eBay

southern*sweet*tea · ‎07-14-2017

Dear Stamps.com customer,

Starting August 1, 2017 the USPS plans to change the way that they handle under-paid and over-paid postage amounts for packages by implementing a new “Automated Package Verification” (APV) system.

Under the current system:

Under-paid packages are either rejected by the USPS or delivered “postage due” to the recipient. This causes either late deliveries or a bad customer experience.
Nothing is done to handle over-paid packages. Shippers lose whatever amount they have overpaid.

Under the planned APV system:

Identified under-paid packages will be delivered without delay, and the shipper’s account balance will be deducted for the amount of under-paid postage.
When over-paid packages are identified, the shipper’s account balance will be credited for the amount of over-paid postage.

Stamps.com is being updated to support this new APV system. Once APV goes into effect on August 1, 2017, we will be able to process USPS-issued debits and credits for under-paid and over-paid postage to your account balance. You will be able to view APV adjustment details in both the History and Reports pages. To dispute an adjustment, you will need to email VerifyPostageHelp@usps.gov with the package information and the adjustment reference.

To learn more about the APV program, simply visit our Support Center or contact the USPS by emailing VerifyPostageHelp@usps.gov.

*******************************************************

Just another in a long line of reasons to use stamps.com for your shipping needs.

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

southern*sweet*tea · ‎07-15-2017

@scstool wrote:
SST,
My take on it is that it is something that will get pushed on Ebay by the USPS and competitive factors.

I don't have the figures to back it up, but I thought Ebay does more sales volume than Stamps.Com and Endicia. Maybe I am incorrectly assuming that most Ebay sellers use Ebay shipping?

I really don't know. I just can't see Ebay/Paypal taking on something that could lose them money. I know many sellers here - myself included - will add an extra ounce to FC packages, just in case. I just can't see Ebay/Paypal voluntarily refunding even a few pennies unless forced to do so.

But I CAN see it being forced on them by the USPS because of all the sellers that abuse postage. That said, Ebay sellers certainly aren't the only ones that abuse postage.

I guess we'll find out soon enough lol

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

southern*sweet*tea · ‎07-15-2017

@luckythewinner wrote:
@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
Just another in a long line of reasons to use stamps.com for your shipping needs.
.. or to simply invest in a good scale and weigh your packages accurately 🙂

I have an excellent scale 🙂

I just don't want to use Ebay/Paypal for shipping because I can use stamps.com for ALL my shipping here and elsewhere. Makes things a lot easier.

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

*eponymous* · ‎07-15-2017

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
@scstool wrote:
I think the concept is a great idea. It won't happen, but it would be nice if the overall effect was lower shipping costs after weeding out the cheaters.

Unfortunately this looks like it would take a fairly large SW effort from Ebay to implement and their track record is not very good on SW implementation. If they have a working system to support the APV by Oct 30 I'll eat a PFRE. Wait, make that a SFRB, I'm trying to cut down on plastics.
I doubt Ebay and Paypal are going to implement something like that. Stamps.com, Endicia...yeah, I can see them doing it. Their business is selling postage. Ebay and Paypal, not so much.

I remember something about this on the weekly chat maybe a year or so ago. eBay is the account holder with USPS so eBay will be charged - and will pass that on to the seller. That's what I recall, anyway.

etsy, amzn, shipping services, big retail, etc. all use accounts to charge for postage so it seems everyone who sells epostage will be involved.

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. ~ Anais Nin

partial*eclipse · ‎07-15-2017

Does stamps.com charge you the Commercial Base rate for Priority Mail or the Commercial Plus rate? As a Top-rated seller, you'd pay the Commercial plus rate for postage purchased through eBay, it's 3% cheaper than Commercial Base (which is the regular online rate).

This postage initiative is through USPS, not stamps.com. It will affect all online postage.

*eponymous* · ‎07-15-2017

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
Dear Stamps.com customer,

Starting August 1, 2017 the USPS plans to change the way that they handle under-paid and over-paid postage amounts for packages by implementing a new “Automated Package Verification” (APV) system.

