Forum

Postage weight question
 

Most of my items are light..within the 7-12oz range, so when I print a label through ebay I approximate the oz for first class...so if the package is actually 5oz I may put 3oz or 8oz..since I dont have the time to really weight them one by one.

Anyway..this has never been an issue for any post office I have gone through they always scan my package and its fine...but I went to a different post office the other day and the guy refused to scan my item because he said the weight on the label is different than the actual weight.

I have never had issues except for this one guy..does it really need to be exactly the same number even if its off by 4 or 5oz?

Re: Postage weight question
 

Find another Post Office.

Re: Postage weight question
 

I cant believe you are still going to a post office.....

Re: Postage weight question
 

Just get a little scale! I mean c'mon, that's just laziness. You're risking your packages being returned to sender or arriving at their destination postage due.

Also just for the record, anything 1-3oz costs $2.45 and anything 4-8oz costs $2.60 with the new rates. Anything I'm shipping in the 4-8oz range goes out with an 8oz shipping label, and anything in the 1-3oz range goes out with a 3oz label. Why not play it safe when it costs the same anyways..

Re: Postage weight question
 

I almost never put the exact postage and I never have a problem. Find a drop off facility with a dock (it's usually a main facility in your area that all the other mail trucks drop off mail to from the smaller PO facilities). They never have time to scan each package individually, never mind weighing each one.

Seriously weighing each package to an exact amount would be an incredible waste of time and energy.

Re: Postage weight question
 

Scale for sale, Very accurate!
http://www.macdonaldcriminaldefence....39567605_0.jpg

Re: Postage weight question
 

You can get in trouble with USPS if postal inspectors catch on. I doubt you're doing anything on a large enough scale to be noticed, but I'm just saying. They can deny you service if they want..

Personally I know exactly what 95% of my orders weigh without using a scale. But I never hesitate to pull out the scale if I'm not sure. I have had packages arrive postage due, and I have had stuff sent all the way back to me with a postage due sticker. It makes customers mad.

Re: Postage weight question
 

It is incredibly unprofessional not to know what your packages weigh and have them show up postage due or come back for insufficient postage.

Does Best Buy or Walmart have these issues? Amazon? Of course not. They operate like a business and not a hack.

If you cant spend a few seconds to know your products weight then go get a job because being a lazy ass slob makes the rest of us look bad. How hard is it to type 8 or 3 or 16 etc...We are talking pennies to possibly cheat the system.

This thread is so incredibly stupid and annoying. Now I am going back on my forum sabbatical. See you all in a few weeks LOL

Re: Postage weight question
 

Yankee I believe i explained before why I need to go to the post office..

Re: Postage weight question
 

and we all explained why you would be so much better off if you did not......

Re: Postage weight question
 

A zealous USPS Postal Inspector finding out the prices are inaccurate will mean more than a waste of your time and energy.

These dudes dislike the service being abused.

:tears:

Re: Postage weight question
 

Not really..you stated its better to have a carrier come direct to you and print a master label...I cannot afford that..my average cost product is $400.

When i go to the post office at least I get a printed receipt of every single item with tracking on it...so if a package gets lost in transit and shows as never getting a single scan I have proof that I did in fact drop it off to the p.o. with that receipt

Re: Postage weight question
 

Can't have your Cake and Eat it Too.....

Re: Postage weight question
 

All the trolls going to hate me, but I run the post office myself. I'm kinda in a small town. Post office is only 1/2 mile from house. And max I ever taken was 30 items to be scanned in individually as I dont use the bulk mailing feature so no master ticket.

It has saved my ass many times. I cant count how many times a package got lost or what not. I may not win with ebay, but sure as **** I got the $50 free insurance with priority covered it. as most items are 50 or under.

I actually am on speaking terms name to name with my local post master as well as the other employee.

Also the receipt saved my ass with buyers.

We had a glitch where even know Mr Bob was scanning **** in, the system was not showing it. Sometimes tracking wouldn't show nothing till it was delivered, one scan. Or maybe a scan at the disbursement facility. Having the receipt made the buyers more comfortable it wasnt a scam. It was because they updated the postal software and the system was glitching.

Cause Im not sure if you know this, but a buyer can open a not received item case holding your funds till its delivered exactly 24 hours after purchase! I personally hate that.

Re: Postage weight question
 

You can print a master paper with all of the scans on 1 paper. When the postal dude/chick comes to you, they will scan each bar code.

Re: Postage weight question
 

PRECISELY my point...Thank you.

Re: Postage weight question
 

Ah Retailer77 - from earlier posts, you seem like you have a large profit margin if I recall correctly, no? Why skimping?

