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.

wrong66 · ‎03-20-2022

Oh, the self-righteous...

fern*wood · ‎03-20-2022

@wrong66 wrote:
Oh, the self-righteous...

I usually always agree with your posts, but I don't see it that way at all. If anything, I'm being selfish in my hope that people wouldn't waste these products because I really need them for my little business.

buyselljack2016 · ‎03-20-2022

Priority padded envelopes are not intended to be packing material. It is misuse of the product. Just because the item is going Priority does not justify using products for other than their intended purpose.

Small "flat rate" box in the next size up box, inside a #4 box, inside a large flat rate box surrounded by 23 flat rate padded envelopes for cushioning. I suppose that is "OK", because it is going "Priority".

The end justifies the means.

windjeep · ‎03-20-2022

Nice post, and I agree with you. I have had two occasions where I stopped selling for a few months. I didnt realize you can RETURN unused USPS priority mail packaging to the post office. I was happy to go to the Post Office and give them armloads of the long triangular tubes, and padded envelopes, and flat rate boxes. Sure I could have burned them in the fireplace, but it made more sense to just make them available to other users. I liked your post. good luck!

espresso_warehouse · ‎03-20-2022

@fern*wood wrote:
Plenty of crimes go unpunished...doesn't make them any less crimey. That's a reason many use to keep on doing things that are wrong, so why keep using that argument as if it justifies the behavior.

Plenty of "things that are wrong" are not crimes.

Simple. Logic.

If you have some kind of evidence that misusing free packaging is considered a crime, please present it. Posting code about vandalizing mailboxes isn't really doing it.

dhaga · ‎03-20-2022

If people are interested in recycling packing material look on Craigslist. I have scored excellent padding, bubble wrap, etc. for free. The business owners were happy to not have to put in in landfill and give it a second life.

oldwestgold · ‎03-20-2022

As a retired Postmaster of 33 years, I would agree. If you only knew how much work and responsibility a Postmaster has, you would also agree. The occasional misuse of USPS packaging items ranks right down there with sharpening pencils. And who uses pencils anymore? When I retired I was over 3 Post Offices 15-25 miles apart with over 30 employees and no supervisor or other help. I had over 25 bosses in 4 different states including DC. If a carrier had an accident I was made to drive 6 hours round trip for a 10-minute chewing, no matter what the road condition was in Ohio. Oh yes, and 2-3 days of paperwork. At the Postmaster level, each day is basic survival, not to mention being on call 24/7 even when out of state on vacations. Thus, why I retired. Not complaining, just simply trying to explain why the low concern. It's like when I was a Telecommunication Specialist with the USPS prior to PM. One of my tasks was to review each and every monthly phone bill of over 800 Post Offices, 4 Processing Plants, and one District Office. Basically receive the bills, review them, and about the time you get done you get the next months. Finally, someone had me stop doing that because the amount of time wasted far exceeded the few LD calls that an employee may make to their Mother in Florida including recouping the money from the employee and the paperwork. Time equals money. With the massive volumes of shipping supplies the USPS orders, they most likely amount to fractions of a cent. So with the never-ending increases in shipping costs, you can see it really is not cost-effective to get too concerned. They also automatically track shipping quantities ordered for any large abuses.

oldwestgold · ‎03-20-2022

I couldn't agree more. Too many Karens in the world already. Stay in your lane is my quote for the rest of my life. That translates to exactly what you said. But I guess some people have too much idle time on their hands.

oldwestgold · ‎03-20-2022

You make a huge mistake regarding USPS pension costs. Let me help with that. I am a retired high-level Postmaster of 33 years. My pension is less than my monthly SS check. My total yearly net is below the national poverty rate. I pay over $500/mth for mediocre health coverage with no dental or eye coverage. Possibly you are confusing USPS workers with teachers. I would not have been able to retire without saving 10-20% of my paycheck for all those years. Subsidizing overseas shipments? Really.

