Beware of Ebays global shipping

This was the first and last time that Ill have used ebays global shipping program. 

 

Someone in Florida purcahsed an iPhone from me and I sent it from Canada through ebays global shipping instead of me manually adding tracking and buying through Canada post. I was in a rush as I had to already get one package out and was pretty much out the door before the gentleman from Florida made a purcahse and i decided to do both at once. So i made the purchase through the program quickly and slapped label on box and was out the door to mail. When making the purcahse through program it said that tracking would be provided, which the program had automatically uploaded to the site after I bought label. Only issue was, that the tracking that was automatically uploaded was NOT valid.

 

So not thinking anymore about it and roughly 2 weeks pass and I get a did not recieve request. Looking into it, the tracking that ebay had automatically uploaded hadnt moved at all (because it wasnt valid). Contacting ebay didnt help, which I didnt think it would because of the "no tracking saying delivered, its not delivered" policy and the buyers protection would surely trump my claim.  Contacted CanadaPost who couldnt do anything at all neither because the tracking wasnt valid and it couldnt be found. Apparently canadapost doesnt keep any history of their packages being scanned by barcode, even if they know the senders information and destination.

 

At the end of the day, I had to refund the buyer his 600$, lost the package, got a did not recieve on my account and no one could help me. Im just hoping the buyer in Flordia is honest and squares up when he does recieve. I dont blame the buyer at all neither, he made a purcahse and if the tracking wasnt moving at all, I woulda done the same thing.

 

attached is label that was purchaed through program.

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

I didn't know/think eBay offers Global Shipping program to Canadian sellers!?!?  Would love to hear from someone if I am wrong. I'm not sure if maybe you just bought a label through eBay labels, and if so I believe it usually defaults to the cheapest method and if you want to change/upgrade it you can. In this case it shows you sent with Small Package USA (that service does not have tracking), if you used Tracked Package USA it would have tracking. When you use eBay labels they put the receipt number in tracking place for items sent without tracking.  This is very unfortunate especially with a high valued item like you had.

Would be interested from other eBayer's here if there is Global Shipping from Canada? I didn't think so.

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

I totally understand what your saying, I might be calling it global shipping by accident. The label I purcahsed was through ebay after the sale has been  made I clicked the "ship now" and it was displayed that tracking would be provided, which it was provided automatically, just was totally incorrect. It autu-uploaded a invalid, made up tracking number.

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

I actually had selected priority shipping and it stated that tracking woujld be provided, attached is copy of the purchase.

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

To best of my knowledge there is no "Global Shipping Program" for Canada...

I do know that when I purchase Small Packet labels through eBay, I have to ADD the barcode which serves as "tracking" for eBay and that works for me, but it must be manually added as otherwise there is no "validity" to that other number that eBay automatically inserts. I haven't recently purchased Tracked Packet labels through eBay so I do not have any experience as to how eBay treats those labels.

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

It sounds like you used eBay labels. I've seen people complain here before about them stating tracking number would be provided but I think it's only if a trackable service was usedchosen. If you chose Priority Shipping but got a Small Package USA label then definitely give them a call. Small Package sent without tracking stating is scary when the label itself shows contents as a $600 iPhone. Even with tracking to US if it is lost insurance is only $100 unless you pay to have it increased. Good luck with the call!

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

marnotom!
Community Member

I'm pretty much saying what the others have said: You didn't use the Global Shipping Program (that's a forwarding service only available to US and UK sellers) and for whatever reason, your item went by Small Packet Air, which doesn't get an official delivery scan.  (You can see that info just below your label's barcode.)

 

I'm thinking that in your rush you chose "Small Packet" instead of "Tracked Packet" (as stated in the listing) when you purchased your shipping, maybe because of the wonky info @msau4301 suggests.

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

Yes, i understand im using "global shipping" term loosly. i used ebays ship now option and had slected Priority shipping label and that it said tracking was provided, which it was. see attached.

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

I think what might have happened is that you chose the Priority Shipping within your listing and thought that since you were using eBay directly they would know that and it would automatically use that method (it does not). I used eBay labels for a few months in the past but prefer to use Shippo. I think they both do the same thing, and that is the buyer information and customs details carries over (so we don't have to re-enter it) but the shipping method you have indicated in your listing doesn't. Once it is linked to Canada Post I think their system takes over and they automatically list all their available services...in order of cheapest to most expensive.

I always use Tracked Package USA but even though I indicate that in my listing, once I'm on the labels site (attached to Canada Post), it's highlighting/defaulting to the top of the page (Small Package USA) and I have to scroll down to the service I want. This is a huge problem that makes us have to be watching closely before clicking print!

