eBay and USPS tracking don't match

[kchessher]

Which one is actually correct? Both are the latest updates.

From USPS Informed Delivery...

From eBay tracking...

[monica-sells]

Both are correct. Informed Delivery was compiled and displayed/distributed before 12:07 a.m. apparently.

[wastingtime101]

Ignore the "Informed Delivery" link and instead enter the tracking number at USPS.com or click the tracking number link on the eBay tracking pop up which will take you to the current USPS tracking page - when you do that does the Jan 31st scan appear? It should.

[kchessher]

Entering the tracking number into USPS still shows the "Alert" as the last update. I already know eBay tracking inserts its own info since the expected delivery date update on the 28th keeps changing, even though it's all listed on the 28th update.

[mudshark61369]

@kchessher,

USPS tracking can be confusing. Both ebay's & USPS' Informed delivery have basically the same info, but informed delivery is slower to update. I think it only does it twice a day.  I do know my Informed notifications come in early in the morning, between 6 and 8am.

One thing you should know about informed delivery is that the Out For Delivery notice can be off. Those messages are sent when a package leaves a regional/sorting facility for your P.O..  However, If the truck from the regional facility to your P.O. is delayed getting to your P.O. The package photographed for that days deliveries may not go out until the next day. Some P.O.s will send out a truck to deliver Priority Mail that didn't arrive before your carrier left the P.O..

[kchessher]

Understood, but shouldn't entering the number into USPS tracking show the current status and match what eBay shows? Completely leaving Informed Delivery out of the equation.

[wastingtime101]

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@kchessher wrote:

Entering the tracking number into USPS still shows the "Alert" as the last update. 

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The most likely explanation is this issue is on USPS's side of things. It may be a tech error where the scan is showing internally with USPS but hasn't populated to the public-facing data, but because the scan exists, USPS is pushing it through to eBay through the API.

I wouldn't worry about it.

[kchessher]

@wastingtime3 

Easy for you to say since it isn't your money. 😂

What brought this on was the package bounced around Albuquerque for 4 days and as far as I can see it's still there.

And I'm not worried, just trying to understand why they don't match. Inquiring minds want to know.

[simba6]

The tracking direct from the shipper's site is the final word.

[wastingtime101]

With the MBG you have nothing to worry about; if the package doesn't arrive there are buyer protections. I'd say the same even if it was a $3k purchase on my own credit card.

USPS is having a lot of problems due to mismanagement and that includes packages taking longer to arrive and operational delays in specific regions. Right now I'm keeping an eye on an incoming package that's been sitting in San Antonio with no scans for 5 days.

That said, I haven't had a lost package in a long while.

Shipping is my area of expertise. The explanation in my last post about a USPS issue with not showing the scan on their website is the most likely cause of the mis-match.

[steady2304]

I have a similar issue. USPS website on the top. eBay tracking on the bottom. I tend to believe USPS website over eBay any day.

[kchessher]

So I won't be one of those people that posts an issue and then just disappear I'll update when the USPS website (NOT Informed Delivery) updates. So far it's still stuck on the alert and eBay still shows it processed through that facility and will be delivered today.

[kchessher]

Another oddity. How does eBay know it will be delivered today (as shown on their tracking info) when their last update was "processed through a USPS facility" almost 1,000 miles away?

[mudshark61369]

@kchessher,

"So I won't be one of those people that posts an issue and then just disappear I'll update when the USPS website (NOT Informed Delivery) updates. So far it's still stuck on the alert and eBay still shows it processed through that facility and will be delivered today".

Informed Delivery is an official USPS tracking service, but its greatest value is its day of delivery information and photos. Keep an eye on the tracking using the usps.com tracking site if you want. It may be quicker to update.

"Another oddity. How does eBay know it will be delivered today (as shown on their tracking info) when their last update was "processed through a USPS facility" almost 1,000 miles away"?

Do you mean the "Estimated delivery date updated to Sat, Feb. 1 notice"? 

If so that info was probably inserted on the 29th or 30th.  eBay's tracking information does not come directly from USPS or other shippers, it passes through their shipping partner Pitney Bowes site first, and that is probably where that update originated. It may have been inserted by P.B. after the 3 Processing at USPS Facility messages fro, the 29th- 30th showed up.

  Note, that in the USPS tracking you posted yesterday there is no Feb. 28th update. The red Alert, was not posted on the USPS site until 9:44pm on the 30th.  I had basically the same issue with a UPS tracking number for an ebay item bought on the 17th with an EDD of the 22nd.  For an item originating in the same region on the S.W.. check the screenshot of the ebay tracking below and note the 2 updates.  The first one was right, the item did arrive on the 24th.

[kchessher]

Today both eBay and USPS are in sync with each other, which is what I usually see. I guess the moral of the story is pay no attention to either for tracking updates, you get your package whenever the delivery fairies deem you worthy.