Got CHARGED to PRINT a shippinglabel

[cprn44]

Has anyone else had this issue with ebay?   I pulled ALL my listings as they have messed up shipping fees 4 times now.  I just got charged to PRINT a UPS shipping label.  The buyer PAID for the shipping and then I get CHARGED to print it?   I spoke with customer service and he was LESS than helpful--just kept saying there's a charge to print the label.

NO THERE IS NOT!!!

I don't know WHO to turn to now.  I am BEYOND frustrated.

[therogue-trader]

You seem to misunderstand how things work here.  When the buyer pays a shipping cost, the money goes to your account as revenue and you use that money to buy a shipping label.  The shipping cost paid by the buyer does not go to a shipping service directly.

[dtexley3]

When a buyer purchases your listing you get the price of the item AND the shipping the buyer was charged.  It's up to you to then purchase the label.   It's not like other sites where you never see the shipping money.

If you list an item for $15 + $5 shipping the buyer pays YOU $20 (less fees) and you purchase the label from those funds.  

[kensgiftshop]

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@cprn44 wrote:

The buyer PAID for the shipping and then I get CHARGED to print it? 

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Yes, the buyer pays you the money for shipping, then you have to buy a shipping label.

[toysaver]

There is no shipping fee fairy.

With calculated shipping the seller must put the correct weight and size of the package in when making the listing for the buyer to pay the amount the label will cost.  If there is an error it is the fault of the seller.  

[lja440]

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@cprn44 wrote:

Has anyone else had this issue with ebay?   I pulled ALL my listings as they have messed up shipping fees 4 times now.  I just got charged to PRINT a UPS shipping label.  The buyer PAID for the shipping and then I get CHARGED to print it?   I spoke with customer service and he was LESS than helpful--just kept saying there's a charge to print the label.

NO THERE IS NOT!!!

I don't know WHO to turn to now.  I am BEYOND frustrated.

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EVERYONE has the same "issue" . That is how it works. The seller puts in the information on shipping costs, the buyer pays the seller for the item and the listed S/H. The seller then purchases postage and ships the package from those funds.

Seriously, did you not read the seller tutorial's before you started listing. If not now is the time.

[slpentico]

WOW...lol

[lja440]

Also I noticed that the item that you did sell sold with USPS shipping, unless your buyer contacted you and requested that it be switched to UPS, switching carriers is not something you should be doing.

Many buyers avoid buying with a certain carrier listed (personally I avoid FedEx like the plague), others may have issues with USPS or UPS in their area. Switching carrier's is a good way to get a neg in your feedback.

[johnrj1226]

All sellers pay for their shipping labels.  The  seller receives revenue into their PayPal account from their buyers to pay for those labels.  Plus the Seller is  the only one the knows the total shipping weight & size of the package.

Based on your feedback received you have  shipped at least 239 packages on eBay sales  since  Jan 2017-  this couldn't be a new revelation.

[glyph01]

Phew, I don't want whatever it is you're smokin'. 😂

[farmalljr]

Lol, that's hilarious! I mean really, I haven't seen something this FUNNY in a forever. 

Did you think the buyer was going to send you a label? Or they somehow are "prepaying" with USPS for you?

How do you think shipping works every where else?! You pay item cost + shipping or item cost W/free shipping. Some one is PAYING for the label in the end right? (nope, USPS, FedEx, and UPS are not giving away shipping!) When you buy stuff, you don't need to send the seller a label. You don't go pay the carrier. The seller prints/pays for the label. All of the costs are totaled and you pay one price, to one place. 

Guess what? YOU are the seller. You are the one expected to pay for the label in ALL cases (free ship or paid by buyer). That "extra" money in your account over top of the price, isn't there because you are a nice guy and graduated top of your class..... It's not stimulus money either. 

Maybe BEFORE you list another thing, NOW would be the time to LEARN how this all works. Spend at LEAST 40 hours educating yourself. That may SOUND like a lot of time, but it's really not. There are a LOT of rules to know, and there is MUCH to learn about selling. Stop selling ANYTHING you may have listed. Break enough rules, or do enough wrong things, and you may just find your account permanently suspended. Save yourself headaches AND money and understand the rules. Get to know how it works. Get comfortable with the process, the pitfalls, and learn ALL the good AND bad about selling. 

[veronicabooksandart]

No. Switching carriers (or carrier service) is a great way to get positive feedback.

For small items weighing over a pound, the best retail prices overall with be from the only economy shipping service offered, viz., FX Smartpost; albeit, FXSP admits the worst delivery time. When the item is paid for, final value fees on shipping lock to the FXSP retail rate. Then you shop for the best discounted service. Your choices will be FX Ground or Home Delivery, UPS Ground, or even in some cases USPS Priority Mail. All of these service are standard shipping or better. In most cases, the discounted shipping charge to the seller will come in less than FXSP.  So, by changing the service and/or carrier, you've upgraded the "buyer requested" service and they receive the item in a timely manner when they expected it to take all but forever when they purchased the item.

The only rub is listing FXSP with its delivery time in attendance. Or how can the buyer complain when you've only upgraded their shipping service?

Any other way to approach this throws money at eBay final value fees and much more at the carrier.
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Math is hard.

