ebay Standard Envelope

[olympiclinic]

Hey fellow ebay sellers, will we be able to use the "ebay Standard Envelope" to ship other things like Event Ticket Stubs, Sports Patches, Pins, Photographs or Postcards and stuff like that.  Stuff that is just an ounce or so and are inexpensive.   If they will not allow this I will be increasing my minimum shipping charge from $3.50 to $4.00.

[givenrosal]

That's super helpful. I have not yet. Glad to know what options I have. Grateful to everyone in the community jumping and helping each other out.

[givenrosal]

Link says 'Currently only available for trading cards category' I certainly feel Pokemon falls in that category. I've been poring over the prerequisites trying to get this right.

[no_zero369]

@givenrosal 

er, um, ah..... LOL..... ebay always works kind of funny and the devil is in the details....

So it doesn't matter that anyone feels Pokemon Cards should fall in that category.....  LOL

Just make sure your listing is in one of the "eligible" categories.  Perhaps that is the problem?  Right church, wrong pew?

Have seen a few posters note that they have shipped Pokemon cards via SE.  That must mean that some how they got their listings in the "right" categories?

But seriously read this lengthy thread about the SE.  Many have problems, so sellers should go into using it with their eyes open: aware of all of the risks, etc.

[bravesfan1319]

In fairness, sellers are still protected to some extent. Ebay claims to cover these envelopes  with full insurance on their end.  I am curious if anyone has gone through that process yet.  I am having envelopes being scanned and delivered to some areas.  In other areas, I am having buyers leaving feedback that they got their card, but the tracking still says... "Label Created".  What's the deal with this?  I just had my first buyer claiming they didn't receive a card yet. The tracking says "Label created" when I handed it to the PO over a week ago.  It seems totally random which ES envelopes get scanned.  We are at the mercy of the buyer saying they received it.  Luckily, as I said in the first line above, Ebay claims to fully insure these envelopes.  I just don't know how, as a seller, we can prove these things were dropped off when all it says is "label created" and we have no proof we actually did drop it off.  

[no_zero369]

Yes, in fairness eBay claims these shipments by SE are fully insured against being lost.

But as you point out a seller has no proof of anything: no proof of shipping and no proof of delivery IF teh scans are not registered as the SE travels along.  Problem is buyers are "trained" by now to look at Tracking to see if their item has shipped and is moving.  Google tells them no acceptance scan means a scam.  With no delivery scan, again sellers have no proof either and again buyers are aware of this.

That said, read this entire thread and see how many non-delivery scans there are out there. No doubt savvy buyers scammers will be exploiting this.  Not sure this program can last or expand if the number of claims reaches a certain level.

[nine18]

I have had a few of these.   The buyer usually opens a ticket up that it is not received and I have to respond.  I typically send them a message that I will look into and then I contact ebay.  I always contact ebay over chat and ask for an agent and give them the order number.

In some of the cases they close it out and refund the buyer out of ebay funds.  In some cases they have placed it on hold for 10 days to give it more time to deliver and they have told me after 10 days they will close the case and refund the buyer from ebay funds.   so it appears insurance by ebay is working.

I have had customers report not delivered,  when the status shows as delivered.  In that case ebay seems to just close the case in the sellers favor.   I am not sure what to do as a seller in that case if it shows as delivered but actually was not.  I feel bad if it wasn't,  but what should I do?

I have had several never get scanned.  Label created was the last thing it has shown.  in some of those cases I have gotten positve feedback from honest buyers that they did receive the card.   I have not had a buyer open a case on one that didn't scan to date.  I am not sure how that will go.   I hope ebay takes responsibility like they have in the "lost" ones since there is no way for me as a seller to get it scanned.  They can not scan on pickup or even if I take it to the counter.   I have no control over that accepted scan and that is the biggest problem that needs to be addressed.

[nine18]

This is the thing I want to hear about the most.   Has anyone had an item that was never scanned and the buyer opened a not delivered claim?   Is Ebay insuring those?   or are they leaving that up to the seller to eat it and issue a refund even though you know you mailed it?    

[madcoolcollectibles]

Does this only work in the sports cards category right now? I tried selling a card in the non sports trading card section and it didn't allow me to use SE as an option, even though I was able to select SE as my shipping method when creating the listing.

[sportscardconsignment]

Just a quick alert to all sellers regarding this Standard Envelope feature. I had to look into an item on my February invoice and found that I was overcharged on seven different items when using the Standard Envelope - one was overcharged 17 times x $0.51 - others overcharged from 2 to 6 times for the same item. So when you received the message when it first started "eBay was unable to generate a label", you were charged even if the label did not print. I'm sure that thousands of other sellers are unaware that they are being overcharged due to eBay's problems early on - and eBay is not making anyone aware of these overcharges. So you need to be your own auditor on every invoice starting in January. Just spent two hours combing through invoices and another 45 minutes with an eBay CSR to get this rectified. SO BE AWARE!

[sportscardconsignment]

Hi,

Did you ever receive an answer to this question? I would like to know as well.

[mikessms]

As of 3/22/21:

Have used Ebay Standard Envelope since end of February for about 30-40 transactions. 

Have printed out my Ebay Standard Envelope labels at home through eBay. 

