Paypal Shipping Price Discrepancy

[bassoprofundo]

Ok... so I love the convenience of being able to ship directly from my Paypal account. However, I've recently noticed a significant price discrepancy between shipping directly from my Paypal account via UPS and shipping directly from UPS' website.

I recently completed a transaction with a buyer living in the 68048 zip code. Shipping a 6 lb., 16x12x6 package from your site via UPS came out at the price of $17.09. When I configure the EXACT same options from UPS' website (no UPS discount on my account), it came out to be $12.83. I went back and quoted shipping from several of my most recent transactions, and the results from UPS site were consistently 30-40% higer via Paypal despite the fact that I'm getting the exact same product.

I don't know if this applies using USPS or not, as I haven't used it for a while. Does anyone else notice this, and can anyone explain (preferably w/o using the words "Paypal sucks @ss")?

 

[Phokus]

woah, seriuosly? I sent two packages via paypal a couple days ago i have to investigate...

 

[nakedfrog]

Maybe it's UPS that's the problem

 

[drinkmorejava]

Yeah, I noticed that the first time I was planning on using it and just said fsck it and went to the post office. You can always setup a UPS account if you want anyway and print from their website. Course, then you have to go back into ebay to say it's shipped and all.

 

[blurredvision]

UPS is too expensive. I don't understand why anyone ships with anyone other than USPS Priority. Priority is typically MUCH cheaper, and will get across the country in 2-3 days tops. Who cares if you lost semi-real-time tracking?

 

[Drakkon]

Paypal has to charge some sort of service fee for having them process the ups label. i figured this out too when i was shipping recently as a local shop i used to alwas ship through started chaging me just outrageous rates on packages ($50 for a package that was $25 the previous week). i asked them why and it soon became clear that any place that processes labels has some sort of service fee installed that can be anywhere from 5%-200% of the actual cost.

to you usps people - have you shipped a large/heavy package priority? once you get over a certain size/weight (and you cant use the prepaid boxes) you really get screwed. For a package that will cost $15 to ship DHL you'd end up getting charged $60+ at USPS

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
Paypal has to charge some sort of service fee for having them process the ups label. i figured this out too when i was shipping recently as a local shop i used to alwas ship through started chaging me just outrageous rates on packages ($50 for a package that was $25 the previous week). i asked them why and it soon became clear that any place that processes labels has some sort of service fee installed that can be anywhere from 5%-200% of the actual cost.

yep, some kind of service fee would be my guess. paypal and ebay have to take a cut of everything

 

[bassoprofundo]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: Drakkon
Paypal has to charge some sort of service fee for having them process the ups label. i figured this out too when i was shipping recently as a local shop i used to alwas ship through started chaging me just outrageous rates on packages ($50 for a package that was $25 the previous week). i asked them why and it soon became clear that any place that processes labels has some sort of service fee installed that can be anywhere from 5%-200% of the actual cost.

yep, some kind of service fee would be my guess. paypal and ebay have to take a cut of everything

I could totally live with a small fee for the convenience, maybe something more along the lines of a small percentage like Paypal deducts for payments (3-4%), but 30-40%??? I used to ship straight from Paypal all the time, but not with this crap. The couple of extra minutes it takes me to log onto UPS' site and fill out the address info is worth it. I've started pricing out 3 options before I send (UPS, USPS, and Fedex) and going with the cheapest.

Oh, and btw... Drakkon is spot-on about USPS. I use them for everything I can fit in a small Priority box, but their prices for bigger and/or heavier items are insane. God help you if you want it insured, too. The tracking DOES make a difference. If you've ever had to file a claim for a missing package, you'd know. None of them are stellar about this, but USPS' attitude is pretty much, "Sorry, we don't know where it is. Give it 2 weeks and call us back if it doesn't show up."

 

[blurredvision]

You guys are right about heavier packages, so disregard my earlier post. I never seem to ship anything over 5 lbs, so I forgot about the weight aspect of shipping. My apologies.

 

[Exterous]

Originally posted by: blurredvision
You guys are right about heavier packages, so disregard my earlier post. I never seem to ship anything over 5 lbs, so I forgot about the weight aspect of shipping. My apologies.

Unacceptable! I demand $65 million in reparations and a lengthy court battle to get it

 

[bassoprofundo]

I emailed them to ask them why this is the case, and here's their response,

-----------------------------------------------

Dear Shawn,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your concerns. I am happy
to assist you further.

Shawn, thank you for your kind words. I am sorry you have had difficulty
with creating your shipping label.

