Postal Service Gettin' It On With eBay
The USPS is getting all modern-like, hooking up with eBay to let sellers be billed later for postal services rather than pay immediately. Also, a new tool will let sellers roll streamline the shipping process by letting them buy and print labels without having to juggle accounts or wait in line at the post office.
The USPS will also roll out by the end of this month a more tightly integrated system for printing postage for items sold on eBay, previously announced by eBay in April. Currently, the process works like this:
1) After you sell an item and the buyer transfers payment, you go eBay's Selling Manager page.
2) Choose Print Postage (as shown in the accompanying image), and you go to the Web site of eBay's payment service, PayPal.
3) Log in to PayPal, and you go to a form for printing postage.
4) Fill out the form with the size of the package and other details, and then print out your label.
5) You log in to PayPal so the postage can be automatically deducted from your PayPal account.
The new tool will eliminate one step: the need to log into PayPal. Now, you'll be able to choose your shipping method, enter the size and weight of your package, order insurance, and print out the shipping label without having to leave eBay.
The upside for buysers is fewer shipping obstacles mean you'll be getting the stuff you overpaid for more quickly, hurrying the onset of buyer's remorse so you can get over it quicker and move on to the next ill-advised auction.
USPS Integrates with Bill Me Later, New eBay Shipping App Coming [AuctionBytes]
(Photo: The Joy Of The Mundane)
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Comments:
I thought people for the most part abandoned eBay for Craigslist because of all the scams and fraudulent merchandise.
USPS needs to work on their on-line tracking system. Every time I've tried to use it, they wouldn't even acknowledge that my package existed.
I've found that the FedEx and UPS on-line tracking systems have been outstanding.
@Jesse: eBay is good for some things, like selling vintage clothing, that are appealing to more than just the local buyers on Craigslist.
if only we could somehow get people to charge reasonable shipping costs on ebay items...
It's always nice to see the USPS branching out to suck horribly in new and exciting ways.
@MikeF74: Yes, and clearly that's because the Post Office is crazy, and not because annoying people will take any pen that isn't nailed down, as well as most of the ones that are...
@HiPwr: Completely agree.
USPS Tracking:
The packaging slip has been scanned and we show that exists somewhere in this known universe.
Then two weeks of nothingness followed by
USPS Tracking:
SURPRISE!! Its at your door, not our problem anymore, hope we didnt smash it or anything.
You couldn't hold back on the negativity for just one post? Man, I can't even imagine what it must be like going through life so full of hate that you manage to find negativity in everything
How is this new? I have been doing this for years now. If someone paid with paypal, the only legal way to pay on eBay now, they can do all their shipping right from paypal. This really isn't anything new other than the ability to pay later.
@HiPwr: It's "tracking" in name only.
I inquired about the tracking and was told there are two issues. One is that not all stations have functional tracking systems yet, so they couldn't scan packages even if they wanted to. The second is that the stations with tracking systems don't always have time to scan the packages - it's something they do if everything else has been done already, otherwise they skip it.
@vgeroh: Actually a lot of folks, myself included, have abandoned Ebay because of their increasingly outrageous fees and policies that screw sellers to the buyers benefit.
@steveliv:
eBay now has shipping requirements for some categories of products. Sellers are required to offer one shipping method at an eBay-specified price; they are permitted to also offer more expensive, optional shipping services.
@Canino: Ah, interesting. It sounds to me that they just not offer on-line tracking until they get their shit together.
Or if they could even give a limited ability to track. UPS and FedEx both give estimated delivery dates that I have found to be spot-on. And they make the estimation as soon as the package goes into the "in transit" state. The USPS should be able to manage that much. It's hard to believe that their system has so many more variables than the other shippers.
Okay, maybe it's not so hard to believe.
@Jesse:
I still shop eBay...I just don't buy often. I have gotten a few items for a very good price even w/ shipping added. Some things I've found there are not worth getting because of the cost of shipping.
Craigslist: I also shop there but don't find a lot to buy. I'm more likely to sell or advertise a garage sale on it.
@dragonfire81: Yup. I'm still trying to figure out how this partnership will further allow buyers to rip off sellers. Just gotta think it through...
@Jesse:
Craigslist can be just as time consuming and annoying. Random ppl emailing you, saying they will come by a X time to see your item and buy it, asking if you'll take a check (NO). Or sellers never bothering to respond to you. Weirdo scammers from overseas spamming you when you list an item for sale. ("Dear Madam: I am interested in your vintage VCR player. I am wondering if you would be so kind as to accept a money order drawn on my overseas account... blah blah, and ship to me here in Nigeria... blah blah.")
I used to use both CL and eBay with enthusiasm. Now, I'm as likely to donate used items than to try to make some $$ from them, which is sad, but my time is worth something, too. I do continue to buy occasionally on eBay (things like new shoes in sizes that are hard to find in stores), and I am a habitual CL reader, more for the entertainment value than for any practical reason.
It's eliminating the whole "log in to PayPal" step and buying postage directly from the USPS. But you're right -- not a huge difference.
