eBay

oldtownrhoda · ‎04-28-2020

Tonight I received a message from a previous buyer who mixed me up with another seller they had purchased from. In the message informing me of the flawed product they received from the other buy, they included a picture of the other seller's shipping label and packing slip, both marked as "Media Mail". Since the seller's name was on the packing slip, I went to their store and noticed they had Free Shipping on most of their items. And I guess I can see now how other sellers can offer Free Shipping on lower profit items and undercut the rest of us.

I feel a bit naive now, actually!

BTW, we exchanged messages and the buyer realized she mistakenly messaged me. All is well there.

simba6 · ‎04-28-2020

The postal service inspects media mail packages quite often and back bills the sender if the item is not approved for media mail.

oldtownrhoda · ‎04-28-2020

That's what I thought, but I'm guessing this seller decides to take their chances and probably gets away with it most of the time. And the packing slip was for some home decor wall art. Definitely not Media Mail!

hurryagain · ‎04-28-2020

I hate when other sellers do this. It costs the rest of us more when the US Postmaster needs to raise the rates yet again...as if they don't have enough reasons to do so already, these shady sellers are compounding the problem.

...ugh...

nobody*s_perfect · ‎04-29-2020

@simba6 wrote:
The postal service inspects media mail packages quite often and back bills the sender if the item is not approved for media mail.

If the Media Mail error/abuse is discovered while the package is still in the sender's area, it will be returned to them; otherwise the package will be delivered to the recipient with Postage Due.

Media Mail inspection is done by actual human beings; it is not part of the APV system, which bills underpayments to the sender's account.

https://link.usps.com/2017/10/05/what-is-apv/

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/ship-smart/ebay-shipping-partners/avoid-extra-postage-costs....