USPS box reimbursement

January 01, 2024 06:54PM

Has anyone had a problem getting reimbursed for boxes? I received payment today for December shops and they left off all the box reimbursements. I did attach a receipt for each shop showing that I purchased a box.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/2024 06:55PM by las30.

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

More About Reimbursements

January 01, 2024 07:00PM

I haven't done many of these shops. I thought the guidelines said do not make any other purchase while you are at the post office. I recycle a box to mail something out.

January 01, 2024 07:22PM

You buy the box at Staples/Walmart, etc. and attach that receipt.
For the OP, I got reimbursed for my box at a USPS shop I did early in December without issue but have not done one that would be on a recent pay statement.

January 01, 2024 07:25PM

Yes I bought the boxes somewhere else before the shops as per the guidelines and attached receipts for the boxes.

January 01, 2024 07:47PM

Yes, I've had this problem in the past. I had to email the Program Manager, Patricia, three times, and finally she engaged and had it corrected. New editors seem to miss or misunderstand the reimbursement requirements. After a couple months of this chronically not being reimbursed, I ended up putting a note in the Shopper Comments section of each shop pointing out the total reimbursement due, ie Editor - Shipping was $10.55 and the Box was $1.60, so total reimbursement due is $12.15. I found that taking the extra 30 seconds to add this note helped to get the reimbursement correct. (Shouldn't be this way, but new editors are new, so....)

January 01, 2024 08:01PM

Thank you! I will do this next time. I had vaguely remembered some discussion of this recently but couldn’t find it when I was searching. I sent a message to the general email as I don’t have Patricia’s email. Since her email address may give away the company, can you direct message me her email please?

January 01, 2024 08:05PM

I will DM it to you, but for future reference, you find the program managers and their emails this way:

1. Go go the ShopMetrics platform.
2. Click on News (last option on the left hand side of the screen)
3. Click on Team

@las30 wrote:

Thank you! I will do this next time. I had vaguely remembered some discussion of this recently but couldn’t find it when I was searching. I sent a message to the general email as I don’t have Patricia’s email. Since her email address may give away the company, can you direct message me her email please?

January 01, 2024 08:34PM

Thank you! I would never have found that! I just sent Patricia a message.

January 01, 2024 09:43PM

Also you should write the job ID number on the receipt. When I buy multiple boxes I number the uses. So say I bought 10 boxes at $1.99 each with that receipt. I will copy the receipt onto the left side of the page and then on the right side write down something like Each box cost $1.99 plus .19cents tax = $2.18 per box total cost to me.
Then under that I write in a list of numbers 1 thru 10 in a row. Each time I use a box I fill in the ID number of the job next to the next unused number on my list and scan the sheet into my report for proof. If you do not indicate which ID job you used the box for they cannot know you are not re using the same receipt over and over for another box. This makes it easier for them to check for double dipping on box costs.

January 01, 2024 10:23PM

Okay thanks. I did not know this. I’ve been doing these shops for years. Most of the time I don’t need to buy a box. Hopefully they give me the chance to do that. I know I have purchased boxes in the past and have been reimbursed.

January 02, 2024 02:28PM

I received a response this morning which I was very happy about. I’ve been frustrated with lack of response to a problem I had a long time ago so I wasn’t expecting a timely response. Anyway, I was told I wasn’t reimbursed for the boxes because I had received the maximum reimbursement for each shop. I didn’t understand that. The shipping cost for each ship was more than $14. I thought the box reimbursement was in addition to the shipping reimbursement.

January 02, 2024 03:02PM

Thank you for the update.

What are the chances that they will increase the reimbursement to match the higher postage rates for Priority Mail later this month?

January 02, 2024 03:37PM

Its $0.68 for a box. You’re much more observant than I am. Kudos. I’d be more offended by the imprecision than missing out on the 68 cents.

January 02, 2024 05:21PM

@Momomomo wrote:

Thank you for the update.

What are the chances that they will increase the reimbursement to match the higher postage rates for Priority Mail later this month?

Slim.

January 02, 2024 05:40PM

Zone 8 has been over the reimbursement for years now and they have not changed it. My son lives in zone 8 for me. We do not often have bonuses so I have recently decided only to do the shops at non post office locations where I the reimbursement limit is higher. If there is a small bonus I don't mind using the extra to pay the higher fee.

January 02, 2024 08:35PM

I have not been able to find boxes for $1.99. Usually $3.49. Walmart even. Living in CA may be part of the problem.

January 02, 2024 08:42PM

See if you have a box city near you in Calif. There is a bigger chain box store here in Los Angeles but Box city is only a few blocks from my house. That is where I buy my boxes althoug i think they recently changed their name. Also many of the retail stores throw out tons of boxes and some of them have no logos on them so you can use them. Places like cvs. Schools also get their stuff from the district usually in unmarked boxes of a good size so if you have any kids or friends kids in school you can ask in the office for them to save some.
and , i have not done this but i see others doing so ask on next door or facebook buy nothing which is in your neighborhood if anyone has unmarked boxes. specify the size range as many own small businesses where they get shipments all the time to their home and toss the boxes out. And the last time i bouthgt poly envelopes from box city the larger ones were 29c each. I use those when i do not have misshapen things. There is also a surf shop not too far away and they were offering packing material. They made me take it all ad I got what seemed like a lifetime supply of bubble wrap that was wrapped around just one surfboard shipped to them.

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

I have not been able to find boxes for $1.99. Usually $3.49. Walmart even. Living in CA may be part of the problem.

January 02, 2024 10:48PM

The Walmart here sells 6”x6”x6” boxes for under a dollar. I bought a big bag of rocks from the lawn and garden department, weighed them out and put them in ziploc bags, and mailed them to either myself or a relative in a neighboring city, who would drop them off when she’d come over to the house every Sunday. I had about 15 bags ready to go that were in a constant rotation.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown

January 03, 2024 01:44AM

You can also use boxes that have writing on them. You just have to open up the box and use a glue gun to glue them inside out. The inside of the box doesn’t have any writing.

January 03, 2024 04:13AM

boxes with manufacturer info and the box size on the bottom of the box are just fine to use. They want you to use a box that isn't purchased at USPS and one with no marks or stickers from previous shipments. I buy packs of 25 or 50 boxes on Amazon, the cost ends up being an average of $0.52 per box, and I use each box for up to 5 round trips (to a shipping partner and back), or up to 10 uses shipping it to myself from over 50 miles away from home. I don't do hazmat shops, so I don't worry much about postal zones.

I print out the Amazon invoices, then I scan them to make a .jpg. Each time I build a route I put all of the invoice numbers in a list on invoice in Paint and save it. So IF I use a new box, I have it ready to use. But mostly I'm too lazy, and I just say that I didn't use a new box. I'm still working on a pack of boxes from 2021, and one of the editors told me that the invoice was too old and I couldn't possibly be using new boxes from that shipment in 2023. I don't argue with editors over 52 cents.

January 03, 2024 02:54PM

I purchase 8"x6"x6" boxes from Staples (Item #835009). $0.70 before tax when you buy five or more.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/2024 01:34PM by mitchk.

January 11, 2024 08:30PM

I'm already annoyed that my package (1 lb 0.4oz) cost $17 to ship! He said the prices were "drastically" going up next week. So lets hope the reimbursement does too.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

USPS box reimbursement

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine