eBay

evilkozak · ‎01-08-2026

I was trying to track my order on ebay. I was informed that my items were LIQUIDATED the shipping hub. What does that even mean? How does one contact the shipping hub? Ebay customer service was NO HELP.

mrdutch1001 · ‎01-25-2026

"It was a piece of paper!! No hub needed .. buy a stamp and drop it in the mail."

no-o-o-o! Now therein lies a very major problem! Lettermail is for actual letters and/or documents>>>Can no do with merchandise/sold goods> declaration of contents, country of origin & value are required as per postal regulations!

grann-4629 · ‎01-25-2026

Thanks for the update.

To actually enforce that, every piece of International lettermail must be opened including the birthday card that does have a 'commercial value', to inspect contents. A lot of people would be needed to do this, including lawyers, and it would take weeks to handle one day's mail.

Imagine the delays between sender and receiver while this happens

The lawyers would be needed to challenge my statement that "My Uncle in California cut it out of an old National Geographic Magazine and sent it to me for interest." Prove me wrong.

It's another grab by the government and anytime I can beat one, I will. I believe most other honest people would do the same ....

😎

mrdutch1001 · ‎01-25-2026

"I believe most other honest people would do the same ...."

Sorry, but some of us do adhere to the postal regulations...

marnotom! · ‎01-25-2026

@grann-4629 wrote:

It's another grab by the government and anytime I can beat one, I will. I believe most other honest people would do the same ....

😎

Funny. You were saying something somewhat different in another thread:

You might find Canadian sellers' perspectives on this interesting. This thread is from over three years ago:

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Ebay-Canada-needs-to-address-with-packages-being-returne...

Customs and the PO aren't going to open anything, by the way. X-rays and eyeballing the envelope and checking its rigidity are usually how it's done, I believe. The lack of a customs form would be the first tip-off to investigate, but just like I've never been ticketed for all those times I've driven through a school zone at more than 30 km/h, not all letters containing merchandise are going to be stopped and returned.

grann-4629 · ‎01-26-2026

Piece of paper with a 'commercial' value in an envelpe:

X-ray to determine contents? Doubt it.

Eyeballing the envelope? Doubt it.

Checking it's rigidity? Doubt it.

I don't use the mail at all these days, except to get bills. If I used it everyday like some of you guys do, I probably wouldn't take a chance. Do you ever wonder if you're getting snowed by the government when they tell you they check everything that crosses the border? It's another one of those rules that is impossible to enforce. It's just to scare ya!

When I was using the mail to communicate with my cousins in Malibu (before email etc.), I don't recall ever seeing a Customs Declaration Form on the envelopes going either way even when he sent me a tray of peanuts for Xmas one year. I wonder if those border rascals ever read the letters where we talked about the upcoming Revolution?

Interesting that you won't try to sneak something across the border, but you will speed thru a school zone ... one might result in a fine - the other may result in a death.

😎

marnotom! · ‎01-26-2026

It's also interesting to see the smokescreen some people will put up when they're caught contradicting themselves. 😁

grann-4629 · ‎01-26-2026

I don't like smoke! And there's no contradiction.

In the clip you posted above, we were discussing the cost of mailing a DVD, not a single paper page cut from an old magazine.

This might be another smokescreen in your mind, but I would never advise anyone to try sending a DVD w/case in a plain envelope to beat the graft - any one of those methods you mentioned, that might be used by Customs, would detect it.

Plus it's against the law and I know that. I would just never equate a thing with obvious value like a DVD to an ad cut from an old magazine.

I get your point tho, and I enjoy our discussions! Stay safe.

😎

flipistics · ‎01-26-2026

@grann-4629 wrote:

Plus it's against the law and I know that. I would just never equate a thing with obvious value like a DVD to an ad cut from an old magazine.
😎

There's a decent chance the ad cut from an old magazine is worth more than the DVD is. Just saying.

Regardless, goods to the USA through lettermail was never really enforced until a year or two ago. They are now. There's long threads on here from sports card sellers who were getting all their shipments turned around or destroyed. I imagine once they catch you, you probably end up in a database and your future shipments are automatically flagged by AI.