eBay

tweetystwades · ‎05-23-2018

I'm not sure how to handle this. I have a buyer returning an item to me, buyer paid return shipping.

The status is showing undeliverable, and being returned back to the buyer. So now who is responsible for paying to resend. I can't expect the buyer to pay again, and the PO will not pay. So I guess it's me. How do I send them a paid shipping label now?

missjen831 · ‎05-24-2018

@tweetystwades wrote:
@missjen831 wrote:
@tweetystwades wrote:
@berserkerplanet wrote:
Others has chimed in here, with the general sentiment that the buyer is responsible, but what I was getting at is that at least for me in the past when it happened (and for another seller on the boards here in another thread when we recently briefly discussed it), when you have the right address on the package, and USPS screws it up somehow (substitute carrier on your route that can't figure out how to deliver it to you because lazy or stupid, etc), if the buyer were to take it back to his/her post office and tell them that they checked with you and the address is correct and deliverable, the PO will reship it for free.

At least that's how it worked a few years ago the last time I did it (and that one got delivered to my buyer just fine the second time).

USPS makes mistakes, PO clerks know it, and in my experience they will make it right. You just need to get on the same page as your buyer, make sure the package was addressed correctly which puts the fault in USPS's lap, and that gives all the ammunition your buyer needs to go to their PO and get them to ship it again.
Thank you, I appreciate the extra input. I called USPS (on hold 1hr 10min to speak to someone), she said it appears the buyer did not pay for postage at all. The buyer said she printed a label. If she didn't pay for it, how did she get a tracking number. They told me someone at USPS in my area would call me back with more details. In the mean time I drilled the buyer for more info, where did she print the label from, how did she pay and how did she ship it. I don't know who screwed up at this point, the buyer or USPS. I do know I wasted 1hr & 1/2 on the phone this morning. Ridiculous!!!
Sounds to me like the buyer used an ebay return service label and it landed in the hands of a clueless USPS worker who doesn't know how those labels work.....wouldn't be the first time this has happened.
If there is nothing wrong with the label or the address, USPS better ship this back to me at no charge.

They should. And this exactly why Berserkers advice is right on the money. It’s likely a PO error.

One life is all we have to live
Love is all we have to give

**Formerly known as MissJen316**

tweetystwades · ‎05-24-2018

@missjen831 wrote:
@tweetystwades wrote:
@missjen831 wrote:
@tweetystwades wrote:
@berserkerplanet wrote:
Others has chimed in here, with the general sentiment that the buyer is responsible, but what I was getting at is that at least for me in the past when it happened (and for another seller on the boards here in another thread when we recently briefly discussed it), when you have the right address on the package, and USPS screws it up somehow (substitute carrier on your route that can't figure out how to deliver it to you because lazy or stupid, etc), if the buyer were to take it back to his/her post office and tell them that they checked with you and the address is correct and deliverable, the PO will reship it for free.

At least that's how it worked a few years ago the last time I did it (and that one got delivered to my buyer just fine the second time).

USPS makes mistakes, PO clerks know it, and in my experience they will make it right. You just need to get on the same page as your buyer, make sure the package was addressed correctly which puts the fault in USPS's lap, and that gives all the ammunition your buyer needs to go to their PO and get them to ship it again.
Thank you, I appreciate the extra input. I called USPS (on hold 1hr 10min to speak to someone), she said it appears the buyer did not pay for postage at all. The buyer said she printed a label. If she didn't pay for it, how did she get a tracking number. They told me someone at USPS in my area would call me back with more details. In the mean time I drilled the buyer for more info, where did she print the label from, how did she pay and how did she ship it. I don't know who screwed up at this point, the buyer or USPS. I do know I wasted 1hr & 1/2 on the phone this morning. Ridiculous!!!
Sounds to me like the buyer used an ebay return service label and it landed in the hands of a clueless USPS worker who doesn't know how those labels work.....wouldn't be the first time this has happened.
If there is nothing wrong with the label or the address, USPS better ship this back to me at no charge.
They should. And this exactly why Berserkers advice is right on the money. It’s likely a PO error.

