Understanding Shipping Calculator

[triplehpedigree]

Can someone please help me understand why Ebay charges a higher shipping cost after a sale versus prior to sale? Here are 2 screenshots of the same product before and after a sale and the shipping price is different. 

After the sale:

 

Before the sale. Same exact measurements. 

 

 

[triplehpedigree]

BTW, the zip code in the before screenshot is where the item is being sent to.

[redmodelt]

Before the sale it is showing shipping to you. After the ad is up, open the shipping window, you will see your zip code so that is what the shipping is showing. The system does not know what zip code it will be shipped to till sold. The buyer will have their zip in the same box and will see what shipping they will pay which could be the same or higher based on location.

[muttlymob · Accepted solution]

in your "Before the Sale" screenshot, it shows you have chosen LARGE ENVELOPE as the type of mailpiece.

The "After the Sale" screenshot shows the postage for a PARCEL.

USPS First class mail has three types:  Letter, Large Envelope (or Flat), and Parcel.  They are differentiated by physical standards.  and USPS does not offer tracking for letters or flats.

You need to determine if your mailpiece is actually a Large Envelope or a Parcel, then you will know which of those postage quotes are correct.  Note, the dimensions you entered make this mailpiece a parcel - 1 inch is too thick for a Large Envelope.

[pjcdn2005]

As @muttlymob said, the $1.40 rate given to you is because you checked off large envelope rather than a package. That rate is for a flat and does not have tracking.   You can send an item that way if a package fits the USPS parameters for a flat but you can't print a label on eBay for it, you would just use stamps.

The $3+ charge is for a first class package which does have delivery confirmation and does not have to be flat or non rigid like a flat does.   When you choose first class parcel in your listing, make sure that you have chosen 'package'  so that your buyer is charged the correct amount.   If you check off large envelope or letter, your buyer will be charged for a flat.   You can choose package even if you are shipping the item in a large envelope.

[canoeon]

I often use First Class Package to mail various items, including normal mail that I want USPS Tracking.  By sending some mail, like Income Taxes, by First Class Package, I save on Return Receipt or Certified Mail.  I use the USPS Web Site to buy my postage for non-eBay items and pay using my PayPal account.  I then buy the postage and print the label.  I then take it to the PO and have the Postal Clerks scan it when it turn it in.  This way I have proof of actually mailing the item. 

One time, the PO clerk said I could not use the First Class Package to send a standard envelope, she explained that the envelope had to be stiff and at least 1/4" thick.  I had never seen these rules on any USPS web site, but there were a lot of other folk in line so I thank her and took the envelope back, but made a point of asking if those USPS shipping boxes were free and she said yes.  I then went over to the counter, took out a box and ripped it up so it would fit inside the envelope.  I then unsealed the envelope and put the torn piece of box in the envelope and resealed the envelope.  I got back in line and when it was my turn, I went back to the same clerk and asked her if the envelope was stiff and thick enough to satisfy her.  She glared and me and replied yes.  I said OK, then, my I see the envelope again and she handed it back and asked me if I wanted it mailed.  I replied that I did but I had a feeling it might find it way to the Dead Letter Office and I would take it to another PO to mail where the clerks were not so "thick and stiff…"  Since then I always slip a piece of cardboard in when I go this route.

[releasethekraken_1]

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@canoeon wrote:

I often use First Class Package to mail various items, including normal mail that I want USPS Tracking.  By sending some mail, like Income Taxes, by First Class Package, I save on Return Receipt or Certified Mail.  I use the USPS Web Site to buy my postage for non-eBay items and pay using my PayPal account.  I then buy the postage and print the label.  I then take it to the PO and have the Postal Clerks scan it when it turn it in.  This way I have proof of actually mailing the item. 

One time, the PO clerk said I could not use the First Class Package to send a standard envelope, she explained that the envelope had to be stiff and at least 1/4" thick.  I had never seen these rules on any USPS web site, but there were a lot of other folk in line so I thank her and took the envelope back, but made a point of asking if those USPS shipping boxes were free and she said yes.  I then went over to the counter, took out a box and ripped it up so it would fit inside the envelope.  I then unsealed the envelope and put the torn piece of box in the envelope and resealed the envelope.  I got back in line and when it was my turn, I went back to the same clerk and asked her if the envelope was stiff and thick enough to satisfy her.  She glared and me and replied yes.  I said OK, then, my I see the envelope again and she handed it back and asked me if I wanted it mailed.  I replied that I did but I had a feeling it might find it way to the Dead Letter Office and I would take it to another PO to mail where the clerks were not so "thick and stiff…"  Since then I always slip a piece of cardboard in when I go this route.

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Free USPS shipping boxes are to be used ONLY for the service printed on the box, and never as packing material. 

But the clerk was the “thick and stiff” one?

[nobody*s_perfect]

" the PO clerk said I could not use the First Class Package to send a standard envelope, she explained that the envelope had to be stiff and at least 1/4" thick.  I had never seen these rules on any USPS web site,"

The clerk was absolutely  correct. USPS has strict criteria for each of its 3 categories of First Class mail: Letters, flats (AKA large envelopes) and packages. If a piece is within the weight and dimension limits for a letter, then it must be mailed as a letter; putting a package label on it doesn't magically turn it into  package.

In order to upgrade your envelope to package status, the clerk very reasonably recommended that you make it too thick to mail as a letter, and too rigid to mail as a flat.  Here are the criteria you were curious about:

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/101.htm

[aproudparent2010]

Well in the before you chose Large Envelope....in the after you chose First Class Package.


Since your item is 1 inch then it is considered a Package...not Large Envelope