USPS charging extra for a media mail shipment?

[johdevas]

I had recently sold a drybox cooler and it included free shipping. Based on the buyer's location it was going to cost me $100 for Priority mail or $37 for UPS, I couldn't afford either so I chose the media mail option which was like $8.50. 

Now the customer is emailing me saying USPS wants to charge them $120 for him to get the item? I checked the shipping and it's almost as if they shipped it priority cause it was saying initially like a week for it to get from Orlando to NV and it only took 3 days? 

The label said Media mail, not priority and had all the proper dimensions and weight when I placed the order so what's going here?

The only odd thing here is that when I checked the tracking it said that the item was undeliverable at the buyer's address. Could that have something to do with it?

[funfoundfashions]

I think Media mail is only for movies, magazines or books. If they inspect it it will be charged accordingly.

[mtgraves7984]

Short answer: You can't ship a cooler via Media Mail. You've got problems... 

ETA: Your listing even had 'USPS Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate Box'... which it probably wouldn't have fit in, anyway... but why did you select Media Mail when you purchased your label?

[tools*]

What kind of media do you suppose that fish cooler would be considered?

[johdevas]

Because I had no other option, why didn't it say that it was going to charge the customer if that's what the case was? 

The label generator had the weight and package dimensions. I don't understand. 

[nocoolnamejane]

Media Mail can be inspected by the Postal Service to make sure only media mail eligible items are in the package (hint: coolers are not eligible).

When a package is inspected and found to contain non eligible items, the postage is upgraded to Priority Mail and the difference between the amount laid for Media Mail and the new Priority Mail postage cost is either charged to the sender through the APV if postage was purchased on line, or billed to the receiver upon receipt of the package.

I suspect the package is “undeliverable” because the buyer didn’t want (understandably) to pay the $120 due.

You owe your buyer a full refund, and if you want your item back, you will have to pay the USPS the $120 postage due.

[soh.maryl]

Don't know what a dry box cooler is, but would be willing to bet it does not qualify as media mail.

Perhaps you need to read up on what is considered to be media mail.  

[lamber9347]

I'm sorry but there is so much wrong here. You are an experienced seller on this platform based on your feedback. You purposely used an incorrect shipping method; a cooler doesn't qualify for media mail. Media mail, by the title alone, implies is to be used for media type items. When you selected the label for MM you received a warning that only media type items are eligible, but you went ahead and used it. You got caught so now you have to pay for priority. 

Sellers are responsible for knowing and understanding the differences in shipping policies. When you listed this as free shipping, you were expected to have already boxed and determined how you would ship this item once it sold. You should have worked the shipping charge into your price so that you'd be covered. Hindsight is 20/20 so now that you've learned a valuable lesson hopefully this won't ever happen to you again. Best of luck to you.... 

[soh.maryl]

Wild guess:  Do you suppose the OP confused the words "media" and "medium"?

It does, however, seem like an experienced seller with over 9K FB would know the difference, but maybe not. 

[johdevas]

Why did ebay allow me to generate the label if it's not something that was acceptable for that service? I've never used Media mail before so how was I supposed to know that it wasn't compatible? 

[mtgraves7984]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

Wild guess:  Do you suppose the OP confused the words "media" and "medium"?

It does, however, seem like an experienced seller with over 9K FB would know the difference, but maybe not. 

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Hmmmm..... but that is  wild. 🤔

[mybigsale]

@johdevas 

Media Mail packages... are subject to inspection by the Postal Service™. Upon such inspection, matter not eligible for the Media Mail rate may be assessed at the proper price and sent to the recipient postage due, or the sender may be contacted for additional postage.

MEDIA MAIL SERVICE (usps.com)

[johdevas]

No I didn't get a warning about media only. The label generator had the weight and dimensions of the item and still allowed me to create the label. 

I have never used media mail before, only Priority, First class and UPS. I used MM cause it was the only option i could afford. The free shipping amount was included into the price, I don't know why they're ripping my head off for this thing just to go from Orlando to Vegas, it's not like I'm sending it to Moscow. The most I was expecting was maybe $20, not $100. There was no way to know this would happen. 

[mtgraves7984]

Because I had no other option, why didn't it say that it was going to charge the customer if that's what the case was? 

@johdevas 

My guess is that you had other options. The other prices you were shown were the charges to properly  ship the package.

[powell-memorabilia]

I get it - it was a mistake.  But this one is on you.  You have never used media mail, and jumped at that bargain price.  Your first thought should have been to check on what the heck is media mail.  You would have seen that it doesn’t apply to what you sold.