Pirate Ship Usps Zone Map
Heartbreak Writhe
I got a late order and since it was after midnight and I'm shipping the package today, I printed out the label. However, I just noticed in My eBay that it's showing I shipped it out yesterday (the 9th).
I've always used Endicia but need to cut costs so I used Pirate Ship for the first time tonight to create my label, and Pirate Ship is integrated with my eBay account. Is there some sort of time zone setting in eBay I can adjust so I don't run into this again? Or do I just need to be sure to print my shipping label after 3 a.m. (I'm on the East coast)?
The eBay system uses West Coast time, so if you are in a different time zone, then a different time gets recorded. So since you are in the Eastern time zone, which is 3-hours ahead of the West Coast, you create a label at 1 AM East Coast time, eBay records the label creation as 11 PM West Coast time and since at Midnight the calendar changes, the time stamp would say 11 PM the prior day. This is just how things work and is no big issue, nothing to be concerned with or nothing to change.
The bigger issue, which is well known and hotly debated, is that eBay in its wisdom sends the buyer a note when you create the label, which states that the item has shipped, or something that looks like that to the causal observer. So most buyers think that eBay eMail means the item is with the shipper, when in fact all that has really happened is a shipping label was created.
What IS critical is that the label gets scanned as "accepted" by the shipper within your stated handling time frame. As the acceptance scan is what your service metrics are measured on. With overworked POs it might not make sense to toss packages in collection boxes as they don't always get scanned. Rather stand in line get a scan and a receipt.
Thanks so much for your detailed response. I'll know to be more mindful in the future when it comes to the time when I create labels. It's something that didn't come up with Endicia because it wasn't integrated into my eBay account, and I entered tracking information when I put the package in the mail.
Occasionally yes, for out-of-network scans that are reported to USPS without the correct time zone offset applied. That's generally only seen when the tracking number is first generated via eBay, Pitney Bowes, ShipStation or whatever. USPS cannot always determine from which time zone the new number was created, so it labels the timestamp as GMT.
Ok ... dumb question maybe? ... can either of you explain to me why anyone would care what time is listed for "shipped" time? I understand it matters when you ship/acceptance scan for EBay proof you shipped on time.
Why would anyone care if they printed it at 3am that it says "shipped at 1am" it's a difference of hours, not days, and has no effect on ebay shipping timeline. Am I missing something? Or are you guys just discussing an odd anomaly that has no real consequences (I totally accept that, if that is the case)
I think the OP was asking why eBay logged the Shipping label purchase on the previous day, which was because the OP is in the Eastern time zone and eBay is in the Pacific, 3 hours earlier. I don't know if that would also have resulted in the Shipping label being dated on the previous day, though the post office wouldn't care if it was.
To the later question, you can see Greenwich Mean Time reported in the tracking history if the network reporting to USPS is providing a time stamp but not a time zone (or possibly reporting the new tracking number with no timestamp at all). USPS will log it as GMT since there is no additional detail on where the package currently is.
eBay coding is generally sloppy at showing time zones anyway. For example, items on your watchlist will show their ending time in the Pacific time zone (e.g. "Thursday, 06:28 PM"), but if you view the listing itself, the ending time will be shown in your local time zone instead ("Thursday, 8:28PM" for me in the Central zone). In neither case is the time zone indicated; you just have to remember for yourself what zone you're looking at when skimming the listings.
eBay actually uses GMT for tracking not pacific time. GMT is the time used in London, UK which times zones are based on. Because eBay does not actually know which time zone you are in it uses GMT instead.
I just got a whole list of Shipping Charge Adjustments both positive and negative for January. It says the "audit" was for Jan/Feb, but there were ZERO in Feb, and 15 for January. Mind you I shipped about 150 packages in January via USPS, so this is about 10% of orders being affected. It doesn't appear that ANY of the adjustments have anything to do with my dimensions or weights being wrong, but AMAZON BUY SHIPPING being wrong on the pricing. let me explain.
