Buyer received my empty package.

[inhawaii]

Item shipped First Class Mail in a #2 ebay padded envelope arrived opened and empty with a USPS sticked  indicating  "this package was unsealed".

For those of you familiar with a ebay padded envelope, the are pretty secure when they are sealed. 

A) There was a mishap and the package was accidentally opened and the contents fell out?

-or-

B) A US postal worker decided to help himself to a $25 shirt. A early xmas present?

The customer has been fully refunded.

Another example of "just part of doing business" like getting scammed.

Have a great weekend everyone.

[a_c_green]

---

@inhawaii wrote:

Item shipped First Class Mail in a #2 ebay padded envelope arrived opened and empty with a USPS sticker  indicating  "this package was unsealed".

For those of you familiar with a ebay padded envelope, the are pretty secure when they are sealed. 

A) There was a mishap and the package was accidentally opened and the contents fell out?

---

Maybe it got squished hard enough to pop open at the end...? If the USPS put an Unsealed sticker on it then at least you know the buyer wasn't playing sillybuggers here. As for option B, no, the USPS has better things to do than rifle through squishy padded envelopes looking for clothing.

[buyselljack2016]

Lets go out more to the fringes on this.

The buyer got a hold of a pad of those "this package was unsealed" stickers, and uses them on a regular basis to get free stuff.

[inhawaii]

---

@a_c_green wrote:

---

@inhawaii wrote:

Item shipped First Class Mail in a #2 ebay padded envelope arrived opened and empty with a USPS sticker  indicating  "this package was unsealed".

For those of you familiar with a ebay padded envelope, the are pretty secure when they are sealed. 

A) There was a mishap and the package was accidentally opened and the contents fell out?

---

Maybe it got squished hard enough to pop open at the end...? If the USPS put an Unsealed sticker on it then at least you know the buyer wasn't playing sillybuggers here. As for option B, no, the USPS has better things to do than rifle through squishy padded envelopes looking for clothing.

---

Maybe i need to poke a hole in my padded envelopes ... like you do with a pie crust.   😉

[jayjaspersgarage]

"Maybe i need to poke a hole in my padded envelopes ... like you do with a pie crust. "

I actually do this with everything I ship in padded flat rate and regular bubble envelopes.  Looks like I am having apple pie for dessert tonight after I BBQ the steaks.

[lamber9347]

I say the answer is "B".

Even with all the millions of packages running down conveyor belts, going through machines, and being carted around in large containers, I just know that one employee saw this envelope and knew what to do.

They held it up to a "special light" that can see through padded envelopes, could tell that this shirt cost exactly $25, could tell that this shirt would fit perfectly the person they needed an early Christmas gift for, decided to open the package and take the shirt even though they know there are cameras up in their work space, then apply one of those unsealed stickers off the endless sticker role that is conveniently next to the conveyor belt.

I can see it all happening just like that, so yes it is option "B"....

[buyselljack2016]

Not all facilities along the way have cameras.

I suppose there are thieves in every occupation, but I can tell you that in 19+ years I never  took anyone's property, and more than one package came along that was not sealed well.

One occasion a guy was moving, and apparently just stuffed everything in large boxes. They did not travel well. Rips in the corners. Moving one around in the office a gold ring fell out. It was stuffed back in the hole, and taped up. Let the guy know when picking up so that he could look for that loose ring in the box.

[dbfolks166mt]

     More than likely option A. Regardless of how good the adhesive is on any package or envelope everything I ship is wrapped both length wise and width wise with duct tape. I also seal the ends of the packages with packing or duct tape so there are no open joints or seams anywhere on the box or package. 

     I started doing this after I had a similar situation as yours with a USPS box. I do not ship much first class but what I do I insure. However by the time you add insurance to the postage cost I can generally ship it in a padded flat rate envelope, which comes with insurance, for about the same price. 

[a_c_green]

---

@inhawaii wrote:

---

@a_c_green wrote:
Maybe it got squished hard enough to pop open at the end...? If the USPS put an Unsealed sticker on it then at least you know the buyer wasn't playing sillybuggers here. As for option B, no, the USPS has better things to do than rifle through squishy padded envelopes looking for clothing.

---

Maybe i need to poke a hole in my padded envelopes ... like you do with a pie crust.   😉

---

That's it exactly. I always ship my items sealed in a ZipLok bag with the packing slip, and I always burp the air completely out when closing it so that the contents aren't free to tumble around inside. Don't leave trapped air in the package, because the stuff inside then has room to rattle around, and it can indeed pop like a balloon if there's trapped air inside that can push its way out.

[postingid7659]

I bought a package from a major retailer in July that arrived empty with one end unsealed.  

USPS stamp had three options, for received damaged, missing contents, and I forget the third thing, but all of them had been checked.   There was no sticker on it like OP describes.  

FWIW I called retailer and explained and they replaced no issue.  It looks like their worker made a mistake when packing the items, but I don't understand how it made it out of their warehouse that way, the end of the package was completely open. 

[bigdeals.etc]

I’d ask the buyer for a photo of the entire packaging including close ups of significant areas if possible. I’d tell them those photos are needed for me to file an insurance claim that totally doesn’t affect your full refund to them. Just to try and see what actually happened.

If the bag and everything looks brand new and untampered, I’d start to get suspicious. Either that or think maybe you forgot to pull the strip under the adhesive to stick… but I doubt anyone would accidentally do this.

@lamber9347  I dunno about eBay padded, but I know the USPS padded priority is translucent enough for you to see thru if you look closely and into the light.

@dbfolks166mt  FYI, make sure you don’t use duct tape or any other foreign adhesives when you ship any type of flat rate. USPS states that nothing can be used to secure the flat rate package other than the package itself. I’m sure many have done it and luckily passed. But the package can easily get denied and charged additional fees.

[zero29zero]

gotta watch those ebay padded envelopes, I got a batch that had very uneven seals at the sides

one side had a very wide seal and the other was barely sealed, could open it with a light pull

Check these envelopes before shipping, they can be defective, might have been what happened here, I lost an item that way before noticing the envelope seals

[sextons-sweet-deals]

did buyer provide photos of the USPS marking on package?

I would also think about contacting the USPS and ask them about this package history with tracking number.

[stuff4divas]

@inhawaii 

the ebay padded envelopes have double seals, the 2nd in case of a return, were both strips still there?

if it was sealed, the strip would have stuck to the envelope or there would be some glue/wrinkling showing it was sealed, then opened

was either one the case, or was it clean with the silver strip still on the glue strip?

can you make an insurance claim? auto insured priority

[coolections]

Insurance is your friend. No scam because USPS already indicated knowledge of opened package. Easy win.