Shipping, Insurance, and signature

[phupper48]

I'm a new seller. I was selling three historic documents signed by US presidents for $275 each plus $15 shipping each.  A single buyer offered me $250 each for all three and I accepted. Then buyer asked me to combine shipping so they would only pay one shipping fee. That sounded reasonable so I agreed. 

I had already planned to require a signature on delivery. Then I learned that ebay requires that items worth $750 or more must be insured.  When I got to the post office the guy told me that my shipping label, printed on ebay, was for a 3oz. package. Mine weighed 6 lbs. with all three documents each lined in cardboard and extra padding. With insurance and proper shipping fees the total would be $96.  No good deed goes unpunished.

I believe the buyer is a long time ebay user and knew what they were doing.  They haven't responded to my emails since night before last when I tried to warn them in advance that a signature would be required for delivery. Now I don't know what to do.

I feel that ebay misled me by selling me a 3oz. shipping label when they had no idea what the package weighed.  I feel like the buyer took advantage of my being a new seller too. I'm trying to get in touch with Ebay customer support now. I would rather just keep the documents and never be allowed to sell on ebay again. I could always sell them somewhere else.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[bonjourami]

Ebay doesnt require insurance on items that sold for over $750...but they do require signature confirmation on items that sold for $750 and above. Im confused, how is this Ebays fault that you printed a label for three oz, when in reality it weighed six pounds?

[lamber9347]

Sometimes our errors cost us a bit of money but we learn a lesson and how to avoid such things from happening again. You were not sold a 3 oz label, you SELECTED a 3 oz label. When you listed your item for sale you had to weigh your item and select which shipping method you would use. When you combined all three the same principles applied. You needed to measure the size of the new box and weigh it again. You didn't do that but went with a 3 oz shipping label. The system is set up so that you the seller supplies the correct weight/measurements of the item you are shipping. 

I'm sorry but it is your responsibility to read up on details when you are new to selling. All the instructions are there for you to review. Best of luck to you....

[aproudparent2010]

You selected a 3 oz label...eBay had nothing to do with this.

You chose to purchase a 3 oz label...

[fab_finds4u]

Combined shipping- if you're combining into one package you needed to make a shipping label fitting the weight and  measurements of the shipping container and add signature delivery . Insurance is not a requirement but most sellers insure in case the package is lost or damaged.

[phupper48]

I printed the shipping label before I packaged the item. Ebay doesn't tell you to "package, weigh, and measure the item to be shipped". They just send you to the page that says "Next step, purchase a shipping label"  I missed the weight and size section on the label page. Did I mention that I'm a new seller?

I didn't know insurance could be purchased on Ebay when I buy the label, and the Post Office says they can't add insurance to a pre-labeled item.  I would have to buy a new label from them with the insurance and signature included.

I read in Ebay Community that if you get signature confirmation and don't have the item insured for full value you lose any claim if the buyer says they don't recognize the signature of the recipient.

Options:

I believe could void the label, be refunded, and purchase a new label from Ebay with the accurate size, weight, and insurance. Is this correct? I would still lose some money but not as much. Otherwise thee is an option to cancel the transaction if the buyer has paid but the item has not been shipped and the buyer has not yet opened a claim. Is this correct?

Did I mention that I'm a new seller?

Thanks for your help.

[bonjourami]

You printed the label before you packaged and weighed the item? Thats not true if you dont get insurance you lose any claim. You can lose any claim, anytime, depends what the claim is.You can void the label, but it will take a while to get a credit for it.If you cancel the transaction you will get a serious defect and probably a negative feedback. As a new seller, both will seriously affect your account.

[femmefan1946]

At the moment it is my understanding that USPS is not collecting Signatures on delivery, since that presents too much danger of infection to their carriers.

You might find it more useful to  send the item as Hold for Pickup at the local post office, so that the parcel is not left on the doorstep.
With Signature Confirmation being required, read through the USPS rate card to see which is the least expensive.
https://postcalc.usps.com/Calculator/MailServices?country=0&ccode=US&oz=90210&omil=False&dz=32830&dm...

All the Priority Mail Express appear to offer Hold For Pickup at no added cost.

Also six pounds of packing for three letters?

Corplast, archival sheet protectors, and a poly envelope would be all that is needed in my opinion, and yes, I do ship high value items constantly from our family philatelic auction business.

Shipping is the hardest part of selling by mail order.

You made the mistake of setting your shipping price without knowing the dimensions and weight of your parcel.
You made the mistake of over packing the items increasing the weight.

And you made the error of not knowing the rates and services available.

A couple of weeks ago I sold a book as Free Shipping. The buyer paid $12.99 for it and I paid $12.10 for shipping. And I've been doing eBay since 1998 and mail order since 1980. What you lose on the coconuts you win on the roundabouts.

[nobody*s_perfect]

USPS Signature Confirmation will accept a signature from any adult who answers the door.  It doesn't have to be the person whose name is on the package -- USPS has a different, more expensive service for that.  So a buyer "not recognizing" the name on the signature doesn't matter.  Especially now that all carriers have special pandemic-safety policies.  

As noted in the other post, eBay has no policy which requires sellers to insure packages, at any value point.

When you purchase a postage label through eBay, there's a confirmation page which shows you the weight of the package and the service chosen.  You had an opportunity to change those.  eBay couldn't possibly know the actual weight of your package.  Most sellers pack and weigh their stuff before listing, though combined shipping would of course require an adjustment anyway.

Yes, you can void the original postage label as long as it was purchased within the past 5 days and wasn't actually scanned into the USPS system.   

 https://my.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MyEbayBeta&CurrentPage=LabelManagement

USPS insurance for a $750 item costs about $11; Signature Confirmation is about $3, and the maximum postage for a 6-pound package is under $30.  So I can't imagine how it could cost $96, unless maybe you switched to Express.

[aproudparent2010]

Yes I see that you area new seller and this is a lesson learned...we have all had them.

You accept the mistake you made and move on and do better from now on.

[candd205]

You can cancel that 3 oz label to get your money refunded for that.

You don't have to send the items if you don't want to, but you will get 3 defects on your account, since they were sold separately. You will have to refund the payment to the buyer, and you will get your ebay fee refunded, but not your paypal fee.

Fwiw, it looks like you got $45 for shipping from the seller, unless you refunded them part of the shipping.

When the post office says $96 for shipping, it is much less if you get the shipping through ebay. Why don't you try to package it up, then weigh it and then check ebay to see how much it will cost to send it through ebay.

Hang in there. I have made many mistakes over the years, that cost me money, but I learned from them. But in the future, make sure you enter the weight and size of the item correctly when you list your items.  🙂

@phupper48 

[selvon2006]

The buyer definitely did not take advantage of you. Combining shipping is a regular thing to do when buying several items from one seller. It was just inexperience on your part. Heck, I am an experienced seller and still occasionally make  mistakes!

If you are going to sell on eBay, think of investing in a postal scale. You can weight your items once you have boxed them up and find out how much it will cost then input the weight into the shipping label information.

Also when you list it is a good idea to weigh your items to get a rough estimate so you can charge either calculated shipping or a flat rate on your listings.

[aproudparent2010]

I weigh my packages exactly how I'd ship them.

If I'm selling an item and it's 5 oz by itself it can be maybe 10 oz after packaging.

So I put 10 oz in the listing form...otherwise the  buyer would only pay for a 5 oz package.

So I'm guessing your 3 documents weighed 3 oz just by themselves but once you added all the packing and boxes then it weighed 6 lbs....is that correct?

[phupper48 · Accepted solution]

Okay so I think I solved this.  I voided the label and repacked the item in a smaller box with less cardboard and stuffing.  I got the weight down to 2.6 lbs. and it’s still sturdily packed. Then I purchased a new label on eBay with calculated shipping by weight and size, and added insurance and signature requirement. The new label is $34 total. The buyer paid $15 shipping so I only lose $19. I can live with that. It ships tomorrow.  BTW I’ve emailed the buyer again asking to work with me on this. No response.

With full insurance and signature required, I’m covered no matter what happens, correct?

Thanks for the help!

[lja440]

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@phupper48 wrote:

I printed the shipping label before I packaged the item. Ebay doesn't tell you to "package, weigh, and measure the item to be shipped". They just send you to the page that says "Next step, purchase a shipping label"  I missed the weight and size section on the label page. Did I mention that I'm a new seller?

I didn't know insurance could be purchased on Ebay when I buy the label, and the Post Office says they can't add insurance to a pre-labeled item.  I would have to buy a new label from them with the insurance and signature included.

I read in Ebay Community that if you get signature confirmation and don't have the item insured for full value you lose any claim if the buyer says they don't recognize the signature of the recipient.

Options:

I believe could void the label, be refunded, and purchase a new label from Ebay with the accurate size, weight, and insurance. Is this correct? I would still lose some money but not as much. Otherwise thee is an option to cancel the transaction if the buyer has paid but the item has not been shipped and the buyer has not yet opened a claim. Is this correct?

Did I mention that I'm a new seller?

Thanks for your help.

---

As a new seller you should have read all the avaliable selling information prior to listing. Actually every seller should read these from time to time to keep up with any changes.

In these you will find that they tell you to weigh and measure the package then purchase the shipping label.  I actually pre-pack my items and check postage for them BEFORE listing as most of my listings have Free Shipping and this amount needs to be factored into the starting price or BIN. 

Also here you would find that it is nessisary to get signature tracking for items over $750. Insurance is suggested but not mandatory.  You can purchase insurance from the carrier when setting up to purchase the postage label, you can purchase from a third party such as pirateship or you can self insure. This is what I do, I factor in 3-5% of the trending price into my starting or BIN price, physically take that amount and drop it into my "risk fund" kitty (aka a large coffee can sitting on top of my desk) This is where the money comes from  to pay for lost packages (none so far),  damaged items (again none so far), and returned items (sigh, a few, people don't always read the description).

Side note on insurance. Carrier insurance can be denied if the item is deemed poorly packed. The best insurance by far is excellent packing skills.