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping


@gopherwarehousecdn wrote:

Yes, i understand im using "global shipping" term loosly. i used ebays ship now option and had slected Priority shipping label and that it said tracking was provided, which it was. see attached.


I'm sorry this happened, it was a very expensive mistake. But there is no Priorty shipping option available so that can't be what you chose.   Your listing stated that you were going to use tracked packet but you chose small packet.  Before you purchase the label it does specify that small packet does not have tracking but once you print the label, eBay does add some sort of invoice number instead of just leaving tracking blank.

Juat so you know, the labels you print through eBay are the same as what you would purchase at Canada post.   It's a good idea to understand what the different services provide before you buy a label though.

 

 

 

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

OMG, it seems you shipped it as a regular Canada Post Small Packet. They have no tracking. Next time you should use Canada Post Tracked Packet, or an expedited parcel. The Global Shipping Program is available to Canadians ONLY if they use a forwarding service, which crosses the border and delivers to the nearest USPS office.  I am sorry for your loss!  😞

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

Too late now but if you took a picture of the label when you shipped it there is a number starting with UR and ending with CA by the bar code on small packet usa. It looks something like this: UR000000000CA

When manually entered as tracking on ebay for USA destinations it gets tracked on ebay's website, nowhere else.

 

We ship daily using this method and so far we are at 100% sucess in all the small packet usa items being tracked. This is out of 239 items so far.

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

UR - they are really tracked? It even says "no delivery scan" (or even better in French: "scan not required"). Would you please give an example (a screenshot)?  I am US Top Rated Plus just because of providing tracking all the time. I use ChitChats now, but I had recently problems with them, so I am thinking about returning to CPC (more expensive, but no need to go 20 km to the drop off point). I used Small Packet for +20 years, with tens of thousands items delivered to my US customers - no one item has been lost until today. 

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping


@38e_avenue wrote:

UR - they are really tracked? It even says "no delivery scan" (or even better in French: "scan not required"). Would you please give an example (a screenshot)?  I am US Top Rated Plus just because of providing tracking all the time. I use ChitChats now, but I had recently problems with them, so I am thinking about returning to CPC (more expensive, but no need to go 20 km to the drop off point). I used Small Packet for +20 years, with tens of thousands items delivered to my US customers - no one item has been lost until today. 


No issues with my parcels by Small pkt air to USA. Mine go Calgary...Richmond...LAX/SF(3-5 days) and then on for delivery. They ONLY track in eBay tracking. As noted in another recent post, eBay labels dumps a transaction id  in eBay tracking vs the UR number. That transit id is non-editable. Why I only use Shippo or CP. As for the UR number it does work in some Intl Postal websites like Sweden, Norway, Spain, Cyprus(confirmed). Balance of EU not so much. I used to ship regularly to EU but as of late, rarely so have been unable to confirm. 

 

Recent screenshots of 1 US shipment below.

 

Screenshot 2022-04-17 084149.jpg

 

 

Track2.jpg

 

Track 3.jpg

 

Lotz

 

Please note:  Frequency/consistency of scans may cause results to vary if you ship from Eastern Canada/MB via Chicago.

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

Always double and triple check your shipping labels, and be VERY FAMILIAR with the shipping services available (as you have already been told there is no actual Global Shipping Program for Canada). Never rush, and take a few extra minutes to check and make sure everything is correct. I would never ship anything valued over $100 with small packet (not trackable, no insurance) unless it's to a repeat buyer that I trust, or it is an item that I can afford to "lose". This should have been sent with Tracked Packet at the very least, and personally I would have chose Expedited Parcel and buy extra insurance on top. Since you have identified that this is a $600 iphone on the shipping label and it's a non-trackable service, it is unfortunately asking to be stolen...

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

The OP is using the wrong term. They are referring to eBay's service where you can print a Canada Post label directly on the platform. Not the global shipping program.

 

What happened is that you printed a label for a service that does not have tracking. I don't use eBay's label service, so I don't know how blatantly it states this.

 

Look at this image here: https://community.ebay.ca/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/6492i79EE2C8C8BE010FD/image-size/large?v=v2&p...

 

There may still be a way to get your money back. Find the transaction in your eBay history, and see if there is a way for you to add tracking information to the transaction. Look on both desktop and the mobile app, as they work differently. Go to your shipping label you attached to this post, and take the number starting with UR, add that to the tracking. If you can find a way to add that number to the transaction, you may be able to get tracking. Small Packet Air does have some sort of internal tracking with USPS. It is not published on any website (including usps.com and canadapost.ca), but if you add the UR number to the transaction on eBay, tracking will sometimes be visible ONLY on the eBay website. 