You can ship items through UPS with PayPal at no extra costs. When
using UPS Shipping, you will be charged the actual UPS rate. There are
no additional fees to ship with UPS on PayPal. UPS provides the total
on your "Shipping Confirmation" page.

The actual cost may vary from the "Total Shipping Cost" shown on the
"Shipping Confirmation" page. This may vary due to measurements of the
packaging provided. If UPS finds the size or weight of your package
differs from amounts reported on the "Enter Shipping Options" page,
you may receive a debit or a credit for additional shipping charges to
your card that you have on file with UPS. You will need to contact UPS
for specific information concerning these adjustments of the original
charge.

Please Note: The amount "pending" in your transaction log may vary
from the final authorized amount due to the individual adjustments not
applied yet. The final adjusted amount will post to your transaction
details page within a few weeks of your item being shipped.

To view the UPS Rate and Service Guide, please visit this site :
http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/service/download.html

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again.

Sincerely,
Rhonda
PayPal Community Support
PayPal, an eBay Company

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: blurredvision
You guys are right about heavier packages, so disregard my earlier post. I never seem to ship anything over 5 lbs, so I forgot about the weight aspect of shipping. My apologies.

Yeah, weight has a little something to do with shipping cost :laugh:

That said, the USPS rate hike on the 14th actually makes heavier packages CHEAPER. Ironic, I say.

As for PayPal dipping a little extra...Come on, is anyone really surprised?

 

[goog40]

I've shipped through Paypal and it always comes out as the exact same price to the penny as it is quoted on UPS's website.

And it's as cheap or cheaper to ship USPS through Paypal since they give you free DC on Priority Mail (you can get free DC also through USPS's website), but the signature confirmation is also cheaper through Paypal since it is at the electronic rate.

 

[bassoprofundo]

and my response...

----------------------

Rhonda,

Thanks for your quick response, but I'm not sure that I understand your explanation. You said that UPS provides the total shown on the "Shipping Confirmation" page. If that is the case, and there are no adjustments made by Paypal or UPS above and beyond what they would charge when shipping from their site, then why the price discrepancy? I understand that UPS may adjust the charges if they find that my measurements (weight or dimensions) are incorrect, but if I provide the same measurements to both systems (on Paypal.com and UPS.com websites), and if the estimates come from the exact same system, the estimates should be the same. The final value would then be adjusted by UPS (independent of the site used to create the shipment) after they receive the package. Again, that would have no effect on the initial price estimate. I've spoken with quite a few other Paypal users regarding this issue, and they can all consistently reproduce my findings (that rates quoted via Paypal's shipping options are consistently higher than shipping straight from the shipper's website). Is there something I'm missing here? Thanks in advance!

Shawn

 

[Zolty]

Originally posted by: bassoprofundo
and my response...

----------------------

Rhonda,

Thanks for your quick response, but I'm not sure that I understand your explanation. You said that UPS provides the total shown on the "Shipping Confirmation" page. If that is the case, and there are no adjustments made by Paypal or UPS above and beyond what they would charge when shipping from their site, then why the price discrepancy? I understand that UPS may adjust the charges if they find that my measurements (weight or dimensions) are incorrect, but if I provide the same measurements to both systems (on Paypal.com and UPS.com websites), and if the estimates come from the exact same system, the estimates should be the same. The final value would then be adjusted by UPS (independent of the site used to create the shipment) after they receive the package. Again, that would have no effect on the initial price estimate. I've spoken with quite a few other Paypal users regarding this issue, and they can all consistently reproduce my findings (that rates quoted via Paypal's shipping options are consistently higher than shipping straight from the shipper's website). Is there something I'm missing here? Thanks in advance!

Shawn

:music: :music: :music: Help me Rhonda :music: :music: :music:

 

[bassoprofundo]

OK. I think I may have found the cause of the price discrepancy. It's the "Signature Confirmation" box. Selecting that via Paypal's site increases the price substantially. My thinking in selecting this is to make sure that a signature is required (I don't want a transaction to go awry because UPS leaves a box in plain sight), but apparently this option is different than just making sure that a signature is necessary. It allows you to actually have access to a digital copy of the signature, etc. UPS' site actually has a separate checkbox if you want to waive the signature requirement. Paypal's site doesn't. If I don't use the Signature Confirmation option on Paypal's site, the price quote is the same, so despite my general inability to admit I'm wrong (ask my wife), I think this is the case here. It's just a matter of misunderstanding the options. I was finally able to get clarification from a UPS rep. on this. Problem solved, I guess... :disgust: