cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping

First of all I am a retired USPS employee. I have used Regional Rate Boxes A & B for years, both through Usps.com click-n-ship but mostly purchasing postage through eBay’s shipping and label printing. Regional Rate Boxes are calculated according to where you ship from and where you are shipping to and generally are much cheaper than regular Priority Mail, though there are occasional exceptions depending on the weight of the item you are mailing. Regional A ( up to 15 pounds) and Regional B (up to 20 pounds) and can only be used purchasing postage ONLINE.....you can not pay for postage over the counter on these boxes! You can get these boxes shipped to you for free from USPS. I have called eBay customer support many many times about the same issue for quite a long time with no results....including speaking with a supervisor who offered to bring this to the attention of some weekly meeting coming up and would send me an email after the meeting telling me the results from the meeting.....I never received the email that was promised! This is my issue:

 

When you choose either Regional Rate A or B shipping service through eBay shipping you pay the exact same cost that you would pay if you purchased postage through USPS.com Click-N-Ship.....no eBay discount whatsoever! But eBay, for some reason tries to make their customers believe that they are getting a discount of $2.25 for these services and fabricates a beginning price by just adding the $2.25 to the actual price to ship it! The page tells you that ”buying on eBay you saved” anywhere from 19%-23%, whichever % it comes out to when adding the $2.25 to the actual price! If you click on the i with the circle around it next to the “buying on eBay you saved” at the bottom of the page it will show a completely fabricated beginning price and below it the price you actually pay, which of course is the actual price you would pay purchasing your label directly through Usps.com!!!! It drives me nuts every time I purchase postage through eBay for a Regional Rate Box, which is quite often, because it is absolutely NOT TRUE that we save anything at all for those shipping services! Any other USPS service we choose actually does give us a discount but NOT THE REGIONAL RATE ones!!!! You can see for yourself if you go to Usps.com postage calculator and put in the ship from and ship to and date and time of mailing and then click on “calculate price based on shape and size”, and on the next page put in weight of item and click on “package” and it will bring up every way you can mail that package to that zip code from your zip code. The Regional Rate Boxes price will be the exact same price that eBay charges (and tells you that you are getting a $2.25 discount), as long as your weight is up to 15 pounds for the Reg. A, and 20 pounds for the Reg. B! I have repeatedly told eBay that if USPS offers eBay customers no discount for Regional Rate Boxes, then so be it, but fabricating a beginning price to make us think we are getting a discount when we are not is fraudulent, no two ways about it!!!!! If USPS does indeed offer eBay customers a discount on Regional Rate then the beginning price should be the actual online price and the price we pay should be lower that the actual shipping price!!!!! Again, if USPS offers no discount to eBay for Regional Rate Boxes then they should just say so on the purchase postage page, but saying we do get a discount when we don’t drives me nuts! I would be perfectly happy if the purchase postage page said “sorry but no discount offered for this service” if that is the case. Correcting this one way or the other is all I have been after eBay to do for a long time and yet it is still saying we get a $2.25 discount! It’s hard to believe that I am the only person who finds issue with this!?! Am I?

 

Message 1 of 29
latest reply
28 REPLIES 28

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping

I use Endicia and receive the full Commercial Plus price. I don't waste my time with eBay shipping.

Message 2 of 29
latest reply

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping

I gave up trying to read part way through as there are no breaks in the text to help the elderly stay on track, but last I knew "regional rate A, and B" boxes were mailable purchasing postage at the retail window. Just cost more than online.

 

And yes, it is annoying that eBay tries to pass the "online" discount off as an 'eBay" discount.   Many here know it is not.  Been discussed(not cussed, not allowed here) here many timeswink

Message 3 of 29
latest reply

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping

Yes, most of us know the "you saved" is bologna, but I guess it looks good since it is cheaper than retail over the counter.  I thought all the "discounts" quoted are just the normal rates offered for on-line labels--unless they pass on the additional 3% for TRS. 

 

I also believe you can buy Regional Rate postage at the counter by paying a surcharge.

Message 4 of 29
latest reply

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping

Hi,
Sorry, about the long paragraph!

The Regional rate boxes are and always have been an online only service and postage can not be purchased at a retail window. I believe you are thinking about flat rate boxes which can be purchased cheaper online but can also be paid for retail as well. Again, I am a retired USPS employee so I am positive about it.

Thanks for your input! Much appreciated!

Janis
Message 5 of 29
latest reply

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping

Hi,

 

Thank you, I will check out Endicia, as the only savings through eBay shipping for the Regional Rate Boxes is the time of inputting the tracking number.

