When I logged in to USPS I made a label for USPS Ground advantage for $11.41 which is in line with what I had researched before making the listing here. What the heck is going on?
jshop_collections
·11 months agoIm guessing you accidently chose "Ground" instead of "Ground Advantage". That can cost alot more.
shaman444
OP10 months agoBased on entering the actual weight and size at USPS I don't even see an option for 'Ground' anymore. Only 'Ground Advantage' , Express, Priority mail and Media mail. Per USPS:
"The United States Postal Service (USPS) began offering USPS Ground Advantage on July 9, 2023. This service was launched as a replacement for several existing ground shipping options, including USPS Parcel Select Ground, USPS Retail Ground, and USPS First-Class Package Service."
caldreamer
·11 months agoDid you cancel this USPS label? If so, USPS takes about 2-3 weeks before money will be credited to your account.
wastingtime101
·11 months agoWas it $92.91, not $90.91? If so, that is easily explainable: you had a typo on the dimensions when you purchased the eBay label @shaman444 .
$11.41 is the 0.40 cubic rate to zone 6 Ground Advantage. Rate is based on package size, not weight.
Now if we factor in a typo on the dimensions, and the dimensions create a 29 lb billable weight plus surcharges for exceeding 30" in length and 2 cu ft in volume we get to zone 6, Ground Adv:
$66.51 for 29 lb billable weight + $8.40 nonstandard surcharge for length + $18.00 nonstandard surcharge for volume = total $92.91
As others said, you'll get the refund when USPS approves it. It'll appear in your eBay funds.
shaman444
OP10 months agowastingtime101, No the weight eBay was using was 2 pounds before I actually weighed the item (about 3 pounds) and went forward with this. And dimensions were in inches about 4x15x20. Even when I go to USPS and enter similar weight and dimension for "Express" shipping which seems to be the highest price option I don't get anything near $90.91. Express for 2 pounds was only around $50 so I really would like to know how eBay came up with $90.91. Anyway thanks again to everyone who contributed info and answers on this.
nyr134
·11 months agoAnother possibility for the large shipping label cost: when you created the listing, did you copy from someone’s existing listing using “sell one like this?†You may have inadvertently copied over an express shipping service as the default.
shaman444
OP11 months agoNo I didn't copy from the 'sell one like this' although I did let the AI write some of the ad and then added my own text to it. My ad clearly showed the only shipping option as USPS Ground Advantage. I'll watch out for that situation though if I still try selling.
ten_o_nine
·11 months ago@shaman444
I think eBay should have a "Are you sure" popup before initiating the charge and making the label available for printing to avoid such a situation.
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That would be so annoying, unless there is a box you can check that says, "Do not show this again, never ever."
jdbelt1960
·11 months agoI have found some of my items have somehow defaulted to Priority Mail. I had to set a shipping rule for the advantage and set my discounted rate and change each item. The problem is when I list the price is set for that rule and some items I may want to charge more. It did not used to be this way.
bashort
·11 months agoare you sure you did not make a mistake with a dimension, I have done that, was trying to change a dimension from 8 to 9 or something like that but actually ended up with 89 inches instead. I caught it when I was looking at the live lilisting and saw the calculated shipping charge was outrageous
shaman444
OP11 months agoThanks all for the replies on this. That's a bit of relief to know the money will eventually get back to me. bashort - yes I was double checking the dimensions. Oddly right after going into panic on that I went to USPS directly and entered the same weight and dimensions and it came up as $90.91 for Ground advantage which lead me to believe ultimately this may have been a glitch with USPS. Later that evening I tried again at USPS and with double the weight and all sorts of bigger dimensions the highest I saw was $11.41 and so I bought the label from USPS directly. As much as I'd like to use eBay since there is supposedly a bit more discount here than 'click-to-ship' at USPS I'm almost afraid to try here as it seems I was charged as soon as I clicked 'Create label' without any chance to confirm that is what I wanted. I think eBay should have a "Are you sure" popup before initiating the charge and making the label available for printing to avoid such a situation. Again thanks everyone for chiming in here so quickly!
stephenmorgan
·11 months agoWell sort of they do.
After you verify the package dimensions and verify the service you want are correctly entered, the last step is to agree to the price total and then purchase shipping label.
shaman444
OP10 months agoI must have been flying through the process as I don't recall seeing that or I may have thought there would be a final confirmation after looking over everything. I do know eBay said I needed to ship with 'Ground Advantage' as that is what I had advertised in my sale ad.
stephenmorgan
·10 months agoeBay reminds you of what service the buyer chose but sometimes when you go to purchase the label the service that is preselected is not the service you intend to use, so you have to change it.
On your Labels page it will say what service you paid for.
https://www.ebay.com/ship/labels/seller-hub
babyers88
·10 months ago^^^^ this right here, you have to actually purchase a label in order to be charged for it.......
it is not automatic,,,, the price is shown before you purchase
Unavailable member
·11 months agoCancelled labels do take 3-4 weeks to be refunded. USPS wants to make sure the label isn’t used before issuing the refund. But you must cancel it
When you get the refund there is no notification, just a credit to your account in recent transactions.
kibble-net
·11 months agoAs long as the incorrect label doesn't get scanned, you'll get a refund in 3 weeks to your ebay account.
It sounds like OP had the wrong shipping method selected somehow. I had this happen myself last month. The lesson here is to always double check everything before clicking the "buy label" button.
mtgraves7984
·11 months ago@shaman444
Go to your Seller Hub/Shipping labels. Select that label and 'Void' it using the drop down menu. You WILL be reimbursed, but it does take about 3 weeks. The reimbursement will go back to your payment method.
shaman444
OP11 months agoNote that I did cancel the $90.91 label at eBay and never even printed it. So why is eBay taking money for this? I handed this item to the Postmaster at my local USPS with the $11.41 label and he said that's good for this shipment. When I asked him if there was a glitch in the USPS system he said he didn't know but that high $90 amount was about what Express shipping would be. Why would eBay default to that (if that's what happened) when my ad said I would ship by USPS Ground advantage and when I went to the Seller's hub to create a label there was a statement somewhere from eBay that I needed to ship it by USPS Ground advantage since that was in my ad. So how in the world did it come up to over $90 unless eBay defaulted it to Express? Very upsetting...