Help!!

[trita6]

So I just shipped a medium flat rate priority USPS box from illinios to cali. I paid the postage fee and slapped that label on the package. The item is a pair of jeans and the box weighs less than 2 pounds.  The buyer got a notice that he needs to pay $25 even though the item he bought was free shipping.  If you want me to explain some more just ask but what do I do?

[trita6]

Alright, I call his post office and they said it was because I used express ;/. **bleep**. Well anyways now I just want to know how do I pay the fee because they didnt send anything to me just the buyer even though it's a free shipping package, so it should send to me, right?

[mam98031]

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@trita6 wrote:

Alright, I call his post office and they said it was because I used express ;/. **bleep**. Well anyways now I just want to know how do I pay the fee because they didnt send anything to me just the buyer even though it's a free shipping package, so it should send to me, right?

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Whoops!!!  You can ask your buyer to pay it and you should send them $25 via PayPal.  You can do that via a personal transfer so you buyer does not experience a fee with PP.  But before doing that, ask your buyer if that is OK with them.  You could send the money BEFORE the buyer paid USPS to make them feel better about it, but again, talk to your buyer first.

[pelqel]

No. What USPS does is hold the package until the buyer pays the difference in shipping-cost. If USPS has verified that indeed you used an Express box, what I would do is re-imburse the buyer the 25 with a major ass-kissing apology, and chalk it up as a learning-experience. As another commentator mentioned, for clothing you can use a padded flat-rate envelope- or even a Tyvek envelope- at a MUCH lower shipping cost (for future sales).

[Anonymous]

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@trita6 wrote:

Alright, I call his post office and they said it was because I used express ;/. **bleep**. Well anyways now I just want to know how do I pay the fee because they didnt send anything to me just the buyer even though it's a free shipping package, so it should send to me, right?

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Express boxes have blue stripes while Priority boxes have red stripes. This is a lesson learned the hard way, but you already got some great tips on more affordable shipping methods for the future. Order a few supplies from usps.com so you have them ready next time you need them.

Send the buyer funds through PayPal friends & family and send confirmation of the transaction in an eBay message so there's a record of it.

[varebelrose]

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...you should send them $25 via PayPal.  You can do that via a personal transfer ...

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Just curious how exactly you would be able to find their information on PP to even be able to send them money. PP hides all the email addresses now. I guess you could do it through a refund on the original transaction, if the amount exceeded $25. I recently wanted to send a seller some extra $ (they sent me a part at no charge that I didnt realize I needed to order to go with something else).... there is now no way to see the email address of whoever you are doing business with on PP. And we know what happens if you ask for contact info through eBay messages...

ymmv.

[Anonymous]

Post shipping and payment eBay allows you to exchange contact information with the buyer relating to the original sale. You can also find the buyer's e-mail on eBay on the view record page for 14 days after a transaction.

[beez5720]

You placed the item in an EXPRESS box, not a Priority Mail box. USPS is VERY particular about the type of packaging and the appropriate labels. Two pounds should have gone regular Priority Mail, it would have been less than $11.

[myescape]

Buyer's email is available in the ebay sales record of purchased item for 45 days

[mam98031]

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@varebelrose wrote:

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...you should send them $25 via PayPal.  You can do that via a personal transfer ...

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Just curious how exactly you would be able to find their information on PP to even be able to send them money. PP hides all the email addresses now. I guess you could do it through a refund on the original transaction, if the amount exceeded $25. I recently wanted to send a seller some extra $ (they sent me a part at no charge that I didnt realize I needed to order to go with something else).... there is now no way to see the email address of whoever you are doing business with on PP. And we know what happens if you ask for contact info through eBay messages...

ymmv.

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@varebelrose 

You can actually get their email address in your Seller Hub on the Manage All orders page.

[sin-n-dex]

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@varebelrose wrote:

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...you should send them $25 via PayPal.  You can do that via a personal transfer ...

---

Just curious how exactly you would be able to find their information on PP to even be able to send them money. PP hides all the email addresses now. I guess you could do it through a refund on the original transaction, if the amount exceeded $25. I recently wanted to send a seller some extra $ (they sent me a part at no charge that I didnt realize I needed to order to go with something else).... there is now no way to see the email address of whoever you are doing business with on PP. And we know what happens if you ask for contact info through eBay messages...

ymmv.

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Unless it changed, when you hit "refund" it shows their email address associated with their Paypal Acct.

C.

[berserkerplanet]

>> I paid the postage fee and slapped that label on the package

I'm still curious why USPS APV didn't catch this and why it ended up postage due.

OP's verbiage makes it unclear if it was an online label, although it sounds like it, but I thought USPS folks were told to stand down and let APV handle these occurrences.

They would have to defer from collecting postage due since there is no immediate way for a mail carrier to know if any particular package had been flagged by APV with the sender billed (or soon to be billed) for the underpayment, and they could easily nail a package twice for underpayment if they collect postage due also. Although could be that the postage due collection goes into the system as an event that voids an existing APV underpayment charge before it hits the sender.

[beardedbovine]

Obviously not purchased at the counter or the clerk would (should) have caught that it was an Express box. My guess is it was a SSK purchase. Does anybody know if the APV system works when you purchase from the self-service kiosks in the PO? I'm betting that's how it got through.

[berserkerplanet]

Ah. Unknown. Depends on whether USPS considers SSK postage to be "PC Postage" since that's what APV applies to.

I'd suspect they do, and they have every reason to include it because it could turn into a postage pirate loophole, but maybe it was overlooked for inclusion in APV for now.

There are a couple of points regarding SSK postage/labels that differ:
1. Postage is paid via credit card, so it's not the same thing as PC Postage where PayPal, Endicia, etc are the postage providers and handle the upcharges for USPS, But APV applies to Click-N-Ship where a credit card is also used, and appear to have no problem adding the upcharges on to the credit card on the account.
2. At least theoretically the pkg weight is correct, although the dimensions and packaging can't be checked. (then again, I could tie a helium balloon to the pkg while weighing it, or use a suction cup to pull up the scale platen while weighing and try to cheat the system that way if not being checked by APV downstream.

TLDNR: I dunno.

[trita6]

The priority mailbox has 2 sides. 1 side is regular and the other side is express. I tweaked and wasnt paying attention and accidently folded it so it was express. 

[mam98031]

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@trita6 wrote:

The priority mailbox has 2 sides. 1 side is regular and the other side is express. I tweaked and wasnt paying attention and accidently folded it so it was express. 

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Yes there are Priority Express boxes.  But now of course you know this.  

If you use them often enough you can order the appropriate boxes and envelopes from USPS directly from their website and get them delivered to your home.  You have to get lots of about 10 each.  But if you are going to use them in your business, bring in a supply from USPS.com.  That way you can make sure you have the proper boxes or envelopes to ship whatever it is you need to ship.  The supplies are free.