Anyone else having problems with extra shipping costs being charged after item delivered?

[5star-books]

I sell mainly books, and I have been an ebayer for about 20 years.  There have been 6 instances in the last month that I have incurred "chargebacks" for additional shipping costs via my Managed Payments account.  This doesn't make any sense as I weigh items prior to generating a shipping label and then I take the item to the post office window who also weighs the item.  More importantly, all of the items have been shipped "Media Mail" and all have been books.  For example, today I received a chargeback of $3.36 on two paperback books that I recently sent out and had already paid for a label for a two pound package ($3.45).  For those of you that aren't aware of the Media Mail rates, the first pound is $2.89 and then it's roughly $.50 for each pound thereafter.  So the chargeback of $3.36 means that the post office is saying that the package of two paperback books actually weighed about 6 pounds more than I originally paid for, which makes no sense for two paperback books and it's flat out wrong.  It seems that the day that my items are received by the buyer, I have received these chargebacks.  I have called ebay twice and both times they say that the chargebacks are from the post office and ebay can't explain them.   I have sold about 50 items in the last month and the chargebacks have occurred 6 times, so it's not every item.  So far my chargebacks total about $14, not a ton of money, but I have no idea when it will stop and it seems fraudulent to me and how do I know that tomorrow my chargeback won't be $100?  My managed payments account is like a bank account, and I am very uneasy about chargebacks, even small dollar amounts like these, that ebay can't explain and that I know for a fact are without merit.  Anyone else getting these charges?  In 20 years of selling, I've never had any chargebacks.

[nobody*s_perfect]

"eBay is a ten billion dollar company. Why would they be charging you an additional $3 for no reason. Not one other person has replied that this is happening to them. I'm on this forum every day and I've not seen another post from anyone saying the same thing."

There have definitely been posts from people who have been charged for underpaid postage (through the APV system) through eBay. Even some who have gotten credits!  However, 6 charges in rapid succession is extraordinary.

[klhmdg]

I think you are mistaken.  It is USPS who does the extra charges.

eBay has zero idea about what the item weighs at the PO.

If you want to get a refund or to the bottom of why this is happening to you with USPS, you will need to have your receipts with the tracking and weight of the items they added extra charges to and call or go into your local PO and get them to research why they charged you extra.

Good luck...

[kosmosattik]

Do you ask for receipts at the post office counter?   If so, the PO counter scale weight should be printed on the receipt, not your declared weight.  That would be proof of your argument if it shows your calculated weight.  Or does it indicate the clerk mis-weighed it (failure to reset, thumb on the scale, whatnot)  in which you're probably stuck.  Have you noted whether you're dealing with a newbie clerk?  A clerk angry with the world?  Angry with you?

It's the same drill at the UPS store--printed receipts, counter weigh-in printed on it.  Ask for the receipt if they don't offer it.

I always get receipts and glace at them before walking too far from the counter.   I've always gotten accurate weigh-ins and never a back end up-charge but I still check every time.

[lamber9347]

---

@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

"eBay is a ten billion dollar company. Why would they be charging you an additional $3 for no reason. Not one other person has replied that this is happening to them. I'm on this forum every day and I've not seen another post from anyone saying the same thing."

There have definitely been posts from people who have been charged for underpaid postage (through the APV system) through eBay. Even some who have gotten credits!  However, 6 charges in rapid succession is extraordinary.

---

@nobody*s_perfect Sorry but you are misunderstanding what I wrote- and you only quoted one section and not the remainder of my comment. OP said they feel it is eBay, not USPS, who is charging them additional postage. My response was that I have not seen other posts from folks saying eBay is charging them. The APV system you are referring to is from the USPS, so you are actually agreeing with me that these charges are coming from USPS and not eBay- as the OP feels.

Postage weight discrepancies come from USPS not eBay, how would eBay know what the weight was of anyone's package? All a seller does is purchase and print the label on eBay, using the info entered by the seller themselves. The package gets scanned and weighed by USPS at some point in the tracking. People are confusing the source of the underpayment by the process where it hits the seller's account. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

The APV charges show up on the seller's eBay invoice. We're saying the same thing, I guess.

[computeraidllc]

I don't think you are understanding what a chargeback is. A chargeback is when a customer goes to the bank or credit card company to dispute a charge.

What you are explaining sounds like a package that had insufficient postage and USPS charged eBay for the amount to cover what the postage should have been. This is the new way for USPS to handle packages that don't have enough postage to cover the shipping costs instead of having the carrier ask the customer to cover the postage cost or send the item back to you with postage due.

It sounds like you use eBay to print off the postage instead of going to the post office. If this is the case, I would make sure you package dimensions match up with what eBay's listings says. If it is wrong, correct the dimensions. If this happens after the customer buys an item, you can input different dimensions before paying for postage. Also I would check your scale to make sure it is accurate. If you have something like a roll of quarters, if you put that on the scale it should be no less than 1/2 a pound. If you don't have a roll of quarters, find something that you know the weight of to check the scale. Make sure it isn't something like sugar or flour or bags of dog food or any bulk bag item like that as the weight might be under because some of the sugar ran out of the package.

You should be able to dispute this with USPS. When you talk to USPS don't use the word chargeback as they will think that you disputed a charge with them when you were billed for insufficient postage.

[5star-books]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond!  I really appreciate it as it helped me get to the bottom of the problem.

[north40sales]

scaled weight increases when you have your thumb on the scale.....more weight, more revenue.  

[b86fiero]

Last Fall I received notice of a USPS underpayment of postage through eBay.  It was for an item that weighs less than 3 ounces packed in a bubble mailer.  I have sold over 2,000 of these so I know what they weigh and the shipping price.  Shipping labels all printed through eBay.

USPS said the item weighed 2 lb. 4 oz.  and I was charged the difference between the 3oz First Class and Priority Mail. The eBay message contained a USPS phone number to call and contest the charge.  I spoke with a very nice and helpful employee who explained that USPS has cameras that watch conveyors as they weigh packages.  USPS can go back to the shipping date and view what was weighed to confirm the extra charges were warranted.

Turns out my 3oz package was sitting on top of a Priority Mail box when it was weighed at the sorting facility.   The same USPS employee called me a few days later, explained what had happened, apologized and told me I would receive a refund of the overcharge through eBay.  (I have been in Managed Payments for over 2 years).

Sure enough,  within a day or two eBay had refunded the money back into my account.

Check the eBay notice you received regarding the upcharge for the phone number at USPS which handles contested amounts.

Good luck and get some money refunded  😀

[donsdetour]

And yet I did not see any one ask what the item besides book was sent.

Some items even if old do not qualify for media and if examined will incur extra postage.

[5star-books]

All packages were just books.

[donsdetour]

any old catalogs??

Invoice sent with the items ect...

What items did you ship??

What were the books??

[therogue-trader]

We presumed the thread-poster wasn't lying when they said in the original post that "all have been books."

[mr_lincoln]

@5star-books   It almost sounds like one of the automated weighing systems at the first bulk center your packages go to is malfunctioning ... they use dynamic check-weighers that weigh packages going about 360 feet per minute ... each bulk center has numerous inbound stations where workers place mail pieces on conveyor belts and they cross the check-weigher in single file but if something is wrong with one of the lines weights could easily be thrown off and the result is shippers getting charged for additional postage.

I do not suspect the issue is with eBay but rather the post office.

[buyselljack2016]

---

@donsdetour wrote:

any old catalogs??

Invoice sent with the items ect...

What items did you ship??

What were the books??

---

Seems that it was hashed out a bit earlier that the up-charge was not at the Priority rate, but as a weight problem equal to an amount within the MM rates.

I'm going with others on the "piggyback with another item" theory.