@TheWillow: there's plenty of chains at my post office, with pens attached to them... but the chains are too short, and the anchor placed too far away to actually be useful.
@Jesse:
Nah... you've got it all wrong. We didn't abandon eBay for Craigslist, we just have been spending more time on Craigslist because of the whor-- er... sensual massages you can get through them.
...paypal, the only legal way to pay on eBay now"...
Ha. ha. I have found MANY sellers on Ebay that will happily bypass the PP system to sell to me for a M.O. or a check. They hate PP just as much as I do,and many have stories of being screwed by PayPal.
Smart sellers are using Ebay as a way to introduce themselves to buyers for unique stuff and then steering them to their own web site or alternate sites where the fees are reasonable. I often receive checkout emails that offer a discount on the next purchase by dealing direct with the merchant. And you know what ? Before Ebay started acting like an (dis) organized crime syndicate and imposing this rule or that rule , I would delete those messages. Not any more .
@MikeF74: At least your post office has forms. Mine has about 1/2 of the forms its supposed to have. When I asked for a change of address form they said they "ran out".
When I was back a week later I asked for one again, they still didn't have any.
@Jesse: I'm pretty sure CL is full of scams and fraudulent merchandise as well.
I would actually PREFER to sell on eBay. I would rather not have to meet the person I am selling my stuff to. I sold someone a table and the guy moved it with the chairs outside then refused to pay me until his wife showed up with the minivan. I had to stand outside my apartment with the guy for about 25 minutes all the while asking him to just give me the money so I could get out of there and go to work.
It was ridiculous.
@HiPwr: Spot-on? My UPS packages are "out for delivery" for anywhere from 6 hours to 3 days. Really helps when I need to be at home for the delivery. They usually spend 3-5 days in transit on a train without updating their status.
USPS doesn't claim to offer tracking, they offer delivery confirmation. Having some online tracking through USPS is much better than nothing, although having an estimated delivery date would be nice.
@steveliv: Yes, ebay has mostly fixed the shipping rip-off problem.
It's also much easier now to see the total price with shipping of items that don't have shipping limits.
What USPS needs to do is to mimic Stamps.com's process online. I love Stamps.com's service, but I don't like paying $20 a month just to essentially use the service. I haven't tried yet but I heard that you can print out labels online?
I hope ebay doesn't decide to screw up the PayPal Shipping Center -- as far as I know, it's still the only way to make prepaid first class and media mail labels for free. Really useful service.
@Zclyh3:
Yup. USPS's online postage printout doesn't even offer first class mail. Only priority mail and up. Useless.
@theodicey: My "spot-on" assessment was based on my experience. I wasn't able to determine the experiences had by other anonymous bloggers, unfortunately.
USPS does claim to have on-line tracking [www.usps.com]
@vgeroh: Craigslist has 1000xs the scams as eBay does. No accountablility there. Rapes, murders and all sorts of things with Craigslist in the news lately. Ever seen a headline about a rape that happened because of eBay??
I am sorry to say I still sell a bit on eBay. This is no big news & will suck I'm sure just like the current PP postage. They screw up the most basic stuff: they still don't have the little flat-rate box as an option incorporated & its been in use a while. Smart people use the USPS site for direct printing & charge it to their PP card, that way you actually get the card rewards for the charge from PP! Let them pay you for a change. And the tracking issue is a mess, the PO has no uniform way of accepting packages into their system: some PO employees scan the DC barcode, some the "scan sheet" you can print out that is suppose to confirm acceptance at PO (my local PO just scratches head & asks what's that?, and the scanners don't recognize it either), some refuse to do anything.
@Jesse: I abandoned eBay/Paypal for the 21 day(or less) hold of my money when I sell something electronic for more than $100. Doesn't matter that I have 100% feedback and have been registered since 2004. Then I have to use my own(not earned from the auction) money to ship the item.
@MikeF74: Ours has all the old pen-on-a-cord attachments on the counters, but all the pens have been cut off. No idea why.
FYI Consumerist, eBay now has an increased fee for the first 5 items you sell in a 30 day period! It used to be a sliding scale, of 8.75% on the first $25, and a good bit less after...but not anymore. They disguise this as "no listing fees for your 1st 5 items*"
Oh, and I like how they act like eliminating "the need to log into PayPal. Now, you'll be able to choose your shipping method, enter the size and weight of your package, order insurance, and print out the shipping label without having to leave eBay. " is such a great thing. Given how much of a PITA it is to do business with them, that extra step would be like having a baby because you were too tired to open the condom wrapper.
Shipping stuff is a PITA, period. If you charge what it actually costs to mail stuff, people complain that you're trying to scam them and don't buy your merch. If you don't charge enough, people buy your stuff, but you end up losing money at the post office. I'm still trying to figure out which is less infuriating. Any ideas?
And yet, my local post office treats pens as some sort of weapon of mass destruction. There are 5 desks loaded with forms one could fill out, but not a pen in the entire place for a customer to use.