eBay

justforfun6 · ‎03-19-2022

I have sold for nearly 20 years. I appreciate the USPS supplying us free boxes and other materials. I also shop on ebay. Lately I am finding seasoned sellers using the USPS padded flat rate envelopes as padding inside first class packaging. I find this disturbing as in the end we as consumers we will be forced to bear the cost in higher rates, along with the fact it is a fraudulent use of government property. Initially when they started suppling us with free shipping materials they gave us tape. People promptly ordered it for personal usage, so we no longer have the use of free priority tape. People turned the boxes inside out so they could use them without having to ship priority. Now they print the inside of the boxes to prevent that. The postal service gives us a discount on shipping prices by shipping through ebay. We should not be taking advantage of that by basically stealing from their kindness. Times are difficult but that is not a reason to deliberately misuse products. When someone has over 30,000 feedback the excuse cannot be made they were unaware of this usage. Let`s keep ebay a respectable business.

mr_lincoln · ‎03-19-2022

@mod-designs4u wrote:
I've used old Priority Mail bubble wrap before on First Class Mail parcels which were originally sent Priority Mail to me. I've also used old Priority Mail box pieces along with other cardboard to reinforce the ephemera I've sold. Is that a crime or should I let these reusable shipping items go to the landfill or become incinerated adding to air pollution? I'm sure USPS has other more important issues than some sellers misusing some of their free bubble wrap. I get most of my packing materials for free at my local retail stores and sometimes there's bubble wrap and shipping peanuts inside a few of the boxes. Sometimes I find large pieces of box Styrofoam and break them up into smaller pieces and add them to the shipping peanuts. Bubble wrap is very inexpensive and I can't see many eBay sellers pilfering their local Post Office for free Priority Mail bubble wrap.

@mod-designs4u About 5 years ago I won train car lots that were in Priority Mail Express boxes that had dividers made out of the part that was cut away ... there were 4 and I still use them today for storing inventory (pic below). I have NOT gotten any free ones myself to do the same thing although I could use the additional organized storage trays LOL! I think people KNOW when they are being dishonest and when they aren't ... sadly, the honest folks wind up paying for the dishonesty of others ...

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

mrdutch1001 · ‎03-19-2022

I agree that nothing in this world is free and there are certain things/items that need to be respected when it comes to how they are used in a second life, but really in this world full of pollutants, do we really need to nitpick how items are given that second chance?

WE need to save this planet...it's about REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE and I totally believe there should be no laws against fulfilling our obligations to do just that...

a_c_green · ‎03-19-2022

@justforfun6 wrote:
Lately I am finding seasoned sellers using the USPS padded flat rate envelopes as padding inside first class packaging.

Ayup, I've been receiving packages like that for years. This is why we can't have nice things.

I've found that as long as no one removed the tape strips when using the envelopes for stuffing, they will usually flatten out smooth again after a few days in a warm room, after which I add them to my stack. I normally don't use them for shipping, so whenever the stack gets high enough, I take them on my next visit to the PO and turn them in there for re-use. They are always well-received.

bashort · ‎03-19-2022

@iart wrote:
I don't care how many sellers try to justify this, it is theft. And, along with not paying taxes, is another way some sellers are able to undercut other sellers who actually pay for their shipping material.

I just dumpster dive my shipping materials to undercut my competition.

iart · ‎03-19-2022

I don't see any problem with this (though the bin owners might). As garbage, they aren't undercutting our costs nor causing postal rates to rise. But, having been a diver for decades, we stopped many years ago figuring the time it took and the uncertainty weren't worth it.

@bashort wrote:
@iart wrote:
I don't care how many sellers try to justify this, it is theft. And, along with not paying taxes, is another way some sellers are able to undercut other sellers who actually pay for their shipping material.
I just dumpster dive my shipping materials to undercut my competition.

bashort · ‎03-19-2022

Actually we buy most of it except the larger heavy duty boxes, I can just not pay $6 or more for a empty box

slati_2013 · ‎03-19-2022

"Misuse" of USPS products have nothing to do with increased rates. How you use the USPS product to ship your item is fine with the USPS as long as you ship it using the USPS. Who is anyone to tell me how to use the USPS product? If I feel I need to place the items in a padded envelope before putting it in a Priority Mail box, so? The USPS has no problem with that, why should you?

I have a customer in the Los Angeles area who told me the mail gets rough treatment down there and requested I place the items first in a padded envelope, then in an envelope. Why would the USPS have any problem with that?

