Mercari Users Confused By Automated Messages About UPS Surepost, FedEx Ground Economy Shipments
UPDATE 12-13-24
Mercari has now added additional automated messaging that includes FedEx Ground Economy (previously SmartPost) as well as UPS SurePost, warning sellers that these packages can no longer be dropped off at USPS facilities.
Unfortunately, the messages still seem to be confusing a lot of sellers, with many posts on Reddit from confused users who aren't sure if it means something is wrong with their shipments.
Is anyone else getting this message over and over? I just dropped off a bunch of packages at their CORRECT locations… but now I’m getting this message on mercari. When I click on it, it doesn’t take me to any of my listings. Is this just an automated message that they’re sending to everyone?
Sellers are also rightly concerned that items which may actually have been dropped off incorrectly will be destroyed instead of returned to sender, as USPS has indicated that may be the fate of these packages - and Mercari has left them hanging with no Shipping Protection if that is the case.
Mercari's attempts at a customer service shortcut for items shipped with UPS Surepost have backfired with automated message leading to increased support contacts and user confusion.
The problem ties back to changes the US Postal service has made in the last few months ending discounts for shipping consolidators and discontinuing use of dual labels in effort to slow USPS losses.
Liz Morton
As part of Postmaster Louis Dejoy's Delivering For America plan, these changes are designed to try to encourage shippers to use USPS Ground Advantage instead of consolidators' hybrid services like UPS SurePost, FedEx Ground Economy (previously SmartPost), and DHL ecommerce - and as part of those efforts, USPS announced in July that packages using those services would no longer be allowed to be dropped off at USPS facilities.
Liz Morton
But it would seem Mercari users may not be getting the message, resulting in problems with tracking UPS Surepost labels purchased through the platform that are apparently clogging up support requests.
That has prompted Mercari to post a notice on their status page and deploy an auto-responder when contacting support to try to address the issue proactively and head off questions without needing to actually speak to a rep.
Unfortunately. the messaging hasn't worked and is in fact making matters worse because it's being shown to all users who initiate a support contact, even those who have been shipping with USPS Ground Advantage, not UPS Surepost.
The Mercari sub-reddit has now been flooded with multiple posts expressing confusion on the topic, but a careful reading of the message should make it clear whether or not it applies.
The key words "if" and "and" are very important to understanding whether or not the automated message applies to you.
It says if you are contacting them about an item that does not have tracking updating and that item was shipped with UPS Surepost, then the explanation in the following paragraph about it being possibly incorrectly dropped off at USPS would apply.
Conversely implied (though not explicitly stated) is that if you are contacting them about an item that does not have tracking updating and that item was not shipped with UPS Surepost, then that following paragraph does not apply.
For users who have packages shipped USPS Ground Advantage that aren't showing tracking updates, it may just not have been scanned recently by USPS if they are experiencing delays due to weather, the usual seasonal spike in package volume or some other reason - either way, in that case those users will need to proceed to try to work with Mercari support and/or USPS to resolve the issue because that auto-response isn't for them.
The situation is not helped by the fact that Mercari has been experiencing technical glitches regarding shipping in the last few days, with sellers unable to purchase labels for several hours yesterday.
That has caused some users to wonder if seeing this message about UPS Surepost even for packages that were shipped with USPS and properly dropped off at a post office is also a glitch.
But from what I can tell, it's not a glitch, just a misunderstanding of a perhaps hasty attempt to use an autoresponder to address a question that is currently flooding support channels.
Are you experiencing problems with shipping labels from Mercari? Let us know in the comments below!
As many of the items I sell are £10 or less, this makes it not worth the bother and I'll probably have to give it away to the charity shop.
Add that to the "buyer protection" fee they've added on - and the costs are making it untenable for people trying to clear the house, or make a few bob from old bits and pieces. Not happy at all and there doesn't seem to be a way of opting out.
The sooner these sleazebags at the top can be got rid of, or some community-run buy/sell/swap sites come up - the better. We don't need ebay.