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USPS Padded Flat Rate Envelope Option Not Available?
Im unable to select the padded flat rate option, ive tried different dimensions to try to trigger it but nothing is working, any advice?
44 comments
markgalea1
·1 year agoI am currently having the same problem. 90% of my items work best for me when using USPS padded envelopes. That flat rate is no longer an option for me to use. After 2 hours on the telephone with eBay, they said that they discontinued that option. I don't know if I believe that. I found no news about this from any announcement officially made by them.
Are you still having the same problem with as me?
Dr. Mark
wastingtime101
·1 year agoI understand a CS rep's need to get a customer off the phone after 2 hours (!), but discontinued?! Obviously that's not true. Please have call reviewed @kyle@ebay in case that rep needs coaching.
As for your problem @markgalea1 , this should be easily solved by making sure your package dimensions do not exceed the padded flat rate envelope dimensions. If that does not solve it, start a new thread with a screenshot. Old threads tend to be locked due to outdated info.
When package dimensions entered on the listing form exceed eBay's programmed dimensions, eBay will not show you those shipping options when setting up your listing. To access these services, enter the following package dimensions:
kh-adrian
·1 year 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.
auntieaunnie
·3 years agoI lost my USPS flat rate padded envelope option but got it back after I put in 12x9x1 in that exact order. Thanks for the help here otherwise I would've never known how to fix this.
rostone-85
·3 years agoI figured out if you are on desktop and go to domestic shipping click add Service and type in the Find a Shipping Service search bar “USPS†it will appear with all the flat rate options. I don’t know what’s with the dimensions on the flat rates I ship most of my clothes in them and they pretty much all exceed 1†in thickness. I hope i don’t get charged back now but I’ve never had a problem before with eBay or post office.
stainlessenginecovers
·3 years agoAre we talking about when "purchasing a label" or "setting up a listing"????
nancyarmstrong22
·3 years agoI'm having this issue as well, so I did change it to the recommended dimensions and it did bring up the padded flat rate on the one listing I went into. So my question is do I need to go in and change all of my listings manually now and then when the item sells, change the dimensions again since nothing is one inch thick that I send by padded flat rate. Is this just a temporary glitch?
wastingtime101
·3 years ago1. If you look at the live listing and see padded flat rate then it should be fine. I think it's just setting up new listings where you'll run into the issue. Although if you edit old listings I would double-check that padded flat rate didn't disappear from the shipping options before you save changes.
2. When you buy the label you don't have to change dimensions to account for packages thicker than 1". It's flat rate packaging so it doesn't matter whether the padded envelope is 1" or 5" thick when full.
3. It appears to be an intentional design change from what was said above. I anticipate it's going to create a lot of problems. There have been hundreds of sellers having the problem with Small Flat Rate Box since last year. Padded Flat Rate Envelope must be the latest change.
nancyarmstrong22
·3 years agoThe padded flat rate envelope is now showing that one inch is the maximum width, but the actual USPS envelopes do not have that printed on them. Most clothing I put in them are either 3 or 4 inches in width. I hope this will not cause problems with the shipping.
nobody*s_perfect
·3 years agoUSPS issued one of its more amusing memos about this very topic, pointing out that "There is currently no maximum thickness for a FRE. “Flat†refers to the price, not to the shape.":
https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2016/pb22435/html/updt_002.htm
fern*wood
·3 years agoWhy would eBay start requiring dimensions for flat rate? Anyone have any confidence about them adding cubic rate to the flow? I don’t know how new sellers can figure out what to do. It’s getting hard for me and I’ve shipped thousands of packages.
nobody*s_perfect
·3 years agoBecause the programmers are incompetent?
buyselljack2016
·3 years agoPossibly to streamline the choices by actual size packaging that the item would ship in.
eBay added dimension restrictions last year with the "small flat rate" box causing some distress.
This of course is worse because they don't even have it close to correct for how thick that padded FRE can be.
Someone need to ship the "shipping team" a padded flat rate with a grapefruit inside, so that they have an example to go from when writing/coding policy.
nobody*s_perfect
·3 years agoAnd they didn't learn from that.
Please let sellers decide for themselves whether their item will fit in a flat rate box or envelope. Even if the seller has initially entered a dimension that's bigger than the side of the FRB, many items can be adjusted or rearranged to fit. There's no benefit in eBay guessing what dimensions a seller should be able to enter in order to choose a FRB or FRE; that sort of over-specificity is unnecessary and is just asking for trouble and aggravation.
twogreatadventurers
·3 years agoIt is not showing up for me either. In some categories I am seeing medium & large flat rate boxes as options, while others I am only seeing normal priority and priority express (no flat rate options at all). Frustrating. Hope they get this fixed soon!
sapphire_studio
·3 years agoI wonder if they're having some glitches with their shipping options right now. I noticed yesterday when somebody bought multiple First Class items so the package weighed over a pound instead of reverting to priority like it usually does it reverted to Media Mail. This was a hair care product listed in the correct category so normally it should not let you even select a Media Mail shipping label option (right?). Anyway I just manually switched it to Priority... I just thought it was a really weird glitch.
nobody*s_perfect
·3 years agoSounds like when it realized the weight was too high for First Class, it just defaulted to the first shipping method on the list. But why would MM postage even be available for items listed in that category? eBay works in mysterious ways.
atsukdecke-0
·3 years agoI’m having same issues this morning.
I hope eBay fix this…
soukmarvel
·3 years agoI'm having the same issue. I use flat rate envelopes and padded flat rate for nearly all of my items and can no longer choose it via the app or on the desktop version despite trying to trigger it with changes to dimensions and on my items to sell similar its now disappeared as well. Huge inconvenience!! Had a very unhelpful chat session with eBay and just hoping it will get resolved....
nobody*s_perfect
·3 years agoAs a workaround, you could just set up a flat price for generic Priority Mail ,and enter the price for that envelope.
candd205
·3 years agoThat happened to me this morning as well. I solved it by starting a brand new listing, not a "sell similar".
opshop85
·3 years agoUnfortunately it's also now missing on all current active listings! I have hundreds of listings and I've gone in and pulled some random listings (jeans or shoes) that would be PFRE and all of those active listings are now missing their shipping cost.
monica-sells
·3 years agoodd...it shows up on my in both
custom size and carrier packaging options
4 lb. 0 ounces 13X9X2
You are expanding all your options...at the bottom of the screen
valevilla_9013
OP3 years agoon desktop or the app?