This issue keeps coming up again and again and as far as I concerned it is a non-issue. I have every possible box and product from the USPS. How I use it depends on how best to safely send the item. 99.999% of the time I used bubble wrap I purchase to pack items. I however make no apologies for any creative use of any USPS product to ship my packages via the USPS.

slati_2013 · ‎03-19-2022

@dhbookds wrote:
We took a stack of the board game boxes to them at the holidays. USPS would not take them.

They are discontinued so the PO cannot give them out........

The USPS will deliver any box for the published rate even if discontinued. The board game boxes (flat large box rate) are very sought after by people who sell things like laptops. My worse day ever using USPS products was when I run out of the C boxes. For those who do not know what they were, they were extra large Priority Mail boxes for shipping.

It should tell you that for the USPS, box supplies are not an issue financially.

chapeau-noir · ‎03-19-2022

@katzrul15 wrote:
@albertabrightalberta wrote:
@jda04121 wrote:
Years ago I had a stack of USPS envelopes I could not use anymore. The PO did not want to take them.
I had a lot of priority packaging that I couldn't use and my local post office was more than happy to take it for their customers.

They told me they're only allowed to stock flat rate packaging so when customers are willing and able to supply them with other types of priority boxes and envelopes, they love it.
We took a stack of the board game boxes to them at the holidays. USPS would not take them. *

Unfortunately, they are stacked on the warehouse floor, soon to hit a recycling bin.

* I suspect that's because the USPS were already discontinuing them - they're still OK to use, but they probably wouldn't be able to use the stock.

Every post office I've used, and I've used six for shipping, has had a leave and take pile next to their flat rate displays.

“The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” - Henry Kissinger

"Wherever law ends, tyranny begins" -John Locke

inhawaii · ‎03-19-2022

I sometimes use Priority Mail supplies as packing material but only if it was sent to me as packing material from someone else. Anything wrong with that?

And When I Die - Blood, Sweat & Tears

anjofak · ‎03-19-2022

We ordered 800 boxes from usps and the first 400 were the wrong box, tried to return them wouldn't take them, posted them for free ect ect, thought what a shame they are useless.

farmalljr · ‎03-19-2022

@mod-designs4u wrote:
I've used old Priority Mail bubble wrap before on First Class Mail parcels which were originally sent Priority Mail to me. I've also used old Priority Mail box pieces along with other cardboard to reinforce the ephemera I've sold. Is that a crime or should I let these reusable shipping items go to the landfill or become incinerated adding to air pollution? I'm sure USPS has other more important issues than some sellers misusing some of their free bubble wrap. I get most of my packing materials for free at my local retail stores and sometimes there's bubble wrap and shipping peanuts inside a few of the boxes. Sometimes I find large pieces of box Styrofoam and break them up into smaller pieces and add them to the shipping peanuts. Bubble wrap is very inexpensive and I can't see many eBay sellers pilfering their local Post Office for free Priority Mail bubble wrap.

Actually, yes it is. Priority products, even if already used, can't be used for anything but Priority shipping. Read the regs. You can't reuse Priority products for anything other than Priority shipments.

While I would agree that seems wasteful, I can see why they have the regulations like that. How many bubble mailers would be used as packing? I've seen people use priority AND express bubble mailers for packing. And not just one of them, over a dozen of them. If USPS said it was OK to use the used one for whatever they want, lots of people would be using new ones and not used ones. It's bad enough now.

People that misused USPS supplies should be kicked out of being able to use the service. That would bring an abrupt end to the misuse. That rule is not hard to understand. Priority and Express supplies are ONLY for those services.

a_c_green · ‎03-19-2022

@farmalljr wrote:
While I would agree that seems wasteful, I can see why they have the regulations like that. How many bubble mailers would be used as packing? I've seen people use priority AND express bubble mailers for packing. And not just one of them, over a dozen of them.

I think my personal record for the number of FRPE envelopes I've pulled out of one received package is ten. At least that one was shipped Priority, but it was still a colossal waste of materials.

In fact the USPS does have the data at hand to get some idea of how many envelopes are out there not getting used in the intended manner. When used for shipping, the envelope's own barcode is scanned and compared to the Shipping label, to verify that the correct Flat Rate label has been applied for that package type. Thus they know how many FRPEs have been used for shipping over any given time period, vs. the number of new and unused FRPEs that they have shipped out to Post Offices or to users via the USPS.com website in that same timespan. That number or percentage of FRPEs not seen in shipping are either sitting around on shelves or traveling as stuffing inside other packages.

justforfun6 · ‎03-19-2022

reuse of previously used material is not my issue. it is sellers who order from the post office the frpe,flat rate padded envelopes , then using them as padding inside first class packages. and yes, there are a goodly number of sellers doing this. that is my issue.