@quepasowilly wrote:
Yes I did purchase signature confirmation and insurance which is confirmed here on the product information page.
I had contacted the delivering post office and she was able to give me the name of the person accepting package however that information is not showing up for me online. She said she would update it but nothing yet
Unfortunately, Signature Service (which is not online, and it will never show up online for you, so the post office looked it up to give you the signer's name) is for the insurance only; it is not Signature Confirmation, which is online, despite the already-selected checkbox when you were fabricating your shipping label.
@quepasowilly wrote:You are correct. I never knew there was a difference between "signature service" and "signature confirmation" so this bears the question, how do you add "signature confirmation" to a package you are insuring then? I have been adding insurance to pretty much all my package and paying the extra $2.xx for what I thought was signature confirmation. Is this just a redundant service to add when paying for insurance ? Why do you use signature service rather than the signature confirmation that was purchased?
I never knew there was a difference between "signature service" and "signature confirmation"
so this bears the question, how do you add "signature confirmation" to a package you are insuring then?
Answer:
YOU CAN NOT ADD SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION TO ANY USPS PACKAGE WITH AN USPS INSURED VALUE OVER $500.00.
It is impossible!
Why? Because the USPS includes "Signature Service" which provides the "Proof Of Delivery" service with any package insured through the USPS in any amount GREATER THAN $500.00
Here are 2 screen shots from the USPS Click and Ship page. The 1st screen shot is where I insure the package for $500.00. Note that Signature Confirmation is made available to me for an additional cost of $2.55. The 2nd screen shot is where I insure the package for $500.01. Note that Signature Confirmation is NO LONGER made available to me due to the fact that the USPS is including the Signature Service into the total price. Although the do not make that immediately apparent when I am purchasing postage directly from them(USPS) through their website. As a seller you just have to know that it is already included with the purchase of USPS insurance with a value greater than $500.00.
The 1st screen shot is where I insure the package for $500.00
Note that Signature Confirmation is made available to me for an additional cost of $2.55.
The 2nd screen shot is where I insure the package for $500.01
Note that Signature Confirmation is NO LONGER made available to me due to the fact that the USPS is including the Signature Service into the total price.
But that fact is made available if you go digging around the USPS publications available online and locate this page.
https://about.usps.com/publications/pub370/pub370_v10_revision_012016_tech_011.htm
USPS Publication 370 - Extra Services
Do you need security and peace of mind when you send a valuable item through the mail? Use indemnity insurance. Several options are available for adding security to the gifts and merchandise you send.
Note: Insure your package against loss or damage for the actual value of what its contents are worth.
Provides up to $5,000 coverage for lost, damaged, or missing contents.
Includes signature services for items insured for more than $500
I have been adding insurance to pretty much all my package and paying the extra $2.xx for what I thought was signature confirmation.
Is this just a redundant service to add when paying for insurance?
Answer: Yes
Why do you use signature service rather than the signature confirmation that was purchased?
Because Signature Service and Signature Confirmation are the exact same services in the eyes of the USPS.
What is different between the two designations is the way that the signatures are reported or made available on the USPS Tracking details page.
Signature Confirmation is viewable directly on the USPS Tracking details page shown in the for of Signed for By: Joe Blow // NEW YORK, NY 10199 // 4:56 pm
Signature Service which is actually Signature Confirmation which has been converted to Signature Service by the USPS because it is a service that is rolled into the price of USPS insurance once the package has an insured value greater than $500 and then the Signature and address of the recipient is now made available through the "Proof Of Delivery" tab which is also directly on the USPS Tracking details page.
Looks like this. Fill out one of these and you receive...............
and you receive one of these.
Once a requester fills out their name and email address the Proof Of Delivery is then sent to the email address provided by the USPS in the form of a PDF.
Looks like this one that I have doctored to hide the actual buyers identity.
I spoke to a USPS customer service agent almost a year ago and asked them why the required the Proof Of Delivery to be sent to an email address as opposed to displaying it directly on the USPS Tracking details page? The customer service agent told me that it has to do with an internal USPS policy regarding the safeguarding of the recipient's private information, as well as mitigating potential fraud. Unfortunately the USPS customer service agent would not elaborate beyond that.
A Note Regarding Pay Pal INR Cases
With regards to Pay Pal INR cases initiated by a buyer. Pay Pal has added some newer features for sellers when a case is opened up through Pay Pal. Should a buyer open a case through Pay Pal, they now allow sellers to upload PDF’s, photos, screenshots, etc., as evidence and proof that the item in question was in fact shipped and that the signature of the recipient was attained by the USPS and presented as a PDF through the “Proof Of Delivery” tab located on the USPS Tracking Details page.
I had a buyer open an INR case this past October for an item that I sold on another online marketplace venue, but which I offered Pay Pal as a payment option. The item sold for $1,200.00 and was shipped by me via USPS Priority Mail and insured for the full amount of the purchase price of $1,200.00, and therefore included USPS “Signature Service. I just added the tracking number to the case and then uploaded the Proof Of Delivery PDF showing the buyers actual signature as well as their delivery address. I also uploaded a scanned copy of the actual USPS Priority Mail postage label that I keep on record for every sale that I ship; for good measure. This verify’s that the shipping address indeed matches the Pay Pal transaction details as well as providing a second form of verification that a Signature Service was indeed purchased for that particular shipment, since Pay Pal’s seller protection program requires that all shipments with a value greater than $750 include a signature service in order for the seller to be protected. Due to my ability to upload all of these documents to the case and not having to rely on a Pay Pal customer service agent having to go and find them on the USPS website, the case was closed in my favor in less than 48 hours.
But with a buyer who makes a purchase through eBay this would only work if that buyer chose to open the INR case directly through Pay Pal instead of opening an INR case through eBay. If the buyer opens an INR case through eBay the policy is still currently worded vaguely at least in my opinion.
What to do when a buyer opens an item not received request
In the email you received telling you the buyer's issue, select See request details. You'll find information on whether the buyer is requesting a refund or would prefer to still receive the item. You'll also see your response options:
Add tracking details – You can provide tracking information showing the date you shipped the item, the date it was delivered, and the address it was delivered to.
If the item is worth $750 or more, it should also show the signature confirmation of the recipient.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/help-buyer-item-didnt-receive?id=4116
I did have a discussion with Trinton (an eBay employee & community knowledge bank) explaining this exact same situation in great detail via email last year on 02-05-2018 & 02-06-2018. The discussion was centered around the wording of eBay’s current policy regarding potential INR cases in which the seller purchased USPS insurance greater than $500.00 and received USPS Signature Service (SIGNATURE NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY ON THE USPS TRACKING DETAILS PAGE) and any given seller’s inability to add the required Signature Confirmation once a package was insured with a value greater than $500.000.
But the stated eBay policy appears to not have been changed since then and still remains rather vague regarding this issue of Signature Service vs Signature Confirmation.
There you go, clear as mud.