Re: Postage weight question
 

Small margin high volume

Re: Postage weight question
 

For a dude who claims to sell close to a million dollars a year with no helpers you certainly have a lot of time to waste.

And again, WHAT DOES THIS RECEIPT DO FOR YOU?

You do realize that a SCAN ACCEPTANCE is all that matters and that for insurance they use the TRACKING number and not a receipt that proves how much time you have to waste going and standing in line at the post-office? An end of day form will show acceptance even for items not actually picked up by USPS? In your brain, how is this a risk? Seriously, what goes on in your brain to not understand this incredibly simple aspect?

What makes you think that you need a piece of paper when the largest businesses in the word dont? Can you imagine Under Armour standing in line at the post office of Fedex waiting for worthless paper receipt? Do you think Amazon stands in line at the post office to gather this piece of paper.

When was the last time that ebay sided with you because you had a piece of paper and not looked at the tracking number? When you submit a claim, do they look at the acceptance and delivery, AKA tracking number or the piece of paper? When an item does not arrive that you buy, do you ask the seller for the piece of paper or do you look at the tracking number? Do you have a hatred for trees and feel the need to kill as many as possible by gathering as many postal receipts as possible? Do you collect said receipts and recycle them for a profit? Do you make a collage with postal receipts for home/office decor? Guinness book of world records have a USPS receipt hording record you are trying to break?

I ask these questions in 100% seriousness because I have no idea what you would ever at any time in your life do with this piece of paper?

Time to use the ignore function.

Re: Postage weight question
 

Do you EVER consider changing methods to have less worries?

:noidea:

Re: Postage weight question
 

Please see Jean beans post above...my point is really simple

A courtier comes to your order for example...scans your master label...you jump on ebay and realize the item does not show as scanned and still says manifest after 10 days..the buyer now opens a claim item not received.
I'm not talking about ebay here...I am talking about getting insurance from the POST OFFICE...does the courier give you ANY type of proof that he did in fact receive every single one of your items??? No....so when you take a lovely drive to the post office or call your post office they will not give you squat if you try to claim insurance because as far as they are concerned they NEVER EVEN RECEIVED OR SCANNED YOUR PACKAGE...this is where the RECEIPT COMES IN HANDY...YOU HAVE PROOF THAT YOUR ITEM WAS IN FACT SCANNED IN BY A USES WORKER ON A SPECIFIC DATE ....I'm not sure why YOU cannot understand this simple concept...and I say this in "ALL SERIOUSNESS" as well

Re: Postage weight question
 

Because it is stupid to imagine this happens on a regular bases or even once a year AND again, WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE RECEIPT?

Seriously? What do you do with it? THE ANSWER IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. This whole concept is moronic. Nothing you can do with it at all. Seriously, what have you done with it so far? We both know the answer is nothing to date and you never will. It is not handy because YOU HAVE NEVER ONCE USED IT.

DUDE, Straight up, the one package that you claim you dropped off and was never once scanned ever, That was YOUR MISTAKE. I have shipped hundreds of thousands of packages in the past decade or so and never one time have had a package vanish unless it was my staffs fault. No scan of any kind is either you loosing a package yourself or a bad label that is not scan-able. So many Post offices handle a single package that some scan is going to happen.

The dude above who admittedly sells super small volume even stated his packages showed delivery.

How the hell do you expect to operate a business wasting time with stupid crap that you post about weekly? You worry about the most silly of things such as this absolutely useless piece of paper. Do you have a box truck that you drive to each Post Office? or a Van because with the volume you talk about, you must need one.....

All rhetorical. No need to respond and I wont see it anyways.

Re: Postage weight question
 

Just for the record..I actually just confirmed with my post office and I am right...I stated in the event that a courier picked up my items and I physically see him scan my master label in..then it shows as manifest the entire time can I claim insurance by providing receipt proof of post office acceptance..the answer was yes.
So you can see the value of a receipt in such a case.

I understand this may not happen often but if the value of each item you were selling was a couple hundred dollars would you really want to risk that?

Anyways..hopefully you are right that this type situation very rarely happens..and if it does its rare eought for you to eat the loss.

Re: Postage weight question
 

I still disagree. Without the reciept the post office will not insure...so I dont know what his problem is. Guess he lke to lose money. Yes small volume...250 items a month. But my ass s covered and thats all that counts.

Re: Postage weight question
 

Stamps.com offers insurance and I don't have to leave my office. You may want to consider looking into it. :P

Re: Postage weight question
 

You dont need stamps. USPS priority is automatic 50 usd insurance through the post office for free.

