Postage Due Question

[packman60]

I had a return request for a dress that did not fit.  Today I had a notice on my door from my mail person saying I had a package with $8 postage due and the signature required box was checked. The dress was only 69 dollars son not sure why sig required

I work full time and now have to go to PO and sign for the package and apparently pay the 8 dollars due. Is that correct and then subtract that from her refund?

Other issue is that on the tracking  update from  my mail person  it says no safe place to leave which is not at all the reason it wasn't left in my box.

Thanks

[orangehound]

If the buyer used an eBay Return Service label, I've seen instances where postal clerks see a First Class Return Service label on a Priority Mail package, and assume postage is due ... I don't think that is correct.

Unfortunately, you'll probably need to get to the post office and find out why there is an $8 shortage, and see if it is a legitimate claim.

[cihi882]

I think you can only deduct from refunds if you offer free returns, meaning you pay return postage

[dtexley3]

Yes, you are going to have to go into the PO on this.  Make sure to call ahead and make sure the Postmaster or Branch manager will be available as you will likely have to get them involved on the "postage due".  eBay return label's are under some special deal with USPS and appear to be First Class labels (ie 1lb and under) but are not.  It may take some work to get this cleared up but you should not be charged postage due.

The second conversation is why the delivery status was incorrect, (ie no safe place rather than postage due).  

[packman60]

Thanks. I will try to make it to the PO tomorrow to see what the problem is. While there I will also ask why the wrong update was put in the tracking.

I guess it could be an issue with the return label ebay provided but could it also be that she put signature required and that might have been the extra charge?

[reda3615]

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@cihi882 wrote:
I think you can only deduct from refunds if you offer free returns, meaning you pay return postage

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You don't need to be a burner posting ID to know that

A partial refund may not be used to recoup return shipping fees.

[packman60]

So it didn't fit which means she pays return shipping. Apparently she didn't pay to ship it back so I would have to pay return shipping anyway?  How did it get processed in the first place without correct postage or no postage whichever the case may be. I guess I will find out tomorrow when I go pick it up!

[orangehound]

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@packman60 wrote:

So it didn't fit which means she pays return shipping. Apparently she didn't pay to ship it back so I would have to pay return shipping anyway?  How did it get processed in the first place without correct postage or no postage whichever the case may be. I guess I will find out tomorrow when I go pick it up!

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I've re-read this thread, and I was making a wrong assumption about this buyer using an eBay return label.

• If someone wants signature required, then they cannot use the eBay return label ... they have to purchase their postage external to the eBay system.
• It would be very rare to expect your buyer to buy return shipping at the USPS counter and to have underpaid.

So, assuming that this is not some USPS mistake, this is telling me that the buyer bought their postage on-line and purposefully underpaid ... e.g., paid for a 1 ounce First Class label and put it in a Priority Mail package.   If true, they effectively just stuck you with part of (or most of) return shipping.  Clever but unethical.

(I would assume that if you don't pay the postage due, then it will go back to the buyer and they'll likely get a refund for "attempted delivery").

If this happened to me, I would

1. Suck up the $8 loss (since it is a $69 item)
2. Refund the price in full (assuming it wasn't in a deteriorated condition) ... as a TRS, I realize that you could deduct some cost and eBay would back you.  But that would be against eBay policies, and it may come back to bite you if you use your seller protection for something that it is not designed for.
3. Put the buyer on my Best Buddy List
4. Report the buyer for abusing returns, articulating just what this buyer did.

[packman60]

Thanks and I agree. I am thinking she is trying to get away with something. Hopefully she is sending the  right dress back, NWT Kate Spade and not going to scam on that too!

The tracking shows they didn't have a safe place to leave the dress when in fact it has postage due and sig required, so it looks like all I need to do is pick it up ugh.  Note they left me said that but tracking update shows the wrong thing. 

Thanks

[packman60]

She shipped the dress in a priority mail envelope with a First Class label. PO charged me 4.20 difference for the package and said they couldn't change the status update .

[packman60]

Now I am trying to refund her and keep getting the message "there is a problem with this refund" ? What the heck is the problem?

[reda3615]

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@orangehound wrote:

this is telling me that the buyer bought their postage on-line and purposefully underpaid ... e.g., paid for a 1 ounce First Class label and put it in a Priority Mail package.

But wouldn't that APV back-charge the online label purchaser? That First-Class label @packman60 was it an online label from e.g. Stamps.com or Click-n-Ship? Or if it was an APC lobby kiosk, does USPS back-charge the card used to pay?

[reda3615]

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@packman60 wrote:

Now I am trying to refund her and keep getting the message "there is a problem with this refund" ? What the heck is the problem?

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You need to have enough "cash" in your PayPal balance to cover the refund, PayPal fees, and sales tax. PayPal no longer pulls the shortage from your bank account; you have to transfer it in, or sell something.

[packman60]

The label has ebay on it and first class. I would post a picture but  my puppy has already destroyed it. My PO charged me the difference for a 13 oz first class and a priority mail package which they said was a little over 4 dollars.

The package itself said return to sender to collect the rest of the postage but I decided to just pay it and move on.

So now I have to wait to get 79 dollars in my PayPal account to refund her. Don't I have a time limit to do that?

The status update does not show that I picked up the package and it still shows no secure place to leave it which is not the reason it wasn't left. They said they had no way to update the status to the real reason it wasn't left.

I have been selling a while and had no idea you had to have the funds in PayPal now to refund, I transfer my money to may account right away. Learn something new everyday selling on ebay!

[reda3615]

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@packman60 wrote:

The label has ebay on it and first class.

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Your post office screwed up @packman60

An eBay First-Class return label is valid for any box, including a Priority Mail/flat-rate box with no postage due.

You can prove this if you still have the return tracking number: Go to the full USPS website, enter the tracking number, and look for Return Service under the last section, titled Product Information.