Community Chat, April 28 @ 1:00 pm PT - eBay standard envelope

[brittanie@ebay]

Hi everyone! 

Thanks for joining us for the Weekly Chat. This week we’re joined by the eBay standard envelope team. They are here to address any questions you may have about this shipping option and the recent expansion to additional categories. 

You can read more about the program itself here, here and here.

We are also aware that USPS First Class Package is not showing up as a shipping option in the listing flow for some members in the mobile app and desktop. This is urgently being worked on and we anticipate a quick resolution.  

To post your question, click Reply in the lower right corner of this post, type your question, and hit submit between 1-2 PM Pacific Time. The format of our chat mirrors the format of our Community Discussion Boards, where each post will appear in the thread chronologically. We’ll review each question as it comes in, and will quote the original question in our reply. This quote and the reply will appear later in the thread, so just keep scrolling down to see our answers.

The chat thread will remain open until 2 PM PT, at which point the thread will be closed from additional responses. After that time, the team will continue to work on responding to any queries that might still be unanswered.

**Please note that while off-topic questions will not be removed, they will be answered after the chat closes, to allow priority to remain on the topic for this week's chat. Thanks!

[star.fighter]

I answered stampboy -- i think i was trying to answer you -- so, please see my response there.  hopefully, it will be helpful.

[vintage_antique_finder]

Hello fellow postcard seller!  😃

We use two pieces of 30pt chipboard to ship our cards and have had great feedback response on our packaging.  We usually get the 12"x12" pieces and cut them down - we can get about 6 pieces out of one sheet  (so enough to ship 3 cards).  With two pieces plus one postcard the total thickness is about 1/16th of an inch.

This is the cardstock we use:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/173254064510?var=471964434919

The tricky part is that I still don't think we qualify for the new shipping option since it does make the envelope ridged, but I'm hoping eBay will be able to offer the "non-machinable" option that I currently get through stamps.com to ship our orders.

Hopefully, this is helpful for you!

[nate@shipping]

Hi @vermonteyecandy , 

Listings with eBay standard envelope as shipping service will NOT be removed by eBay when the listing doesn't comply with our recommendations. We do, however, ask you honor the weight and dimension restrictions on eBay standard envelope shipping service (and any other shipping service for that matter :)) when actually shipping your orders. 

Hope that helps!

~Nate

[sloppygoose]

Thank you Nate but so far I have found that to not be accurate.  When a charge is listed on my managed payments page it only tells the item # it was from.  Not the order #, tracking #.  I have mostly variation listings and for some, sell 50-60 a month.  There is no way to confirm which specific order goes with which charge.  I have had 2 Customer Service reps tell me the same thing.  After the overcharging debacle last month, not being able to match specific charges with specific orders is disconcerting.

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Edit: A reply to your post can be found here

[jen@selling]

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@yixness wrote:

I was wondering if there is a place where we could recommend or vote for additional categories that we would love to see this as a shipping feature?  For example, I have a ton of POGs (flat cardboard circles, essentially) that would be great in this program.  

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Hi, @yixness! Thanks for chiming in. I'm loving the enthusiasm.  List your requests here please. We have SMEs on the line and we'll be sharing this chat with our product team.  We would love to know what your wish list is (in addition to the one we started).  

POGS! I didn't they were still around.  It looks like those are listed under contemporary manufacture/board 7 traditional games/toys and hobbies 🎲.  Definitely call this example out.  

[divwido]

I need to ask:

Why are most item specifics answers locked?  Or why is there space to add the answer and then what you wrote vanishes.

Why do you send out letters about missing item specifics when you will not let us put the correct answer????

Anna Hütte ( Glass) is from Germany-Western Germany.  But every time I enter Germany, you take it away because the site will only will accept Czech Republic.

This site as issues and instead of bugging us about stupid things, why not fix it?

Excuse me for being angry, but I just had to refund someone who bought three Olay Face Masks and said 'they seem wrong"

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Edit: A reply to your post can be found here

[show-go]

Hello, I sell in the Movies Category, DVDs/Blu-rays. A lot of my listings are sold as "Disc Only" with no case. USPS allows for discs to be shipped as a letter when enveloped with specific requirements. (Basically the way Netflix used to do it.) But it doesn't have tracking provided. I'm hoping that this new eBay method of shipping will be expanded to this category. Is it on the docket?

