postage due on a package i already paid for

[carpgreg]

I sold a bracelet and paid for the USPS Priority Padded Envelope with full insurance and signature delivery totaling $18.65.  The buyer just informed me that the USPS made her pay $18.65 on postage due.  The buyer said they paid the postman cash and wants to know why she had to pay.  I told her the label was already paid for.  Never had a problem like this before.  I have proof of the payment for the label.  Is this some scam, or has anyone else had this happen?

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Or, more importantly, for your records lol

[stuff4divas]

@carpgreg  ask her if she wants u to send proof of payment and so she can go to her post office to get a refund

[nh7235]

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@carpgreg wrote:

Yes, label was on, attached, not compromised, and the postage amount was printed on the label as well.   

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Was it an actual USPS imprint "Postage Due" and the amount was filled in? 

Or @carpgreg was it a fake (handwritten) postage due? 

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@carpgreg wrote:

The tracking shows it was delivered with no issues, or anything saying postage was due.

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There is no such thing as a "Postage Due" setting on the USPS scanners, as @lja440 and @muttlymob can confirm, so you will never see postage due on the tracking page.

[monroe67]

"Yes, label was on, attached, not compromised, and the postage amount was printed on the label as well.   The tracking shows it was delivered with no issues, or anything saying postage was due."

Somebody is lying, and it is not the seller.  Sounds like (1) a sleazy, scammy mail carrier asking the recipient to pay the amount that the label shows was already paid, and the mail carrier pockets the cash, or (2) a sleazy buyer who lied to you that the mail carrier asked for payment.   Your buyer doesn't have a receipt showing that she paid cash to the mail carrier, does she?  

In my experience, even with a few cents postage due (my sister put a wrong stamp on my birthday card . . . . . .), I did not pay the mail carrier directly.   The mail carrier left a little slip of paper in my mailbox telling me to go to the post office to pick up the mail item and pay the clerk at the counter.  That way I had a receipt showing the Post Office had been paid in full.  Every nickel and dime adds up and the USPS must be paid.  

OH!  And block that buyer !! 
This is a case where I wish we could name and shame a trickster-buyer.  

[sin-n-dex]

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@carpgreg wrote:

I sold a bracelet and paid for the USPS Priority Padded Envelope with full insurance and signature delivery totaling $18.65.  The buyer just informed me that the USPS made her pay $18.65 on postage due.  The buyer said they paid the postman cash and wants to know why she had to pay.  I told her the label was already paid for.  Never had a problem like this before.  I have proof of the payment for the label.  Is this some scam, or has anyone else had this happen?

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Did you buy your postage on eBay? If you did, eBay will be charged (and bill you to your source of funds) for any underpaid (or overpaid) shipping. I get messages weekly telling me I'm getting a $1 refund because I put the package in a higher weight class than necessary.

I didn't know you could just give cash to the post man without getting any kind of receipt for underpaid postage. I thought you were supposed to do that at the post office and get a receipt.

IF your buyer is being truthful... looks like the scam is the mailman collecting money from her.

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@coolections wrote:

Strange. Just last week I sent a package out that I had added "more stuff" to. I forgot to change the weight so the label should have cost more than I paid. Ebay notified me that I underpaid, and they charged me the difference out of my account. Item arrived and buyer never knew a thing about it.

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^^^^THIS^^^^

Exactly what I said. I haven't read the whole threat to find out if the OP bought their postage on eBay. If they bought it at the post office, I think it's even likely they could have underpaid by so much.

C.

[abraham810]

Just caught this when I received 2 notices in my mailbox, handwritten from the postwoman(can tell from handwriting), for packages from KiwiCo and CrunchLabs totaling the cost of the shipping each. Both of those subscriptions have shipping already paid for.

The were also date 2 days prior to the date I received them.
Either the postwoman is trying to scam us, or someone else is.
Either way the Postmaster is getting a call tomorrow, because the packages haven't been delivered in over a month, and we never received notice prior to this, and these notices say Final Notice.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Shocked at all the people saying carriers can't accept cash for Postage Due.  Now, it's been a few years, but they absolutely have always done so, in multiple states I've lived in or they'll leave an envelope for cash in your mailbox.  Maybe it's only for under a certain amt, as it's usually just a few cents.  I've even had carriers who have paid a postage due FOR ME, when it's been 20 cents or so.  AFAIK they've always been able to do this in the US but like I said, it's been quite a few years since I've had one. 

@carpgreg  I do NOT think the buyer is scamming.  In my experience, they almost never are (yes, I have great buyers), my money is on a sub carrier & b/c they are barely trained & they are the worst.  I've had ones that lost their scanners while I was on the phone with the PO, the PO lady found it, at an apt building 4 stops prior.  Just last week I had a very large check misdeliverd by a sub.  They aren't true employees & they care even less than the true employees care.  My PO told me they start with 60 subs on each batch of hiring & wind up with 10 that move forward if they're lucky.  

So, I would start by checking her feedback for any concerns or if you have any other reason for concern.  If not, I would call her PO & start investigating.  My gut is she's telling you the truth.  Every weird one I've had, has turned out to be telling the truth, including a couple where I thought they were lying. 

[femmefan1946]

It is interesting that the seller paid $18.65 for the label and that the carrier charged them the exact same $18.65.

I smell a scam, like most of the poster do, but it is just barely possible that an undertrained carrier thought that the amount of postage on the label was to be collected.

Possible.

Highly unlikely.

Definitely advise the buyer that they should be speaking, face to face, with the local postmaster.

[pastimpressions]

To piggyback on what @femmefan1946  said re: the exact postage amount.

I was just wondering if the cue up for this scam (by either the carrier or the client) is the fact that the postage amount was exact.

If memory serves me, the OP when first describing the issue, indicated that the actual postage amount was printed on the label for the client/carrier to see. 

Future best practices, perhaps opt out of the declaration of postage value on the shipping label prior to printing it. 

In any event you can prove you paid this so headache yes, but you will not lose.

Best of luck with shop & sales.

[johnrj1226]

Did anyone take  time to  look at when this post was originated

HINTS: 

1. 03-30-2023 08:21 PM

2. Priority mail  has gone up since them

3. Cause of this confusion:  Still celebrating the New Year some where on the other side of the international date line in   2023

4.  Solution: This year on December 31 at 8 AM Eastern Time in the USA - join me  with a virgin mary. or virgin screw driver or two. with the blokes and Sheilas** from Down Under bring in the New Year on the Harbor Bridge.and watch it on CNN (in the US).  Australia is on the other side of that dateline very impressive. an ya' still  have plenty of time to do it your way.-  personally will be sound asleep well before the Apple touches the ground - that just what this '44 model "do".

**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xb1z2V1z7k  a 1962 song about a girl named Shiela by Tommy Roe

[kh-shakhib]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.