Rick, thanks for all the great info. That makes sense. Thanks for such a quick response,

Andrew

tracking
 

And - no - it seems that none of the Postal employees were informed about this new product.

Rick, thanks for your input and explanations. Below is the tracking for an eBay PWE that I shipped on Monday. When you say, "You will never have an actual 'delivery' scan or an acceptance scan," are you saying that the "Delivered" shown on the tracking (in bold print) for this item does NOT represent an actual USPS scan at the actual time of delivery?

Tracking #:ESUS34157478

Carrier:eBay Send

Status:ACCEPTEDIN TRANSITDELIVERED

Delivered

Feb-12-21, 11:20 AM 35771

Out for Delivery

Feb-12-21, 00:49 AM, HUNTSVILLE, AL 35813

Out for Delivery

Feb-11-21, 21:36 PM, HUNTSVILLE, AL 35813

Origin Processing

Feb-10-21, 20:11 PM, BIRMINGHAM, AL 35203

Label created

Feb-08-21, 20:10 PM, Manassas, VA 20110-2834

I have shipped a few times using this service and had no issues.
You can actually track it here
https://www.trackmyshipment.co/shipment-tracking

As far as postal employees not nothing anything, that is usually the case. Most of them still don't know you can ship up to 16oz by First Class through eBay shipping.

You can see the progress in your My eBay Manage paid and shipped orders section as shown below.

Scans
 

Most of these scans are not actual scans of the item.

The in transit scan is generated by one label at the outgoing PO. The clerk scans the label when the truck leaves, and all of the items that were accepted that day show up as in transit.

The out for delivery scan is not an actual scan of the item. When the carrier is ready to go on the route, he/she scans a barcode that says "out for delivery". All packages that are assigned to the carrier will show updated "out for delivery" scans, but the packages were not actually individually scanned.

The 2 procedures above also apply to packages, not just the envelopes.

When the carrier returns from the route, he/she scans a barcode label that says "Return from Route". This updates all of the letters to show as "delivered". This does not apply to packages because they are individually scanned as delivered. So, your envelope was not actually individually scanned as delivered.

Rick, thanks for this additional clarification. I hope eBay accepts this "delivered" of a PWE and protects a seller against a purchaser who claims non delivery. To me, this eBay labeling & tracking process makes selling inexpensive cards much more attractive to me.

Honestly, for sub-$20 cards, I am not going to sweat whether the 'delivered' means scanned or not. As long as eBay is happy with the delivery and protects me from claims of non-delivery when it shows as delivered, not my problem.

The 1st batch of these I used actually showed up as 'tracked' before the regular packages I put in the same mailbox at the same time that same day. Weird.

At UPS, we call these PHYSICAL scans and LOGICAL scans. Packages are scanned into a container via PHYSICAL scan and then that container is assigned to a plane and maybe bypassed at another airport to another plane. That would get a LOGICAL scan then and anything in that container would get the same scan. Sounds like you all have something similar there that all the letters are assigned to a delivery truck/route and they just get those LOGICAL scans when they go out and when they come back.

I'm with Adam on not worrying about it as long as eBay accepts those scans as gospel and doesn't start charging me back for shipments people say they didn't get.

I've been using eBay's new "Standard Envelope" postage option for about two months now (roughly 12-15 sent) with no problems......... UNTIL NOW.

I just got a message from a buyer who complained that the envelope arrived with $3.29 postage due (which he paid). In the spirit of maintaining good customer relations, and knowing that it would be pointless to fight with the USPS over $3.29; I issued the buyer a refund for $3.29. So now I actually lost money on this transaction.

I own a postage scale and I am 100% certain that the envelope was within the parameters set by eBay (under 3 ounces, less than .25 inches thick, etc.).

So my question is........

Has anyone else experienced any similar problems?

I really don’t see the value added with this option. In my 24+ years on eBay I’ve had exactly one problem with charging a buck and shipping in a PWE.

As a buyer of usually sub-$5 cards, I have seen a large uptick in items I'll bid-on/buy with the cheaper shipping option now more commonly available. I don't particularly care if its PWE or ESU, but it certainly has increased the number of cards I've considered buying. I've only has one PWE lost in the mail in the years I've been buying, but the added tracking is at least a small protection for the sellers it seems.

Postage due.
 

First of all, it looks like it may be over 6 1/8" high. If so, it is too high to be a letter. But the real problem is that you have the "Do No Bend" label on it. That makes it a parcel or a non-machinable letter, depending on the weight and the size.

Rick,

Ebay's standard letter requirements are:
No smaller than 3.5” x 5”
No larger than 6.125” x 11.5”
No thicker than .25”
Weighs up to 3 oz.

My envelope was:
5.8" x 8.2", with a thickness of .20"

So obviously, the dimensions of the envelope should not have been a problem.

But you've brought up an interesting issue regarding the "Do Not Bend" sticker.

Can I get some other opinions on this?

that "do not bend" probably did throw it into another category

One of eBay's descriptions includes "not too rigid"

Yes, this has happened to me twice out of about 50 shipments.

Value it adds:
1. tracking
2. you can print a label and not have to get stamps.

and that's about it

When I can purchase forever stamps in bulk at around 35 cent each (off ebay with ebay buck bonuses), the only value here might be the tracking. I knock on wood when I say this, but I have had a miniscule percent of problems using PWE, thus paying 16 cents more for "tracking" has minimal value to me.

I add "Do Not Bend" to ALL of mine shipped using the ESU and have had no issues with postage due...so far.

"Do Not Bend" makes the item Non-Machinable and a surcharge applies, but NOT $3.29.

I have had disagreements with the Postal Clerks about this being a Letter or a Parcel, tho... Additional charges do apply IF it is deemed to be a parcel.

Charles: I would bet it is the "Do not Bend" label that triggered the additional postage. The package is supposed to be somewhat flexible.

It’s not a bubble or padded mailer, is it? Doesn’t look like it in the pic but that would disqualify it.

Good point.

my next choice would be "postal employee with a stamp that just doesn't care"

btw,

I've use the standard envelope a few times with no hiccups. Although 2 out of about 15 that I've sent never had any tracking registered whatsoever

I'm thinking that the problem could be the clear tape over the mailing label. I thought the rules said no plastic anywhere on the envelope. I've been printing the label directly onto a PWE, and using cut up cereal boxes as inserts in the envelope to help protect the cards, and haven't had any issues thus far.

No. Not a bubble envelope or padded mailer, just a small manila envelope.

Maybe this was a one-time screw-up by the USPS. Time will tell.

I just print the label on a regular 8.5 X 11 piece of computer paper then cut to fit a regular 6 3/4 envelope then lightly coat label with Elmers glue then attach with vintage label application tool.
Larry

https://i.imgur.com/ZpAHqFql.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2UnvuPEl.jpg?1

I've been using clear plastic tape over the mailing labels and have had dozens be delivered with no issues FYI.

It just amazes me how many times I have shipped items in a PWE and the buyer says he never got it. I had to stop doing free shipping because of it. You have no way to prove it was sent and received.

I just print the label on 8.5x11 paper, cut on of those light cardboard junkmail solicitations into the size of the label, tape the card in a top loader to it , fold the paper around it into the shape of an envelope, and tape it up.

yep, I've mailed a couple hundred like that, and had maybe 8 or 10 claim they didn't receive. You're right, nothing you can do at that point :(

damn great idea! gotta try that. save on the pwe's

Wow, that's a lot of extra work to save literally two cents.

It's a little annoying, but it feels like the least annoying path with the least number of steps to me .

Pretty sure Rick nailed it. In the past, before using eBay postage I've had stuff returned or arrived to the buyer postage due when I put Do Not Bend or Non-Machinable stickers on them. They get dinged for the "package" rate as opposed to the "letter rate".

The size on that one isn't the issue, I send patches in 6x9 envelopes at the letter rate all the time with no problems. They are thin with one piece of cardboard in the package but also bendable.

I think it also matters where you drop the mail off too. I've had zero issues with anything like this since COVID and my carrier is picking up my outgoing mail. We have two different post offices in my are and one Postmaster seems to be a "by-the-book" kind of guy and the other doesn't care because every item I've had sent back was dropped off at that PO.

I find the size/shape rates absurd. For example for a similar size/weight package, one conforming to the 1/4 inch thickness, one not, probably traveling on the same vehicle and route if sent at the same time:

One card in a card save, plain white envelope, letter rate .55
One card in a card saver, eBay shipping .51
One card in a card saver, to Canada $1.20

One card in a card saver in a bubble mailer, package rate = $3.09 and up
One card in a card saver to Canada, package rate $14.09 and up

I print the shipping labels for my eBay PWEs on the same pre-gummed label forms (2 on an 8.5" x 11" sheet) that my wife and I use to ship First Class and Priority Mail packages for our other eBay sales. The only thing I do after I print a label is to quickly cut it to fit the size of the PWE I am using. I'm very happy with the eBay PWE feature, which I have used for about 40 shipments already.