-Show-GO

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Edit: A reply to your post can be found here

[nate@shipping]

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@allellington wrote:

I sell postcards. Up until now, I have used 1st class shipping with tracking and one-day handling with 100% positive feedback. I would like to use the service but I have heard there are a lot of issues with the tracking. I don't know if I can be safe still doing one-day handling since I don't know if or when the tracking will be picked up. 

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Hi @allellington , 

Thanks for the question and feedback. We would love for you to try out eBay standard envelope and see how it works for your business. We are seeing really excellent trackability on eBay standard envelope, and also are aware that eBay standard envelope will not receive acceptance scans when handed to USPS. All of these things have been accounted for in seller standards and evaluations. Give it a shot on some of your inventory, and see how you and your buyers like it!

~Nate

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

I physically take my packages to the desk at my small local post office and have them scan them and provide a receipt. But with the Standard Envelope, I should just drop it in the envelope box or the Blue Box outside the PO? Not even hand it to the clerk, is that right? Because they don't actually DO an acceptance scan?

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Edit: A reply to your post can be found here

[amy@shipping]

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@star.fighter wrote:

as to the new envelopes... if those are the same ones used for trading cards, then why do they not show delivered?  the last info on the tracking is only"out for delivery," and a couple of them were actually delivered the next day.

otherwise, i love that ebay is offering those!!  it is so helpful for trading cards.  if this is not about the trading card part, then never mind... lol

i was typing too fast and didn't see the links.  sorry,  thanks!

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@star.fighter  thanks for the question, and yes, this is the service that also covers trading cards.  From time to time, eBay standard envelope shipments unfortunately may not track all the way through delivery to your buyer. This does not mean the delivery is stalled, just that the final delivery event wasn't captured in the system.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

If I send an item with the Standard Envelope, does ebay advise the buyer that regular tracking does not apply? Or should I prepare a standard message for my buyers and send each one a message after I ship? And if that is your suggestion, is there a way to automate those messages?

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Edit: A reply to your post can be found here

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

If I do send my buyers a message, it would be great if ebay had a page I could link to, designed to provide buyers with information about tracking their standard envelope --- is there a URL for such a page? Or would you consider creating one if there isn't?

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Edit: A reply to your post can be found here

[postcardcountry]

So you are saying.......I will never get a defect for late shipment, failure to get any scans....my metrics will not be affected at all, eBay will refund out of their pocket ( not mine) my unhappy buyers if they never get their card (or claim they never got their card) and tracking does not exist.....

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Edit: A reply to your post can be found here

[clarkphilatelics]

I sell stamps and color slides. Although I used #6 envelopes with comic book card stiffeners in a 705 approval card to ship, I found that cardboard '"floppy disk" mailers used to protect cardboard color slide mounts were also more effective for stamps. Although the #6 envelopes could be mailed without the now 20 cent rigid (or square) envelope surcharge, the envelopes were marginal with respect to the bending requirement for machinable envelopes. Instead, I have been using the safer rigid envelopes, paying the surcharge. Stamps are used because they arrive in collections or can be purchased as between 40 and 50 percent of face.

What is an "eBay standard envelope" and what do labels look like. What size are they? Can they be printed directly on a non-rigid envelope? What if the envelope is rejected by USPS as not being machinable or square? is it possible to print the label for tracking only without postage (to be paid with stamps)? How does eBay bill for the labels? Can eBay include a rollup of postage, sale amount, fee amount and the amount paid in the Managed Payment summary window?  (Currently eBay, does not provide totals for fees or total sales. The paid amount is the only amount totaled.)  Will the additional cost of eBay labels and additional time potentially needed to sort out eBay postage fees for accounting make this program a non-starter?

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Edit: A reply to your post can be found here

[vrykalak]

If Coins are allowed to be sent via Standard Envelope--for which huge thanks, even in the few categories currently permitted--let me ask you to include pinback buttons in your list of other categories to be considered.

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Edit: A reply to your post can be found here