 

I assume the case is closed. But you still might be able to add tracking to the transaction, which will get you access to a delivery scan. If you are able to do this, and you can see it shows as delivered, contact the buyer. Even know they might be stealing from you, stay polite and professional. Let them know that you can see that the item has been delivered, ask them if they received the package, and ask to arrange for them to pay you back for the item via exchanging Paypal info (which is allowed with customers who have already purchased an item). Explain that you were preparing to file a missing package report with USPS to find the package, that they may be able to locate it because the service you used has internal tracking, but before you go through that trouble you'd like to know if it has actually arrived. (assuming you now have access to the tracking), let the buyer know that you may need to contact them in the future if it turns out the package was delivered to the wrong house, as you might be required to file a Police Report and/or follow whatever mail fraud procedures USPS might suggest. Don't say it like you are accusing them of stealing it, say it like if it was delivered to the wrong house they might be contacted by those departments. If they stole the phone, this might spook them into paying you back. Even if you don't have the tracking, you could try this.

 

So after you contact them, if they ghost you or claim the item wasn't delivered to them, contact https://twitter.com/askebay?lang=en or Ask Ebay on Facebook. Provide them with proof of the tracking (assuming the steps to add tracking to the transaction worked). Explain to the situation to them that you purchased the label through eBay, the tracking was not automatically added. Explain that if they view the transaction directly on the My eBay page, they can see a delivery scan, but it may not show up on the USPS website. Maybe provide screen shots. Tell them you reached out ot the buyer, and they still claim it wasn't delievered. Tell eBay that you would like to appeal the refund. Make it known that you're open to filing any police report or USPS paperwork that would be required in the situation, and ask them for instructions on that. Depending on how lucky you are, the result will be that eBay will cover you for the original refund, and you will get your money back from eBay (not the buyer). 

 

If you cannot add tracking to the transaction, I would do the above, but I would bluff a bit with the buyer about "internal tracking". Don't claim you know it was delivered, just say that despite it not having tracking, USPS has internal tracking they can use for the service in the event of a missing mail report. Don't accuse the buyer. 

 

Also if you cannot add the UR code: When you contact eBay on Twitter or Facebook (very important, contact them on one of those, make an account if you have to), link them to this post https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Small-packet-to-the-USA-quot-tracking-quot-is-this-a-thi...

Provide them with the UR code, and ask them if there is anyway they can follow those instructions and add it to the transaction so that you/they can view if there is a delivery scan. 

 

In short, you want to do these things. 

-Try to get the UR code added to tracking, so you might get a delivery scan.

-Reach out to the buyer to ask if they item was delivered, and provide them an opportunity to pay your not pay you. (Important to do this before you get eBay involved, so eBay sees you tried this before asking for them to cover the refund)

-Contact eBay on their 'Ask eBay' Twitter or Facebook page. Either with the tracking now added to the transaction, or with instructions on how they might be able to add it for you. 

-Ask to appeal the refund. (You may be required to file police or USPS reports).

 

Good luck, hopefully it works out. 

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

I must say I am compleletly SHOCKED!!!!! I had no idea the UR number might be used to anything ...... 

This is not a news, this is a REVOLUTION! And I thought I know everything about shipping .......  🙄

 

index.jpg

 

It might be also a very good news to the OP. Just edit tracking and put the UR number you have (it's shown on the scan of the label you attached) - and then your item will be suddenly TRACKED! 

 

 

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

@38e_avenue 

 

As noted in my post in the fine print only works if you use something like Shippo/Net Parcel/CP/PayPal shipping where you can manually add the UR number. eBay shipping ports the shipment reference number which is NOT editable.

 

Screenshot 2022-04-17 120756.jpg

 

From a past experience, when I made a type inputting the number in eBay after creating the label, system does not like it if you edit down the road. Tracking did not show updates or acknowlegement of shipment. Must be done before it reaches its first scan...Either Canadian sort point or US customs. Unable to confirm which it is. That Mar 23 scan is there sometimes but not always. Probably Richmond so CP internally.

 

-Lotz

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Re: Beware of Ebays global shipping

Thank you for the clarification. I already used all possible shipping plaforms, so there is no problem with switching to Shippo. I already adjusted the shipping price and ready to use Canada Post again, as I did for the last 22 years. I switched to ChitChats last April, and had a few strange incidents, so I will be more than happy to use CP service again. BTW, CP is just around the corner, and ChitChats needed a 1-1.5 hour long drive. I increased the US flat price  from 5 to 8 USD, but lowered the international from 18 to 12 USD.  According to my records, lowering the price last April did not increase the sales at all, so I do not expect any serious changes now (maybe only for the international, because the shipping is now much cheaper). Thank you for your help, again! 

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