Flat rate padded envelopes not billed correctly to buyers

[pacountrygirl2020]

Late Dec 2024 (like a week ago) I created a listing indicating shipping via USPS Padded FLAT RATE envelope.

The list sold yesterday.  The buyer was charged $8.45. 
Today (01-09-25), using eBay labels, eBay charged me, the seller, $9.45! One dollar over the amount the buyer was charged FOR FLAT RATE MAILER!!!!

I called eBay customer service & was asked to give a weight & package dimensions (again, using a USPS padded FLAT RATE envelope???) at which point I was told eBay “ADJUSTS the flat rate according to where shipping location & package weight & dimensions”. …so what is the point of offering buyers flat rate options when there is no flat rate cost?

The rep suggested I purchase the postage at the post office & upload tracking if I there was a better price available!

So a buyer once again gets preferential treatment & the seller is taken advantage of. 

[monica-sells]

$9.45 is the current (commercial) rate for Padded Flat Rate Priority....

Do you have "Calculated Shipping" set as your option using Padded Flat Rate Mailer as the service?

or "Flat Rate" Shipping and you put the $8.45 in the cost box (an older price)

can you screenshot your listing page with the shipping options?

[lacemaker3]

The USPS made some changes in Sept. 2024, which affect the discounted rates that eBay has negotiated, but for only some zip codes.

Basically, for the affected zip codes only, there is no additional discount for eBay sellers; they have to pay the commercial discount rate instead. In effect, this means that "Flat rate" no longer means what it says, because some zip codes cost more than others for the same service. But, this did not count as a postage increase, because it was only reducing the discount, not actually increasing the price.

That is probably what happened in this case. More info and discussion:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/USPS-Rate-Changes-Effective-September-16-2024/ba-p/34661...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/USPS-has-another-Rate-Increase-as-of-Sept-16th-But-just-on-so...

[nobody*s_perfect]

But if the listing was set up with calculated shipping, then it should have factored-in the loss of the eBay discount for that buyer's ZIP Code, and charged the buyer the basic Commercial rate without the eBay discount.

[lacemaker3]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

But if the listing was set up with calculated shipping, then it should have factored-in the loss of the eBay discount for that buyer's ZIP Code, and charged the buyer the basic Commercial rate without the eBay discount.

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Yes, if the seller used calculated shipping and selected the appropriate flat rate option. However, if the seller used flat rate shipping and just input the discounted eBay rate, then they would have to pay the difference.

[dbfolks166mt]

     Your first mistake was contacting customer support. That support is basically useless these days and they will tell you what you want to hear to get you off the phone even if that includes lying to you. Flat rate is flat rate when it comes to USPS. Not sure what the original listing looks like but $9.45 is the current discounted rate for a USPS padded flat rate envelope. The full retail rate is $11.20 which is what you would have paid if you had followed CS's advice and purchased the postage at the PO and uploaded the tracking. 

     I believe this is the listing and the shipping does indeed show USPS padded flat rate envelope and an $8.45 shipping cost. It remains the same regardless of what zip code I change my location to. I used my zip code in Virginia as well as the zip code for Jarbidge, Nevada which is considered to be the most remote town in the continental 48 states and the buyer shipping cost remains the same. 

Using my VA zip code. 

Using Jarbidge Nevada zip code. 

[dbfolks166mt]

The USPS made some changes in Sept. 2024, which affect the discounted rates that eBay has negotiated, but for only some zip codes.

Basically, for the affected zip codes only, there is no additional discount for eBay sellers; they have to pay the commercial discount rate instead. In effect, this means that "Flat rate" no longer means what it says, because some zip codes cost more than others for the same service. But, this did not count as a postage increase, because it was only reducing the discount, not actually increasing the price.

That is probably what happened in this case. More info and discussion:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/USPS-Rate-Changes-Effective-September-16-2024/ba-p/34661...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/USPS-has-another-Rate-Increase-as-of-Sept-16th-But-just-on-so...

     So eBay neglected to update the shipping calculator on 16 September to incorporate the surcharge for the 18,000 zip codes that were effected? OP did not indicate where (zip code) the item shipped to but even if it was NOT a remote location the $8.45 presented to the buyer is still lower than the discounted rate for a padded flat rate envelope which is at $9.45. 

     Something else is missing here. 

[krazzykats]

The recent rural fee might explain it.  Certain zip codes have an extra fee. 

Only when you ship from or to the listed rural zip codes. 

I saw my calculated prices jump about $1.00 recently as I am in a rural zip code on the list.

USPS Rate Increase (Sept 16 2024) - based on zipcode...

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@dbfolks166mt wrote:

The USPS made some changes in Sept. 2024, which affect the discounted rates that eBay has negotiated, but for only some zip codes....So eBay neglected to update the shipping calculator on 16 September to incorporate the surcharge for the 18,000 zip codes that were effected? ...

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But if eBay's programming for the shipping calculator is truly to blame, then why haven't we been inundated with posts about this in the months since the policy went into effect?  I suspect that the seller entered a flat price for shipping, rather than setting up calculated shipping.

Also, technically it's not a surcharge but the removal of the extra discount that eBay labels get; the affected ZIP Codes pay the published Commercial rate which of course is discounted from the Retail rate.

[inhawaii]

Customers are billed for shipping based on how your listing is set up.

If your customers are being billed incorrectly, you have your listing set up wrong.

[gurlcat]

Great, so whether or not all of us who use FR padded envelopes should be concerned about this depends on whether the OP comes back and answers one very pertinent question ..... which they probably won't.  Great!

[wastingtime101]

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@gurlcat wrote:

Great, so whether or not all of us who use FR padded envelopes should be concerned about this depends on whether the OP comes back and answers one very pertinent question ..... which they probably won't.  Great!

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You should not be concerned if your listing is set up correctly @gurlcat .

I can go to the original poster's listing, change my ship-to zip to one of the "rural" ones, and see the same $8.45 rate because the seller set it up with a flat ship cost. If they used calculated shipping I would see the accurate rate.

It's not a problem with eBay's calculator, just a seller that's not informed about how discounted merchant rates work. I'd say a huge portion of sellers probably fall into that category which is why I usually encourage new and/or low volume sellers to use calculated shipping.

I'm not even sure where they got the $8.45 rate from. Possibly a typo?

$9.45 is the eBay discounted rate

$9.80 is the standard commercial discounted rate (also used for "rural" zips)

Before the holiday surcharge went into effect the eBay discounted rate was $8.95

Seller needs to use calculated shipping, then choose padded flat rate envelope. Problem avoided.

That said, I'll add a tip for the seller here. Hi @pacountrygirl2020 - in case you follow the advice to use calculated shipping there is an important factor you should consider.

The question is whether you want to charge buyers retail rates or discounted rates. Keep in mind that you have access to discounted rates when you purchase labels on eBay regardless of how much you charge the buyer.

The setting to offer buyers discounted rates can be found on your shipping preferences page under the carrier specific discounts setting: https://www.ebay.com/ship/prf

Since eBay charges a fee on total cost buyer pays (item + ship + tax), by charging discounted rates you are losing money on every single package. If you want to make up for that you can add a handling fee or increase your item costs - or simply charge retail rates for a built in cushion instead of passing on the discounts.

[buyselljack2016]

I suspect that the 1st reply hit the nail on the head. Shipping policy of $8.45.

I'm not checking 760 items, but the 1st page of the seller's listings has another showing $8.45.

[onefootflipper1]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

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@dbfolks166mt wrote:

The USPS made some changes in Sept. 2024, which affect the discounted rates that eBay has negotiated, but for only some zip codes....So eBay neglected to update the shipping calculator on 16 September to incorporate the surcharge for the 18,000 zip codes that were effected? ...

---

But if eBay's programming for the shipping calculator is truly to blame, then why haven't we been inundated with posts about this in the months since the policy went into effect?  I suspect that the seller entered a flat price for shipping, rather than setting up calculated shipping.

Also, technically it's not a surcharge but the removal of the extra discount that eBay labels get; the affected ZIP Codes pay the published Commercial rate which of course is discounted from the Retail rate.

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Because the overwhelming majority of sellers no longer use priority mail in any form. At some point last spring the ground advantage prices changed and that basically made priority mail an obsolete service for those that didn't like lighting money on fire. I haven't used it a single time since then.

[wastingtime101]

Added context regarding my post above @pacountrygirl2020 that discusses discounted rates, handling fees, etc.

You charged the buyer a flat cost of $8.45 (which I assume was a typo)

You paid $1.12 in eBay fees on that $8.45

You lost an additional $1.00 on the actual label because you set an incorrect flat cost

Your loss on shipping was $2.12 - it would be higher for packing materials if you weren't using a free envelope from USPS, and it would be higher if the buyer was in a lower population zip where the shipping discount is less.

Hope that helps. If you have other questions on adjusting your current listings, come back and ask.

Edit to add: I just saw the original screenshot and the same package cost $7.18 weighted Priority - so why do you want to use Flat Rate? Just use a regular box or bubble envelope and ship weighted instead of flat rate. It's the same level of service so there's no issue making the switch, and you'll make up for under-charging the buyer. Although your dimensions entered were 7x7x2 so the rate may change when you enter accurate dimensions, but you may find it's still less costly to ship weighted Priority than flat rate Priority. Worth checking.