What is the reimbursement for a Hazmat shop at USPS if the package is not mailed?

The same as if it was mailed, $14.

If the package is not mailed a purchase is to be made so a receipt is generated. The amount of the purchase is the reimbursement. This is not the payment for doing the job.

I once asked if I could purchase a gift card as some of my po sell them. The scheduler said I could. But then I did not have a Hazmat which failed to be sent for several months so I asked the scheduler again to make sure and that time she said no. If anyone has purchased gift cards on Hazmat shops and been reimbursed please let us know.

I would just purchase stamps. I can always use a few stamps or tape.

The reimbursement is "up to" $14. I should have been clearer. I usually get 3 rolls of packing tape or a book of stamps. The book of stamps is $11 and I think 3 rolls of tape is a little more, I can't remember exactly the total cost with tax.

Unless my daughter gets married when people are still sending snail mail invites I have many more stamps than I need. But of course with inflation some of those I purchased when they were 49c each may be able to be sold online for the price I spent and got reimbursed for. I have some really nice ones people might want.. Star Trek (or is it wars? I have to check) might fetch a decent price in a year or so. I know some of you are selling stamps online. Any reputable sites for that you can recommend?

When I have a stamp surplus, I sell some on eBay. You'd be surprised how quickly they get bought up. People must not like to go to PO for stamps. I usually charge $1 less than face value and of course free shipping since stamps are not a problem.

The extra stamps are nice for Christmas cards - when I have time to actually send them! I also give them away to good friends who still bills and such out. Plus every now and then, I send out a card or two. This allows me to have a book at home, at work, in my purse, in my glovebox... I'm never without a stamp!

@MsJudi wrote:

When I have a stamp surplus, I sell some on eBay. You'd be surprised how quickly they get bought up. People must not like to go to PO for stamps. I usually charge $1 less than face value and of course free shipping since stamps are not a problem.

eBay requires that you upload tracking. How are you doing that when you mail with just a stamp?

I don't add tracking for the stamps. I've not had a problem and if I did...out a few bucks on me. Ebay doesn't require it, but likes it. I'm sending them at my own risk. I figure if people want the stamps, they want the stamps and are not out to scam me. If they get lost on the way, that's my problem, not eBay's.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2020 10:38PM by MsJudi.

@MsJudi wrote:

I don't add tracking for the stamps. I've not had a problem and if I did...out a few bucks on me. Ebay doesn't require it, but likes it. I'm sending them at my own risk. I figure if people want the stamps, they want the stamps and are not out to scam me. If they get lost on the way, that's my problem, not eBay's.

As a power seller, I have to have tracking and delivery confirmation on 95% (I think that’s the number) of my sales.

If you need tracking, mail them first-class in a padded mailer. Add enough bubblewrap, or other materials, to make it at least 1/4" thick and cut a couple pieces of cardboard to fit inside to add some rigidity. This will bump the package into the first-class package rate (which allows tracking) and out of the first-class letter category (which doesn't allow tracking).

* edited to add: You could also send them in a small box. You could even get creative and mail them in a 1+ pound box(add some weight), sign up for a regular box shop and make some extra money for the shop, get free shipping, and sell your unneeded stamps.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2020 11:31PM by msimon-2000.

If I were a non-shopper and bought stamps from someone on e-bay, then found odd items in the package to add weight, I would be a bit taken aback.

I did that only one time and never again. It wasn't with stamps..something else that I don't remember. I mailed a bunch of Chase brochures with the customer's purchase to add weight to the package. They didn't understand and wanted to know why I had sent all that bank stuff. Now I just use my stamps or pay for it if it doesn't meet the weight requirement.

I got lucky today and mailed an eBay purchase with a post office shop. Love when that works out.

SoCalMama..I'm not a Power Seller. I sell once in a while and when I feel the need to clean out and declutter, which actually needs to happen more often.

Yes, that does warrant some explaining. I sold some baseball tickets and mailed them in a small box with a piece of brick wrapped in a plastic bag to make up the weight I needed to send them via a USPS shop. I've done that multiple times. Some have made a comment about the brick and I joke around that the brick was 'free of charge' and explain that I didn't want the envelope to look like expensive tickets, cash, or other valuables.

At the end of the day, the buyer received what they bought and I don't know them from Adam, so I really couldn't care less what they think.

I have had buyers ask me why I spent $14.20 in postage to send them a $5.99 coffee mug? They must think I am the worst business person on eBay...lol! Again, I really don't care what they think. They can think me crazy -- crazy like a fox I say!