Then, brought all to a Post Office, and handed then to the counter employee. 

Was told at each Post Office that these Ebay Standard Envelope labels don't need to be scanned while I'm there and a receipt printed. AVOID this statement and have them scan and print you a receipt!! 

Here's why:

I went through my sold transactions. 5 of them show the following:

* 2 had labels created by me on 3/7/21. Given to the post office counter person on Monday 3/8/21. In Tracking History: NOTHING/NO INFO AT ALL. 

* 1 had label printed by me on 3/4/21. Given to post office counter person on Friday 3/5/21. Tracking info shows for this item until "Out for Delivery, Scranton, Pa". on 3/6/21. No "Delivered" in tracking history up to today 3/22/21. 

* 1 had label printed by me on 2/22/21. Given to the postal office counter person on Tuesday 2/23/21. Tracking info shows for this item "Out for Delivery, Pittsburgh, Pa" on Thursday 2/25/21. No "Delivered" in tracking history up to today 3/22/21. 

* 1 had label printed by me on Tuesday 2/23/21. Given to postal office counter person on same day. Shows in tracking history: "Destination Processing, Kearny, NJ" on Wednesday 2/24/21. But no other tracking history or "Delivered" statement in tracking history as if today 3/22/21. 

Have these buyers received these items? Not sure, based on the info above. 

Have these buyers contacted me to ask for any further info on the shipment of the items? No. 

I'm concerned about the post office's ability to fulfill the Ebay Standard Envelope program in a way to give buyers and sellers peace of mind that they can look in their tracking history and see the item in transit and most importantly delivered. For items less than $20.00 in value, I don't want to jeopardize my feedback (currently at 100%) and good standing for future buyers. 

Hope this helps all. 

[nine18]

I do not believe they can scan the cards at the counter and provide a receipt.  I have taken the envelopes to the counter and they have tried to scan.  It is not the same kind of barcode you see on a first class package.  I have been told it can only be scanned at the sorting machines.   I also have a pretty good relationship with my local carrier and talked to her and her scanner can not scan the cards either.

Have you had success at the counter getting an acceptance scan and getting a receipt?  If this is true it might be on a PO by PO case if they have scanners at the desk that can scan.

I think this is the #1 thing to be fixed with this program.   Scanning and tracking is unreliable and not consistent.

To date I have sold over 100 items on this.  Most have had no problems.   I have had a few non delivery complaints that were opened.   Most of those I at least had an acceptance scan on so I could prove they were mailed.   All but 1 case was closed in my favor and if the buyer was refunded it didn't come out of my seller funds.   Some of those the buyer came back days or weeks later and said the card finally showed up.

I had 1 case where I did get a scan that it was accepted.  Never delivered though.  In that case ebay closed in favor of the buyer and subtracted my funds.  I had to appeal that decision and I did get my money back.  however the appeals team told me 2 things that concerned me.   

1 - they told me the standard envelope program was not an ebay program and if I had seen that on their website to send them a screenshot.   I sent them two different links to ebay official pages outlining the program and told them they needed to be better informed on their own programs.

2- They told me in the future to use labels that have tracking.  So clearly they didn't even recognize the tracking codes of EUS*

This case was just this week,  so even a couple of months into the program not everyone in ebay in support and their appeals office is aware of the program.

Overall I am pleased with my results.  I have sold tons more cards than I ever would have without the program and 95% go off no problem.  Of the 5% I have problems  I have not lost any money or gotten any negative feedback.    It is just a challenge and a nuisance to go through the support and appeals process.

[baseball-trading-cards]

I must say I've been selling on eBay for over 20 years and the evolved state of eBay policies and treatment to its seller community has become impossible to justify. 

In the case of this standard envelope tracking the tracking number goes into a black hole. The tracking does not work. It's just another example of eBay doing something and not being transparent about how it works to both buyers and sellers.

Over the past month I've had 2 cases where I lost monies. Ebay customer support could not explain why the tracking was not showing accurately. After spending several hours on the phone with both ebay and a USPS postmaster I further learned that the tracking number you pay for on the ebay platform magically translates to another tracking number that the buyer or seller do not see?! Again zero transparency.

Prior to using standard envelope I was sending hundreds of lesser sports cards using PWSE for the past 18 months with  minimal problems in delivery. I really am at my wits end with Ebay and the calculated non-transparent messaging they continue to spin out to the community.

[djzawacki]

I have been using CD mailers (cardboard 6"x6") to ship all my cards and they are ok to use. A PWE (regular envelope) does not offer enough protection because these go through sorters that vary in how well they are maintained and calibrated. I have gotten PWE's that use this new service that have imprints on the cards from the sorters and usually it's because the seller only uses a piece of paper for protection, even if it's in a top loader. The cardboard CD mailers offer the best protection. Yes, they may cost more, but to me my customers satisfaction is worth the additional cost. I make up for the cost of the CD mailer by charging a small amount more on shipping cost.

My latest issue using the Standard Envelope method is with lost shipments. If USPS loses a shipment there is absolutely no way to track through USPS using the eBay tracking number as the eBay tracking # does not register in their system.

[carberry]

https://www.trackmyshipment.co/shipment-tracking