USPS rates higher through PayPal?

chicagobay
Contributor
Contributor

Has it occurred to anyone that the USPS rates through PayPal can be much higher than those applied directly through the USPS website?

I had calculated the postage through www.usps.com which gave me a total price of $12.96 if shipping an 8 lb box via Parcel Post at the post office. However, when trying to purchase the postage online through Paypal, I was asked to pay $20.16!!

 

Am I missing something here? I thought ebay sellers were getting a break if using paypal to ship.

Does anyone have an answer to this mysterious discrepancy?

 

Thanks.

Chicagobay

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10 REPLIES 10

paleon
New Community Member
There ARE discrepancies, with PayPal sometimes charging more for the same package size and destination, even if the package is not oversize or even close to it. For example, a package from my zip code 44136 to zip 13676 by Priority Mail (regular, not Flat Rate) comes up as 6.67 on the USPS web site (if shipped on line) and 7.55 if not shipped on line. PayPal comes up with 7.78 for the exact same specifications. I called PayPal and had a "shipping specialist" try this, and it happened for her also. This is not the first time it has happened to me, and with the difference relatively low (but higher at PayPal) many people may not notice the difference. Why doesn't PayPal just use the USPS algorythms and rate database? The PayPal rep agreed something was wrong, but had no explanation. She said she would "look into it." In the mean time, I would frequently check your shipping charges and make sure PayPal is not padding some of them, whether deliberately or not. Thanks.
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