UPS shipping rate error

[mmellenstein]

The recommended Ebay shipping rate doesn't match what UPS is wanting to charge me.  Specifically, I am shipping a 97" x 3" x 3" tube that weighs 5 lbs. from 34238 to 75455.  Ebay recommended UPS Ground and said to charge the buyer $32.12, which I did.  When I went to purchase the postage I was required to sign up for the UPS Marketplace program, designated Ebay and recieved a discount code that begins with C3V-.......  I was able to bring up my specific Ebay sale.   However UPS calculated the rate as approx. $145 with my discount.

 I recontacted Ebay customer service and they entered the calculations themselves and said that the problem was on UPS's end and they were only quoting UPS rates.  They suggested contacting my UPS representative.   I called **bleep**  They then suggested shipping it via USPS.  That is still over $100.  

I asked to speak with a supervisor, was put on hold and then told someone would call me back.  No one has called 24 hrs later.

In the interim I contacted UPS and their attitude is that I'm nuts.  They keep sending me their rate card and doing the calculations that come up with a rate of $175 prior to my discount.  They refuse to even discuss a relationship exists with Ebay and there is a glitch in the system.

HELP

[sam9876]

$145 sounds about right.

[kaelykat]

Unfortunately EBay glitches a LOT. The only way to avoid this problem is to always check with the carrier.

[mmellenstein]

Don't you think they have some responsibility here?

[missjen831]

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@mmellenstein wrote:

Don't you think they have some responsibility here?

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What we think doesn’t matter. Because it all comes to down to this—ebay won’t takw responsibility for this. 

[berserkerplanet]

That package was subject to an $80 large package surcharge since its 97" length exceeded the 96" limit.

The eBay estimating calculator (http://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator) which is also the search result, listing, and checkout calculator comes up with $32.42 online rate and $32.12 in store rate (yeah, the discounted rate is more than the retail rate).

The issue appears to be that the calculator is ignoring the 97" length and the Large package surcharge.

You can try arguing again with eBay (the calculator is screwed up), but they don't tend to take responsibility for putting broken tools in front of users.


This is why sellers need to understand how shipping services work and not just click buttons and expect everything to be easy-button.


In the future, one thing you can do is cross check UPS quotes against FedEx quotes - they are usually very similar.


Going to do FedEx calculations here because (a) I'm a FedEx using guy, (b) I no longer have a UPS account and no access to any tools other than the eBay est calc and undiscounted UPS online quotes, and (c) as I said, UPS and FedEx are usually within about 5% of each other (eBay FedEx discounts are a bit better than UPS)


In this case, the eBay calculator FedEx Home Delivery estimate is $103.44 (which is wrong also).

Manual Calculation using rate tables:
97x3x3/166=6lb billable weight, problem is FedEx oversize ships at 90lb rate.
Additionally, that destination zipcode is subject to a $4.40 Extended Delivery Area surcharge.
FedEx base rate for 90lb to zone 5 is $51.23
Add in $3.60 Residential Delivery Surcharge, $4.40 Extended Delivery Area surcharge, 5.75% Fuel Surcharge, and the $80 Oversize charge and we get approx $142.64 (undiscounted)

That manually estimated (undiscounted) amount isn't even in the ballpark of the eBay calculator $103.44 number.


The eBay label flow comes up with a discounted amount of $134.28
My FedEx account (with linked eBay discounts) comes up with: $138.35

So the eBay UPS and the FedEx estimates are both wrong, and not even close to each other.
The eBay actual FedEx label amount is pretty close to the correct amount

UPS surcharges and calculation methods are the same as FedEx, so the correct ballpark amount for that shipment is about $135-$140.

(if you declared value over $100 and/or added signature confirmation there would be another $5-10 added to that).



The eBay estimating calculator has a serious problem with UPS for oversize packages, and a slight less serious problem with the FedEx estimate.

I realize this doesn't directly help with your issue of getting compensated, but it explains what went wrong.

It is pretty clear that the eBay calculator is messing up, not including the $80 UPS large package surcharge, and not calculating base rates based on a 90lb oversized weight. The eBay calculator amount was over $100 too low as a result.


@Anonymous Can you help OP out here and also get this problem to the tech team?

[Anonymous]

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@berserkerplanet wrote:
That package was subject to an $80 large package surcharge since its 97" length exceeded the 96" limit.

The eBay estimating calculator (http://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator) which is also the search result, listing, and checkout calculator comes up with $32.42 online rate and $32.12 in store rate (yeah, the discounted rate is more than the retail rate).

The issue appears to be that the calculator is ignoring the 97" length and the Large package surcharge.

You can try arguing again with eBay (the calculator is screwed up), but they don't tend to take responsibility for putting broken tools in front of users.


This is why sellers need to understand how shipping services work and not just click buttons and expect everything to be easy-button.


In the future, one thing you can do is cross check UPS quotes against FedEx quotes - they are usually very similar.


Going to do FedEx calculations here because (a) I'm a FedEx using guy, (b) I no longer have a UPS account and no access to any tools other than the eBay est calc and undiscounted UPS online quotes, and (c) as I said, UPS and FedEx are usually within about 5% of each other (eBay FedEx discounts are a bit better than UPS)


In this case, the eBay calculator FedEx Home Delivery estimate is $103.44 (which is wrong also).

Manual Calculation using rate tables:
97x3x3/166=6lb billable weight, problem is FedEx oversize ships at 90lb rate.
Additionally, that destination zipcode is subject to a $4.40 Extended Delivery Area surcharge.
FedEx base rate for 90lb to zone 5 is $51.23
Add in $3.60 Residential Delivery Surcharge, $4.40 Extended Delivery Area surcharge, 5.75% Fuel Surcharge, and the $80 Oversize charge and we get approx $142.64 (undiscounted)

That manually estimated (undiscounted) amount isn't even in the ballpark of the eBay calculator $103.44 number.


The eBay label flow comes up with a discounted amount of $134.28
My FedEx account (with linked eBay discounts) comes up with: $138.35

So the eBay UPS and the FedEx estimates are both wrong, and not even close to each other.
The eBay actual FedEx label amount is pretty close to the correct amount

UPS surcharges and calculation methods are the same as FedEx, so the correct ballpark amount for that shipment is about $135-$140.

(if you declared value over $100 and/or added signature confirmation there would be another $5-10 added to that).



The eBay estimating calculator has a serious problem with UPS for oversize packages, and a slight less serious problem with the FedEx estimate.

I realize this doesn't directly help with your issue of getting compensated, but it explains what went wrong.

It is pretty clear that the eBay calculator is messing up, not including the $80 UPS large package surcharge, and not calculating base rates based on a 90lb oversized weight. The eBay calculator amount was over $100 too low as a result.


@Anonymous Can you help OP out here and also get this problem to the tech team?

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Hi @berserkerplanet & @mmellenstein, it does look like there may be an issue with the calculator on our end. I've gotten the appropriate teams updated with the details provided here and we will investigate for appropriate next steps! Thank you for getting my attention on this!

[philsumm]

The UPS calculator has been broken for over a year.

Not only does it show the discounted "ebay" rate as higher than the online rate, neither is correct and changing your shipping preferences doesn't have any effect on what the buyer is charged. It appears buyers are getting charged a little less than the discounted rate for a business delivery. On a $7 - 2 lb package, the increased rate along with the FVF eats any profit you might have otherwise had. I posted examples last year where the destination zip code also affected the difference in actual vs quoted rate.

If you're only using UPS you can inflate the package weight an add a $4 as a handling fee but if you also offer USPS, those rates will make buyers skip over your listing.

The problem appears to be entirely on ebay's end. I use the UPS API on my web site and it works 100%.

[toltingcoltacres]

I just got bitten by this “bug” to the tune of $40. UPS calculated the rate for my package as $69 and when I went to ship, it was $99. Since it was a $400 item, I just sucked it up and paid the extra out of my own pocket, which ate up all my profit on the item. I had to go add a “fee” of $60 to all my similar items to get the rates close to some semblance of what they are in real life.

[parelectronics]

FOR THE PASS WEEK OR 2 THE EBAY SHIPPING RATE IS MORE THE DOUBLE MY RATE ON UPS.  IE SHIPPING A PACKAGE 21 LB TO LA.  EBAY SAYS WILL COST 69.00  USING 24 LB TO THE SAME ZIP W/ UPS OUR COST  WITH  5.00 HANDLING IS 30.00 .  SPOKE WITH EBAY AND THEY SAID THEY WOULD SEND THE ISSUE OFF TO TEC .  WHEN THEY SAY THAT  MORE TIMES THEN NOT NOTHING GETS FIX.

I'M MAY BE LOSING SALES DUE TO SYSTEMS ERRORS.  YOU MIGHT WANT TO DOUBLE CHECK THE SHIPPING COSTS AND NOT DEPEND ON THE AUTO SYSTEM FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS.

[mmellenstein]

Just wanted to update everyone on the resolution of my original post.  Ebay stepped up to the plate and made a one time exception and credited me for the difference.  I see that the shipping calculation process has now changed.  So hopefully this accomplished something helpful.

[philsumm]

The UPS calculator is still broken.

It's telling me a 2 lb package from 46816 to 30904 with a $1.50 handling fee is $12.65 for the retail rate and $15.89 with the ebay "discount". My actual cost using my UPS account is $12.64.