UPS label fees much higher than expected

[shabbychicguitars]

I had a couple of orders that I bought UPS labels through ebay for. Nothing special about either. Package dimensions and weight were definitely correct; I ship lots of these items daily. Now that they have been delivered I see charges more than double the cost I expected, each was supposed to be $11.35 for the label but I see charges of $24.10 for each: $12.75 more than I expected and more than double the quote on ebay's shipping page. Ebay never alerted me that they were more than they said it would be, I only found out by browsing recent transactions on the seller hub after they were delivered. 

Two questions: 

1. How can I see a breakdown of the shipping fees and hopefully find out why these were so much more than expected? 

2. How can I find out when labels cost more than what I was quoted when I shipped? Neither Ebay nor UPS gave me any indication that I was being charged more than double the quote... if I have no idea what shipping an item is going to cost until after it is delivered that is going to be a big problem going forward!

[thegoldenmerchant7]

I just noticed this as well and was over charged $182 for shipping labels and there’s still a handle full of packages left to deliver…

This is completely unacceptable. Will be changing to pirate ship for all my labels needs from now on. 

[cjgrandprix15]

I had this happen to me today. 2lb package (single golf club) going Chicago to Kansas city(500 miles). 42"x4"x4". Quoted price was $8.40 actual charge was $21.10.  I cannot "call my bank or credit card company" because they just take the charge out of funds payable on ebay. 

So frustrating. Never had this problem shipping golf clubs with USPS but that is not feasible anymore with the long package surcharges.

[phoenix11128]

Were you able to get anywhere? Same thing just happened to me. They charged the buyer $120, label quote was $60 on the page so I gave the buyer a partial refund, then my credit card I have on file got hit for $166... Did next day air ups, and of course it took 4 days.

[all4kids4life502]

Through my experiences using UPS Shipping Labels through eBay I have learned that there is a surcharge for any item shipped that is over 26" in any dimension. UPS has scanners that measure the packages on the conveyor so even if it's close you want to consider this surcharge especially for oddly shaped packages. If there is any way to reduce package dimension to keep it under 26" that would be ideal. I am not sure how the other carriers operate just sharing from personal frustrations with being charged higher fees than shown at the time of label printing.  

[oldladysally]

This has been very helpful. I'm going to reconsider using UPS.  The issue I'm having with UPS on Ebay calculator is I get different UPS quotes depending on the dimensional order I enter. I didn't think it would matter which dimension I put in first as all 3 dimensions are multiplied then divided by 166.  Also, I'm finding when I change the order to what I entered originally, the cost goes up, and keeps going up if I reenter it again.

Does this make since to anyone?

[michellrhode42]

This happened to me this week after being a top rated seller for 5 years. I asked for ebay management. They credited me 1050.00 of a 1200.01 added charge that was placed on my painting I shipped from Texas to Arizona. I found out ebays shipping doesn't consider oversized boxes even if you put the dimensions and weight in. I already paid 140 to ship and then out another 200 they wouldn't refund, Took directly out of my account and will take 10 days to return my 1050  refund. I also was charged ebay fees on that shipping price. Big lesson take big boxes straight to carrier and don't use Ebay shipping calcualator.  I cried all Christmas until I spoke to someone. The 1200 is my house payment . Still not happy that it cost over 400 to send a long framed print they weighed under 30 pounds from Texas to Arizona. I will ship small packages only now through ebay.

[michellrhode42]

Not quite true. Ebay is good at estimating small to medium package sizes. I put in correct measurements and weight to an oversized box. 5 days after delivery UPS system charged me additional 1201.00 yeah over a thousand dollars. Took straight out of my ebay account which is attached to my checking account. UPS said is was because of extra fees for size of box that ebay doesn't calculate. Took lots of crying and phone calls. Stupid painting was 27 pounds but long. They refunded me 1050 of the 1200 but I lost my butt on shipping on that one. I learned on oversized packages to go directly to UPS or Fed ex to know if there are surcharges. Ebay says up to 10 days to refund my 1050.00 so now this teacher has to borrow money to make house payment.  30 years of teaching and still selling and taking side jobs to keep up with cost of living.  Sigh. Love what I do but the pay sucks. Taking on another job weekend to help pay for my son's college now. 

[magman55775]

i agree with everything posted but you cant quote shipping UNTIL you use pirate ship.

so you either have to add pounds to the shipping info in e bay so it will calculate higher, or add a "handling fee" 

[maccnc11]

Yeah, you might as well be talking to the man in the moon than eBay, you can't recover any money, so do as I have done SkyJack your shipping charges, I just keep raising mine to meet the eBay/UPS Greed. And Shame on those people for not even having the courtesy to let me know, truth be known, that may have been the  plan all along, "Wait and See if He NOTICES IT"   

[dbfolks166mt]

I had this happen to me today. 2lb package (single golf club) going Chicago to Kansas city(500 miles). 42"x4"x4". Quoted price was $8.40 actual charge was $21.10.  I cannot "call my bank or credit card company" because they just take the charge out of funds payable on ebay. 

So frustrating. Never had this problem shipping golf clubs with USPS but that is not feasible anymore with the long package surcharges.

     Had you used Pirate Ship to purchase the label it would have been close to the quoted price and Pirate Ship has shipper protections from/against unilateral surcharges by UPS as long as the weight and dims are correct when you purchase the label. Pirate Ship label cost for your golf club Chicago to Kansas City. 

[dbfolks166mt]

Through my experiences using UPS Shipping Labels through eBay I have learned that there is a surcharge for any item shipped that is over 26" in any dimension. UPS has scanners that measure the packages on the conveyor so even if it's close you want to consider this surcharge especially for oddly shaped packages. If there is any way to reduce package dimension to keep it under 26" that would be ideal. I am not sure how the other carriers operate just sharing from personal frustrations with being charged higher fees than shown at the time of label printing.  

     It's not just the size that matters, please no comments on this, but UPS has a LOT of surcharges and that is why I will NEVER purchase a UPS label through eBay it is only an estimate when you make the purchase and UPS does not bill eBay until after delivery. However, I will always use Pirate Ship to purchase all my labels both USPS and UPS. They have shipper protection against surcharges provided the dims and weight are correct when you ship the package. I have shipped a LOT through Pirate Ship and have NEVER been hit with a surcharge. Following is a link to the UPS surcharges. 

https://www.ups.com/assets/resources/webcontent/en_US/2023_Assessorial_Preview.pdf  

[dbfolks166mt]

This happened to me this week after being a top rated seller for 5 years. I asked for ebay management. They credited me 1050.00 of a 1200.01 added charge that was placed on my painting I shipped from Texas to Arizona. I found out ebays shipping doesn't consider oversized boxes even if you put the dimensions and weight in. I already paid 140 to ship and then out another 200 they wouldn't refund, Took directly out of my account and will take 10 days to return my 1050  refund. I also was charged ebay fees on that shipping price. Big lesson take big boxes straight to carrier and don't use Ebay shipping calcualator.  I cried all Christmas until I spoke to someone. The 1200 is my house payment . Still not happy that it cost over 400 to send a long framed print they weighed under 30 pounds from Texas to Arizona. I will ship small packages only now through ebay.

     I have made several other replies about purchasing labels through eBay for UPS shipments. Since you didn't provide the dim's and weight in your post out of curiosity punch the zip codes and dim's into Pirate Ship and see what you get for shipping cost. You don't have to have a Pirate Ship account to simply test. 

https://www.pirateship.com/rates  

[dbfolks166mt]

i agree with everything posted but you cant quote shipping UNTIL you use pirate ship.

so you either have to add pounds to the shipping info in e bay so it will calculate higher, or add a "handling fee" 

     When I was still using eBay to purchase labels I never found the eBay quotes for UPS shipping to be that far off and purchasing the label is was always a bit under what was quoted. However, I learned like a lot of sellers after I got hit once with UPS surcharges NEVER to purchase UPS labels through eBay. 

     That was when I ceased buying all labels off eBay and started using Pirate Ship to purchase my labels. Their discounted rates are about the same as eBay's and they offer a couple of shipping classes eBay does not. Most notably Ground Advantage Cubic and Priority Mail Cubic. They offer shipper protection from surcharges but they do not offer FedEx as a service. 

     I also pay for those labels with my CC which has a cash back feature so I am earning money back on the purchase of the labels. While it is not much on a single sale it adds up quickly. 

[maccnc11]

There are a lot of experts out there who are saying there are dimensional surcharges, well if I measure & weight  a package correctly, then where does the dimensional surcharge come from, that's confusing me, what I'm saying is if all is done correctly Why is it not factored in at point that I purchase my label, says I got a 6"x6"x48" package that weighs 11lbs. Why can't I get an up front price on that? What could possibly cause the price at billing to go up, if it is measured and weighed correctly?.