Underpaid $4.00 charge for a Nonstandard Package Characteristic

I just shipped 3 packages of posters. They are the USPS Priority Mail small mailing tubes that are like triangles. All the packages are the same weight and dimensions and I selected the "irregular package" option too.

Why is USPS charging me the $4.00 surcharge fee? I know that $4.00 is for if it's between 22" - 30", which the priority mailing tubes are 26". Is ebay adding the $4.00 or is it USPS fault?

Testing this out with the ebay calculator, I get the same prices, so I did my part right correctly and it appears ebay did too unless the system isn't adding that $4.00 fee.

So, I'm sure in a couple days, I'll be getting two more underpaid fees for "Nonstandard Package Characteristic".

carl_ivory

168 View listings

Posted 10 months ago·Last reply 10 months ago

25 comments

albertabrightalberta

·10 months ago

SIGNATURE! NOT DIRECTED TO YOU: I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.104 View listings

@estate_echoes

I think you just got lucky if you didn't get charged for triangular boxes.

From your own screenshot, they also mention shape as being subjected to surcharges:

estate_echoes

·10 months ago

329 View listings

@albertabrightalberta wrote:
@estate_echoes
I think you just got lucky if you didn't get charged for triangular boxes.

From your own screenshot, they also mention shape as being subjected to surcharges:

@albertabrightalbertait says cylinder or a roll.... which isnt a triangle.

robbie31415

·10 months ago

0 View listings

Its interesting.

https://store.usps.com/store/product/dual-use-priority-mailpriority-mail-express-small-tube-box-P_O_1098S

It says in the description that it's subject to the fee for the size. Never mentions shape.

But perhaps not mentioned due to its size, but then what If it was adjusted in size.

I would lean on wastingtimes image that includes the triangular shape. When you compare yours to his. Its more probable that yours is lacking, instead of his where they mistakenly added something.

wastingtime101

·10 months ago

0 View listings

@robbie31415 wrote:
It says in the description that it's subject to the fee for the size. Never mentions shape.

But perhaps not mentioned due to its size, but then what If it was adjusted in size.

USPS calls it a "tube box" so maybe they think the use of the word "tube" Is enough, but in my opinion it's not clear enough.

I understand why the product page mentions only the length surcharge. The product page mentions surcharge for length because USPS doesn't double-up on type surcharges so length is the surcharge that's applied when the box is used as intended. If they mentioned both the length and characteristic surcharges, then people might get confused thinking both will be charged.

If you alter the box and cut it down in length below 22", then the characteristics surcharge will be applied because it's a tube, however even though allowed, that's not the intended use.

On a related note: UPS and FedEx do the same - they apply a surcharge for triangles but don't specifically call it out in their service guides. They rely on the description of cylindrical mailing tube and USPS is doing the same. I disagree with relying on "cylindrical tube" without calling out triangular.

robbie31415

·10 months ago

0 View listings

I suspect this is an eBay bug.

You said selecting and deselecting irregular packaging offers the same price.

The price shouldn't be the same.

So USPS seems to have back charged the amount eBay was supposed to include with the irregular package which is 4.00.

If you are using calculated shipping and its not accurate either at checkout, then perhaps you could add a 4.00 in handling which will combine it with the shipping.

carl_ivory

OP10 months ago

168 View listings

I was using free shipping. Thanks for actually reading my post and responding accordingly. I'm slowly discovering this ebay community is kind of toxic. Then again, what place on the internet isn't?

robbie31415

·10 months ago

0 View listings

Yeah, It's unfortunate.

A lot of bad information gets spread here.

There are only a handful of people who give legitimate responses.

Since you do free shipping like me, just account for the charge in the item price. Some of them may never get adjusted so that could net you a little extra profit.

I personally don't use eBay labels anymore. I use pirateship, because their CS has been amazing and helpful with price adjustments. Have had pretty much all reversed.

Ebays CS aren't very good at knowing how to handle or respond to situations becaise the shipping portion is such a minor thing on eBay.

wastingtime101

·10 months ago

0 View listings

@robbie31415 wrote:
You said selecting and deselecting irregular packaging offers the same price.

The price shouldn't be the same.

Yes, it should because the package exceeded 22" and eBay automatically factors in surcharges for weight/dimensions without the seller having to check irregular.

The nonstandard surcharge for length of $4 is automatically factored in by eBay and USPS doesn't double-up on length plus nonstandard characteristic surcharges, so you won't see a price difference for characteristic when the length surcharge was already applied.

When a package fits more than one fee type, only the higher fee will be assessed. In this case the fee for length + the fee for characteristic are the same. Result: $4.00 surcharge, not $8.00

Now if OP had cut that box down to under 22", then yes, selecting irregular would make a difference in the cost.

Either way, it was appropriate to select irregular even though it didn't make a difference in cost in this specific scenario.

On the surface this appears to be a USPS error and should be disputed, but before I advise the OP to dispute I'd like to get more details to rule out an issue on eBay's side.

Hey @carl_ivory , can you provide:

1. Ship to zip & ship from zip

2. Package weight

3. Package dimensions

4. Amount paid for the original label before the adjustment?

Edit for clarity.

robbie31415

·10 months ago

0 View listings

That's interesting.

I was wrong, I didn't realize that the characteristic and length would only be 1.

So you feel the usps may have double dipped on that fee, when it should have only been one fee?

I gotta look at some of my adjustments, pretty sure they double dipped on me too. Which I'd have accepted.

I haven't gotten enough adjustments to have really looked into it, only UPS which adjustments have always been **bleep**.

wastingtime101

·10 months ago

0 View listings

@robbie31415 wrote:
So you feel the usps may have double dipped on that fee, when it should have only been one fee?