As far as a business model giving away packaging supplies - HA! Again, you don't have the facts. All the carriers do that to create business, both UPS and FedEx. Sounds like to have all the solutions to creating your own delivery service. And just for the record, the USPS processes more mail in one day than UPS and FedEx process in one year.

justforfun6 · ‎03-21-2022

it is very obvious when these products have been previously used. they can also be resued for their intended purpose. i do that often. several years ago one of the clerks told me it was illegal to misuse the priority products. apparently they do not uphold that anymore. to me it is still stealing when order products knowing that was not the intended purpose. we know how much packing materials cost. large volume sellers need a routine that does not involve dealing with recycled msterials. how convenient to just order huge amounts of padded envelopes. i intend to return the item to that store. never to purchase from them again.

justforfun6 · ‎03-21-2022

thank you for your wisdom.

justforfun6 · ‎03-21-2022

interesting viewpoint. i guess i am just to old to understand being given something for free intended to be used in the manner and good faith it was given, then purposely using it for my personal benefit only, as being ok. my guilty conscience keeps me from doing that. i have no problem using the padded envelopes from ebay as added packing.

glgenterprise · ‎03-21-2022

@oldwestgold wrote:
I normally try not to be a Karen and tell people what to do. It's not our job to police how others use USPS packaging, and this is from a retired Postmaster of 33 years. And let's face it, UPS, FedEx or the USPS don't have employees running around trying to catch people abusing their free products. It isn't good financial sense. 20 years ago I had a Finance Postal Inspector tell me that they don't have the manpower to investigate anything under $25,000. I can't imagine what the threshold is today.

And I specifically hate people telling me how to run my business, as one person just did yesterday via eBay messaging. They didn't like how I listed an item and made all kinds of nonsense claims and as of this typing are still sending messages.

Stay in your lane is sage advice. Don't worry about what others do. You wouldn't pull over a car acting as a policeman if you saw someone run a stop sign. Nope. That's for the PD to do. And besides all of that, I have more important things to do than watch what and how others handle their personal and business affairs.

Stay in your lane. That's how I drive.

Well, stay in your lane is fine so long as it doesn't affect me, but when (not if, when) USPS stops providing this "free" (as all sellers will tell you just because shipping is free to the buyer doesn't make it free for the seller) shipping material, it WILL affect me. It will substantially up my shipping costs if I have to start buying the padded envelopes that I use every day to ship items.

I don't police how other sellers list their items.

But d*mn straight I'm going to say something when their misuse of supplies from USPS causes prices to go up, for both the actual shipping and the loss of USPS supplied shipping items. If that makes me a Karen to you, that's fine with me.

resonantfish · ‎03-21-2022

I re-use Priority packaging I can't use again as external packaging as filler for other boxes. I don't see a problem with that. If they're going to bash a box beyonds all recognition, or create ungodly tears in envelopes, I may as well use it again.

These packages aren't free; we're already paying for them with the price of Priority shipping, and the insurance claims that USPS refuses to pay out after their gross negligence. You can't pretend that this is some benevolent, wonderful organization that deserves our worship and respect; it's a very flawed business. Until they compensate me for the $100 of mine that they broke and lost this year, I'm going to take it back out of them in my own way.

albertabrightalberta · ‎03-21-2022

@espresso_warehouse wrote:
If you have some kind of evidence that misusing free packaging is considered a crime, please present it. Posting code about vandalizing mailboxes isn't really doing it.

Ask and ye shall receive - link below the copied portion. :

Can I Use Priority Mail Express® Service or Priority Mail® Service Envelopes for Other Mail?

If any Priority Mail Express service or Priority Mail service packaging or packaging supplies e.g., Priority Mail tape to seal a USPS Retail Ground® package, are used on any other class of mail, the applicable Priority Mail Express or Priority Mail price will be charged..

Misuse may be a violation of federal law.
Turning the packaging inside out to conceal the Priority Mail / Priority Mail Express insignia is specific misuse that is not allowed.

Any matter mailed in these free boxes is charged the appropriate Priority Mail Express or Priority Mail price, regardless of how the packaging is reconfigured (including being turned inside out, cut, shrunk, enlarged, etc.) or how the markings are obliterated.

Mail dropped in a Collection Box receptacle using inappropriate packaging (including, for example, mailing Priority Mail items in an Priority Mail Express box) is either: