USPS underpayment notice.

[foster9]

I received an e-mail and message on e-bay stating that I underpaid on a shipping charge.

The item weighed 4 & 1/2 pounds. I used USPS ground advantage, the item was shipped to Washington state. When I purchased the label the charge was $8.00. The money came out of my bank account fine. 

USPS is claiming I underpaid by $1.17.

Is there something I don't know about regarding this issue?

[brightlightbookseller]

Did the item weigh 4.5 pounds, or did the packaged box with the item inside weigh 4.5 pounds? Important difference to clarify.

How did you weigh the item?  Did you have the post office give you the weight, or do you have a scale of your own?

[dbfolks166mt]

     What were the dim's on the package? Was it your own box or a USPS box? Did you use calculated shipping or did you have a flat rate? I looked at one of the 2 items you sold. You are in Maine and the shipping cost shows the same to ship to me in Virginia as it does to ship to Washington state. Something is off. 

[caldreamer]

I just an "underpayment notice" and they charged me extra $10.    USPS has really screwed up and claiming 2 pound package weighed 11 pounds.

USPS Customer Care at 1-844-819-5187 and ask for "agent" tell them you want to file a dispute.   Agent will ask for (last 4 digits of tracking#,  revenue issuance# (all numbers required) and YOUR name.   It takes several weeks for them to make a decision and you will be notified through EBAY.

Don't be discouraged...I had to call several times (phone system is screwed and when you ask for agent...it hangs up on you).

[foster9]

The total weight package and all was 4 & 1/2 pounds. The box dimensions were 6X6X6 (small Wal-Mart box)

I do not use calculated shipping.

I checked shipping to Florida and showed $7.36.

Under Ground advantage I calculated up to 10 pounds on the same package to Washington and it stated

$8.00.

[kensgiftshop]

The last item sold, looks like you used a flat rate.

It cost the same to ship to me in Oklahoma as it does to ship to California.

[toysaver]

Did you add the correct package measurements to the label?  You can't use dimensions printed on the box; they are frequently wrong.  You must measure each and every box.  The PO has lasers that measure boxes as they move along a conveyer belt.  Half an inch can be the $1.17 difference now that cubic rates are used by the PO.  

[brightlightbookseller]

Where are you shipping from, and did the package actually go to Florida?  You might have gotten lucky only being charged a small amount more, when I use that weight and dimensions to check from Florida to San Francisco (furthest zone I thought was reasonable to check), it gave me USPS Ground Advantage as $21.65! EDIT: Oops, that was the "In-store Rate", when I check the eBay rate, it's $9.17 so exactly $1.17 over what you paid, which makes sense!

Definitely second the recommendation to not use the shipping calculator with flat prices, but actually use Calculated Shipping, then it will always be right (assuming you always get your weight and dimensions correct, of course) no matter where the buyer is.

[brightlightbookseller]

Also, the only service I see that could have cost $7.36 is Media Mail, which your items aren't eligible for from what I see, so that could have been part of the issue.

[foster9]

Thank you for the insight. I am not trying to dispute the claim. The $1.17 has not been taken out of my bank account (yet).

Maybe there was (is) a glitch in the system.

I ended all of my listings as I don't want to have this become a mess if USPS is screwed up. 

This is a first.

[brightlightbookseller]

Doesn't sound like a glitch, sounds like a miscalculation.  That amount would be correct from Florida to Washington State (the $9.17 final calculation from the USPS, not the original $8).

[foster9]

It was not media mail. I am aware of that but whenever I print a label I always check to make sure It is set on Ground Advantage. And the package in question was shipped through ground advantage.

[foster9]

Your response seemed the most likely. I will use calculated shipping.

Thank you. 

[dbfolks166mt]

The total weight package and all was 4 & 1/2 pounds. The box dimensions were 6X6X6 (small Wal-Mart box)

I do not use calculated shipping.

I checked shipping to Florida and showed $7.36.  See Below

Under Ground advantage I calculated up to 10 pounds on the same package to Washington and it stated

$8.00.

     Shipping can be one of the more challenging aspects of selling. I have not purchased shipping labels on eBay in a long time but use Pirate Ship which has about the same, sometimes better, discounted rates as eBay and I pay for those labels with a cash back credit card. Plugging your information into Pirate Ship I get the following based on shipping from your location in Biddeforrd, Main to Washington State. Ironically the cost does not go up for a 10 pound box since you are paying a ground advantage cubic rate. 

     In this case it does look like you may have underpaid for the shipping. 

     With regards to shipping the package to Florida, I used a Miami zip code and the options and costs are a bit different for UPS.   

[dbfolks166mt]

Doesn't sound like a glitch, sounds like a miscalculation.  That amount would be correct from Florida to Washington State (the $9.17 final calculation from the USPS, not the original $8).

     OP is shipping out of Biddeford, Maine.