The amounts are too small to be dimension or weight issues. ranging from $.13-.21 each. Every single one is being shipped First Class Pkg Rate. As we know the rates go by 4oz increments, so 4oz, 8oz, 12oz, etc. All but one was under 4oz per USPS Scales at the post office, and the one that was, weighed 7.10 and was paid at 8oz rate. I literally have the receipts to prove it. Half are being shipped to Texas from SW Missouri, which you would think would be in the same shipping zone, but Texas is huge, so my guess would be that's probably what the issue is, but there are a few to like MN, and FL that make no sense about the zones being wrong.
I checked a bunch of the orders zip codes on pirate ship to check pricing, and it appears that Amazon Buy Shipping is the issue. Pirate ship shows what the rate SHOULD have been matches the pricing on the audit...
I'm not mad about the charges, because there's enough credits as well to offset ALL of the charges. My issue that I have and im curious as to whether others have the same issue as me, is that the Amazon BUY SHIPPING is spewing out incorrect amounts for the shipping to begin with for what appears an entire month, and we are being charged for it, but Amazon is acting like it's MY FAULT that the amounts they charged us are wrong! I've NEVER in all of my time on Amazon had ANY shipping adjustments that resulted in me being charged additional - always credits. I still Keep EVERY single days Shipping receipts to show weight, shipment date, etc for 6 months anyways. The other thing that really bugs me is that the shipping dates listed on the audit are wildly inaccurate. Most are 2 days wrong, but one is a full 10 days off. I had to look up the order number to find the ship date, to know which receipt it was on because it wasn't anywhere near what it should have been. The package was picked up on Jan 20, delivered on Jan 23, and the audit says it was shipped on jan 30.
IF we wanted to fight these charges, how do you fight them for USPS? Since the billing is all through Amazon, Ive seen plenty of threads about UPS, but none of relevance in regards to USPS. I mean, it was January pricing, and we know that the USPS rates changed in January.. they do every year it seems, so I have no way to verify what the rates SHOULD have been on those dates in January - just what they should be as of today. It's not a lot of money overall, because I ended up with a small amount of credit, but there shouldn't of been any adjustments period if the Buy Shipping was accurate to begin with. My weights and dimensions are always over estimated. My scale is perfectly in sync with my local USPS. I check weights regularly. I ship using the same packaging I've always used. I've shipped THOUSANDS of orders in the past and never had anything like this, and it appears that whatever the issue in January, not a single order in Feb was affected. I guess I just hate being treated like it's somehow MY fault that Amazon had errors in their shipping program and needed to vent. Anyone else have this same experience?
Are all of your column 1 values set to "Base Rate"? I'm interested if there are other values for the column and if "Base Rate" means what you've described with the rate charged just being wrong instead of the dimensions having anything to do with the adjustment.
if less then than 1k forget your going to go insane example this one transaction, it is donate to UPS they are struggling sto they must steal off us cause we can not fight it. we have no help just bots
Also, I've shared more on this post on the related conversation shows the zone rates and helps illustrate how this is most likely a result of Amazon Seller Central shipping charging the wrong label price on some combinations of origin to destination First Class Package Service zone rates.
this is why i had to stop selling FBM for the most part. one product that i was selling was 5oz and would be put in a 10x6 bubble mailer. ive had hundred of dollars in adjustments for the same thing, with different amounts from a few cents all the way to 8$. this is all for the same product. ive talked to amazon they say its USPS. ive talked to USPS and they are next to useless. ive started selling mainly FBA for this reason.
Yes - 10 "adjustments" that netted $0. All were between .16 and .29. It's the RETURNS that are going to hurt. Orders sent in polymailers (clothing) being returned in television sized boxes. It's under $2, but over a million transactions - that adds up to a windfall for the shipper. How do we contest this?
I also had a bunch of odd surcharges charged to my Shippo account in February for labels I purchased in December. Most were for 10 or 11 cents, which made no sense. Shippo refunded all of them back to my credit card in March, and I haven't seen any since.
Returns - Amazon "customers" love to slap a First Class Mail label on a Priority Mail package - which results in us being charged. So far not enough to file for arbitration and tie up about $1700 for 3-months or more (and Amazon knows that which is why this do this underhanded nonsense to 3P sellers - would not be surprised if they are also doing it in some way to FBA sellers - and charging us fees in addition to the extra postage charges).
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