eBay

debbielarson · ‎09-09-2020

Hi, all. Yesterday, I had a problem printing an eBay shipping label that seemed to arise from a discrepancy in first class package size requirements listed on various eBay pages. I sold a vintage felt pennant that was to be shipped flat, and when I listed it, I had used the shipping calculator and guidelines from the eBay article “UPSS and UPS Package Types” that said, “A package is a parcel (or box) less than 84 inches when you add the length plus girth.” My package measured 32” x 15” x 2”, so 66” in length + girth, and was only 10 ounces (it’s made of high density foam board). The shipping calculator gave the First Class Package option, which I selected. When I tried the print the label, I got the message, "Something went wrong and we were not able to generate the label." Repeated tries, emptying cache, rebooting and 2 eBay chat reps checking the page were unable to solve the problem. Then I noticed on the Print Your Shipping Label page in small print under First Class Package, “Up to 16 ounces with maximum dimensions 22 x 18 x 15 inches.” Huh? So I switched to Priority Mail and the label printed. This morning I tried USPS’s own calculator with my package size and IT gave me the First Class Package option (retail only, of course, no online or eBay rates). I have more pennants to list and don’t want this happening again! If anyone has an explanation or advice, I’d really appreciate it!

martin2001 · ‎09-09-2020

Why don't you try other label providers? I have been using pirateship.com for two years. Absolutely no problems.

They import you orders from ebay and post back the tracking numbers. You can also purchase insurance for both domestic and int'l orders (read the exclusions). You can ask them to sign you up for their simple international rate and you get 25-30% cheaper prices than ebay on lighter parcels (up to 4 lbs). Their customer service is outstanding, email replies within 24 hours and a real chat. You can easily reprint your labels if needed and when you are finished you can generate the SCAN form (and easily reprint it if needed). You can use you CC to pay for the labels, earning extra % on your CC purchases.

a_c_green · ‎09-09-2020

@debbielarson wrote:
If anyone has an explanation or advice, I’d really appreciate it!

This is a bit of a longshot, but I ship First Class Package all the time, and I noticed in the very latest Shipping form (the one with the Sender and Recipient addresses on the right instead of on the left) that the package dimensions are now being displayed backwards.

For example, if I had a package that I had defined as 32" x 15" x 2" (like yours), the older form would show that correctly as 32" x 15" x 2" (Length x Width x Depth, where Length is the longest value and Depth is the shortest), and its girth would calculate as 32 + 15 + 15 + 2 + 2 = 66, as you said. But with the new form showing the data in the wrong fields, it might be generating a girth total of 2 + 15 + 15 + 32 + 32 = 96 instead, which exceeds FCP limits.

(I pointed this out via the Comments link of the form when I first noticed it, but I'm not going to stand on one foot waiting for anything to be done about it.)

debbielarson · ‎09-09-2020

Thanks, I'll look into that. I've never had an issue with eBay labels before, and found it convenient that mostly everything from my listing is prefilled. But now I may have to consider alternatives.

debbielarson · ‎09-09-2020

I have to say, that is a very astute observation! You may be on to something here, and perhaps simply re-entering the dimensions in reverse will solve the problem. I'm going to try that with my next pennant sale. Thanks!

nobody*s_perfect · ‎09-09-2020

Those dimension criteria appear in the Commercial section of the DMM. The Retail section shows that the limit for First Class packages is a length-plus-girth of 108 inches, as well as the weight limit of 13 ounces. This might be the rare occasion when it's worthwhile to ship retail.

Retail, see section 6.4: https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/101.htm#ep1002718

Commercial, see section 8.3.2: https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/201.htm#ep1097220

debbielarson · ‎09-09-2020

Thanks for pointing that out, and for the links. I'm still stumped, though, about why eBay's USPS and UPS Package Types page (“A package is a parcel (or box) less than 84 inches when you add the length plus girth.”) doesn't match their Print Your Shipping Label page ("First Class Package: Up to 16 ounces with maximum dimensions 22 x 18 x 15 inches.”). And neither matches the USPS dimensions you cited.

a_c_green · ‎09-09-2020

@nobody*s_perfect wrote:
Retail, see section 6.4: https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/101.htm#ep1002718

Commercial, see section 8.3.2: https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/201.htm#ep1097220

Interesting... the Retail limit is defined in Length + Girth terms (no higher than 108"), but the Commercial is described in straight limit terms: no more than 22 inches in length, or 18 inches in width, or 15 inches in thickness. If the OP's package dimensions were being interpreted in the wrong order (since the Length x Width x Depth fields were populated in the wrong order by the form coding), then the supposed Depth value of 32" would fail.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎09-09-2020

That package would fail the Commercial size limit regardless of the order of the dimensions, since all 3 limits are below 32 inches.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎09-09-2020

@debbielarson wrote:
Thanks for pointing that out, and for the links. I'm still stumped, though, about why eBay's USPS and UPS Package Types page (“A package is a parcel (or box) less than 84 inches when you add the length plus girth.”) doesn't match their Print Your Shipping Label page ("First Class Package: Up to 16 ounces with maximum dimensions 22 x 18 x 15 inches.”). And neither matches the USPS dimensions you cited.

84 inches is not a domestic USPS package size limit at all. The limit for Priority Mail and Media Mail is 108 inches, and Parcel Select and Retail Ground it's 130 inches (with an Oversize rate for L+G over 108 inches).

The lesson here is to not rely on eBay for information about postage. Either use the USPS's own resources (such as the DMM and Notice 123) or come here to talk to actual sellers.

debbielarson · ‎09-09-2020

So I guess eBay rates are considered Commercial, and even if I reversed the dimension field values, 32" would fail in any field if 22" is max. Is this Commercial size limit for First Class Package a recent change? I remember mailing > 22" First Class packages in the past.

debbielarson · ‎09-09-2020

Yes, you're right, nobody*s_perfect, about the take-away lesson, so that's why I'm here! It's frustrating because I always use the shipping calculator to select my shipping method when completing a listing. Given the information here, it should give a First Class Package option for Retail rates only, and no First Class Package option for eBay rates. Yet it does, despite the >22" size.

BTW, thanks to everyone in this thread for your thoughtful ideas and fast responses! I'll see how it goes when I sell my next item of this type, and I'll be back to mark an "accept as solution" post.