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 Replies: 9 / Views: 2,146 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2077 Posts |
I was wondering how postage due is calculated for priority mail. Say I purchase postage at the ebay discounted rate for a 1 to 2 pound package. It arrives at it's destination and weighs in at 2 pounds 1/4 ounce and the clerk decides that it is postage due. Is that based on the discounted 2 to 3 pound rate minus the discounted 1 to 2 pound rate? Or is that based on the counter 2 to 3 pound rate minus the counter 1 to 2 pound rate? Or is that based on the counter 2 to 3 pound rate minus what I actually paid? If it's the last one, postage due could potentially be higher than the original postage as lately, UPS and ebay have a negotiated discount around 50%. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7621 Posts |
I believe it is recalculated using the non-discounted rate. I've been told that the window clerks do not have access to the negotiated discount rates that some mailers have.
Part of the reason for having the discount in the first place is that the USPS is discounting it because the mailer is doing part of the "work". If the mailer isn't doing it right (calculating the weight wrong) then somebody has to pay for it.
Makes sense to me.
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Valued Member
United States
416 Posts |
it is the difference between what it would cost if it was brought in to the post office to mail it and the amount of postage already paid, as westernsky also stated
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2077 Posts |
The label doesn't show the amount paid. Would they assume that it was the counter rate or would they look it up?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
589 Posts |
Quote:
The label doesn't show the amount paid Unless you tick the check box to show the amount paid. I only use it when truly haggling with a buyer on an OBO, to prove that the amount I tell him it costs to ship is what it costs to ship. Otherwise, I don't want people to know exactly how much of a profit I'm making... Quote:
I've been told that the window clerks do not have access to the negotiated discount rates that some mailers have. This is correct, at least for my local PO. Underpaid once, and they couldn't add postage to it there since they didn't "have any way of determining how much had been paid already," which to me makes me think they'd figure out the discounted rate, and charge postage due at the normal rate, to make up their loss. Off hand, that'd be buying postage (first class package) at 9oz for 2.76, when it actually weighed 10oz (which is 3.58 at PO), so if what I was hearing is accurate, postage due would be 82 cents. After all, the post office is dead broke. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7621 Posts |
I would imagine that the amount paid can be verified by the post office through their dealings with the vendors (Pitney, Stamps.Com, etc). If you read the contract the end user has with their postage supplier, the rules are very clear --- using hidden postage amounts that underpay postage can lead to account suspension. It can also lead to bad feedback on ebay when a Buyer picks up a "postage due" package at the post office. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2077 Posts |
This is going off course really fast. Let me put some numbers to it to make it more clear. Say I select a postage that costs $7.12, but after packing the box, I'm 1/8 oz over. The next rate up is $7.32. These are discounted rates. The full rates are $14.85 and $15.25. Would the postage due be 20 cents, 40 cents or $8.13? I'm not saying that I regularly violate USPS policy, but there have been times when a box that I've pre weighed everything including packing, comes in a fraction of an ounce over when done. It's probably the packing slip, tape, and label. Voiding a label is a two week process. I never show postage cost. When I charge postage, it's based on full price. If because of my seller level, I get a discount, that's my business, not the buyers. Label wouldn't show the final value fee that ebay charges me for shipping. |
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Valued Member
United States
432 Posts |
Considering that 2 out of the last 3 coin packages I have been expecting, were "lost" or damaged with missing contents, I have no faith in the USPS to do anything right or even attempt to do so.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2077 Posts |
I'd have to say that I've generally been pleased with USPS. Only one lost, but a couple greatly delayed. That being said, there are some locations where the clerks make up their own rules. The one that gets me is that a package has to be over a certain min thickness. I've read the regulations and this is a misunderstanding of a poorly written document.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5854 Posts |
It has happened me once. I sold a book on Amazon and purchased postage for media mail online. When I took the package to the PO, the clerk placed it on the scale and was about to scan it when she noticed that it was a little bit overweight. She asked what I paid and then charged me the difference between the retail price and what I said I paid. The discounted rate and the retail rate for media mail is not much so I didn't have to pay a whole lot extra. |
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Replies: 9 / Views: 2,146 |
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Posted 01/07/2015 9:58 pm
