PayPal Tracked Packet USA seems to be working now

[pocomocomputing]

I was checking Tracked Packet USA with PayPal ShipNow option. It appears to working correctly. It gives the correct shipping rate based on weight as long as the item is under the allowed dimension for the service. I tried all kinds of weight and dimension combinations and I got the correct postage amount for test with valid data or error messages if my tests had invalid data. Using Tracked Packet also seemed stable and glitchy like before.

I wonder if they left the postage amount showing on the PayPal label for Tracked Packet.  All other services do not show postage using PayPal labels as far as I know. Please post if postage is fixed if you use PayPal tracked Packet.

I emailed Kalvin for a confirmation that Tracked Packet is officially fixed.

[treasure.hunter.d]

Just tried to print a label for Tracked Packet to the U.S.

The option doesn't show up, I didn't see it yesterday either....

Hope they fix this soon....

I wonder why it's taking so long, you would think this is a priority as it affects all sellers.

This is ridiculous but I do have a little positive news. My last call today, oh joy of joys, I got lucky and got the call center in the USA and had a good long chat with the CSR who had me send a screen shot to a tech person, something that those boneheads in the Philippines never even came close to mentioning was possible. She said she was heading home for the day soon but promised to be right back on it first thing in the AM. 

We can hope....

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for the reports. We are are of the issue & are looking to fix it as soon as we can.

[mikerfns]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for the reports. We are are of the issue & are looking to fix it as soon as we can.

Well, gee. Thanks for nothing. What a ROYAL SCREW UP this has been. Announced MONTHS ago and eBay/PayPal/Pitney Bowes still hasn't got it right. Insurance dropped from Small Packet Air, and insured Tracked Packet is NOT AVAILABLE when I need it. X-(

I quoted a rate for a Tracked Packet shipment to a buyer from Spain today based on the discounted rate. Buyer purchased my item, and when I went to ship it through PayPal, the Tracked Packet service was not available. I had to ship it (via Tracked Packet) through the Canada Post OBC site at FULL PRICE.

[treasure.hunter.d]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for the reports. We are are of the issue & are looking to fix it as soon as we can.

I guess that the rest of us have a different opinion of what constitutes "SOON"

Kalvin, this is a joke. It's bad enough that we get the pi$$ beaten out of us with Canada Post's stinkin' high rates but to so ham fistedly ruin this implementation just adds insult to injury. As a Canadian seller there are so many things that we could sell to make quick sales that are completely off of the table because of the BS prices from Canada Post and now, for many items, we are at a standstill because the Expedited rates have been jacked sky high and we have no service with tracking until Tracked Packet is fixed. You realize as well that we also don't have an affordable shipping service with a signature option either? Express is the only one with that option and the price will make you faint.

It's almost like you guys are trying to run us off so you can just up and close Ebay.ca

sheesh!

[Anonymous]

Thanks alot, eBay!!  You are literally put us on standstill!!  I am unable to revise any listings because I don't have the right information for Tracked Packet.  It is bad enought that I don't make any sales for over 14 days which is very unusual and thanks to eBay, I am unable to list or relist anything because of this so-called "glitch".

Excuse me, eBay, everyone at the customer service kept saying "glitch" for months and months and months and still screw up.  Wake up and fire those people who screw those so-called glitch.  Enough is enough!!

When I need to check for the shipping information for Tracked Packet via PayPal Shipping, it is not there and to my shock the shipping rates for Exepdited Mail has shoot up way too much than I expected.  Now I am stuck as we no longer have small packet air with insurance and now with Expedited that is way tooooooo expensive and nothing of Tracked Packet.  You literally are putting on standstill in the meantime.

Fix it NOW!!  As far as I am concerned you have months and months to do it and yet you cannot do it right.  Well fire those who screw it up.  Enough is enough already.  Sheesh!! X-(

[pjcdn2005]

honeybed,  Relax...

  I agree that it is annoying that all of the shipping options are not in there but you do have other options. Use the Canada Post site or go to the post office. Or use Paypal and use other shipping options. There's no reason that things should "come to a standstill"  What have you been using since January?

[wsdcoins]

As he mentioned, 

since January most of us have been using Small Packet that used to come with $100 insurance...

Then that got wiped out, and everyone started using expedited....

However when Tracked Packet came in, eBay increased the prices of Expedited quite significantly.

And today I don't see tracked packet as an option at all.

[treasure.hunter.d]

As he mentioned, 

since January most of us have been using Small Packet that used to come with $100 insurance...

Then that got wiped out, and everyone started using expedited....

However when Tracked Packet came in, eBay increased the prices of Expedited quite significantly.

