Internet Auction Blog

Why the hell does Paypal’s multi-order shipping not allow me to choose regular US Priority Mail flat rate boxes? The only choices it gives me for Priority Mail are: Flat Rate envelopes, Package/Thick Envelope, and Medium Flat Rate box.

Seriously? What about the small flat rate boxes? Or the regular flat rate boxes? Why are they not included as choices in Paypal multi-order shipping?

If they don’t get this fixed, I will be using Stamps.com or some other source to print my postage.

If you live outside of the United States, and purchase an item from a U.S. seller on eBay, and they will only ship via USPS Priority Mail, they have a very good reason for it.

Personally, I print all my postage labels with Paypal, and Paypal only allows for international mail to be sent using Priority Mail, therefore I must charge $10.00 to ship an item outside of the United States.

Some people will write and ask “why can’t I just pay you $3.00 and you send it by regular mail?” — well, because that would actually cause me MORE work, and I don’t want to do it. My auctions are a business, and my business has routines, and it is just a hassle to break that routine.

If you buy something from a US eBay seller, and they don’t say how much they charge for international shipping, CONTACT THEM and ask before you bid or purchase the item.

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?