In my opinion, sellers no longer have seller protection when shipping within Canada by Canada Post

[b.oxfor-74]

Recently ebay has incorporated delivery verification through matching postal codes (and ZIP codes in the US) before releasing funds for an order. In short, in Canada, the postal code that the buyer submits when placing an order must match the delivery postal code in the item's tracking information. Fair enough.

However, the problem when using Canada Post is that Canada Post no longer provides the postal code for the actual delivery address in the tracking information, but instead uses the postal code for the community mailbox or final post office prior to delivery. This results in the buyer's and the tracking postal codes almost never matching in Canada anymore when shipping with Canada Post. This therefore results in automatic month-long payment holds on all items shipped within Canada through Canada Post. This is clearly poorly thought-out for the Canada Post context, and doesn't take into account the mechanisms of postal delivery in Canada, but I don't necessarily have a problem with this either.

My problem is that as a seller, I no longer have any protection available to me when shipping with Canada Post within Canada, since the tracking postal code will never match the buyer's submitted postal code. A buyer could easily (legitimately or not) open a "item not received" case against me, and not only would I have no proof of delivery, the evidence would already be weighted against me, since Canada Post is clearly marking the item as being delivered to a different postal code. In my opinion, then, it is no longer safe to sell on ebay and ship items within Canada using Canada Post.

I'm a long-time, but casual ebay buyer and seller; and while I could use other shipping options, none are as convenient for me as Canada Post. So I feel I have no choice but to stop buying and selling on ebay until this is addressed.

Anyway, just posting this as a heads up to fellow sellers in Canada who regularly use Canada Post.

[b.oxfor-74]

As a follow-up. This would also affect any incoming deliveries to Canada that are delivered with Canada Post, since they would update the tracking information the same way. So a US seller shipping by USPS to Canada would then have the package delivered by Canada Post and would have mis-matched postal codes. 

[rosepeak]

Doesn't using the signature option with Canada Post prove delivery as well? Or does Ebay not accept that?

[mrdutch1001]

"I'm a long-time, but casual ebay buyer and seller;" what do you consider long-time...your oosting ID indicates you as a member since 2018= that is NOT long-time...

"This therefore results in automatic month-long payment holds on all items shipped within Canada through Canada Post."...for who?...perhaps you but there is no evidence that this is happening to other infrequent/occasional sellers...

I think you are over reacting and reading more into this than actually is...

I have been an occassional/infrequent seller for the past 2 years and my most recent sale to a buyer within Canada in which the  tracking information shows delivery as "delivered to your community mailbox, parcel locker or apt./condo mailbox" had 0 effect on my payout and this was the only eBay sale I have had in the past 4 months...so I suspect any payment holds you are experiencing are connected to the high risk categories you are selling in and have nothing to do with Canada Post...

[b.oxfor-74]

I've been on ebay since about 2009, but with my current account since about 2018. But I mention that I am a long-time member only to say that I've been around for a while and understand the nature of buying and selling on ebay.

I also understand that there are various payment holds and why and when they're applied. And I have nothing against holds being applied to payments for a variety of reasons; and I don't object to holds being applied to my funds. Again, I'm a casual seller, so I'm not reliant on timely proceeds from ebay.

My concern is with the fact that the new postal code verification system doesn't take into account the nature of postal delivery in Canada and already biases any potential INR cases against the seller. Part of this is Canada Post's fault for not providing the recipient's delivery postal code in tracking information confirming delivery, and instead only providing the postal code of the destination post office.

I'm also concerned with this policy being applied consistently. Recently (within the span of one month) I sold three items of similar nature and value. In each case the  tracking postal codes did not match the buyers' postal codes. Yet, no hold was applied to the funds from the first item sold, but holds were applied to the subsequent two items. This is a scattershot approach to applying payment holds, it's inconsistent, and it doesn't build confidence in the system.

[b.oxfor-74]

You would think so, but a signature is not enough to override the postal code mismatch.

[reallynicestamps]

devon@ebay 

When you get back on Monday, could you verify whether "

• Signature Confirmation overrides postal code.
• That the postal code of a community mailbox is acceptable as Proof of Delivery.

One thing that may be overlooked here, is that Canadian postal codes cover much less area than USPS zipcodes.

My own postal code (city) covers only eight households.
You can check your own by putting your postal code into Google Maps as the search address.

A Community mailbox may actually have more than one postal code, although that would be unusual. Certainly apartment buildings often have multiple postal codes even though the carrier is not going door to door, but does all their deliveries in one mail area.

And Devon again- eBay is supplying the four digit extension to USPS zipcodes. Do these make a difference to the area covered by the zipcode?

[msau4301]

I ship exclusively with Canada Post also. I'm not a big time seller, on average I usually sell about 30 - 40 items a month and at least half (probably a little more) are within Canada.

I've never had a problem with any items showing delivered or problems with the postal code verification (knock on wood) so there must be something else that is a factor also.

I don't have any holds but I still like the comfort of scrolling through and seeing "Delivered" on the orders page knowing there is one less thing to think about.