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 Replies: 22 / Views: 3,045 |
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Valued Member
United States
94 Posts |
I have finally completed my Mercury dime collection, including both 1942/41's. I am now trying to upgrade all but probably the 1916-D to at least XF or AU. On April 27 I bought a very nice looking 1929 on ebay for $10.51 plus $4.95 shipping. I was happy with the deal overall. I received the dime today, and along with it a bill from the postal service for an additional $3.51. The mailman said the seller sent it "media mail" which is the cheapest way. The additional $3.51 was for a return notification. Has anyone else been hit with a postage due? I have contacted the seller and am waiting for his reply. I am happy with the dime. |
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Valued Member
United States
139 Posts |
I didn't even know that was possible. Let us know how it turns out.
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Forum Dad
 United States
24154 Posts |
Yep, if its MM with DC they upgrade it to Priority and bill the addressee.
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Valued Member
United States
416 Posts |
For less than a dollar more than you paid for shipping (4.95) the seller could have sent it to you Priority Mail to begin with. I'm gonna say it was ballpark $2 to send it Media and they counted the rest as profit. Media Mail is only for books and similar items as well as being the absolute slowest way to send anything.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
Yeah, that's one cheap seller. I have had postage due once from an ebay seller. There's absolutely no reason for it. A real turn-off  |
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Valued Member
United States
291 Posts |
Can you email the seller about this?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5207 Posts |
I'd email the seller and let them know about the problem.
If they are an honest seller they will make it up to you.
If they are not they will play the blame fame and deserve neutral if not negative feedback.
If your "first class" package is not at least 5/8" thick the post office will bill you (or the recipient) for Priority Mail rates which is why a lot of seller swill throw in 1 Styrofoam peanut in a padded envelope.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7618 Posts |
Contact the Seller and ask him to reimburse you for the additional costs. If he refuses, then it's big red donut time.
All he had to do was use First Class package service in a bubble mailer 3/4" thick (or in a rigid container) and he could have mailed it for less than $2 including "free" DC (Providing the total weight was 3 ounces or less and he used pp/eBay shipping to print his label)
Any non-media Seller using media mail rates to scam the system deserve every red donut they get.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Not on a coin but yes I have had it done to me. I bought an item for $40 and paid an extra $30 for shipping (heavy item) They boxed it, paid for delivery confirmation and dumped it in a mailbox. No or minimal postage. It arrived $20 postage due. I refused to pay the extra $20 and they shipped it back to the seller. (Naturally he refused to accept the return. He had already been paid plus the shipping he had pocketed. If he had accepted it he wouldhave had to pay the shipping charges.) I filed a complaint with ebay explaining what had happened, but since he had paid for delivery confirmation,and it showed that it had reached me they denied my claim. I was out the $60 and still had to go find the item elsewhere. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4591 Posts |
Media mail is an improper shipping service for a coin. https://www.usps.com/ship/media-mail.htm links to http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/173.htm#1113509Quote:
Only these items may be mailed at the Media Mail prices:
a. Books, including books issued to supplement other books, of at least eight printed pages, consisting wholly of reading matter or scholarly bibliography, or reading matter with incidental blank spaces for notations and containing no advertising matter other than incidental announcements of books. Advertising includes paid advertising and the publishers' own advertising in display, classified, or editorial style.
b. 16-millimeter or narrower width films, which must be positive prints in final form for viewing, and catalogs of such films of 24 pages or more (at least 22 of which are printed). Films and film catalogs sent to or from commercial theaters do not qualify for the Media Mail price.
c. Printed music, whether in bound or sheet form.
d. Printed objective test materials and their accessories used by or on behalf of educational institutions to test ability, aptitude, achievement, interests, and other mental and personal qualities with or without answers, test scores, or identifying information recorded thereon in writing or by mark.
e. Sound recordings, including incidental announcements of recordings and guides or scripts prepared solely for use with such recordings. Video recordings and player piano rolls are classified as sound recordings.
f. Playscripts and manuscripts for books, periodicals, and music.
g. Printed educational reference charts designed to instruct or train individuals for improving or developing their capabilities. Each chart must be a single printed sheet of information designed for educational reference. The information on the chart, which may be printed on one or both sides of the sheet, must be conveyed primarily by graphs, diagrams, tables, or other nonnarrative matter. An educational reference chart is normally but not necessarily devoted to one subject. A chart on which the information is conveyed primarily by textual matter in a narrative form does not qualify as a printed educational reference chart for mailing at the Media Mail prices even if it includes graphs, diagrams, or tables. Examples of qualifying charts include maps produced primarily for educational reference, tables of mathematical or scientific equations, noun declensions or verb conjugations used in the study of languages, periodic table of elements, botanical or zoological tables, and other tables used in the study of science.
h. Loose-leaf pages and their binders consisting of medical information for distribution to doctors, hospitals, medical schools, and medical students.
i. Computer-readable media containing prerecorded information and guides or scripts prepared solely for use with such media. You can open a case with ebay. -----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1704 Posts |
Contact the Post Office and report him for sending the coin media mail. I'm pretty sure he will never do that again.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2077 Posts |
Postage due should ave been for the difference between media mail and first class, not priority mail. Should have been like 50 cents.
BTW, where is this 5/8 min thickness requirement? I've gone over the USPS package requirements and don't see it anywhere.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8516 Posts |
For 4.95 you're paying for premium shipping. I would contact the seller and tell him about the 3.51 postage due and tell him he needs to take care of this and we're good and that if he doesn't then we're going to have a problem. I imagine he will refund you rather than take a negative.
Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2362 Posts |
Quote:
where is this 5/8 min thickness requirement? I usually ship coins via First-Class Mail Parcel $2.97 with tracking. The post office told me the package needs to be approx 3/4" thick and somewhat rigid to qualify. As mentioned some shippers use one or two styrofoam peanuts. Member ANA and EAC "You got to lose to know how to win". Dream On by Aerosmith |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2077 Posts |
I asked my postmaster about the 5/8 requirement. She told me it's actually 1/4 and it has nothing to do with priority mail. If any piece weighs less than 13 ounces and is greater than 1/4 inch, it must be labelled as first class package. If it is under 13 ounces and less than 1/4 inch it must also be larger than 3 1/2 by 5 inch and be flexible enough to bend 1 inch when placed on a table halfway along it's longest dimension. It then is considered first class mail, not package. Rates are the same. She said that some clerks incorrectly apply the rule to say that anything that isn't a package must go priority, but that is wrong. The requirement is really there for labeling purposes only. The package designation tells the person feeding the sorter to not put it in the sorter because it will get stuck. However, anything with a package label goes to a different line anyway because the placement and orientation of the address on a package label is incompatible with the mail sorter. The bar code on the label, however, can be read on the package sorter.
BTW, did you know that you are allowed to mail reptiles, but not mammals, also birds under 25 pounds?
Edited by OldSkoolMadSkilz
05/08/2014 12:25 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1291 Posts |
Hmmmm. Just curious...how did USPS know that there wasn't some sort of "media" in the package? Was the package big enough to potentially contain a CD?
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Replies: 22 / Views: 3,045 |
Posted 05/06/2014 9:27 pm
