No more parcel post great idea in the middle of Covid

[bidsofwisdom]

Sorry but I am highly frustrated.  No more parcel post with usps.  And whose  idea was that in the middle of a covid pandemic.  Read that there was not much difference in shipping!  Really, have had to  go to the post office twice.  Through ebays priority mail each time it was in the 50 dollars, parcel post in the twenties.  

I am sorry but due to personal issues with covid have stayed away from groups, crowds ect, and now I have to go to the post office, stand in line, in situations which I have stayed away from for a while.  Congratulations to the brains behind this plan at this time in history.

[postingid7659]

ahh yes, the 0.15% deadly pandemic everyone is scared of.

Just ship the stuff FedEx or UPS instead.  Cheaper.  

[rebell45]

Go to PayPal and buy your label there. They should still be offering USPS Ground there. eBay is the one that decided not to offer it on their site anymore.  Or, set a free account on Pirate Ship. They'll offer it.

[nobody*s_perfect]

eBay has decided to phase out access to Parcel Select Ground labels, even though USPS has made no changes in their services or policies, and it's offered by all other online postage sellers including PayPal, endicia, stamps.com, etc. When it's not offered, the shipping label page usually defaults to the first option on the list which is flat rate envelope. You can purchase Parcel Select Ground postage through PayPal at

www.PayPal.com/shipnow

But do compare prices before you do that. For Zones 1 - 4, the USPS online price for Priority Mail is  less than a dollar more than Parcel Select Ground. If you're a TRS you get a 3% discount when purchasing Priority labels through eBay, which often makes it cheaper than Parcel Select. There is no combination of weight and Zone for which Priority would be ~$50 yet Parcel Select in the $20's. You can check using eBay's shipping calculator:

http://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator

IMHO Parcel Select ground should only be offered when necessary such as for hazmat or Oversize packages (i.e., length-plus-girth above the Priority limit of 108 inches).

[kohaku_queen]

The main issue with this is that it feels willy-nilly, un-thought out...

I dont remember getting an email about it otherwise I would have changed all my listings.

eBay only charged my customer the amount for parcel select, on a listing that was set up before the pandem - Im just going to eat the extra couple of bucks. 

IMO listings opened before the decision should be grandfathered in,  instead of dropping the option entirely.

Nevermind that eBay has taken over payment processing from paypal making buying a label from them no better than buying at USPS.

[monster-deals]

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@bidsofwisdom wrote:

now I have to go to the post office, stand in line, 

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Why is that?

[nobody*s_perfect]

Last December, an eBay staff member explained in post #15 in this thread:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Weekly-Chat-with-eBay-Staff/Community-Chat-December-9-1-00-pm-PT-Gener...

"USPS Parcel Select is being phased out as an option for sellers using eBay Labels. This was due to it not being widely utilized, and having a higher rate of poor buyer experiences (more common INRs, etc). 

The phase out is a slow one, but eventually it will no longer be an option to use with eBay Labels."

Sellers had been noticing this change for several weeks before that acknowledgement was made. AFAIK, that's the only official word from eBay about it. Certainly there has been no formal announcement.

"Nevermind that eBay has taken over payment processing from paypal making buying a label from them no better than buying at USPS."

Not sure what that means.  The postage cost for Parcel Select Ground is the same via PayPal as it is (er, was) for eBay labels.