Years and years ago, I think I received an item I bought on eBay from a mystery shopper. This was years before I learned about mystery shopping. The same scenario I listed above where the seller paid more to cover the free shipping than I paid for the item in total. I felt bad the seller had "lost out" on the deal so I contacted them and offered to help out with the shipping costs. They were very upbeat and said not to worry about it as they got free shipping, so all was well. I figured they must be embezzling free shipping from their employer or something. Looking back on it now, it was likely a mystery shopper using a shop to mail their ebay item.

That event stuck with me and I researched how to get free shipping several times, but never came across mystery shopping using search engines (or maybe glossed over it). Thanks to Confero for being creative in finding new shoppers using craigslist for getting me involved in this amazing field!

Bottom line is I do what works for me and do not care one bit what others think, especially people I have never met, nor would likely ever meet (ebay buyers).

//edited for spelling//



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2020 03:04AM by msimon-2000.

Most of the time, when sending a light item, I can pack the box with some extra cardboard in the top and bottom of the box and use crumpled newspaper to make the weight I need. This just looks like regular packing material, but weighs quite a bit which allows me to get over 1 pound. Another trick is to pack an item in a box and then pack that box inside another, larger box. I do this with glassware and fragile items normally, so it doesn't raise any suspicions.

Most of the feedback I receive on eBay has a comment about how well the item was packed. I take pride in that as a seller and little does the buyer know that some of that is to make my package weigh over 1 pound.

That's still pretty funny for a book of stamps. I get it, and sounds like it's no big deal, just funny.

I have often wanted to be a fly on the wall when a buyer gets a package like that. I doubt that most people even look at the postage label with the cost on it to even notice how much I spent on postage.

I only used the brick with expensive sporting event tickets so that was fairly easy to explain. All of the other over-packing I do could be explained away as just someone who is anal about protecting items in shipping.

Like I said earlier, almost every buyer has commented on how well packed their item was. That is good for my feedback and has resulted in repeat buyers. I have received items I bought online that are just thrown in a box or bag with NO packing material at all. To me, that shows a complete lack of care for how those items fare during transit.

MsJudi,

I remember the bank brochure thing as I believe you posted that before. I would probably also wonder about any type of advertising included in the box. Especially as to what it meant as I tend to overthink things. That is why I chose a piece of brick for my package. I also pre-thought out my backstory if/when I got asked about it. Good thing as I did get asked about it on the first one I sent. Because of that, I proactively added a personalized note to each of the subsequent "brick boxes" I sent thanking the buyer for their purchase, wishing them great weather and an enjoyable game, etc. As a PS to the personal note, I quickly explained the brick using my disguise theory. Every buyer, after I started including that personalized note, wrote to thank me for the "good thinking". Give a reasonable explanation and all was well...

@msimon-2000 wrote:

Most of the time, when sending a light item, I can pack the box with some extra cardboard in the top and bottom of the box and use crumpled newspaper to make the weight I need. This just looks like regular packing material, but weighs quite a bit which allows me to get over 1 pound. Another trick is to pack an item in a box and then pack that box inside another, larger box. I do this with glassware and fragile items normally, so it doesn't raise any suspicions.

Most of the feedback I receive on eBay has a comment about how well the item was packed. I take pride in that as a seller and little does the buyer know that some of that is to make my package weigh over 1 pound.

Same.
Maybe you bought something from me? I've been on eBay for 20 years. I got 1099'd twice for selling too much...
I had some lady email me a long explanation of how to use online shipping when I paid $10 to ship a $10 item.

If you (MsJudi et al) aren't a PowerSeller, you don't get a discount anyway, so lack of tracking is probably not an issue. I usually put it in a polymailer with bubble wrap if it is a small item. I think that 1-3 oz is now around $3...

LOL!!! That is too funny SoCalMama, as I have had at least one buyer try to educate me on using ebay labels to save money on shipping costs or try to tell me not to use such heavy packing materials to shave pounds from my boxes. I very well may have brought something from you over the years as I have been an eBay user for 20+ years also.

I appreciated their well-meaning intentions. If they only knew the dovetailing I do between mystery shopping to get paid for ebay inventory and mystery shopping to ship for free, their jaw would drop to the floor. When the full cycle is completed, I may make $50 on that $5.99 coffee mug that I "Lost" money on by shipping it for $14.20...crazy like a fox.

@msimon-2000 wrote:

If they only knew the dovetailing I do between mystery shopping to get paid for ebay inventory and mystery shopping to ship for free, their jaw would drop to the floor. When the full cycle is completed, I may make $50 on that $5.99 coffee mug that I "Lost" money on by shipping it for $14.20...crazy like a fox.

Welcome to my reality.

Yep, many times the shipping cost of the items is close to what they paid for the item. I always wondered what they (the buyer) thought, but like you said, who cares. It is one way to really turn a profit when it all lines up.