And insurance dont mean **** if there is no record of it dropped off at post office. If package disappears and nothing is shown on tracking, the only way USPS will cover it is if you have the reciept proving it was scanned and handed in.

I been down this road. I trust my post master who has worked for the post office 25 years versus ebay sellers on a stealth forumn!

If they were to cover insurance claims without no proof of being handed to the post man, I would and so would many others be very rich

Re: Postage weight question
 

I wasn't asking for your trust, really. I couldn't care less about how any of you handle your postage. I do everything I possibly can to make my operation more efficient. I haven't gone to the post office to pay for postage ever in my life.

I've never shipped a package with any added insurance and I've shipped plenty of $1k+ orders. Call me stupid, but I've never had the need. My packages are picked up from my porch, and every single one of them has always been scanned in. Tiny orders are sometimes misplaced in transit and I had a Priority Express package delayed by a day one time (and I got my postage back :D). But overall I don't have any qualms with USPS.

Re: Postage weight question
 

Phazorz just imagine you are shipping 5k worth of goods daily...it would be a good call to wait 10min and have them all scanned in with receipt proof..ust me.

Re: Postage weight question
 

This is the point I have been trying to make all along..but unfortunately some people don't seem to understand such a simple point.

It's really not a difficult concept

Re: Postage weight question
 

Left on your porch? :pop2::pop2:

Wow whats ya address? Now any crack head, meth head on this forum can raid ya stash. At least put the **** in a lock box where only the post man and you have a key...sheesh :doh::doh::pop2::rip:

Re: Postage weight question
 

We ship about $3500 worth of merchandise daily with an average package count around 350. I know my mail carrier on a first name basis and I tip generously and frequently. And I don't have ANY of the issues you do. But I guess USPS's level of service just varies from town to town.

Don't get conceited on me Retailer. I always answer your threads. I guarantee my business is more efficient and way more organized than yours.

Re: Postage weight question
 

There is a old saying you can lead a horse to water but you cant make them drink. And you could be in a desert with no water in miles.

It is a simple concept. This goes back to me driving truck and my father driving truck. 90% time the paperwork said driver count for load and unload.

Guess whos to blame when half the **** on a 53" foot trailer is missing ??

Re: Postage weight question
 

Phazorz my comment about some people not getting it was not directed at you..chill dude

Re: Postage weight question
 

I was referring to the part where you told me to imagine shipping as much as you.

No harm, no foul though. No big deal.

Re: Postage weight question
 

It wasn't meant to come across as how you perceived it...poor choice of words on my end.

Re: Postage weight question
 

Thanks for again ignoring my question, Retailler.

Go on floundering in your efforts to do ebay.

You might succeed. You might not. You are one of these narrow thinking users who clutch at any straw to have your own way.

Thank G-d you were never on the Titanic.

You would have sunk.

Re: Postage weight question
 

It's a unique situation for sure but I sincerely appreciate your concern. I work from home and can clearly see all of my mail. I help my mail lady load everything on her truck daily.

Re: Postage weight question
 

Thanks for the positive feedback.

You take things way too personally..and what question exactly did you want me to respond to..the one where you asked "do you ever consider changing methods to have less worries"..did you really expect me to respond to that?

You make negative comments without any evidence for calling me "narrow minded"..I think your comment reflects your own thought processes

Re: Postage weight question
 

Why are ya talkin' like some jock in a bar?

Stop making assumptions about people here.

You do not know any of us. So mind how you try to talk to us.

:smash:

Re: Postage weight question
 

Narrow minded and small minded is the only way to describe this thread and most all others by OP.

By the way, 5K a day is a piss-hole in the snow. Again, very narrow minded. How much do you feel Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Amazon ship per day?

OP talks like a big wig in business but acts like a dude who works from his couch in procedures and policies and that is perfectly ok.

I have given the OP criticism because he talks a big game. His processes are more like a dude sitting at home that created a job for himself and that is cool, but why come to this forum to learn how to sell on ebay(general census of members) and make such accusations of huge volume when his procedures could not possibly be so successful or handle such business?

I know that I would never walk into a post office with and stand in line because it would take me hours. The post master would not ever allow it. As as matter of fact most require an end of day form when you have big volume. This is what relay services are for by USPS. They are for businesses with big volume to get excellent service without messing up the people who work desks, wasting time scanning packages one by one AND no busy business person has time to do these tasks. It is a $10.00 an hour job...

No high volume business brings packages to the post office daily. They have garage bays and loading docks and procedures in place to operate smoothly WITHOUT all these problems the OP has on weekly basis.

I criticize because he wants to be better. Doing these same old failing things is insanity.

Now back to my sabbatical. :peace: