Need some EBay selling advice?

[fuzzy_bricks]

2 minutes ago, Lego Templar said:

Need your help guys. So I use boxes at work and I printed the labels THEN went to work. I only had one "oversized" box and didn't want to wait to ship it out. The label was for media mail. My customer just messaged me this:

Hello,

The post office tried to deliver my item today. They claim you sent it media mail and they opened it and saw it was legos. They want me to pay an additional $17.29 postage or they will send it back to you. What would you like to do?


What should I do?

You should probably pay for the shipping.  Media Mail isn't for Lego sets.

https://about.usps.com/notices/not121/not121_tech.htm

[Lego Templar]

Wow, nice customer. Refund the customer $20 and apologize.

The Post Office opened the package and called
Him. Never heard of that. That being said I've only been shipping stuff out in volume in the past 2 months.

Is that common practice or YMMV post office lol...

[Darth_Raichu]

Just now, Lego Templar said:

 

 

The Post Office opened the package and called
Him. Never heard of that. That being said I've only been shipping stuff out in volume in the past 2 months.

Is that common practice or YMMV post office lol...

 

 

If you read the fine prints for Media Mail, it says USPS can open and inspect to make sure you are actually using the service to send media type items

[Lego Templar]

If you read the fine prints for Media Mail, it says USPS can open and inspect to make sure you are actually using the service to send media type items

Makes sense lol. 90% of the packages I send out our super small this was the one time I had a big package. Learning process! Thanks for the feedback! I'll PayPal him now!

[ISO8T0]

4 minutes ago, Lego Templar said:

Need your help guys. So I use boxes at work and I printed the labels THEN went to work. I only had one "oversized" box and didn't want to wait to ship it out. The label was for media mail. My customer just messaged me this:

Hello,

The post office tried to deliver my item today. They claim you sent it media mail and they opened it and saw it was legos. They want me to pay an additional $17.29 postage or they will send it back to you. What would you like to do?


What should I do?

well did you ship actual "Media" or not?

If you tried to get away with shipping toys (lego) under media mail and USPS caught you then you'll need to address your mistake. In this case it's going to cost you the additional postage (refund) assuming your buyer is willing to pay the difference.

An apology note to the buyer is recommended.

[Lego Templar]

well did you ship actual "Media" or not?
If you tried to get away with shipping toys (lego) under media mail and USPS caught you then you'll need to address your mistake. In this case it's going to cost you the additional postage (refund) assuming your buyer is willing to pay the difference.
An apology note to the buyer is recommended.

I just went by the dimensions and weight etc. (still new) and even newer to shipping stuff out.

I told him I would refund 20 for the inconvenience. He said just the difference and that his local USPS always does stuff like this.


Thanks for the quick replies guys much appreciated! Lesson learned.

[AirborneAFOL]

I dropped off a USPS First Class package (12x9 padded envelope) today at the post office, and 3 hours later eBay is showing it as "delivered".

Problem is, it appears to have been "delivered" to a PO Box at the same location I dropped it off, rather than going to Florida...

Anyone run into this before? Is it possibly just a glitch where USPS scanned it wrong (and the item is actually in transit)? Or could they have actually dropped it in a local PO Box (i printed the shipping label from eBay, so it certainly had the correct FL address on it)?

I told the seller I'd check with the post office personally in the morning if the tracking wasn't corrected by then.

Any insights/advice from past experience with this kinda thing much appreciated - and thanks in advance!

[sflv]

7 minutes ago, AirborneAFOL said:

I dropped off a USPS First Class package (12x9 padded envelope) today at the post office, and 3 hours later eBay is showing it as "delivered".

Problem is, it appears to have been "delivered" to a PO Box at the same location I dropped it off, rather than going to Florida...

Anyone run into this before? Is it possibly just a glitch where USPS scanned it wrong (and the item is actually in transit)? Or could they have actually dropped it in a local PO Box (i printed the shipping label from eBay, so it certainly had the correct FL address on it)?

I told the seller I'd check with the post office personally in the morning if the tracking wasn't corrected by then.

Any insights/advice from past experience with this kinda thing much appreciated - and thanks in advance!

This exact thing happened to me. I dropped it off and a few hours later it showed delivered in same town. Basically a bad scanned tracking. Most of the time it will correct itself upon its next scan.

[edgecrusher]

I set shipping on a Hydra Fortress Smash I was just trying to clear out to "no international shipping" with free shipping. It was purchased by somebody in Puerto Rico, which appears to be treated by eBay and USPS as domestic despite the increased costs. What should I do here? Flat rate shipping box probably my best bet?

[Lordoflego]

4 minutes ago, edgecrusher said:

I set shipping on a Hydra Fortress Smash I was just trying to clear out to "no international shipping" with free shipping. It was purchased by somebody in Puerto Rico, which appears to be treated by eBay and USPS as domestic despite the increased costs. What should I do here? Flat rate shipping box probably my best bet?

