Internet Auction Blog

Did you know that if you’ve been printing your postage with Paypal, that you might be getting ripped off? This is especially true if you pay for USPS insurance. Here’s why:

I pay for postage, insurance and delivery confirmation using my Paypal account. This “electronically” lets the USPS know that a label has been printed and paid for, but does NOT indicate that the USPS has received the package from me yet (so the USPS is not responsible for the package yet).

Next, I take the package to the Post Office for them to deliver. They are supposed to scan the label at that time to acknowledge receipt of the package, and that the package is insured. HOWEVER, I’ve noticed that when I take the packages to the Post Office, they DO NOT scan them, they simply set the packages behind the counter and say thank you. I asked a clerk, and he told me they scan the packages when the packages reach their destination point.

So what happens if the USPS loses your package before it reaches its destination point? YOU LOSE YOUR PACKAGE AND YOUR MONEY. But wait, you insured it right? Too bad, because the Post Office didn’t scan the package when you brought it to them, so they’ve never acknowledged receiving it! (in other words, they won’t take responsibility).

This is unacceptable, and we need to make the US Postal Service change their practices. If using Paypal to print postage and purchase insurance, we need to make sure the post office is scanning EVERY package we mail, in order to acknowledge they have received the package from us.

After all, what’s to stop a postal worker from stealing our items before they reach the destination point?