Shipped 1st class mail vs Expedited Shipping (USPS Priority Mail®) as stated in the ad

[trurut0]

Question for anyone:

I just recived an item that had the only available shipping method was expedited shipping and charged a fee... shipping &handling stated the fee was for Expedited Shipping (USPS Priority Mail®) service. The Item was shipped 1st class mail.
This would be considered a downgrade in shipping by anyone's definition in 2020 even ebay from what i could find out about shipping policies.

so, I politely messaged the seller and asked it a mistake had been made and if they could refund the amount I paid for shipping. the message received from the seller basically stated that the definition of expedited shipping is determined by them. I sent on more message showing in their listing that Expedited Shipping (USPS Priority Mail®) was part of their listing....their last replay was send it back.

eBays policy states that a seller can not down grade shipping methods.

Let me just say the item was as described and have no problem itself and didn't thing requesting a refund for shipping was/is unreasonable.

Thoughts???

[myangelandmyprincess]

“There is a cost difference for the postage but by the time the seller pays for a bubble mailer, packing supplies and insurance their shipping expense could be the same or even higher than PM shipping and handling. "

I think part of the point here is you want a refund between what you paid and what it cost for the difference in service but there may not be much if any cost difference that’s worth actually refunding.  

[a_c_green]

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@myangelandmyprincess wrote:

I think part of the point here is you want a refund between what you paid and what it cost for the difference in service but there may not be much if any cost difference that’s worth actually refunding.  

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The buyer was billed for Priority Mail service, and paid it. The seller used First Class Package instead, and pocketed the difference in cost. That difference is owed to the buyer.

[trurut0]

You maybe 100% correct .. i don't know what the actual cost was. However, the seller should have sent the item priority mail as indicated in their ad... my biggest gripe is the shipping of the item cost me a 2 day delay in staring my project. the only reason I bought from the seller ... i could have paid less and received the item in the same amount of time.

If the seller when contacted would have said a simple sorry... case closed.

what i would have wanted id the item shipped with priority mail as stated in the ad.. nothing less. But, i get your point.

[imakesugar]

I think sometimes that the difference between First Class and Priority is not that much between time of arrival and cost. The question is what was the difference between Priority and First Class costs? What was the difference between the time of arrival? 

Many times I look at the days it takes to get an item and then I chose. I usually pick first class as it is only a day or two difference. Incidentally, most of the time the cost difference is only a dollar or two. 

eBay has started a new program where they only put down the cheapest and the Highest priced options. The other options the Seller listed won’t even show. 

Best thing for You to do is weight the package and check the price at USPS commercial and seeL what the difference is. If You like the items the Seller sells then I’d just ”Shine it on”.  I don’t want to offend a Seller I could want to buy from again.  After all... one or $2. Is not that much these days.

Even though Amazon states fast shipping I don’t see much difference between the speed of either site. It makes a difference if you live on a large City but most of us live in rural areas and that makes it decidedly the same. 🙂 

[Anonymous]

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@trurut0 wrote:

First no airmail involved, the seller was only less than 50mi away and the item was deliver in 3 days... normal PM is shipped directly from the hub to my PO.,   first class in not.. its routed normal is routed thru an additional hub or 2. 

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Just to reiterate what the OP said;
First-class mail, even if it is local, goes all the way to the main sorting center hopping through any sub-sorts to get there. Local priority is coded and packed in a separate container that stays at the local sub-sort for the next day's delivery.
Up until several years ago first-class also stayed local but that was all changed when Congress got their hands in the closing and rerouting of sorting centers.
Disclaimer: as far as I know, only priority that shares the first 3 numbers of the zip code will be kept at the local sub-sort.