Check Your eBay Invoices for Overcharges on Standard Env.
 

When looking for an item # on my February eBay invoice, I noticed that eBay overcharged me on seven different items when using their Standard Envelope feature. As you know, in late January they were having issues whereby if you hit print label, it sometimes generated a message "Unable to Generate a Label" so you would have to hit print label again. Every time you did this, you were being charged in my case $0.51. One item was charged 17 times instead of once - the others ranged anywhere from 2 - 6 times. Of course, eBay did not notify sellers of this so just spent two hours combing through the invoice and another 45 minutes on the phone with an eBay CSR trying to get credits back to my account. SO BEWARE and check your January and February invoices.

I have been using this new service for the past month and shipped out over 100 cards, only 1 wasn't delivered! I am pretty happy about this cost effective way to mail out 1-3 cards for under $1.

Did eBay agree to give you credit for these overcharges? I just checked my February eBay invoice and discovered that I was overcharged 8 times. The total $$ amount isn't much, but it pisses me off that eBay hasn't notified sellers and done corrections.

Just had my first ebay envelope lost. I did a search and the Postmaster contacted me and he had no idea of what I was talking about. He had never heard of a standard letter that could be scanned. He knew nothing about the ebay letter option . I see ebay has it scanned and it is scanned by a postal employee, but if you go to their website USPS.com, you can't track it, it's not in their system. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. What a system ? How can it be scanned by a postal worker and not be in their system ?

a postal employee can not scan these. the scans come from sorting centers.

kind of like how usps scans the mail for informed delivery.

I just now called eBay and spoke with 2 CSRs about this issue. The second CSR reviewed my invoices through March to date and determined that I had been overcharged 10 times for a total of $6.30 (pocket change, I realize). The CSR stated that I will receive a credit for the overcharges on my March invoice.

Also, I told the CSR that I was aware that other eBay sellers who were using the new Standard Envelope process had suffered similar overcharges on their eBay invoices, and I suggested that eBay might earn some positive kudos by taking the initiative to quickly identify all the other instances where this has occurred and issue credits to the affected eBay sellers. The CSR said she will issue a request for eBay's IT department to investigate this issue.

With the new tracking on ebay I have had one lost or missing item . So I issued a missing item search at USPS.com. The local postmaster contacted me and he know nothing about this new envelope option on ebay. Here is what I got back from him recently :
" I have reached out to District and they have heard nothing about this type of tracking.
This tracking number is not compatible with USPS tracking.
I think you should reach out to EBay and ask if there is an additional tracking number or information they can provide.
It appears there is some misinformation floating around. "

So USPS scans the item but it doesn't go into their system so they can't track it, but the data goes to ebay and the ebay seller/buyer . That is unbelievable to me.

tracking
 

These barcodes cannot be scanned by the clerks or the carriers. These are Intelligent Mail Bar-Codes that can only be read by the high speed sorting machines at the large processing plants. So, let's say that your envelope is mailed in Dodgeville, WI and heading to a small town in Illinois. It won't be tracked/scanned until it arrives at the Processing Plant in Milwaukee. Then, when it arrives at the Distribution Processing Plant in Chicago, it will be scanned/tracked, and then it will arrive at the small town in Illinois, where it won't be tracked or scanned.

eBay will see that this letter was scanned at the Plant in Chicago and is headed for small town Il. That is when eBay shows it as delivered. It should arrive at small town Il. on the same day that it was scanned in Chicago and be delivered that day. (Maybe-Maybe not :))

Remember, your local Post Office, your local clerks, and your carriers cannot scan this IMB. It is completely different than the barcodes that are used to track packages.

understood....... I guess that last step is when eBay considers it delivered,
although it appears that there is no actual scan at the final destination....has anyone had a card that was noted as "delivered" claim to have not been deliverd? seems inevitable........ which side would eBay take in that event? (probably rhetorical at this point..)

I recently purchased a card that apparently was shipped using this system. I didn't understand what the ESU tracking number was when I saw it. The tracking info shows a little differently than something shipped with regular USPS tracking. For instance, it doesn't show arrival at my local post office. Instead, the Out for Delivery status shows from the sorting facility that is usually the last stop before my local PO. However, the status in the tracking does show Delivered on the date and time my mail was delivered that day and I received the card.

tracking
 

Yes, that is all done through the magic of GPS and the expected delivery time that is determined by the scans of the carrier when he/she leaves the office. These are not actual scans of the letter.