Ship from a different zip code.

[kuriouskeepsakes]

On occasion, for a variety of reasons, I drop off a shipment from a different Post Office other than my home.  I found out from a very angry postal worker that the Post Office somehow gets credit for items shipped.  Even when shipping from the same city, they expect the zip code on the label to match the Post Office handling the package. 

I used to be able to switch the ship from zip code (Post Office) before printing the label.  I tried to change the ship from Post Office this AM, and it appears the only way to do that is to go into preferences and change my default ship from address.  I'd have to then go back and change it back to my home address every time I do it.

Is there another way that I'm missing? 

[div_style]

Ignore the angry postal worker, leave your ship from address as is, and drop off your packages at whatever post office is convenient.  They'll get delivered.

[a_c_green]

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@kuriouskeepsakes wrote:

On occasion, for a variety of reasons, I drop off a shipment from a different Post Office other than my home.  I found out from a very angry postal worker that the Post Office somehow gets credit for items shipped.  

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He's wrong, but it's a common misconception, and good luck trying to explain otherwise to him. The purpose of the Ship From ZIP notation on the label is to show that the correct postage was calculated when shipping from a location other than the return address. Generally speaking, if the first three digits of the Ship From ZIP match the origin post office location, the postage paid will be correct. 

As for "credit," the post office gets that by scanning the package for tracking purposes. If they don't bother to scan it, then no one will ever know they handled it (regardless of what Ship From value is showing; some 5-digit ZIPs are served by multiple post offices, especially in heavily populated areas).

As for how to change the Ship From ZIP location, it does appear that you now have to fully define an alternate address via the https://accountsettings.ebay.com/uas/addresses page. It used to be a single temporary or optional change on the Shipping label, but I seem to recall that the USPS started demanding (according to eBay) a full alternate address if the Ship From entry had to be changed.

So yes, from some messing around that I tried in the Shipping forms just now, it appears that you need to choose an alternate address as well (even though only the ZIP portion of the Ship From address will actually appear on the label). You can maintain the same Return Address for the label; that is stored separately. If you don't know the exact address of the alternate post office whose Ship From ZIP code will be showing, you should be able to plug in "General Delivery" instead in the "Street address" field of the form.

[dhbookds]

 Changing it is I think a problem to send it back or with returns....  The PO will have to correct the zip code (assuming you just change it ) to figure out how to get it back to your real address.   We had a PO complaining about it years ago and talked to our local PO and they said not to worry about it....any PO has to take packages that are properly addressed/stamped for their zone.    I think now the PO scanning records may give that PO credit, but the word may not have filtered down to all employees. 

I wouldn't worry about it. 

[a_c_green]

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@dhbookds wrote:

 Changing it is I think a problem to send it back or with returns....  The PO will have to correct the zip code (assuming you just change it ) to figure out how to get it back to your real address.  

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No, the Ship From ZIP on the label is a separate entity from the Return Address, which can be whatever you want to define. eBay tracks them separately as well on the https://accountsettings.ebay.com/uas/addresses form. The USPS will return the package to the Return Address showing, without regard to what the Ship From ZIP was.

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@dhbookds wrote:

 I think now the PO scanning records may give that PO credit, but the word may not have filtered down to all employees. 

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That's for sure. 😊

[dhbookds]

@a_c_green 

Thanks for the correction!!  I learn alot around here.....

[jayjaspersgarage]

Oh good grief.  The postal workers work for us and need to get their heads out of the clouds and work.  I suppose with today's new fangled zone program if you took a package into another delivery zone further away from the destination and dropped it off it might be a real problem.  In that case I would have to get on a boat and head toward Hawaii and drop it off so the package was farther away from the east coast.  On the other hand if I drove to Colorado for a package destined to Hawaii I might be causing a ruckus because the item would truly be going an extra zone.

I drop off packages in seven to ten different zip codes while commuting or working out of town.  The labels still show my home ebay house location regardless of where I work.  That's the beauty of selling small flat items.  They travel simply in organized cases.

In my early years selling here I used to mail items from Lake Tahoe while on vacation rather than wait until I returned.  I pre-printed the labels and took the items with me and sent an email to remind the bidder they still needed to pay in order for the item to be mailed.  Once in a while a customer would send an email asking why it showed as shipped when they hadn't paid.  I explained that if they pay now they wouldn't have to wait three weeks to get it because it wasn't going anywhere if I had left it behind. 