And today I don't see tracked packet as an option at all.

Yup, I just checked again and it is definitely still not there.

This is total BS and in my mind now we are approaching extortion on the part of Ebay Paypal. With no tracked packet to use and by their own instructions we are being forced to use other means that cost us a lot more money, if it's even possible as many sales are just too small to use the newly inflated beyond belief Expedited rates. BTW, Canada Post's official statement is that they raised Expedited by 3%. Why then have our Expedited rates via Ebay/Paypal gone up so much more? Obviously Ebay/Paypal saw this as a great opportunity to stick it to us as if they aren't already raping us with fees.

For fun you can call those yo-yos in the Philippines as I'll bet that even now you will get a CSR or even a stupervisor on the phone that has absolutely no idea this problem is even happening. What is it we are paying all of these outlandish fees for again? It certainly isn't competent support!

[pierrelebel]

"And today I don't see tracked packet as an option at all.

Yup, I just checked again and it is definitely still not there."

???

Checking one of your listings, I see:

US $17.95 United States Canada Post Tracked Packet - USA

"Why then have our Expedited rates via Ebay/Paypal gone up so much more?"

Please take a look at the announcement board.  eBay.ca announced a few months ago a reduction in the discount offered when purchasing postage from them.

"those yo-yos in the Philippines... It certainly isn't competent support!"

I totally agree.  The quality of eBay customer service is not what it used to be before they laid off those 700 Vancouver employees in customer service four years ago.

http://www.marketnews.ca/content/index/page?pid=5343 .

[pjcdn2005]

Pierre, The Tracked Packet option is still available when listing but not available through Paypal shipping right now.

I agree that it is annoying that we had to wait a while for Tracked Packet to fixed. Then it disappeared shortly after it was fixed. Ebay is aware of the problem but there is no eta on when it will be fixed.

But you know.....no one is forcing me or anyone to use more expensive shipping.

Many sellers ship their less expensive items without insurance or they buy 3rd party insurance. If you do the latter, make sure that you know all the rules on making claims before you buy. Or, self insure.

Why then have our Expedited rates via Ebay/Paypal gone up so much more? Obviously Ebay/Paypal saw this as a great opportunity to stick it to us as if they aren't already raping us with fees.

I doubt that ebay or paypal actually set Canada Post rates. They may negotiate with CP for lower rates but that doesn't mean that they will get those rates.

[pjcdn2005]

It really is ironic that for years some Canadians were complaining about the U.S. sellers  who would send items with the more expensive Priority mail and were not willing to send items using first class international.  First class international did not have insurance or delivery confirmation so some sellers felt they had to protect themselves by using Priority.

Of course that meant that buyers had to pay for more expensive shipping so that the seller would be "protected"  Although it is a seller's right to do that, many buyers did not see it that way...especially when an item was  less than $40 or so. Now, some USPS First Class International services have delivery confirmation but that just started within the last couple of months.

With the removal of insurance on small packet, we are basically in the same boat that U.S. sellers were in for years.  The shoe is now on the other foot.

Many sellers here are now complaining about being "forced" to use TP or expedited. Basically, the sellers want to protect themselves by charging the buyer for more expensive shipping.  Again, it is their right to do that but they are not being forced to do that just like the U.S. sellers were not "forced" to do that.

I wonder.... When those sellers who protect themselves as sellers go to buy something on ebay..... do they happily pay more in postage so that their seller is protected?

Just some food for thought..

[treasure.hunter.d]

The biggest problem at the moment is if you want to qualify for seller protection then you have no choice but to ship via Expedited which will cost you an arm and a leg now. The only cheaper option for items of any size is Small Packet Air and that will cost as much as Tracked Packet except you get no tracking and therefore no Seller Protection.

I still have Tracked Packet listed in my auctions as I don't want to scare folks of with $20 shipping charges for cheap items. If they sell while Tracked Packet is still down as an article did last evening then I am eating the balance which pi$$e$ me off to no end!

[treasure.hunter.d]

 If they sell while Tracked Packet is still down as an article did last evening then I am eating the balance which pi$$e$ me off to no end!

I'm still shaking my head over that one. Bad enough that on a $300 item I paid $40.00 in fees between Ebay and Paypal but I had to foot the bill for more expensive shipping as well!

[i*m-still-here]

I just went through a totally wonky experience buying a shipping label to Singapore.

The paypal website and CPO site showed different options, and so did the actual CPO site when I tried to buy postage there.

There was no consistency among the three.

In the process I noticed that U-Pic no longer insures to Russia.

It looks like they have taken the high risk countries off their list and they look a lot like shipsurance now.

