New eBay Standard Envelope

[Exhibitman]

My standard shipping is $5, which means lots of bundling on $10 cards or no sales. I just redid all my raw cheap card listings with this alternative, see how it goes.

[insidethewrapper]

I don't have the "VOID" option available on the letter shipments. Do you ?

[LACardsGuy]

I just bought a batch of cardboard CD mailers that are within the size limitation. I have to say that this is one of the ONLY times that Feebay has ever done anything right for the seller. Having to charge 3.55 to break even on shipping for a 1.75 auction card made no sense and was producing diminishing returns. This costs me total of 61 cents, including feebay commission on shipping ($1) and the envelope. Perfect.

[ngrow9]

Potentially stupid question, but do you need actual labels to print the postage for this new option, or can you print to paper and then tape it on?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ngrow9

Potentially stupid question, but do you need actual labels to print the postage for this new option, or can you print to paper and then tape it on?

^This^ or can you just print it directly on the PWE? I agree with others that this will be great for selling lower end cards.

[Eggoman]

I have been using plain old paper - been working FINE for me!

[insidethewrapper]

Just had a problem with the new letter option on ebay. I got an order for 18 cards for under $20 and the buyer selected the letter option but with 18 cards it doesn't meet the thickness standards, so I look at other options, and there is no package option available. Anyone else have a similiar problem. I think I will just ship it in 2 envelopes and pay double letter price which is cheaper anyways from the package price. But no other package option is a problem.

[buymycards]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I don't have the "VOID" option available on the letter shipments. Do you ?

I just sent a letter using this method. There doesn't seem to be a void option.

[AndrewJerome]

Question for those who have used these new PWEs (and have had them actually work): how are they actually tracked? I just mailed three of these today for the first time. My labels have a tracking number printed on the label, but there is no scannable bar code on the label. I asked the USPS workers about this new service, and they had no idea what I was talking about. The workers had no idea how my PWEs would be scanned on delivery without any bar code. Did I screw something up?

[buymycards]

The barcodes on these envelopes are not package tracking barcodes. They are Intelligent Mail barcodes, which can only be read by the processing machines. The clerks cannot scan them and the carriers cannot scan them. You will never have an actual "delivery" scan or an acceptance scan.

If you subscribe to the USPS Informed Delivery, you are told what mail you can expect today. This comes from the IMB barcode that is scanned at the processing plant. The IMB's and the machines are very accurate and 99% of the time you will receive the mail that is pictured on your Informed Delivery email.

If you look at your incoming mail you will see that all of the letters have these IMB codes sprayed on them. A black barcode on the front and a pink barcode on the back.

[AndrewJerome]

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

Andrew

[buymycards]

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

[ValKehl]

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

[prestigecollectibles]

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.

[The-Cardfather]

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?

[Orioles1954]

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.

[buymycards]

Originally Posted by The Cardfather

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?

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.

[LACardsGuy]

Originally Posted by The Cardfather

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?

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