EBAY Envelope Mailing Option

[laserpartshq2]

Is anyone happy with EBAY's Envelope Mailing ? It may be cheap, but highly unreliable.

Of the last 10 auctions that I used it, only 3 showed it was del'd and of the remaining 7, only 2 showed any tracking at all.

[bdmh-enterprises]

Yes. Best thing eBay's ever done. Has been incredibly reliable. 99+% of mine get scanned.

Not getting any scans is indicative of packaging issues. Are you using top loaders or any kind of cardboard stiffener or mailer? Those are too stiff and will be rejected when caught and sent non-machinable where they won't get scanned and have an increasing chance of arriving postage due.

I recommend semi rigid sleeves, but also send $1 cards raw in penny's and have never had a complaint of damage. Never seen a problem with sending stickers raw either.

Envelopes have to be very flexible. They must EASILY bend a bit more than this: ( . It is clear, that with the scrutiny they're under, the USPS is cracking down on this and on collecting the non-machinable charge either by RTS or delivering postage due.

[worldcoinauctions]

Your envelope must bend around a 10" drum. 

If you ship and it gets at least 1 scan but you have to refund for non-delivery you can file a claim with ebay. The process is a bit weird and they don't pay your account here, you must have a paypal account to get the funds! In the past the claim paid you the item price + shipping with of course a max of $20 on the item price and $50 on a combined shipment. I have learned now that you don't get the shipping refunded any more. (just had to file a couple, got the funds already but....) 

At least the refund process is fast, only took a couple days.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

It is a service which is totally dependent on what you sell and how you package.

Results are usually consistent for a given seller - either acceptable or unacceptable.

If your items require little protection, they are more likely to be acceptable than unacceptable.

If you are willing to sacrifice safety for a lower shipping cost, it may be worthwhile for your sales, it is not worth the added risk to me.

If the buyers will not pay for a proper shipping method, the item is not worth my effort and the cost of having a customer and making him/her happy.

[dirk12955]

The main question and really,   The most important question......

Are the buyers receiving their items?   

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@dirk12955 wrote:

The main question and really,   The most important question......

Are the buyers receiving their items?   

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No the questions are

Are the buyers receiving their items?

Are they received on time?

Are they received in the condition they were shipped in?

ESE is less likely to be received on time for many items and locations.

ESE is less likely to be received in the condition they were shipped in if the items require some protection.

ESE is less likely to be received if the normal protection is a rigid toploader. If shipped in a toploader it may jam the sorter.

ESE shipments are also more likely to be rejected as non-machineable or surcharged for being non-machineable, in which case they will also not be tracked.

It is a total kludge developed by USPS to add volume to underused letter mail sorting equipment. Someone was quite clever in devising this tracking method, but lipstick on a pig is not very attractive.

[12345jamesstamps]

Tracking is not necessary for items that are of little value...

I have never had a buyer inquire about tracking...and yes, I have mailed trading cards and post cards as well.

I haven't had anything really lost not using tracking.

But to have the Top Rated Seller Plus you need it...to have tracking on most items shipped.

If the paper(label), ink(copy machine), tape(for label to put on), envelope(certain size) were free it might be worthwhile to use it...

I purchased a few who used ESE and can't believe the tape that is used for the label...

[dirk12955]

I can only speak to my personal experience.    As a stamp seller,   I use the ESUS system

 on a daily basis.     When business is good,    I'll use the system 400 or more times every month.

I pay no attention whatsoever to the tracking.    The buyer will let me know 

if there is a problem,  Then we can deal with it.

Out of 400 or so sales using ESUS,   I'll get maybe 3 or 4 messages 

about INR  or delayed delivery from a buyer.

I haven't had any issues with my orders being non-machinable.   If there's 

been any issues with that or extra postage,   None of my buyers have 

told me about it.   

[bdmh-enterprises]

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@tobaccocardyahoo wrote:

ESE is less likely to be received on time for many items and locations.

ESE is less likely to be received in the condition they were shipped in if the items require some protection.

ESE is less likely to be received if the normal protection is a rigid toploader. If shipped in a toploader it may jam the sorter.

ESE shipments are also more likely to be rejected as non-machineable or surcharged for being non-machineable, in which case they will also not be tracked.

It is a total kludge developed by USPS to add volume to underused letter mail sorting equipment. Someone was quite clever in devising this tracking method, but lipstick on a pig is not very attractive.

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All of this is only true if the sender does not follow the rules of 1st class mail.

ESE uses the same mail stream as ALL other stamped mail. I send from Maine. I get 2 day to NY, 3 day to FL, 4 Day to CO and 5 day to CA. IME this is as fast or faster than GA.

I have NEVER had a damage complaint using ESE.

Yes, top loaders do not work in today's high speed sorters and it's unfortunate that eBay doesn't make this abundantly clear in the info pages, but it again really comes down to sender error. Same with being charged for non-machinable.

ESE is not a "kludge" but a useful side effect of the development of the "Intelligent Mail Barcode" put on ALL letter mail to facilitate high speed sorting. The IMB makes ALL letters "trackable" per se. Which is why you can get photos of all your daily mail deliveries through USPS "Informed Delivery" emails. That they can sell this "tracking" service to large companies like eBay, so I don't get screwed by bad buyers, is more like putting BBQ sauce on an already attractive rack of ribs IMO.