eBay

rose-dee · ‎08-20-2013

Hello all!

Just when I thought Paypal/Pitney-Bowes had finally got things sorted out, I'm wondering if there's another problem.

For the last 3 items I shipped by Expedited Parcel using Paypal labels through eBay this week, the bar codes have suddenly not been able to be scanned by my local P.O. - my local P.O. clerk has had to manually input the numbers under the bar code. With tracked shipments, I wait to make sure the clerk has actually scanned the parcel in. She tells me she's had absolutely no problem with other people's bar codes. This is a very small rural P.O. and I'm likely the only eBay seller in the area.

I thought it might be my printer -- my old inkjet printer was on its last legs last week and I had to replace it with a new printer. But 2 bar codes (labels) from the old printer, and now 1 from the new printer wouldn't scan at the P.O., so it isn't a printer problem. Every single bar code previously has been able to be scanned. What's just happened with Paypal/P-B this week?

As a last resort, I'm going to try switching my browser when I log into eBay to do a label. I have 2 more Expedited parcels to send tomorrow, and if the bar codes don't scan using the alternate browser, I'll be completely flummoxed.

Has anyone else encountered a problem with their P.O. being able to scan Paypal shipping labels? Would anyone care to check in the next few days and see if their labels work or not?

I'm referring only to Expedited at this point; haven't tried Xpresspost yet. Obviously this is big concern if it means the parcel has to be manually scanned all along the way (or gets missed completely - yikes!).

rose-dee · ‎10-19-2013

Hi 'poco' - glad you popped up as summoned - sort of like the genie in the bottle!

Yes, I'm extremely happy (if that's the word) that it was not my paper, my computer or my own bad luck that was causing the label-reading issues.

Your explanation of the IE situation was an "ah-ha" moment. I had no idea it was no longer fully supported. And yes, I am using XP. This no doubt explains why IE has begun to get more and more twitchy on me, shutting down arbitrarily now and then for no apparent reason. Yesterday I was at the very end of preparing a fairly complex listing on Auctiva when up came that little message I love to see so much: "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and must now close". I lost 20 minutes of work and had to do it all again from memory.

The odd thing is that I'm still getting miniscule fonts, even using Chrome -- and I mean very, very, small, probably about 6pt -- here and there on eBay, such as on my invoicing pages, my "Me" page, and some others. These were in normal font size a few months ago. Other pages are fine. I also get the miniscule fonts when viewing some other sellers' "Me" pages, but not all. I really can't sort that one out! I'll probably have to completely re-input the text on my "Me" page, but haven't got around to it yet. I'm hoping it might magically revert one day to the normal font it was set up in.

rose-dee · ‎10-19-2013

@pocomocomputing wrote:
But I assume eBay.ca employes would say to report it to PayPal and pass the buck on, LOL. Having PayPal and Pitney Bowes make any changes to PayPal shipping labels may cause all kinds of issues like earlier this year.

Yes, I think that is definitely an area to leave well enough alone for a while!

vlado1 · ‎12-16-2013

I have the same problem for months. Anytime I need to print shipping label I'm switching to Internet Explorer. As Google Chrome don't care I'll go back to Explorer or Firefox.

bojoand · ‎12-16-2013

Was playing with a similar issue & happened to notice that the barcode being printed (IE8 on XPsp3) was missing the very last bar, even though there was other text that extended further towards the right margin - just something wrong with the barcode graphic I guess, adjusting the margins didn't do anyhing but printing the page in landscape orientation solved the problem completely... weird.

camtech_photographic · ‎07-17-2017

I have the same problem with my last 2 labels. PO could not scan the barcode. The first one the PO entered manually. Had another issue today with a no scan. I went home and printed the label on a different printer and returned to the PO. Same problem so probably not the printer. This time the PO person said she had seen a communique from Head Office telling them what to do if they cannot scan the barcode. It tells them to enter the Order No. manually from the label. This worked. No receipt is produced but I notice the system has been updated to note that it has been received at the PO. Obviously there is a problem that the PO is working around. Not sure if we will get tracking info since the barcode cannot be scanned. This could be fun if they lose track of the parcel.

mrdutch1001 · ‎07-17-2017

If you are purchasing & printing labels via Shippo, yes there are problems. I refuse to use Shippo as I will not use their over-complicated, glitchy system. Therefore, I am not encountering any problems with purchasing shipping labels directly through PayPal or via Canada Post Snap Ship.