USPS Failed to Scan Dozens of Packages – eBay Siding with Buyers and Withholding Funds
Hello eBay Seller Community,
I wanted to share a recent and very troubling experience in hopes that others may have insight, advice, or have gone through something similar.
On June 18–19, I dropped off several dozen trading card shipments—some in plain white envelopes and others in bubble mailers—at the blue collection box outside the USPS location. Shipping labels were created in advance, but unfortunately, none of these packages were scanned upon acceptance by USPS.
As a result of the lack of tracking updates, I began receiving messages from concerned buyers. I immediately submitted Missing Mail Search Requests through USPS for every affected tracking number and instructed all buyers to file “Report Missing Item†requests with eBay to ensure proper documentation.
After several days, eBay began issuing full refunds to buyers, stating that I had failed to provide valid proof of delivery. Despite my transparency and communication with both USPS and my customers, eBay is now withholding funds from my account, and I'm being forced to absorb the losses.
To make matters worse, I’ve been told by my assigned USPS Customer Relations Coordinator that although they’re still investigating, they have not been able to locate any of the packages. She shared the following:
"I am not sure they will honor [insurance claims] as there are no scans showing we received the packages. I have even reached out to the US Postal Inspection Service to see if there have been reports of theft from the blue boxes in that area. I have not heard back from them yet. I would go ahead and file the insurance claim and appeal every denial. The final appeal gets special attention from employees at headquarters and not simply blanket denials from the claims department in St. Louis."
I’ve now started processing refunds for all buyers and am beginning the claims process for each package, knowing full well that I may face denials due to the absence of acceptance scans. This has become financially and emotionally exhausting.
If anyone in the community has navigated a similar situation—or has any guidance regarding USPS claim appeals, how to escalate within eBay, or general best practices to prevent this in the future—I would be extremely grateful for your input.
Thank you all for your time, and I truly appreciate any advice you can offer.
Best regards,
@hattmolt
salesandresales
·1 year agoWe had the same issue until made scan sheets for everything. It is some kind of problem with the printed label and there is no fix, but if you print in ebay bulk shipping and make a scan sheet, you can take it to the window and all they need to do is scan 1 barcode and give you a receipt. Unfortunately, there is no recourse for your lost packages, but this will stop it from happening again.
stainlessenginecovers
·1 year agoCollection boxes have been broken into and robbed since 1990's.
Late lesson to be learned, but NEVER use them for ANYTHING that can cost you $$.
bdmh-enterprises
·1 year agoI'm going to assume we're talking about eBay Standard Envelope here. ESE is 1st class letter mail, have you read the restrictions for this service?
Bubble mailers (or any non paper envelope) are NOT allowed to be used. Those will likely be returned to you OR sent postage due to the customer at Ground Advantage rates.
For the regular envelopes, if you used top loaders (or other stiffener), those are generally not flexible enough to go through the machines. These will likely be put as non-machinable letters and delivered (with much delay), possibly with postage due for the NM surcharge. Occasionally they will get RTS'd.
ESE are only scanned by machine as they are sorted. They use the Intelligent Mail Barcode to "track" when the letter passes through the machines and send that data to the barcode's 'owner'. The ESUS# is NOT a USPS tracking number, it is an eBay # for internal tracking linked to the IMB data. The USPS can NOT search for or find these items.
USPS also does NOT handle the insurance on ESE, that is done by eBay through their insurer PIP. The insurance is very good, quick and simple. Unfortunately you will need to have at least one scan on the item to be covered.
I would NOT contact or refund buyers until they make a claim or send messages. Some of these may in fact make their way to the buyers just fine. If any of them end up getting a scan but not delivered, you will need the buyer to file an INR for the insurance.
hattmolt
OP1 year agoThank you for the detailed response — I really appreciate you taking the time to share this information.
Yes, I’m fully aware of the service restrictions around eBay Standard Envelope. In this situation, however, I’m referring to two types of shipments:
1. eBay Standard Envelopes (lightweight cards shipped via ESE; <$20 in total value), and
2. Bubble mailers sent using USPS Ground Advantage for higher-value orders (>$20 in total value).
Unfortunately, despite following proper procedures (including using the correct packaging and postage for each class), none of the packages from my June 18–19 drop-off were scanned or accepted into the USPS system. This affected both ESE and USPS shipments, which were dropped off at the same blue collection box.
As we approached one month without any resolution or movement, I made the difficult decision to initiate refunds for all affected buyers — especially as eBay began closing INR cases in favor of buyers and withdrawing funds from my account. I received negative feedback from one customer, but everyone else was kind, patient, and receptive of the situation.
Before doing so, I filed PIP insurance claims through eBay for the Standard Envelope shipments, and I’m happy to report that those were reimbursed quickly.
For the bubble mailer shipments, I submitted missing mail requests and insurance claims through USPS, but those have been denied initially due to lack of scan data. However, I’m currently working with a USPS Customer Relations Coordinator here in Knoxville. She’s been helpful and has advised me to appeal every denial, stating: “The final appeal gets special attention from employees at headquarters and not simply blanket denials from the claims department in St. Louis.â€
While I hope some packages may still eventually make it to their destinations, I didn’t feel it was right to leave buyers hanging any longer. I'm doing my best to resolve this from every angle and ensure my customers are taken care of.
Thanks again for the thoughtful input — I really value the support and shared experience from this community.
carlmarxx
·1 year agoSorry this all happened to to you . Glad to hear to hear the ESE shipping insurance claims got paid to you. As I said my other post you aren't the seller that has posted on boards about ESE shipping Issues . eBay's motto is : when sellers report issues with a shipping carrier and service that is impacting them and their buyers . Then it is time to find a another shipping carrier to use .
carlmarxx
·1 year agoI have read a lot threads from sellers having issues with USPS over ESE lately . that it not worth risk to use and look to another shipping carrier . I know other sellers are talking about using Pirate shipping ..
lesegouts
·1 year agoMy post office told me there has been a lot of theft from the blue USPS receptacles, through the mail slot.
dogofwar777
·1 year agoThis is messed up! I hope you get it resolved and don't get messed over too bad. I'm so glad I stopped selling on here years ago. Too much nonsense now.
eastlaneave
·1 year ago@hattmolt
General best practice to stand in line to get your items scanned at the post office.
The post office will scan any Ground Advantage items, then you have proof of shipment.
eBay Standard Envelope is scanned by the machinery. You may want to drop those in the 'metered mail' slot.
For a lost eBay Standard Envelope sale, file a claim here
https://www.pip-claim.com/PIPClaim/eBayIntClaim/CreateeBayClaim
hattmolt
OP1 year agoThank you for the comment — I truly appreciate the general best practice recommendation. I’ve always used the collection box without issue until this incident, so this has definitely been a learning experience. Going forward, I’ll be make sure items are scanned in person. I’ll proceed with filing claims through the provided link as well. Thanks again for taking the time to share this.