eBay Calculated Shipping Malfunction: item dimensions show Tracked Packet available when not

[momcqueen]

Warning to sellers who ship internationally via ebay's Calculated Shipping tool. The tool is allowing buyers to pick service by Tracked Packet (and displaying cost for it on the listing as if it were available as an option) when, in fact, the item exceeds the volumetric weight for service by anything less than International Xpresspost which costs, on average, $100 more than Tracked Packet.

I discovered this tonight after a larger item sold to a buyer in France. I was not worried because I use the calculated shipping tool and the item weight and dimensions show me I can send it for Tracked Packet rates of roughly $60 which is what the buyer paid for shipping.

But when I go to Paypal Shipping to print the label this is not the case. I double check it with Canada Post and discover it exceeds either the weight or dimensional limit set for service by Tracked Packet. I suspect it is the dimensional limit that is exceeded. I know Tracked Packet is good for weights up to 2 kg so what is the matter with the tool for not knowing this too?

This has cost me an extra $100 in postage which I have paid out-of-pocket. I have lost money on this transaction, and not a little bit either. I cannot cancel without getting a defect, no matter that this is not my fault and the blame lays with a technical failure. And I already know the buyer won't agree to paying $158 in postage because she already sent me a message saying that she felt $60 was too much. 

I'm very disappointed by this failure of the ebay calculated shipping tool. 

Is this a known error about which I have simply been blissfully unaware until now?

[momcqueen]

Weight and dimensions of the item in question.

[momcqueen]

Services available to the buyer for choosing, according to the ebay Calculated Shipping Tool.

[momcqueen]

In reality, these are the only choices available for a package of this size. Don't let the 1.9 kg verus 1.8 kg weight discrepancy become a red herring. It doesn't matter if the weight of 1.8 kg is selected, a parcel of this size is still too big to travel overseas via Tracked Packet.

This calculated shipping tool mistake has cost me $100. Not $10 or $20 or even $50. One hundred dollars. 

[momcqueen]

I am very disappointed by this event. Through no fault of my own, I have lost $100 on an order due to a postage miscalculation made by ebay. Who is responsible to fix this? 

[fashionoutletdeal]

hi what was the size

[momcqueen]

This was item 232086199530 in case anyone wants to verify my assertions tonight.

And this is my Xpresspost label cost and dimensional weight... after I found a slightly smaller box to use (which cost less) but weighed the same.

The ebay Calculated Shipping tool told the buyer it could ship via Traked Packet for $60 but the least it could cost me was $158.36 to ship via Xpresspost instead. We all know International Surface cannot be used for overseas commerce in November. Even if I wanted to slide that slippery slope, the deadline for holiday delivery via Surface was like a month ago. 

[momcqueen]

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@fashionoutletdeal wrote:
hi what was the size

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[fashionoutletdeal]

is the weight 😞 Over one kg its express post international

[momcqueen]

The Calculated Shipping tool told both me and the buyer this item could ship via Tracked Packet when, in reality, it cannot and only Xpresspost at a cost of an additional $100 was available. I was able to chisel that box down to slightly smaller but still not within the allowable limit for Tracked Packet. 

The tool is supposed to know these things. That's the whole reason that sellers use it!

[momcqueen]

No. That is the rule for Tracked Packet USA. Over 1 kg a package is required to go to the USA via Expedited Parcel.

For Tracked Packet international, the weight limit was always 2 kg unless this changed within the last few months without warning. 

[momcqueen]

See?

Large box with weight under 2 kg (no Tracked Packet) versus smaller box with weight over 2 kg (yes Tracked Packet). When it says five choices that means Tracked Packet is still available, as is Small Packet Airmail.

[thestuffofchris]

I think I found the reason Tracked Packet was not available.

https://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/Amalgamated/parcel_services_guide-e.pdf

Bottom of page 41.

"Max. L + W + H = 900 mm"

42 + 41 + 23 = 106 cm = 1060 mm

[momcqueen]

Right. Thank you. I knew that was somewhere to be found on the Canada Post website but the point of the ebay Calculated shipping tool is that it's not supposed to quote a rate if the associated service is not available. It failed to provide the proper calculations for options and prices for services. And that cost me $100 extra in postage out of my own pocket. 

[kitschnvintage]

I just updated one of my listings to show your shipping dimensions with a 1kg box to the USA - it has the same size restriction of 900mm ~ and the ebay shipping calculator is letting me choose Tracked Packet USA which it should not as my package is too big ~ so it would appear the calculator is only looking at the weight of an item to restrict the shipping methods then ...

[momcqueen]

I think we sellers need to put pressure on the powers that be to get this fixed. I lost one hundred dollars on postage because of it. That's just way too much. I could eat $20 or even $30 if I had to and the item sold was worth it but no matter how I look at this, I lost money on this transaction due to the error. Big money.