Under the current system:
Under-paid packages are either rejected by the USPS or delivered “postage due” to the recipient. This causes either late deliveries or a bad customer experience.
Nothing is done to handle over-paid packages. Shippers lose whatever amount they have overpaid.
Under the planned APV system:
Identified under-paid packages will be delivered without delay, and the shipper’s account balance will be deducted for the amount of under-paid postage.
When over-paid packages are identified, the shipper’s account balance will be credited for the amount of over-paid postage.
Stamps.com is being updated to support this new APV system. Once APV goes into effect on August 1, 2017, we will be able to process USPS-issued debits and credits for under-paid and over-paid postage to your account balance. You will be able to view APV adjustment details in both the History and Reports pages. To dispute an adjustment, you will need to email VerifyPostageHelp@usps.gov with the package information and the adjustment reference.

To learn more about the APV program, simply visit our Support Center or contact the USPS by emailing VerifyPostageHelp@usps.gov.
*******************************************************

Just another in a long line of reasons to use stamps.com for your shipping needs.

The first thread on the topic was posted here on the Selling board yesterday. http://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/USPS-Automated-Package-Verification-APV-Program/m-p/27220564

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. ~ Anais Nin

southern*sweet*tea · ‎07-15-2017

@*eponymous* wrote:
@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
Dear Stamps.com customer,

Starting August 1, 2017 the USPS plans to change the way that they handle under-paid and over-paid postage amounts for packages by implementing a new “Automated Package Verification” (APV) system.

Under the current system:
Under-paid packages are either rejected by the USPS or delivered “postage due” to the recipient. This causes either late deliveries or a bad customer experience.
Nothing is done to handle over-paid packages. Shippers lose whatever amount they have overpaid.
Under the planned APV system:
Identified under-paid packages will be delivered without delay, and the shipper’s account balance will be deducted for the amount of under-paid postage.
When over-paid packages are identified, the shipper’s account balance will be credited for the amount of over-paid postage.
Stamps.com is being updated to support this new APV system. Once APV goes into effect on August 1, 2017, we will be able to process USPS-issued debits and credits for under-paid and over-paid postage to your account balance. You will be able to view APV adjustment details in both the History and Reports pages. To dispute an adjustment, you will need to email VerifyPostageHelp@usps.gov with the package information and the adjustment reference.

To learn more about the APV program, simply visit our Support Center or contact the USPS by emailing VerifyPostageHelp@usps.gov.
*******************************************************

Just another in a long line of reasons to use stamps.com for your shipping needs.
The first thread on the topic was posted here on the Selling board yesterday. http://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/USPS-Automated-Package-Verification-APV-Program/m-p/27220564

That thread started yesterday 07-14-2017 12:56:00 PM

This thread started yesterday 07-14-2017 11:15:05 AM

So....who's on first?

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

southern*sweet*tea · ‎07-15-2017

@partial*eclipse wrote:
Does stamps.com charge you the Commercial Base rate for Priority Mail or the Commercial Plus rate? As a Top-rated seller, you'd pay the Commercial plus rate for postage purchased through eBay, it's 3% cheaper than Commercial Base (which is the regular online rate).

This postage initiative is through USPS, not stamps.com. It will affect all online postage.

Regular ComBase

ComPlus doesn't apply to FCM or Media, which is the vast majority of my shipping. I print labels as sales come in and can print up a SCAN sheet at the end of the day. Can't do that with Ebay/Paypal.

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

the_fancy_fox · ‎07-15-2017

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
@scstool wrote:
SST,
My take on it is that it is something that will get pushed on Ebay by the USPS and competitive factors.

I don't have the figures to back it up, but I thought Ebay does more sales volume than Stamps.Com and Endicia. Maybe I am incorrectly assuming that most Ebay sellers use Ebay shipping?
I really don't know. I just can't see Ebay/Paypal taking on something that could lose them money. I know many sellers here - myself included - will add an extra ounce to FC packages, just in case. I just can't see Ebay/Paypal voluntarily refunding even a few pennies unless forced to do so.

But I CAN see it being forced on them by the USPS because of all the sellers that abuse postage. That said, Ebay sellers certainly aren't the only ones that abuse postage.

I guess we'll find out soon enough lol

I too add an extra ounce for assurance sometime. Should eBay decide to bill the shortage and skim off the excess, the amount they'd would be taking could equal the cost of an outside postage provider. If I can figure that out, I am sure many more sellers will.