Buyer said she printed label through ebay return, and paid with PP. So, we will see.

tweetystwades · ‎05-26-2018

Buyer contacted me tonight threatening to call ebay because she returned the item. It's not returned until I get it back, why don't people understand that. She wants her refund now. I've explained twice it's on it's way back to her, I spent and hour on hold with USPS.

freeshipusa1 · ‎05-27-2018

ebay robot will look at the delivery status.

tweetystwades · ‎06-01-2018

@berserkerplanet wrote:
Why did it show undeliverable?

If the address was correct and there weren't other issues on your end (inability to obtain a signature if required, blocked receptacle, vicious dog in your yard, etc), then the PO just plain messed up and should ship it again without charge if buyer takes it to his PO and says "address is correct send it again".

If that won't work, use PayPal shipping to create a label (both the from and to addresses will be yours - just change the "Origination from" zipcode to the buyer's so that the shipping amount is calculated correctly.

https://www.paypal.com/ShipNow

This buyer finally got her package back that was returned to sender. She printed a First Class lable, and my address is correct. Someone hand wrote Priority Mail on it, and it's stamped Returned For Postage. What should I do now?

berserkerplanet · ‎06-01-2018

>>What should I do now?

If the label is an eBay issued First Class Package Return Service label, it can be slapped on anything up to the USPS limit of 70lbs.

Your buyer has run into an ignorant USPS employee who doesn't understand USPS products (similar to the ones who reject 13.1oz-15.99oz First Class Package Service pkgs for being over 13oz because they don't understand the difference between FCP Retail and FCP commercial.)

If it were me as the buyer, I'd march back to the Post Office, and DISCUSS* it with the Postmaster (who should recognize what a return label is), and have him/her get it mailed again on their dime.

*hopefully without too much yelling or having the Popo get involved 🙂

Buyer might be able to call eBay, explain this mess, and get them to issue a new label, but getting outsourced eBay CS to understand the situation might be difficult, and even if they do, they probably have no mechanism for issuing another label.

I understand that those options may be more difficult or impossible if your buyer isn't willing to help, or is incapable of doing so.

Sorry, not much help here. You are 100% not at fault for any of this, but getting eBay to fix it or acknowledge that will be like beating your head against the wall. Also sounds like your buyer also isn't at fault. USPS dropped the ball.

1. Buyer takes it back to PO and makes them ship it again for free (which is what should happen)
2. Buyer ships it retail at the counter, or creates her own PayPal label, and pays again.
3. You email her a PayPal ShipNow label (because you want it to be over with)

That's about all I see, other than some nebulous fog where eBay closes the return and buyer eats the lost return label amount and keeps the item. I really doubt eBay is going to refund the buyer the used return label cost unless buyer gets a really good CS person.

Hopefully someone else had some ideas.

tweetystwades · ‎06-02-2018

@berserkerplanet wrote:
>>What should I do now?

If the label is an eBay issued First Class Package Return Service label, it can be slapped on anything up to the USPS limit of 70lbs.

Your buyer has run into an ignorant USPS employee who doesn't understand USPS products (similar to the ones who reject 13.1oz-15.99oz First Class Package Service pkgs for being over 13oz because they don't understand the difference between FCP Retail and FCP commercial.)

If it were me as the buyer, I'd march back to the Post Office, and DISCUSS* it with the Postmaster (who should recognize what a return label is), and have him/her get it mailed again on their dime.

*hopefully without too much yelling or having the Popo get involved 🙂

Buyer might be able to call eBay, explain this mess, and get them to issue a new label, but getting outsourced eBay CS to understand the situation might be difficult, and even if they do, they probably have no mechanism for issuing another label.

I understand that those options may be more difficult or impossible if your buyer isn't willing to help, or is incapable of doing so.