I'd say so, hopefully it will fit in medium size one. I would check just in case how much will it be in non-flat rate box but doubt it would be cheaper.

[remy1492]

Uncheck Hawaii PR and AK on your ebay ship to list.  theyre dangerous for eating free shipping.

[labfreak7]

I'd say so, hopefully it will fit in medium size one. I would check just in case how much will it be in non-flat rate box but doubt it would be cheaper.

Those are part of the US. That said, yes they will decimate any profit.

[Darth_Raichu]

1 hour ago, edgecrusher said:

I set shipping on a Hydra Fortress Smash I was just trying to clear out to "no international shipping" with free shipping. It was purchased by somebody in Puerto Rico, which appears to be treated by eBay and USPS as domestic despite the increased costs. What should I do here? Flat rate shipping box probably my best bet?

Medium Flat rate box is too small

[edgecrusher]

7 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

Medium Flat rate box is too small

damn.

Edited December 6, 2016 by edgecrusher

[wolvergeek]

On 12/1/2016 at 3:23 PM, Lego Templar said:

Need your help guys. So I use boxes at work and I printed the labels THEN went to work. I only had one "oversized" box and didn't want to wait to ship it out. The label was for media mail. My customer just messaged me this:

Hello,

The post office tried to deliver my item today. They claim you sent it media mail and they opened it and saw it was legos. They want me to pay an additional $17.29 postage or they will send it back to you. What would you like to do?


What should I do?

Stop sending LEGO as media mail.

[Brickbuilder.g]

Stop sending LEGO as media mail.

Yeah I was gonna say from another thread when you said you were mailing stuff media mail that wasn't gonna last long lol

[Lego Templar]

Stop sending LEGO as media mail.

Addressed days ago. Thanks for the reply.

[ISO8T0]

2 hours ago, edgecrusher said:

damn.

You're more than likely going to be just over 2lbs shipped. Your best option is more than likely Priority Mail. (but I don't know your ship from zip. I chose 00901 destination)

use this as your guide. http://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator

[edgecrusher]

I ended up making $2.42 after fees and shipping on a 6 month hold. 11% return on $22 purchase. Not the end of the world. Shipping to Puerto Rico was $14.47 for 2 lbs 9 oz., box was 16 x 14 x 6.

Edited December 6, 2016 by edgecrusher

[Phil B]

16 hours ago, edgecrusher said:

I set shipping on a Hydra Fortress Smash I was just trying to clear out to "no international shipping" with free shipping. It was purchased by somebody in Puerto Rico, which appears to be treated by eBay and USPS as domestic despite the increased costs. What should I do here? Flat rate shipping box probably my best bet?

AFAIK if you have "free shipping" AND use the GSP, you don't need to be afraid of having to ship internationally for free (the whole Hawaii, Alaska & Protectorates thingy still holds - I just exclude those by default). With the GSP your "Free shipping" applies only to the trip to the Pitney-Bowes center in Kentucky, the buyer still pays for the international part of the shipping. Just FYI.

[edgecrusher]

I know, and I'm still irrationally gun shy about it. I'm generally a logical, rational person, and there's just something that keeps me from clicking that as an option whenever I make a listing. It would probably end up being even less than usual, Kentucky is way closer to Cleveland than any west coast buyers.

[minicoopers11]

So....we all know that Puerto Rico is a domestic shipping destination for USA sellers, right? Right?!

[Phil B]

1 minute ago, edgecrusher said:

I know, and I'm still irrationally gun shy about it. I'm generally a logical, rational person, and there's just something that keeps me from clicking that as an option whenever I make a listing. It would probably end up being even less than usual, Kentucky is way closer to Cleveland than any west coast buyers.

Funny, I had the same sentiment originally. But since overcoming that fear, I have had several great sales to international buyers. Just last week I flipped my TLBM Mr. Freeze set on EBay for $35 with free shipping, sold to a bloke in Australia. Don't know what he had to pay in shipping charges, but I paid First Class Package rate ($3.65) to get it to move the 20 miles from my house to Erlanger, KY. Had to trim some of the flaps on my shipping box to get it to be under 1lbs

 

[sflv]

I second the international GSP option. I've sold sets at my asking price even though they had to pay a ton to ship it internationally. You don't pay any final value fees on the international postage and once the package departs from KY, its out of your hands. If the package gets lost, you are insured. 10-15% of my sales are GSP. I have some sets like LOR barrel escape and Orc Forge go exclusively international.

[fuzzy_bricks]

19 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Funny, I had the same sentiment originally. But since overcoming that fear, I have had several great sales to international buyers. Just last week I flipped my TLBM Mr. Freeze set on EBay for $35 with free shipping, sold to a bloke in Australia. Don't know what he had to pay in shipping charges, but I paid First Class Package rate ($3.65) to get it to move the 20 miles from my house to Erlanger, KY. Had to trim some of the flaps on my shipping box to get it to be under 1lbs

 

If you print a packing slip from the label creation page, it should show the shipping and customs charges on there.  It's amazing how high some of those charges end up being.