The Race is over
The Rats won.

llllady · ‎07-15-2017

@luckythewinner wrote:
@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
Just another in a long line of reasons to use stamps.com for your shipping needs.
.. or to simply invest in a good scale and weigh your packages accurately 🙂

Of course, but I have had a couple of large envelopes returned with postage due from my own post office. I was confident my scale was correct, and took them to the post office in the next town, and sure enough, they were posted correctly. Obviously this was a problem at my post office, and that is what makes this kind of scary. Once that package is out of your hands, you will have no proof of what the actual weight was.

The USPS is not infallible.

“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent” ― Madeleine K. Albright

Great! 45.8% down over the same time last year with 2x+ items listed. Are you impressed? I'm certainly not!

retrose1 · ‎07-16-2017

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
@luckythewinner wrote:
@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
Just another in a long line of reasons to use stamps.com for your shipping needs.
.. or to simply invest in a good scale and weigh your packages accurately 🙂
I have an excellent scale 🙂
I just don't want to use Ebay/Paypal for shipping because I can use stamps.com for ALL my shipping here and elsewhere. Makes things a lot easier.

That notice has zero to do with the workings of ebay/stamps/endica, or anyplace that has to do with where you buy your shipping label - this is the PO's effort to put a stop to the rampant postal fee rip off that is going on through the online purchases.

The postage increases have been made so the PO can upgrade their system so that sorting will be more automated and that every piece of information will be on the barcode. That bar code will have the place you purchased the postage from and the account that bought it, weight and the to/from address, Used to be that the sorting was haphazard and if something was off, it was handled by hand, now everything will be taken care of by the computers and laser scanners automatically. They will read the bar code while weighing the package and if it is off, then the company the postage was purchased through will be notified that xx account owes money and will bill the company - who should in turn will bill xx account. It will alll be just as automatic on the PO's side as the seller hitting the print button and the label comes off your printer and the tracking gets posted.

Now the real question is - if you have ever had problems with scanning or label printing, how much do you trust the automated system to get it right when it comes to your money. And do you trust the company you are purchasing from to not squeeze a few extra bucks out of users in 'glitches'.

I see this as opening the floodgates for scammers as many people will just print postage for a dollar for everything and hope that the scanners don't catch half of them since the PO will just dump them all into the system and not pay personal time to check them, like what happens at my PO now. But it will make scammers easier to punish as the PO will be able shut down accounts of people who are reported to them repeatedly for committing fraud.

(*Bleep*)

retrose1 · ‎07-16-2017

I buy my postage at the counter - they can accomodate ALL my shipping needs and I can honestly say that I can count on one hand any problems in the over 10 years of shipping ebay transactions.

I don't have trouble printing, my scans all come through, my items are delivered and there are no glitches with wrong weight.

(*Bleep*)

lookng2015 · ‎07-16-2017

I do have to wonder why they changed the name of this program.

"If a product doesn't sell, raise the price" - Reese Palley
"If it sold FAST, it was priced too low" - also Reese Palley

omgitlightsup · ‎07-16-2017

Basically... it hurts people who were doing it right in the first place.

If you own and know how to use a postage scale, you'll never have over- or underpaid packages.

But if you suck at weighing things, you will now no longer suffer from "bad buyer experiences" or wasted postage.

You'll still have to weigh your packages. You just don't have to do it correctly anymore. So you now have one less way to stand out above other sellers.

readabouthorses · ‎07-16-2017

@lookng2015 wrote:
I do have to wonder why they changed the name of this program.

I wondered that as well. At first I thought it was another new program but reading through the stamps email it sounded like the Revenue Assurance Program.

I've sent an email to Nate who posted on that weekly chat last October to see if we can get someone from the Ebay Shipping to give us some updates on this.

If this is truly starting on August 1 that is not very far away and I've got questions about this I'd like to get answered.

books...forthememories · ‎07-16-2017

@luckythewinner wrote:
@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
Just another in a long line of reasons to use stamps.com for your shipping needs.
.. or to simply invest in a good scale and weigh your packages accurately 🙂

We've always done both of the above.

And none of our buyers has ever had to pay "postage due."