Sorry, not much help here. You are 100% not at fault for any of this, but getting eBay to fix it or acknowledge that will be like beating your head against the wall. Also sounds like your buyer also isn't at fault. USPS dropped the ball.

1. Buyer takes it back to PO and makes them ship it again for free (which is what should happen)
2. Buyer ships it retail at the counter, or creates her own PayPal label, and pays again.
3. You email her a PayPal ShipNow label (because you want it to be over with)

That's about all I see, other than some nebulous fog where eBay closes the return and buyer eats the lost return label amount and keeps the item. I really doubt eBay is going to refund the buyer the used return label cost unless buyer gets a really good CS person.

Hopefully someone else had some ideas.

Thanks again for your help.

I told her to take it to the PO and to be insistent that it is their mistake (which it is), and see if they will ship again at no charge. I told her if she doesn't get anywhere, to pay at the counter and I will reimburse her. She seemed ok with that. I'm not calling ebay, and calling the USPS 800 # is over an hour wait. I called USPS when I first saw it was being RTR, they told me someone would call me back. That was over a week ago and no phone call, USPS sucks.

berserkerplanet · ‎06-02-2018

Hope it comes to a conclusion soon.

USPS does really suck when there is a problem, but 99.99% of the time they get the job done.

Be sure to let us know how it works out. Curious if this does play out where USPS agrees that an eBay USPS First Class Return Service Label is valid for this usage.)

tweetystwades · ‎06-05-2018

@berserkerplanet wrote:
Hope it comes to a conclusion soon.

USPS does really suck when there is a problem, but 99.99% of the time they get the job done.

Be sure to let us know how it works out. Curious if this does play out where USPS agrees that an eBay USPS First Class Return Service Label is valid for this usage.)

This may not have been USPS's fault, sometimes it may be the buyer not having shipping experience.

She took the package back to the PO as I advised, and she sent me this message.

I figured it out. The package had a priority sticker on it covering up another label. So they sent it back for that reason even though the label said first class. But I got it out today so u should be receiving it soon.

This message does not really make sense to me, because we can only see the front FC label.

I asked her if they charged her again for postage or if they agreed to resend it at no charge. Her response was " I have no idea". I said well...if you did not print another label and they did not charge you at the counter, they are going to resend at no charge.

tweetystwades · ‎06-05-2018

hafoster · ‎06-05-2018

Hi @ship_like_a_pro, post office did RTS on USPS Return Service label from eBay.

ship_like_a_pro · ‎06-06-2018

@hafoster wrote:

Hi @ship_like_a_pro, post office did RTS on USPS Return Service label from eBay.

@hafoster,

Thanks for letting me know. I have reached out my contacts to get the local station training issue addressed. Reviewed the thread, and it looks like the buyer was eventually able to get the package sent through, but quite a pain. Sorry for that.

~Nate

berserkerplanet · ‎06-06-2018

Nate, as long as you're around, can you clarify a couple of things? @ship_like_a_pro

Is it true that eBay issues both USPS First Class Package Return Service labels and USPS Priority Mail Return Service labels?

That First Class Package Return Service Labels can be used on non First Class pkgs (over 13oz up to 70lb)?

If so, that doesn't jive with any USPS return service product documentation I can find, which implies that the FCPRS labels are a special eBay/USPS negotiated product. And begs the question of why bother with Priority Return labels at all (another seller indicated he has seen them in the wild here.)

If we can clearly understand what USPS return service products eBay is using and what the capabilities of those products are, we can better advise other sellers, buyers and Postal Employees without guessing, and make better decisions for our own selling business models.

hafoster · ‎06-06-2018

Also @ship_like_a_pro, can the First Class Package Return Service label --

be affixed to any packaging, including flat rate Priority Mail envelopes/boxes?

tweetystwades · ‎06-07-2018

I got this package back today, the PO resent it at no additional charge. The buyer returned the item in a used box that had a Priority label on it addressed to her. She attached a FC label addressed to me, but did not cover or black out old the Priority label. The package was returned to the buyer as postage due. So, that clears that up.