eBay Standard Envelope

[etrader61]

Could I lose my Top Rated Status using the eBay Standard Envelope?

[stuff4divas]

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@etrader61 wrote:

Could I lose my Top Rated Status using the eBay Standard Envelope?

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@etrader61   No

[buyselljack2016]

@etrader61 

"In theory" you should not lose "top rated", but "in theory" also............. you could.

I don't use it, but the way I understand it:

1) If you use ESE, and the # gets scanned anywhere in processing along the way you are good to go. Good for "top rated" and insured by eBay.

2) If you use ESE, and the # never gets scanned anywhere in processing along the way you are not covered for "top rated", nor insured by eBay

[stuff4divas]

@etrader61   here is the eBay link for info on ESE>

https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/shipping/choosing-a-carrier-and-service/ebay-standard-envelope

[onefootflipper]

No.

This account of mine sells 90 percent standard envelope items and is top rated.

[cardxcraft]

Same here: I sell a lot of standard envelope items with TRS+ and 100% delivered.  But, you may get a lot of non-scans if you don't follow the correct procedure. 

Go to the link above, provided by another member, and learn the ina and outs.  The service comes with $20 insurance for single item orders and $50 insurance for multi-item orders.  

Here is some important information to keep:

1. Filing Claim

https://www.pip-claim.com/PIPClaim/eBayIntClaim/CreateeBayClaim

 

[onefootflipper]

Might also want to watch this video about the best way to pack standard envelope, both from a cost basis and from a basis of not having problems with the postal system.

https://youtu.be/f9SPX370_IE

[1786davycrockett]

@etrader61 

USPS treats the eBay Standard Envelope (ESE) the same as all the other hundreds of thousands of pieces of metered mail which it daily receives and delivers.  It is NOT a "special service," exclusive to eBay -- eBay has contracted with USPS to be permitted metered mail privileges, identical to nearly all other major businesses.

The ESE is scanned automatically by high speed electronic equipment.  It can NOT be hand-scanned at the USPS counters, or by USPS mail carriers.

For the fastest possible metered mail delivery, drop it in the slot in your local post office that reads "For Metered Mail" only.  It will then not be mixed in with regular stamped mail, and will save delivery time.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

My experience with ESE is scanning is erratic, and there is a finite possibility that the shipment will not be scanned, and you can be hit with the same demerit as if you did not ship.

I use it sparingly, preferring real tracking, but some buyers are unwilling to pay for a conventionally tracked service.

[onefootflipper · Accepted solution]

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@tobaccocardyahoo wrote:

My experience with ESE is scanning is erratic, and there is a finite possibility that the shipment will not be scanned, and you can be hit with the same demerit as if you did not ship.

I use it sparingly, preferring real tracking, but some buyers are unwilling to pay for a conventionally tracked service.

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I have shipped about 40,000 of these envelopes and I am now going months at a time without that happening to a single one. 

I know 100 percent for sure that they remove standard envelope "Late Delivery" from the late shipment report as I am looking at mine right now and it shows 4 and all of them show removed. Looking at the previous month it shows the same thing. 

I also know for sure that they don't ding you for envelopes that never get scanned unless the buyer reports something, as I have a local regular who always picks his cards up in person and I now print a label and throw it in the trash for his orders as that doesn't ding me, but his local pickups previously showed up on my Tracking Report as exceptions. But the label in the trash does not. 

[12345jamesstamps]

You can use it but be careful how you use it. Coins are thick and heavy. You can send one but probably two might get a return mail. I think it depends where you live and also in regards to what your post office uses to mail items forward either by machine or whatever. And then there's the final destination post office who might send it back to you. I think populated areas will be OK. I had something go to Montana that came to me from that state. It went through San Francisco but not Montana. Might have been a small town it went through.

I don't have top rated status because you need lots of tracking items. But it's between 10% discount or saving on shipping cost. Comes out the same to me.

Maybe try a few first to see what happens.

Not a lot of responses if any from sellers in regards to mailing coins so be cautious on some advice.

[onefootflipper]

Coins are likely to have about the same 1 percent exception rate I was having with orders shipped in those hard plastic top loaders. 99 out of 100 they make it through, but that 100th one will jam in the machine and the envelope will either shred and you will never see it again or it will end up getting returned insufficient postage or showing up postage due.

In any case it is impossible to be competitive in any standard envelope category if you are using package shipping.

[cypress.grove]

How eBay manages ESE metrics seems to have changed over time.  About 10% of my envelopes never get scanned.  I know they are delivered because I see the feedback.  In the past, if my Top Rated Seller rating was in jeopardy, I would contact customer service to correct the delivered items that I was being penalized for.  Now, I don't need to contact anyone - unscanned envelopes will show up against me as unvalidated for a day or two, but then they are removed automatically.  My "Tracking uploaded on time and validated" always goes back to 100%.

And for the most part, the "no scan" envelopes seem to always happen when my regular carrier is on vacation.  I don't think the subs realize that they are first class metered mail.

[onefootflipper]

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@cypress.grove wrote:

How eBay manages ESE metrics seems to have changed over time.  About 10% of my envelopes never get scanned.  I know they are delivered because I see the feedback.  In the past, if my Top Rated Seller rating was in jeopardy, I would contact customer service to correct the delivered items that I was being penalized for.  Now, I don't need to contact anyone - unscanned envelopes will show up against me as unvalidated for a day or two, but then they are removed automatically.  My "Tracking uploaded on time and validated" always goes back to 100%.

And for the most part, the "no scan" envelopes seem to always happen when my regular carrier is on vacation.  I don't think the subs realize that they are first class metered mail.

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The biggest thing that I found that contributed to no-scan envelopes when testing was how dark the print was on the envelope. The lighter the print, the more likely the thing sailed through the entire system without ever getting properly picked up. 

[retrobiz]

My local post office does hand cancel my thick envelopes at the counter, but I've only done one with the ebay standard label.  I'm still trying to verify what ebay considers appropriate for a 'standard' envelope.  Nothing like that is listed in their supplies.  Mine did not have anything in them as hard as the plastic holders for coins, just lumpy bumpy bits of metal and bows on cards, and some patches.  I'm assuming it has to be a regular paper envelope, like a business envelope, or one of those poly-plastic whatevers.  I spend more time trying to figure out how to sell than I do on actual selling activities. Whew!