 

Thank you! I appreciate the advice!

 

Janis

Message 6 of 29
latest reply

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping

The $2.25 is not an eBay fabrication; it's a retail surcharge which  you would have to pay if you purchased postage for a Regional-rate box at the Post Office counter.  

 

The postage costs for Click N Ship are otherwise all the retail prices, but apparently the programmers for Cick N Ship forgot to include this surcharge.  For once, the eBay programmers are in the right: It's a unique case of being able to get the online rate for Click N Ship labels, rather than an error in eBay's program.

 

You can see this $2.25 surcharge if you look up the Regional-box prices in Notice 123, then scroll down to footnote 1 on that page.

 

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#_c078

Message 7 of 29
latest reply

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping


@whatmodernwas wrote:

I use Endicia and receive the full Commercial Plus price. I don't waste my time with eBay shipping.


For the Regional boxes, there is only one rate for both Commercial Base and Commercial Plus. You'd pay the same rate as on eBay or Click N Ship, though $2.25 less than you'd pay at the retail counter.

 

Regional rates 2018.png

 

 

 

Message 8 of 29
latest reply

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping


@goingpostaljanis wrote: ... The Regional rate boxes are and always have been an online only service and postage can not be purchased at a retail window. I... 

When the Regional boxes were first introduced, they were online only. But for several years, it has been possible to purchase postage for them over-the-counter.  Customers pay a surcharge which currently is $2.25 for all zones.

Message 9 of 29
latest reply

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping


@goingpostaljanis wrote:
Hi,
Sorry, about the long paragraph!

The Regional rate boxes are and always have been an online only service and postage can not be purchased at a retail window. I believe you are thinking about flat rate boxes which can be purchased cheaper online but can also be paid for retail as well. Again, I am a retired USPS employee so I am positive about it.

Thanks for your input! Much appreciated!

Janis

As mentioned, there is a surcharge for buying Reg A/B at the retail counter.  This is from the USPS site:

 

"Regional Rate Boxes paid at retail are charged a fee based on zone (1-4 or 5-9), in addition to the applicable Commercial Base or Commercial Plus postage"

 

Sine you are a retired USPS employee, I'm sure you can more quickly find the current fees than I was.  I did find what they were as of 2016.  For regions 1-4 the surcharge was $1.00 and for other zones 5-9, it was $2.25.   I'm pretty sure that is the same thing ebay does for all the discounts they want us to feel they are giving us when they are just showing how much cheaper it is buy postage online versus paying retail.

Message 10 of 29
latest reply

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping

Sorry, I am wayyy slow looking this stuff up in the USPS website.  I missed the new rates so thanks for posting.

Message 11 of 29
latest reply

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping

Again, I am a retired USPS employee so I am positive about it.

 

Obviously, being a former (or even current) USPS employee does not guarantee correct knowledge of all things USPS.

 

Do you know what the Domestic Mail Manual is?  If so, look up the rates on Regional Rate Boxes and what the retail counter rates are.

 

If you don't know what the DMM is, here is the link that shows that RRA and RRB can be paid for at the retail counter:

 

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/123.htm

 

 

Message 12 of 29
latest reply

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping

My bookmark for Notice 123 is one of my most-used bookmarks!  As this screen shot shows, they are still showing separate categories for surcharges for Zones  1 - 4 and 5 - 9 even though currently the rates are the same.

 

Screen Shot 2018-04-29 at 3.38.04 PM.png

Message 13 of 29
latest reply

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping

Hi,

 

Thank you for the link! Possibly this is a recent change because I have been retired for almost 4 years now, but I know I was unable to purchase postage for my Regional boxes through the post office I worked at. 

 

Being it is Sunday I am unable to speak with my window clerk friend to verify that you can now purchase at the retail window. No offense, but being I am from the “show me state” I always like to verify which is wrong, your link or eBay. If eBay is indeed correct then I will owe eBay an apology and it would also set my mind at ease!  🙂   

 

Either way, thank you very much for the response and the link! I will re-post once I have spoken to my former employing Post Office. 

 

I hope you all are having a blessed day!

 

Janis

Message 14 of 29
latest reply

Purchasing Regional Rate Postage Through eBay Shipping

This thread has provided you with supporting  links from two USPS publications: The DMM and Notice 123. And I have provided two screen shots from Notice 123: One for the rates and one for the footnote about retail surcharges.  

 

No offense, but IMHO those two USPS documents are more reliable than your window clerk friend who might also not be up-to-date on these developments.

Message 15 of 29
latest reply