eBay called into question the new USPS self-service acceptance scans, but a USPS spokesperson confirmed it considers acceptance scans at Self Service Kiosks (SSK) to be official scans. The USPS rolled out self-service acceptance scans at SSKs four months ago, as we reported on January 7th.
During the January 12th eBay weekly chat session, a seller asked, “Does eBay accept acceptance scans from self service kiosks (SSK’s)?”
A moderator wrote said no, the kiosk where you purchase shipping does not count as an acceptance scan. “You can liken it to a label that’s printed on eBay,” the moderator wrote. “It’s noted but it’s not an official acceptance scan until scanned by USPS and recorded as such in the tracking info.”
The seller had specifically asked if an acceptance scan obtained at a USPS Self Service Kiosk would afford protection in a late shipment scenario, and the moderator said it would not offer protection to the seller.
We checked in with the USPS spokesperson who had helped us with the initial story about the SSK scans, who responded as follows: “This is an eBay policy question regarding late shipments that we defer to eBay to address. Our system still calculates and reveals an Expected Delivery date based on the time, date, and location of the acceptance scan no matter if a package is scanned by a carrier, a retail clerk, or by a customer at a SSK.”
It’s understandable that sellers need absolute certainty about the validity of scans because they face repercussions if they cannot prove to eBay that they shipped on time.
As we had reported, there are only 2,214 Self-Service Kiosks, and the majority are located at Post Office lobbies that are open 24 hours, 7 days a week.
The Post Office will deny insurance claims for packages scanned in at the Self-Serve Kiosk as “There is no way to prove that the item was placed in the drop box after it was scanned and therefore no proof that the Post Office has ever taken possession of the package.” The Self-Serve kiosk displays a full screen disclaimer which states “Articles must be placed in the bin and processed by USPS in order to receive a true acceptance scan. This scan does not constitute a service or delivery guarantee.” with a “Continue” button at the bottom which must be pressed before you can actually scan your package.
USPS does not accept a SSK scan as an acceptance scan.
What is this fake news?
Where does USPS claim that those kiosk are “Official Acceptance Scans”?
As in it confirms USPS HAS the item and that you ARE protected by insurance if it “goes missing”?
I see they said it “calculates expected delivery” which everyone already knew.
But nothing about USPS accepting/taking accountability for the package.
You missed the #1 abuse by this and we almost got hit with it.
Customers faking a return…. All they have to do is hit the self scan machine and eBay automatically counts the return as being shipped. We got lucky and eBay didn’t consider the scan as an official scan and we got the case closed out but I wonder how many sellers are getting screwed over by this.