SELLER BEWARE (see photo proof) - eBay and FedEx are TAKING YOUR MONEY W/ EXTRA CHARGES ON INVOICE

[urbanrummage]

I have been having this problem on almost every invoice. The problem is when a seller goes to ship something via FedEx, using the eBay labels, we are shown the price they we will be paying. Then at the end of the month when you look at your invoice, on some transactions we are charged more money, with really no explanation. Sometimes the amount is significant. Or sometimes its a bunch of little ones that add up. And every time I call it in, spending way too much time on the phone explaining (time is money), and I have never ever got any of my money back. Not once. It makes me literally sick to my stomach thinking about how much money has been taken from me and my family with no recourse. Even when I am doing everything correct. Now I have picture proof of this.... You will see with my receipts below that on Feb 1st, I took my piece of artwork to be professionally packed at FedEx. The agent told me the exact dimensions and weight to use. Then I enter that info into eBay right there, and print my shipping label right on the spot. You will see the time stamps. 8:53am for my packing charge. 8:55am my shipping label is scanned. You will see that my scanned shipping label receipt tracking number matches with my tracking on the next photo, which I only cropped a little for other's privacy. The dollar amount of $189.44 is what I originally was shown that I would be paying for shipping this piece. The $221.83 is what I was charged on my invoice. A difference of $32.39 being taken from me when I do everything correctly, even when trying to avoid this problem by paying FedEx to pack for me. That is food for my kids, money to keep my business going during a pandemic, money for bills, whatever... And this is just one obvious transaction that I can easily prove. I haven't even gone line by line yet. This problem happens literally every month. Money being stolen back out of my account. And its been going on for who knows how long. I only recently caught onto it back in June of 2020 when I got an extra charge of $800+ on a huge piece of artwork. $800+ just stolen from my account. I fought it as hard as a could for months, and no one would help me. I had no recourse. And I did everything correctly.... Is it even legal for eBay to be taking money that is not agreed to?? In my  specific case below, I agreed to the charge of $189.44. I did not agree to the charge of $221.83. I was not informed that there was an additional charge for anything, nor did I give permission for the extra $32.39. eBay simply took it out of my bank account. I could see if I maybe tried to game the system by making up some new dimensions to try to save money, then it would make sense to charge more. But that is not what happened.... And I am just one person that this is happening to. Imagine the total amount of money eBay/FedEx are taking from sellers each month. It would have to be in the millions, just from this FedEx overcharge alone!! My question is how do we stop this from happening?!? And how can I get all my money back from all of the overcharges that happened over the years?? @Anonymous  ---- I'm not sure anyone other executives or higher ups I can tag here... Please pass this onto the right person if needed. Thank you.                                  Time Stamp Showing Packing & Dropoff TimeOvercharges that were applied to invoice afterwards. Tracking matches up with receipt

[vintagecraze50]

FED EX has a number of surcharges that  I am seeing on your statement. Those do not show up when you pay on Ebay-they show up after Fed Ex has the package and then they Drop the bomb on the cost.

[vintagecraze50]

I do not know how ebay can redo their shipping page with FED EX to show if and when these extra surcharges will be applied to any given package. I suppose it is possible though and I really wish for your sake they could do it. But for the most part it seems out of their control to know what Fed Ex will tag on at this point. I feel for you with these unexpected expenses.

[ittybitnot]

@urbanrummage 

The issue that you address has been posted many times. eBay will not help you.  It is why some sellers do not use the FedEx option on eBay at all.   A person in another forum that ships the same exact item. in the same exact box with the same weight every day for months, just got hit with one of these on ONE  of ten exact parcels shipped that same day. 

Since you seem to have experience with this, I have a question to ask you.  What would happen if took your parcel, on your own and paid CASH at the local FedEx depot?  It seems you could not be upcharged like they do if you use eBay shipping  or paid with a c.card.    Is it because the "advertised price"  is so much lower that you wouldn't be inclined to do that? 

Just curious. 

[gracieallen01]

One could always check with the FTC and see if they have any information or recommendations as to how one might proceed.  They have a website and an 800 #.  I've called them in the past and they have been friendly and helpful.