Yes, that's where I was leaning with it. As I said yesterday, I'd need more details from the OP to confirm, but if the info they provided about entering 26" length and selecting 'irregular' is accurate, then I believe USPS applied the cost adjustment in error.

I did check eBay's shipping calc last night and the $4 surcharge was working fine (automatically added) when toggling between 20" and 26" length - and was also working fine with small package dims and toggling irregular on/off. I didn't see any issues on eBay's side of it.

The good news is this is the only report I've seen so far across numerous forums and groups, which means it's not a widespread issue.

simba6

·10 months ago

2328 View listings

They do charge extra for tubes. Have to put them in boxes.

carl_ivory

OP10 months ago

168 View listings

But I'm using the USPS Priority Mail small mail tube triangular boxes. It needs to be implemented into the listing when you're setting up your shipping.

christworks

·10 months ago

1406 View listings

@carl_ivory Irregular packages (re: non-standard packages) like tubes have a $4.00 surcharge. These type of oddly shaped packages require special handling. They cannot go through the machines, so they require an actual person to handle them. Also, they can't be stacked like rectangle shaped packages can, and thus they take up more room on the truck. This reduces the number of standard packages that can be loaded onto the truck.

carl_ivory

OP10 months ago

168 View listings

I get that, but selecting irregular package or not doesn't make a difference according to ebay customer service. They told me I'd be charged $4.00 regardless. So, apparently the ebay system doesn't take into account that $4.00. Sounds like pure trashfire.

estate_echoes

·10 months ago

329 View listings

@christworks wrote:
@carl_ivory Irregular packages (re: non-standard packages) like tubes have a $4.00 surcharge. These type of oddly shaped packages require special handling. They cannot go through the machines, so they require an actual person to handle them. Also, they can't be stacked like rectangle shaped packages can, and thus they take up more room on the truck. This reduces the number of standard packages that can be loaded onto the truck.

@christworks what you said is mostly false. The only issue is the length which incurs the nonstandard fee. One just needs to trim the box to 21" or shorter to avoid the fee.

And they don't really 'take up more room'... as you are paying LxWxH.

Priority Mail | USPS

christworks

·10 months ago

1406 View listings

@estate_echoes wrote:
@christworks wrote:
@carl_ivory Irregular packages (re: non-standard packages) like tubes have a $4.00 surcharge. These type of oddly shaped packages require special handling. They cannot go through the machines, so they require an actual person to handle them. Also, they can't be stacked like rectangle shaped packages can, and thus they take up more room on the truck. This reduces the number of standard packages that can be loaded onto the truck.
@christworks what you said is mostly false. The only issue is the length which incurs the nonstandard fee. One just needs to trim the box to 21" or shorter to avoid the fee.

And they don't really 'take up more room'... as you are paying LxWxH.

Priority Mail | USPS

@estate_echoes What I said was not "mostly false." You can go look at the DMM yourself.

The length is an issue, yes, those triangular mailers do incur a surcharge because of their shape as they are not standard. USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes are the only priority mail boxes that are not subject to non-standard fees. When more than one fee would apply, the fee that is higher is what is charged. The exception is if the volume exceeds 2 cubic feet. There is a separate fee for that.

wastingtime101

·10 months ago

0 View listings

@christworks wrote:
USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes are the only priority mail boxes that are not subject to non-standard fees.

That's not correct.

Every Priority-branded box is free from the surcharge with the exception of:

- The 2 triangular boxes due to both their length and nonstandard shape, and

- The long ago (at least 10 years?) discontinued "Regional Rate C" boxes, which can still be used if people have them. They were pretty big and would be subject to hefty surcharges because of their size.

There are many non-flat rate Priority boxes! Without looking it up I'll say there are 5 or 6 currently in production that are not nonstandard, plus a few more that were discontinued but still usable.

estate_echoes

·10 months ago

329 View listings

@wastingtime101 wrote:
@christworks wrote:
USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes are the only priority mail boxes that are not subject to non-standard fees.
That's not correct.

Every Priority-branded box is free from the surcharge with the exception of:
- The 2 triangular boxes due to both their length and nonstandard shape, and
- The long ago (at least 10 years?) discontinued "Regional Rate C" boxes, which can still be used if people have them. They were pretty big and would be subject to hefty surcharges because of their size.

There are many non-flat rate Priority boxes! Without looking it up I'll say there are 5 or 6 currently in production that are not nonstandard, plus a few more that were discontinued but still usable.

@wastingtime101 There is only one triangular box now, right? The small. Are you sure about "shape"? I have trimmed the triangle boxes down lots of times and didn't have to pay a surcharge.

Dual-Use Priority MailÂ®/Priority Mail ExpressÂ® Small Tube Box | USPS.com

It mentions size being the reason for the surcharge. Not shape.

And "more information" defines "non standard shapes":

wastingtime101

·10 months ago

0 View listings

See my screenshot in post 15 @estate_echoes where triangular is specifically mentioned. I've brought this up before: USPS only specifically calls out "triangular" in that one document and they majorly failed when they didn't include that word in the DMM, but I confirmed and they do apply the nonstandard surcharge for triangles as of this characteristics change about 4 months ago.

Technically USPS calls it a "tube box" so maybe they think the use of the word "tube" Is enough, but in my opinion it's not clear enough. Also, the page mentions surcharge for length because, see post 15, USPS doesn't double-up on type surcharges so length is the surcharge that's applied when the box is used as-is. If you alter the box and cut it down in length below 22", then the characteristics surcharge will be applied because it's a tube.

Also yes - only one triangular box now, the small one, but if people have the old larger ones they can still use them which is why I mentioned it above.