This really made me think twice about shipping to these hi risk countries.

I decided to ship Xpresspost with signature confirmation but that's not worth a thing if the parcel gets lost.

Even though there's protection against bad buyers (signature confirmation), there is none against the POs and the people who work there in these countries.

[luxe.labels]

I have 20 packages to ship and the Tracked Packet USA option has disappeared!  Has anyone else found this?

[treasure.hunter.d]

I have 20 packages to ship and the Tracked Packet USA option has disappeared!  Has anyone else found this?

Yes, that's pretty much what this whole thread is about. I just got off of the phone with Ebay handling some other issues and if you can believe it the Supervisor (in the Philippines as you might guess) had no idea about the issue and no update obviously. How is it possible, at this point, that any Ebay CSR or Supervisor doesn't know about this? That's frightening!

[Anonymous]

Excuse me!!   Think about persons who are mobility limited that reply on PayPal Shipping 100%.  I am mobility limited with various of health conditions and I cannot go out at any time like you. 

I rely on PayPal Shipping 100% 27/4 and have someone come in and pick them up and take them to the post office each time.

I do think that I do have rights to vent and rant my frustrations and what they are doing is NOT acceptable!!

It is bad enough that eBay/Canada Post took their sweet time to change things like increased postage rates (which 2-3 different dates) which I was unable to get the information so I can revise my listings with the right shipping costs and was literally standstill for months and was forced to relisted half of my 500 listings with wrong shipping information (due that inventory don't stay more than 60 days) and hoping that when they get sold, that they are the ones with  Buy it now with free shipping.

And now with Tracked Packet not included and we have to wait again??  Enough is enough already!  They had months and months to do them and should already be done.  It is not acceptable.  Wish they put back 25% discount on Expedited in the meantime!

Last night I was shocked to see the increased rate for Expedited to New York City increased from $14.85 to $22.50!!  That is a huge increase.  What a rip off that eBay/Canada Post lower the discount from 25% to 14% and at the same time increase the rates for Expedited!! 

Now we are at risk by using mail service without insurance.  I wouldn't be surprised that there are more and more of us being scammed by buyers claiming that they never received their items the coming months!   In fact, we are now "OPEN SEASON" to potentinal scammers!

[pjcdn2005]

The biggest problem at the moment is if you want to qualify for seller protection then you have no choice but to ship via Expedited which will cost you an arm and a leg now. The only cheaper option for items of any size is Small Packet Air and that will cost as much as Tracked Packet except you get no tracking and therefore no Seller Protection.

You're right that small packet can be about the same price as small packet. Most of my items are under 500 grams so I don't run into that very often. I have noticed that expedited and tracked packet can sometimes be very similar in cost. Since expedited  prices are based on the package dimensions rather than weight, it's best to use the smallest package available. I realize though that with breakable items, it is better to use a large package.

As far as seller protection, how often have you had to use it? It seems that in most categories, it is rare that a packages gets lost so it doesn't always make sense to pay a higher postage rate. As I probably mentioned before, many sellers use cookie jar insurance. Basically when they figure out the shipping costs for their listings they add an extra amount so that it can be put in a virtual cookie jar. Then, if there is a claim they can use that "cookie jar" money to pay it out. It's up to you of course how you do things but I'm just offering a suggestion.

[pjcdn2005]

I just got off of the phone with Ebay handling some other issues and if you can believe it the Supervisor (in the Philippines as you might guess) had no idea about the issue and no update obviously. How is it possible, at this point, that any Ebay CSR or Supervisor doesn't know about this? That's frightening!

Ebay Canada is aware of the problem and they have passed it on to Paypal. But it is actually a third company that looks after the shipping labels so  it is up to them to fix the problem. They never seem to work that quickly. 😞

treasure hunter, In some cases, it might be worth your while to go to the post office for Tracked Packet. If you have a venture one card you get 5% off. That is definitely less than 14% but it is better than nothing

[i*m-still-here]

I spent so long at buying shipping labels yesterday for my various items I still have a headache from it and I still haven't thrown tracked packet into the mix.

I had a system worked out using a combo of paypal shipping and TPI that I could use mindlessly.

Shipping options have changed so much during a short period of time that my system no longer works.

Now, almost every item has to be rethought.

Not just that, but with every source showing different options for the various shipping methods there's no way of knowing which one is the telling the truth.

(I seem to recall that someone said that extra insurance is not available for expedited, but I was able to buy it no problem yesterday.)

I'm still not sure what to make of this new $650 eBay coverage for items sold via .com.

To me is sounded like items could be shipped without signature confirmation and get seller protection form ebay (not paypal)............... what's that all about?