Now I have a mobile office and can buy estate sale items on the road, photograph them to list and mail them when they sell pretty much from anywhere.  The movie Nomadland comes to mind...

[varebelrose]

We used to drop packages off at 3 post offices other than our "home" USPS location. Two of them didnt bat an eye or give us any grief, but the 3rd one.... hoo-boy. They flat out refused to accept the packages because, as you stated, they claimed they didn't get credit if the zip was wrong.

I should have followed up on this with the Postmaster, but it faded away as an issue.

[chapeau-noir]

Yeah, I use four different post offices in three different towns and no one bats an eye - my favourite post office just thanks me and off goes the package. 

There's a similar problem with sellers on Poshmark - Posh has a deal with the USPS for shipments of 1 oz to 5 lb going for a flat rate, in any of the USPS priority boxes and envelopes (including flat rate and regional) and finally ended up having to print a little disclaimer on the labels they issued because some post offices just weren't keeping up and would refuse the packages.

[selling_you_all_my_stuff]

My post office just told me today that if the zipcode at the top of the label doesn't match their post-office, then they don't credit for it.  (This postal worker is constantly telling me stuff I should do differently.)   I drop off at all sorts of different post offices every day and this is the first time anyone has told me this.

Why is credit so important?  I'm guessing these small community post offices need as much credit as they can get, especially as cut-backs are made and decisions have to be made whether to keep smaller branches open or not.  Otherwise, what do they care?  They get paid by the hour, not the package. 

[dbfolks166mt]

     It looks like you have several PO's in the York area is it one of these or are you dropping totally outside the zone you live in? I have 16 PO's within a 5 mile radius as well as 2 regional distribution centers. I have, at one time or another dropped packages at all of them, most of which have different zip codes, and never had any issues. 

     The only time I had a problem was when I was in Illinois on vacation from Virginia and tried to ship a package priority mail. I was outside my home zone but they took the package but made me rework the label and pay the correct rate. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

The "credit"  is translated into an estimate of the workload that the PO handles, which in turn affects their budget for staff time. This is based on acceptance scans, not on the ZIP Code that's on the label.

The best solution would be to educate this staff member and explain that "credit" is based on the acceptance scan. The "ship from" ZIP Code on the package is adjustable in order to make sure that the correct amount of postage is paid. If the first 3 digits are the same, then the postage prices will match.

If this staff person is too stubborn to educate, then the simple solution is to appease him: use his ZIP Code as the "Ship from" ZIP Code on all of your labels whenever there's a chance that the package will be dropped off at his PO.  

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

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@kuriouskeepsakes wrote:

On occasion, for a variety of reasons, I drop off a shipment from a different Post Office other than my home.  I found out from a very angry postal worker that the Post Office somehow gets credit for items shipped.  Even when shipping from the same city, they expect the zip code on the label to match the Post Office handling the package. 

I used to be able to switch the ship from zip code (Post Office) before printing the label.  I tried to change the ship from Post Office this AM, and it appears the only way to do that is to go into preferences and change my default ship from address.  I'd have to then go back and change it back to my home address every time I do it.

Is there another way that I'm missing? 

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@kuriouskeepsakes 

I ship nearly ever package from a different zip code. I live on the edge of one town. My local town'a post office is 4 miles away. My closest post office is 1.5 miles away.

I actually have my P.O. box at the closer post office (not in my town) 1.5 miles away. So my return address is for that post office/po box/zip code.

I ship nearly every package from my home via home pick up. They go through my town's post office. Zip code I'm physically sending from is different than return label / ship from zip code.

THE ONLY CONCERN (to my knowledge) IS ZONES. AS LONG AS YOUR ZIPCODE VS ZIPCODE YOU DROP OFF IN ISNT A DIFFERENT ZONE, YOU'RE FINE. .... Thats pretty hard to achieve so just don't put your home address on the shipping label and drive across the country to ship it.

[t-bone543]

My "shipped from" address and ZIP are in Washington state, but I do 95% of my shipping from Illinois (where I go to school). No real problems or issues so far.  And the people at the post office don't seem to mind.

[nobody*s_perfect]

Your "Ships from" ZIP Code should match the PO you're shipping from, so you pay postage based on your current location rather than on your Washington address.  Otherwise, you'll end up with a lot of account corrections for underpaid or overpaid postage.

And what if a package is undeliverable? Don't you want it sent to IL rather than WA? You probably should change your return address to match your current location.