[lja440]

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@veronicabooksandart wrote:

No. Switching carriers (or carrier service) is a great way to get positive feedback.

For small items weighing over a pound, the best retail prices overall with be from the only economy shipping service offered, viz., FX Smartpost; albeit, FXSP admits the worst delivery time. When the item is paid for, final value fees on shipping lock to the FXSP retail rate. Then you shop for the best discounted service. Your choices will be FX Ground or Home Delivery, UPS Ground, or even in some cases USPS Priority Mail. All of these service are standard shipping or better. In most cases, the discounted shipping charge to the seller will come in less than FXSP.  So, by changing the service and/or carrier, you've upgraded the "buyer requested" service and they receive the item in a timely manner when they expected it to take all but forever when they purchased the item.

The only rub is listing FXSP with its delivery time in attendance. Or how can the buyer complain when you've only upgraded their shipping service?

Any other way to approach this throws money at eBay final value fees and much more at the carrier.
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Math is hard.

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I beg to differ. Changing CARRIER is never a way to get anything but a NEG. Each customer knows what carrier in their area does a good job. There are areas where people have real problems with certain carriers.

Take me for example. My mail carrier knows what I buy (mainly records). I get some lots that will fit in my Jumbo mailbox, but the larger ones I told her and put it in writing that she can just leave me a notice instead of lugging 50# boxes into my garage and I'll pick them up after work. I work in another Post Office in another county.  Lately even though it would lighten her load she is delivering these because with the amount of packages we (USPS carriers) have had with covid and people shopping on-line I have had to wait till my day off because I can't make the drive before the windows close at my delivering PO. 

I also don't have any issues with UPS though a couple times they have delivered even after I have gone to bed, which my dogs do not like and it takes a while for them to stop barking.

FedEx is so hit or miss here in all it's forms. I ordered some mica pigments that should have come USPS but instead came FedEx. The package was tossed out at the end of my driveway. My drive fish hooks around at the bottom I did not see the package until I was on top of it (this is not the first time they have done this) Luckily my tires straddled the package and it wasn't crushed.  Now a $200+ order of .925 jewelry findings has gone missing al together. The listing stated USPS priority but the seller bit on the FedEx promo and FedEx at first said it was delivered Nov 8th and when I asked for a GPS then they changed it to they have no record of the package at all in the system. 

[veronicabooksandart]

You're generalizing from a single instance - yours - or projecting. Bad feedback from ship optimization is an empirical question. For small packages weighing over a pound, the lowest rates have only recently moved off FX Ground or Home Delivery to UPS Ground and USPS Priority Mail through aggressive discounting.

But yes, USPS is the people's carrier. If you load a flat rate box with heavy stuff or ship a relatively light item, by the score of it's size, USPS Parcel Select is the way to go. As an empirical question, your experience, as a rural FedEx competitor, is not an issue on these boards but eBay overcharging FedEx shipping is. Neither is a good reason not to save money.
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Hold them accountable.

[lja440]

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@veronicabooksandart wrote:

You're generalizing from a single instance - yours - or projecting. Bad feedback from ship optimization is an empirical question. For small packages weighing over a pound, the lowest rates have only recently moved off FX Ground or Home Delivery to UPS Ground and USPS Priority Mail through aggressive discounting.

But yes, USPS is the people's carrier. If you load a flat rate box with heavy stuff or ship a relatively light item, by the score of it's size, USPS Parcel Select is the way to go. As an empirical question, your experience, as a rural FedEx competitor, is not an issue on these boards but eBay overcharging FedEx shipping is. Neither is a good reason not to save money.
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Hold them accountable.

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I'm not projecting. I stated that HERE where I am FedEx is a problem. I fully understand that they are great and even preferred in some other areas. 

What I am pointing out is it is NOT good to change the carrier from the one on the listing unless the buyer requests it. The time to check your options for discounts is when you write up your listing. 

Recently I had two orders that were switched from USPS to FedEx. The first a lot of mica pigments in jars. This would have fit with ease in my mailbox, but it was shipped FedEx. At the moment I am not getting home until dusk. My driveway goes up and fish hooks sharply at the bottom. FedEx tossed it out in the middle of the driveway at the bottom. LUCKILY it was white and I spotted it as I turned and was able to avoid hitting it with a tire. 

A second package is missing. The listing stated USPS Priority Mail, It is over $200 worth of .925 jewelry findings. When it was late I contacted the seller because they hadn't posted tracking. They gave me a number that turned out to be FedEx and tracking on FedEx stated Delivered and signed for on Nov 8th (a Sunday)  1. I don't think FedEx deliveres in my rural area on Sundays, 2. I am off on Sunday and usually spend most of the day working on my various art  or restoration projects  out in my shed which faces the driveway and the road and if it isn't raining and blowing the big double doors are open. 

Well after talking to FedEx and asking for a check on the GPS location of the delivery. I called back the following day only to be told that they have no record of the package at all. And now the tracking says that the tracking number is invalid. As luck would have it I do have a screen shot in my messages showing the original tracking page which I have printed out and will be driving up to the FedEx terminal on Monday. I have told the seller to do the same on his end, because if not one of us is going to be out quite a bit of money.  As it is my pieces should have already been up at the B&M on display and for sale and out of my way so I can make more.