[firesteel_surplus]

Holey moley! I will be following this closely! We do not have an actual FedEx store in town but I'd have to drop my packages off at a counter in a Walgreens all the way back in the store. I use UPS (we have a UPS Store) or USPS Priority/First Class whatever is cheapest to ship. I've actually had the OPPOSITE "problem" with UPS...if anything...UPS actual shipping cost will be a bit cheaper than what I showed when I get billed at the end of the month (which makes my weekly ebay payments received/bills payed reconciliation a bit fun...) There are times FedEx showed cheaper (sometimes as much as $2-$4 cheaper) but I always liked the security of knowing my package was getting scanned at UPS and meeting my drop off times. And after seeing this...now I'm really wondering if I made the right decision....

Dang...that is horrendous....I can see a couple of bucks....but $180...wow!

I should drop one off just out of curiosity and see what happens....lol

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@urbanrummage 

     Man I feel for you on this, never used FedEx myself. Go to the shipping forum and type in "FedEx overages" you would be amazed at all the posts on this problem.

     Would it behoove you to get a FedEx account rather then going thru ebay?

[ittybitnot]

Would it behoove you to get a FedEx account rather then going thru ebay?

From what I have read, that does not help.  They just add the upcharge amount  to your account, thus my question about paying cash and walking out. 

@silverstatetreasureboxes 

[greatmidwestcoin]

I would never ever use FedEx to ship or receive packages. I ordered an item, as I had in the recent past, from Vancouver overnight FedEx. It ended up taking over 2 weeks to finally get delivered. FedEx has their own Customs contract service and wanted $100 over and above what the shipper had paid at a FedEx location mailed from. This was a week AFTER they delivered the package to me even! The shipper had to eventually pay but FedEx kept sending me collection notices. Most recently I received a FedEx overnight which was left at a locally Dollar General store. Why, I have no idea. Long story short after 4 days of trying to figure out where my expensive package was after getting the run-arounds, I had to contact the local police  to threaten to file a theft report. FedEx and DG finally found the package shortly after the threat. Tons of hours on the phone and driving to and from DG I would NEVER do any further business with FedEx. Have at them if you enjoy being ripped off and tons of headaches.

[releasethekraken_1]

This is why I stick with USPS, despite the slowdowns.

[urbanrummage]

What a nightmare. Geez!! 

[urbanrummage]

I ship lots of things, and time is money. It would take way too long to do everything on the FedEx site. I do have an account. And the prices are generally higher then the amount eBay is telling us it will cost when we go to print the label. Plus at the end of the month, many items on the invoice are right where they are supposed to be. It seems to be a **bleep** shoot. And I start to wonder if this is all even legal? The whole bait and switch. Then eBay blames FedEx and FedEx blames eBay. Its a shameful way any business small or large should be doing business. 

[dtexley3]

The issue is the SIZE of the package, you've hit dimensional surcharges that eBay DOES NOT INCLUDE in their estimates.  They never have.  But there IS a solution!  Learn what the surcharges are and add them to your shipping cost as a handling fee.  You do have some responsibility to know the FedEx shipping rules and charges.  Yes eBay should handle it, but they don't.  But as soon as you know this you should be folding those extra changes into your business model.  As bad as eBay is, this is not totally their fault (mostly, just not totally, lol).

[urbanrummage]

I think I will check with the FTC, its not a bad place to start. This has been happening so much to not just me, but many others, that I think there could almost be some kind of class action lawsuit. I don't see how it can be legal to tell sellers this is how much shipping will cost you. The seller agrees to that price. But then they add whatever amount they want to it, and just take that extra money from your personal bank account without your permission to take that extra money. I sell larger pieces, and sometimes more expensive pieces, so many times USPS is not an option. Plus I will always offer my buyers the best deal possible on shipping. The best deal for them is the best deal for me as I want all my buyers to be happy, plus it wont eat into my profits needed to run my biz.... 

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@ittybitnot 

    Thanks I had no idea about the FedEx acct. I stick with USPS always.