Another Ebay story if anyone cares lol, p.s. it's kinda long

[mmier118]

I know a lot of these get posted on here but i wanted to share and only people on this board would find humor in this one. The other day the postman knocks on my door with a package and says there is postage due on a package. It needs $3.41 i just pay him because it's not that much and I know it's going to be a baseball card and i figure most sellers will just refund the additional postage needed. I joke with him about how it's pretty ridiculous that a package costs $5.60 to mail and he just says he doesn't make the rules he just knows he needs $3.41 to give me my package.

Ok i open it and it's a vg-ex 1974 topps card that i needed to finish my set i only paid .99 for it + $2.00 for shipping and it's worth about 10 cents. I e-mail the seller and ask for a refund of the extra $3.41 I paid and offered to send a scan of the envelope if neccesary. This is what i get back:

Hi
Postage was paid $2.19 at my USPS to ship your package. if this item needed more money to ship I think they would have done so here but they did not. LAS VEGAS NV 89178 ZONE-4 FIRST-CLASS, PARCEL 1.60 OZ. label# 03083390000138433879 Bill#1000303733488 clerk: 09. I'm going to go talk with my Post Office and ask them why this has happen. Yes this is ridiculous to me, scan your paper copy, you should have refused the package and not payed any more money. I sent out 2 other package and they did report in any problems, one was sent to Bloomington MN 55431 and they left Positive for me. here is my email address xxxxxx also I am going to talk with Paypal about this and Ebay. scan a copy of package as well, both sides. you are going to have to prove this has happen, also If I refund your money I will need the Baseball card back. (1974 Topps #201 1973 Batting Leaders Rose - Carew) and a scan copy of the baseball card front and back. how can you not know were the package was from? My return address was on there same name as on my Paypal account. sense the post office is not open here in my location I will have to go there on Monday June 7, 2010. and get back to you after that. I'm going to ask a buyer if they had any problem as you did. ron

Then this:

My other question for you is: I package all my cards with padding and put on a board. and I have done this more then one time for other buyers also they didn't report this as a problem. sounds like your package got damaged in the mail or other, but at the same time you didn't pay to have it Insured.

I'm going to make my calls talk to you after I make my visit to USPS.

I send him a copy of the envelope with the postage due mark and explain it was not damaged I like the card and want to keep it, I just want a refund for the extra postage i had to pay his response was this:

Call Paypal and talk to them about it. They would like to talk with you. then get back to me. I have called them and talk to them about this problem. I paid the postage $2.19 If it cost more to mail item I would have paid that but it didn't. This doesn't sound right at all, I will go to post office and ask and file a report. all this for $3.41. don't take this in a bad way I need to know the facts and will do what I can to help fix it.

I'm not going to call paypal, I haven't filled a complaint so i sent back this

Look you can either refund the money or not it's $3.41 just let me know what you decide and I'll take the appropriate action on my end.

If he refunds the money I'll give him a positive if not a negative it's not my fault he didn't put enough postage on the envelope, oh by the way it was a big PWE stuffed with cardboard and sent with DC. Still seems expensive for postage but it's only $3.41, if it were me and I saw the scan of the "postage due" I'd refund, heck I don't even mind eating the extra cost myself and just dropping a neg. There are risks with ebay and this is one of them. Thanks for reading if you made it this far.

Mike

 

[JVC]

Was there a lead brick in the envelope too? There's no way that parcel should have cost $5.60 to send. DC is ~85 cents and a 5 ounce parcel is about $2.50 and even that would be on the extreme heavy end for a card wrapped in cardboard in a PWE.

 

[Groat]

This happens occasionally around here, more often with paypal shipping. I believe the rule is that envelopes need to be a half inch thick (maybe .75 inch) to be mailed first class. You need to mail first class (or above) to use delivery confirmation. When stuff like this happens, it's usually a local postal boss who is riding the rules hard and ends up bumping it to priority in order to be eligible for DC. I'm sure this is to get a little bit more revenue for the ever-hurting USPS.

So as a seller you can either make sure your padded envelope is the required thickness (some sellers use foam peanuts) or sometimes hear all about how postage was due on an envelope you sent.

 

[bouwob]

This happens occasionally around here, more often with paypal shipping. I believe the rule is that envelopes need to be a half inch thick (maybe .75 inch) to be mailed first class. You need to mail first class (or above) to use delivery confirmation. When stuff like this happens, it's usually a local postal boss who is riding the rules hard and ends up bumping it to priority in order to be eligible for DC. I'm sure this is to get a little bit more revenue for the ever-hurting USPS.

So as a seller you can either make sure your padded envelope is the required thickness (some sellers use foam peanuts) or sometimes hear all about how postage was due on an envelope you sent.

+1, DC is extremely more expensive if the package is not 3/4 inch thick.

 

[Pine Tar]

This happens off and on, some post offices will let it slide and others will not.
The rule is the package can be sent with delivery conformation and for around 1.58 only if the item
is thicker the 3/4 inch at any point of the package.

This guy needs to refund the difference and learn how to ship these out correctly

 

[mmier118]

Oh I didn't know that. Thanks guys, I can't believe this guy is making such a stink over $3.41 but i'm actually glad it came up. I've always wondered why there was a peanut in some of my packages. Also i've been sending my packages out with the risk of getting bumped to priority. I'll have to buy some peanuts or save the ones that get sent to me. Sometimes the level of knowledge on this board gives me a smile

 

[CollectorsCorner]

That stupid rule changes all the time last I heard it was 3/4 inch thick or semi rigid. I have mailed out over 200 packages this year so far with no problem but I assume I will see a few this year

 

[Sean_C]

Glad to see others were aware of the thickness rule. I was guessing that it was because of a D/C induced Priority Mail upgrade as well. For those that don't pack appropriately, this is what can occur. Save everyone the hassle, drop the excuses, and stick a couple of packing peanuts in the bubble mailer.

 

[Pinbreaker]

When I ship my cards out, I use old mailers cut in half.. I wrap the card in the old mailer and stuff it in the new mailer.. It's more than thick enough and it's under the 2 oz..

I also print out my labels at 70% so they fit on the package better (they are lighter as well)

Good luck in the future with your mailed out packages..