[ypdc_dennis]

The calculator is correctly ignoring dimensions for tracked packet calculations since volumetric weight adjustments do not apply -- but it is skipping a basic check to see if the dimensions are valid for that service.

-..-

It is the packet size restriction (L+W+D is 90cm or under) that should have been caught,

For reference: CP volumetric weight for mjwl2006's package is: 42 x 41 x 23 cm / 5000 (for int'l) = 7.92kg

-..-

I wonder if the calculator is using the dimensions for services that do have volumetric adjustments?

I also wonder if it is doing any validity checking for size measurements?

-..-

Side comment: This past week I had an offer (not a sale, fortunately) from a UK buyer. I had estimated shipping would be under $40 using small packet-- but the dimensions of the box came to 95cm and the actual CP choices started at $85. Which wiped out any value the offer had (so I had to decline). I'm checking my box sizes a little more carefully this week.

-..-

[momcqueen]

eBay needs to make this right. First, fix the error with the Calculator that allowed this to happen. Second, return to me the extra payment I had to make for postage because it happened. 

ebay's Calculated Shipping tool miscalculated the service and cost available for the item and let the buyer purchase a service that does not exist despite that I had entered all the information correctly. 

After purchase and payment, my hands are tied in how I am able to deal with this ebay mistake. I cannot cancel the transaction without being punished, and I cannot ask the buyer to pay an extra $100 for postage without being punished. As a seller who acted in good faith and assumed ebay's own services could be trusted to work properly, I should not lose $100 because of a mistake I didn't make. 

I could tolerate eating a $10 or even $15 undercharge but this is too much. This was a major error. 

[momcqueen]

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@ypdc_dennis wrote:

The calculator is correctly ignoring dimensions for tracked packet calculations since volumetric weight adjustments do not apply -- but it is skipping a basic check to see if the dimensions are valid for that service.

-..-

It is the packet size restriction (L+W+D is 90cm or under) that should have been caught,

For reference: CP volumetric weight for mjwl2006's package is: 42 x 41 x 23 cm / 5000 (for int'l) = 7.92kg

-..-

I wonder if the calculator is using the dimensions for services that do have volumetric adjustments?

I also wonder if it is doing any validity checking for size measurements?

-..-

Side comment: This past week I had an offer (not a sale, fortunately) from a UK buyer. I had estimated shipping would be under $40 using small packet-- but the dimensions of the box came to 95cm and the actual CP choices started at $85. Which wiped out any value the offer had (so I had to decline). I'm checking my box sizes a little more carefully this week.

-..-

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I do understand the distinction you are making about volumetric weight, and thank you very much for clarifying that.

Unlike, say, Xpresspost which is a service on which the prices rate is determined by destination plus volumetric weight alone, an international service like Tracked Packet which is governed by postal treaty is not. It's flat-rate to the extent that it counts but there is a volumetric limit to the size, the footprint, that package can take despite its weight remaining under the 2-kg limit. Mine exceeded it. The size of the box, that is, not the weight. This is obvious after the fact when looking at it on Canada Post but the ebay Shipping Tool missed this point completely. 

I'm fairly certain the tool does look at some dimension limits when assessing the suitability of rates. 

It won't, for example, allow me to offer USA Xpresspost on an international letter or light packet-size item when I use calculated shipping. I can put it in the listing as an offering but It won't calculate or display a rate to buyers from the USA. I'm assuming that is because that letter size fails to meet the minimum size for Xpresspost service.  

So if it is capable of vetting minimum standards, the Calculated Shipping tool should also be capable of halting at maximums as well. Right?

And even if I had sent the item shrink-wrapped instead of boxed, it still would have been too big for Tracked Packet. I tried, believe me. When $100 is on the line in postal overcharge, I invest time looking for a box that meets the limits for the service. But the item was too big, it simply couldn't have been done. Not that I would mail something like this overseas in a polybag, I wouldn't. 

[i.am.vivian]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:

eBay needs to make this right. First, fix the error with the Calculator that allowed this to happen. Second, return to me the extra payment I had to make for postage because it happened. 

ebay's Calculated Shipping tool miscalculated the service and cost available for the item and let the buyer purchase a service that does not exist despite that I had entered all the information correctly. 

After purchase and payment, my hands are tied in how I am able to deal with this ebay mistake. I cannot cancel the transaction without being punished, and I cannot ask the buyer to pay an extra $100 for postage without being punished. As a seller who acted in good faith and assumed ebay's own services could be trusted to work properly, I should not lose $100 because of a mistake I didn't make. 

I could tolerate eating a $10 or even $15 undercharge but this is too much. This was a major error. 

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Yes to all.  If there is some problem with eBay that caused this error then they had better reimburse you, quickly, and without hassle or argument.  I can only try to imagine your outrage at this.  Just once I'd like to see it go the other way, where an eBay mistake causes the seller to gain an unexpected $100.