FedEx: eBay Embargoed Shipper to Hawaii
Hey @kyle@ebay . This issue has been ongoing since 2019 so I'm tagging you with hopes you can liaise with the shipping team directly and get us some solid info on what's happening here and why the system allows these labels if FedEx is going to reject the shipments.
eBay allows sellers to purchase FedEx Ground labels to Hawaii, but those packages are returned with a note that eBay is an embargoed seller. You can see history and copies of return tags in the first link below. I also added a couple other discussion links on this topic. It's a bad experience for sellers and buyers alike.
In past conversations, members of the community team said the shipping team was aware of the situation and working on it - then we didn't get any reports for a while - then they started popping up again just a few months later. We usually see a few reports per year on this board, but there are reports from 4 different sellers in April/May this year alone plus more in January:
@visand @vivavintage77 @ralei_70 @ourwalthouse were all affected in the last month.
To the sellers affected by this: one eBay rep said, "From what I've been told FedEx doesn't typically charge for situations like this. If anyone has an example of a FedEx charging them on their eBay invoice then please let me know and I'll pass it along!"
Can you guys verify if you were actually charged for the FedEx labels on these returned packages?
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/shipping-fedex-to-Hawaii/m-p/33697215
ralei_70
·3 years agokyle@ebay has reached-out to me.
Thank you wastenotime101 for the post here.
ralei_70
·3 years agoUpdate...
There is nothing to update. Nothing has happened. I have not heard from ebay.
I still have not been reimbursed $ 148 for re-shipping to Hawaii due to ebay's faulty label system.
How can this go unresolved ?
 
ralei_70
·3 years agoI'm listed in the above 'wastenotime101' email.
My buyer is not happy at all that his item has been sent back to me, the seller. I am not happy at all because I now need to re-ship the sold item at my additional out-of-pocket expense ($146).
The buyer already paid for the shipping, calculated shipping at checkout. Then I purchased the FedEx label to Hawaii using Ebay's automated system and my available funds, creating a QRcode that the FedEx retail store printed-out for me. They accepted the package.
It wasn't until the package got to a regional FedEx warehouse (Bloomington CA) that it was flagged for a return-to-sender.
In other words, there was at least two points where this could have been avoided (probably more)......
One: Ebay selling a label that should have not been allowed ...
Two: FedEx accepting a package that should have been flagged at the retail store (not when it was 100+ miles into shipment).
Unrelated and pos. my fault. I work in two cities... LA,CA and MPLS, MN and I forgot to change my return address. So, I mailed it from where I am now, LA, but it was sent back to MN. (slaps forehead)
kyle@ebay
Hey @wastingtime101 I have reached out to our shipping team to see what info they can provide.
Also, this may be a long shot, but @inhawaii have you had any experiences with this issue or have any tips you can share?
inhawaii
·3 years agoSorry, I can only add this.
At my full time job we received packages every day all day long.
Some of them arrive via FedEx "ground" even though (obviously) there can be no true ground service to Hawaii.
I just figured calling it "ground" was their economy/slowest method of shipping.
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoGround essentially means surface transportation. Package travels by truck in the continental 48 then by boat to get across the ocean. Ground is necessary for certain types of hazardous materials that can't travel by air.
kyle@ebay
Hey @inhawaii and @wastingtime101 I had assumed the same! But I heard back from our shipping team and they confirmed that sellers should not be able to print eBay FedEx labels with AK, HI ship to addresses, and we should be blocking label printing for these locations, and they are looking into this for us. If we can get a couple of order numbers that are within the last 30 days where this happened, that would be very helpful!
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoThank you @kyle@ebay. We have a few sellers whose IDs you can pass on if helpful.
Hopefully sellers affected in the last month can come back and supply order numbers.
@visand @vivavintage77 @ralei_70 @ourwalthouse
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoOn the linked thread @kyle@ebay one seller reported this (not sure how accurate it is):
I heard back from eBay on this. FedEx Ground/Home Delivery to Alaska/Hawaii should not be an option through printing of eBay labels and they are working on a fix that will hopefully make it clear/impossible.
As it is now, if you try to print one of these labels and select eBay rates you will not be able to print a label. The problem is, you can still select In Store rates and print the label through eBay. These are the packages getting the embargo return. If you must use FedEx Ground to Alaska/Hawaii, you will need to go to FedEx and buy your label through them.
another seller said:
eBay lets you choose FedEx SmartPost, 2-day, and Ground Delivery - i just now checked, for another package I need to ship there. One was just returned from the FedEx facility in Tracy, California which was bound for Hawaii. I called FedEx and they told me about eBay being an "embargoed shipper to Hawaii."
If these accounts are accurate, then any FedEx service that won't get through due to eBay being an embargoed shipper shouldn't be available for purchase on the label page.