Sellers using inadequate postage methods should be a reportable offense

[47acc_37]

2 weeks ago I had to pay $46 postage due on a box that arrived with a $5 media mail label on it. The contents were not eligible. Now I have a seller who has shipped what I know is a 2+ pound item with a first class label- when I immediately contacted them they gave me some excuse & sent it on anyway rather than voiding the label & buying a new one. If it arrives postage due I'm likely to refuse it, get a refund when they receive it back & leave a negative for them pulling this.

Why isn't this against eBay rules to use inadequate methods? They should buy a proper label instead of letting the hassle of dealing with it fall on the buyer. Because either I have to pay that postage due & seek reimbursement from the buyer(if they refuse I can file through Paypal) or refuse the package & have it sent back.

For that matter why is media mail even offered for categories that aren't eligible in the first place?

[powell-memorabilia]

I don’t endorse this practice, but I furred a good way to work around this issue. Ask the buyer for a refund of the postage due. If he does not comply, start a return. Return to seller a copy of the postage due invoice or some other way of demonstrating what you paid. After you are refunded for your return offered to make up the difference to the seller - minus an inconvenience fee.  

As I stated, I do not endorse this practice, but it makes everyone whole.  Buyer gets the item, buyer doesn’t have to pay extra for the shipping, and the seller gets what he deserves.

[monster-deals]

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@1tuna wrote:

many ebayers on this board know for a fact that when  you refuse a package your MBG sort of ends

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Postage due is one of very few reasons (maybe one of two) a buyer can refuse a package and still keep the MBG.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@the_fancy_fox wrote: ... I have lots of pattern books that have detailed reading, an example is a vintage  crochet course for beginners. Tons of patterns but is definitely a regular book in a two book set.

its a fine line 

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"Patterns" for knit and crochet are indeed basically text (or "reading matter", to use USPS's term).  I suspect that what the USPS ruling had in mind was patterns in the sense of an outline, as in making clothing or woodworking projects.

[femmefan1946]

Sewing patterns also include instructions usually as a sheet of paper. Some knitting patterns don't have detailed instructions (the Mary Maxim ones for example).

I suspect the USPS rule was written without actually knowing what they meant.

[teufeltronicslabs]

Ebay is well aware of sellers that chronically under pay postage - most of them have 100s of negative feedbacks about it, and ebay does not care since we know that ebay scans every thing on their site for keyword and "postage due" claims would be easy to detect and pretty obvious when a US based seller is selling an item thicker then 1/4" for a cost less then $4.75
Their policy seems to be do nothing unless they are contact by law enforcement and unfortunately massive postage fraud is not a priority with the current postmaster who wants the postal inspectors focus on being a subsidiary of DHS.  
Ebay is directly and knowingly profiting from postage fraud since most of underpaying sellers are selling thousands of items a month and generating a lot of fees for ebay.

[kh_nipun]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.