Very first ebay headache :(

[svleonard]

Well, I've only been selling on ebay for less than two weeks, and already there's a problem.  A buyer contacted me saying that the tracking number reported her item as "undeliverable as addressed" even though I addressed it to the exact address on file as her shipping address.  She says that hundreds of packages have been delivered there with no problem.

Does anyone know what could have happened?

[NoDivision]

Well, the package should come back to you. Then you can check and make sure there's not a mistake. Then you can see abut re-shipping.  If it is indeed correct as provided, then I'd ask your buyer to pay for re-shipping. If you made a mistake then you'd probably have to take the loss to pay for it.

[Pony_Mama]

Sorry for your headache! I've been selling on ebay for years. If I ever have issues, it's with shipping. I don't know that I've ever had that problem though. I would go into the post office and ask them to track it for you. Sometimes they can get you a little more info than the computer. Also, if you're going out of your way to figure it out, the buyers tend to be a little more patient. And every once in a while, the tracking is just wrong and things end up being delivered a couple of days late. No good reason.

For the future, I would HIGHLY suggest buying a small postal scale (pretty cheap at Walmart) and doing all of your shipping labels right there through ebay. I swear I haven't had a problem in years with shipping since I've started doing it. And it really is a ton easier.

Hope everything works out! Keep us posted.

[ponylady]

The thing is "undeliverable as addressed" could mean many things. It could have been an incomplete, illegible, or incorrect address, addressee not at address(moved, dead, etc.), mail refused by the addressee at time of delivery, your package was placed in the wrong delivery truck route for your addressee. There are a few others but those are the most common reasons.

The best thing to do at this point is keep good communication with your buyer and assure her that you will keep her updated. I would also ask that in the meantime that she keep you posted also should the package show up to her.

 
I have had it happen before to a package coming to me. I called USPS the next day and asked them if they had my package.  They said there was some sort of mix up when the package got scanned and put on the delivery truck so they had to send the package back to the post office that day and mark it as "undeliverable as addressed."  Apparently it went out the next day. In my case it was because of being put on the wrong truck, it happens.  So I'm guessing give it an extra day or two to see if it does show up to her, if not the package should be sent back to you. If it is sent back to you then you will be able to see exactly what happened. Again just reassure your buyer that you are taking care of it the best you can. It should help ease her concerns and the transaction should hopefully go smoothly from here on out. Keep us posted.

[Ringlets]

 
I have had it happen before to a package coming to me. I called USPS the next day and asked them if they had my package.  They said there was some sort of mix up when the package got scanned and put on the delivery truck so they had to send the package back to the post office that day and mark it as "undeliverable as addressed."  Apparently it went out the next day. In my case it was because of being put on the wrong truck, it happens.  So I'm guessing give it an extra day or two to see if it does show up to her, if not the package should be sent back to you. If it is sent back to you then you will be able to see exactly what happened. Again just reassure your buyer that you are taking care of it the best you can. It should help ease her concerns and the transaction should hopefully go smoothly from here on out. Keep us posted.

This is similar to what happened to me too with an item I was tracking that was coming to me from the US ^^ it showed up as "undeliverable as addressed", but when I got in contact with the courier (USPS then Parcelforce), they told me they had made a mistake, sent it to the wrong depot , it had gone on the wrong truck and so they had to mark it as undeliverable, then had to send it back to the main depot then have it sent to the right one, and eventually to me. I think it was about 1-2 days late, but it did arrive safely and was not the sellers fault.
I've also had the experience where i sent an internatiional item out and it got sent back to me - but it had happened due to there being an odd ebay glitch at the time I wrote my customers address down and ebay was only showing part of their addy. It was corrected later but I'd already sent the item. It came back to me a week later and I resent it with no further problems.
The reason your parcel was undeliverable could be for one of those reasons or a different one. I think you've had some good advice here already  and I agree its best to keep good communication with your buyer. The parcel will either turn up in a day or two  with the buyer, or it will be on its way back to you

[Sky Wishes]

Is there not an option for her to collect it from her local PPost Office   

[tulagirl]

Yea this happened to me and what it was is the zip code had somehow got torn off the front of the package. It was a mailer.

[Tiffymh1fan]

Is there not an option for her to collect it from her local PPost Office   

I agree, and Im confused just as much too. Check the address of hers on the paypal and what ebay has. Make sure they are both the same. I once sold a doll set to a person and used the ebay address. I shipped it to that address and long story short the buyer had 3 different addresses. Not even in the same country! 3 countrys to be exact! It was a nightmare trying to figure out the mailing system. It confused Ebay too, but in the end she did get the dolls. I was worried cause it was like 300 dollars in dolls that I thought I would be put out of because of a scam or something.

[svleonard]

Good news!  She got her package!  It looks like the package went back to the post office, and then was delivered to her.  I DID go to my post office with the tracking number and tried to figure out what happened, and the employee said she'd call their post office ... I don't know if she did or not, but the package is delivered, so I'm happy.

It wasn't even an expensive package, but still, I'm glad the problem resolved itself.

[Tiffymh1fan]

Im glad it worked out for you! Its always great to hear happy endings!