Ebay Standard Envelope Shipping - How do the Tracking Numbers Work? Not Showing Up

[making_your_dreams_come_true]

Ebay has the new Standard Envelope Shipping for sports card under $20 -  It says it comes with $20 insurance and a tracking number.

Question:  How do the tracking numbers work?  How are they tracked, I've sent a few packages and the tracking numbers start with ESU -- and then some numbers.  They don't seem to be tracking anything though.  When you go to USPS.com it says that the number is invalid.  And nowhere along the way to it's destination is the number scanned.  How are these numbers actually scanned.  My post office worker said they couldn't scan them, are they doing something wrong?

Does anyone know how these tracking numbers work?

[buckeyesforthrifting]

The Post Office Sorting machines scan the envelop and ebay has access to know when it has been scanned. I will not show up on USPS.com or with tracking from each usps location. It will only show up on ebay as shipped and delivered.

[everything*from*a2zz]

They can partially be tracked at https://www.trackmyshipment.co/shipment-tracking

[brahut76]

I just had a buyer request a refund for ebay standard envelope not showing up. Last update it said out for delivery and never said delivered. After refunding the buyer I happened across this post and I tried the link you posted and wouldn't you know it, the mail was delivered and 3 days early. The buyer totally scammed me and because the garbage envelope tracking  does not show delivered on the order, ebay policy says, oh well too bad the buyer scammed you out of the card and the money and we don't really give a crap. Oh and if you do not use our horrible standard envelope we will keep putting defects on your account for not uploading tracking. Over it, about to shut my account down. So sick of ebay's  horrible policies that protect scammers no stop. There are hundreds if not thousands of sellers who get scammed every day because of their scammer friendly policies. Enough is enough. Over it.  

[itscalledapostingid]

Ebay standard envelope comes with insurance. You refund the buyer and file a claim to get your money back. It's easy. see the link:

INSURANCE FOR ESE 

[meloidaswrathsin]

its a good thing i read first your comment on this before i apply for refund... i would be ashamed if i ask for a refund then i recieved the product...

sorry to hear about what happend to you.

ill just wait more

thanks

[gregr3]

As a long-term buyer, I can also say that this faux-tracking is not functional for buyers either.  For years and with nearly 1000 purchases, I've only had a couple items shipped but not arrived.  However in the past 3 weeks, 7 purchased baseball card shipments to me have gone missing, despite most saying "delivered" in the "tracking". 

When I visited the post office (twice) about the missing items, they can't help because it's not a "real" tracking number.  There's no place I can report the missing items to except to the seller, and it's not the seller's fault nor can they remedy the issue.  The evaporation of my purchases within the postal system shouldn't be made to be an issue for the seller, but should be reportable to USPS somehow...but without a tracking number, they won't even take a report of the missing items.

My personal theory - the fact that the envelopes say "Ebay standard envelope" right on them but postal employees know it's not real tracking means that the postage merely alerts interested parties that there's something of value inside.

[12345jamesstamps]

The envelope has to be less than 1/4" which is about 4 trading cards...only 4 with no plastic holders. And envelope has to be able to bend per the clerks at my post office in San Francisco. Sometimes you will get lucky with the mailings and sometimes you will not if you don't follow what your local post office tells you.I mailed a few out last year at .60 with no problem. Any envelope thicker is considered a parcel. I also had no problem mailing 4 trading cards International out at $1.60 last year. I just use a standard envelope since item sold at $10 bucks. As far as tracking for these standard envelopes by eBay ...I can't do tracking from the USPS with a standard envelope(it doesn't exit)...it has to be the longer envelope version for me to do tracking certified by the USPS. With USPS tracking certified they don't care if it's not bendable...and it is not considered a parcel.It would be interesting to see what an eBay standard envelope looks. 

[geovillage]

I am currently a buyer of a missing package of coins.  The eBay Standard Envelope says "delivered" but I can assure everyone there was no delivery.  The "tracking" was extremely suspect as it shows it going from a distribution center 90 miles away one day and supposedly to my house the next.  As a long time eBay seller and buyer, I know that this distribution center and my house have at least two stops in between and it takes two days or three to make that distance.    Since I have only had one item lost by the post office in the past 20 years, I can only conclude that the eBay Standard envelope is nothing more than untracked mail with a "steal me - coin, cash or trading card enclosed" sticker on it.   From now on I will avoid sellers who use this tracking and never sell anything using this process either. 

[itscalledapostingid]

@geovillage 

It's not unusual for the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMb) to be marked as delivered a day or so before it hits your mailbox.

Check your mailbox tomorrow or the next day.

Nobody at the post office is stealing cheap coins. If the seller did a shoddy packaging job it may have gotten chewed up in a high-speed sorting machine. I personally would never send even one coin in a letter.

[ramito_ephemera]

Limit for standard envelope service is the item must sell for $20 or less. Has anyone confirmed that refers only the the PRICE of the item, exclusive of tax and shipping? Or do they mean the comprensive total paid? Thanks

[ramito_ephemera]

To answer my own question, a call confirmed that it is the SALE price alone, so a $19.99 item is fine.👍

But here is a a weird thing I was told but can hardly believe: they open & inspect EVERY item to confirm it is within the limits. ‼️ My theoretical question: what if, for example,  I inadvertently included 12 postage stamps rather rather than the limit of three? (Note that would be well under the weight limit.) The response was: they open and reseal every item. Maybe the person who helped me thought my question was suspicious, so they wanted to put the fear of the Lord into me  🤣

[itscalledapostingid]

---

@ramito_ephemera wrote:

To answer my own question, a call confirmed that it is the SALE price alone, so a $19.99 item is fine.👍

But here is a a weird thing I was told but can hardly believe: they open & inspect EVERY item to confirm it is within the limits. ‼️ My theoretical question: what if, for example,  I inadvertently included 12 postage stamps rather rather than the limit of three? (Note that would be well under the weight limit.) The response was: they open and reseal every item. Maybe the person who helped me thought my question was suspicious, so they wanted to put the fear of the Lord into me  🤣

---

Who told you that?

The post office doesn't do that.

ESE is just lettermail. Nobody is opening your mail. 

[tvcollectibles]

People need to understand how this works.  The tracking works using the eBay link in your Buyers or Sellers section of eBay or you can use this link:

https://www.trackmyshipment.co/shipment-tracking

If it says DELIVERED with a Zip Code next to it then it was delivered at the buyer's Post Office and that is the last scan it will receive.

Why?  Because Mail Carriers who deliver the envelope can not scan the bar code with their hand held scanners.  The bar code is only made for Postal sorting machines to scan.

So after it says "Delivered", which is to their Post Office then it takes another day or so for that Post Office to get it to the buyer's mail box.

So the actual delivery to the buyer is a day or two after the recorded delivery and will receive NO scan when that is done because again, Carrier's hand held scanners can not scan the bar code.

As for sellers protection, eBay will accept the recorded delivery to the Post Office as proof it was delivered with them automatically assuming that the postal workers did their job afterward.

[rskaggs7333]

The problem is most post offices don't have the equipment to scan these codes. Most scans are done at distribution centers. Which can be a day or two from the PO that you dropped off at (Which gets you lots of defects). Or a day or two from the destination (Which creates mad customers). But the biggest problem is they don't seem to be getting scanned at all lately. I looked the the cards I shipped in March and only half of them show to be delivered. Many have the original destination scan and nothing else. And many of them have In Transit scans but no delivery scan. So if a customer files a complaint your SOL. I'm strongly considering going back to USPS First Class only.