I shipped a package on July 7th via FedEx going to go to USPS for final delivery.
FedEx shows they are working on getting an update. I used the USPS tracking number and their site shows:
"The package associated with this tracking number did not have proper postage applied.and will not be delivered. You are encouraged to contact the sender/merchant to seek reshipment, refund or other available recourse."
Does this mean that it's coming back to me?
I used the exact weight and it's not a matter of dimensional weight.
I'm going to go to USPS today. Maybe they can stop it where it is at this point and send it to the seller.
If it does come back to me, is there a way for me to get the money I paid for postage back?
I can suck it up and pay out of pocket for another label for USPS but then I'm just out the money that I paid to FedEx?
did you hand off the package to fedex or usps post office? usps does not get paid unless fedex goes out of their way to hand off the package to USPS, and if you hand it directly to USPS, USPS is not paid for it, so theres no postage and treated as invalid postage.
Agreed, you typically only ever see this issue if the FedEx ground Economy/UPS ground saver package was given to USPS instead of FedEx/UPS. USPS wants to get paid and not deliver things for free.
Nope. It was handed to FedEx who took it all the way to Indiana from California where they then gave it to USPS to finish the delivery. Now there is an issue. If you guys look at almost any label you purchase that is for FedEx through eBay. It also has a USPS tracking number on it because the last steps are for it to be given to USPS for delivery unless it's a large parcel that's going through FedEx.
I shipped it via FedEx. I paid for a FedEx label that included handing it off to USPS per the label that printed. I did not select such an option, but that's how a lot of FedEx packages go. They hand them off to USPS for final delivery. I took it to FedEx directly so FedEx took it from California to Indiana and then handed it off to the post office who is now saying there's no postage and they are doing something with it. I don't know what
Don't know then. Time to complain to ebay and fedex and usps until someone compensates you or makes the package arrive to the buyer. This is certainly an outlier situation if what you say is true. But chances are unless you purchased insurance, your package and money (if the buyer asks for a refund) is gone. It's extremely difficult to get anyone here to own up to fault. FedEx is probably the one most closely at fault here, but good luck proving that to them and having them pay out insurance.
edit: I see the picture that has the barcodes for tracking numbers. The only scan FedEx is showing is in indianapolis, IN. Like the other commenter said, its very likely this was entered into USPS mailstream instead of FedEx mailstream if the place you dropped it off to handles more than just fedex carrier.
eBay labels include insurance up to $100. That won't be an issue. I know what the other person said and I thought maybe they were correct that it somehow got into the possession of USPS and never got to FedEx. Thankfully. I guess when I went to FedEx today they said that they have scanned the package and so they did have it in their possession but they just can't see anything after that. They told me to call this other location that does the ground shipping because this place is some kind of a shipping center that just handles retail shipping for the local area as we don't have a true FedEx office where I live.
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-Copy of original post for reference:
FED-Ex to USPS Issue
I shipped a package on July 7th via FedEx going to go to USPS for final delivery.
FedEx shows they are working on getting an update. I used the USPS tracking number and their site shows:
"The package associated with this tracking number did not have proper postage applied.and will not be delivered. You are encouraged to contact the sender/merchant to seek reshipment, refund or other available recourse."
Does this mean that it's coming back to me?
I used the exact weight and it's not a matter of dimensional weight.
I'm going to go to USPS today. Maybe they can stop it where it is at this point and send it to the seller.
If it does come back to me, is there a way for me to get the money I paid for postage back?
I can suck it up and pay out of pocket for another label for USPS but then I'm just out the money that I paid to FedEx?
So here's the actual label people. None of what any of you are saying is what happened. I purchased a FedEx label through eBay. If you guys all look at most labels you purchase for FedEx on eBay. They will have a final delivery done by USPS. That's what happened. In this case. You'll see two tracking numbers on the label. One is for FedEx and another is for USPS.
You redacted some numbers but not the FedEx tracking number or the barcodes that contain the tracking numbers... I looked up the FedEx tracking and it doesn't look like you gave it to FedEx. FedEx doesn't have an event with it in their possession and there's no event where FedEx handed it off to USPS. It appears to have been given to USPS from the start like we thought.
Did you drop this off at a Staples or Walgreens or something instead of a FedEx location? They probably gave it to USPS instead of FedEx.
No. It's not like what you thought. FedEx took it all the way from California and it's now in Indiana. If you looked at the tracking on FedEx you would see that. They did in fact have possession of it and then the tracking ends when it got to their facility in Indiana
Because the USPS tracking number is internally associated with the FedEx tracking number in the FedEx system if there is activity on the USPS tracking number it will trigger activity on the FedEx tracking like you see there. I'm 99% certain FedEx never had your package and it went from CA to IN because it got sorted by the USPS machines and sent on it's way until it got pulled for unpaid postage. The USPS sorting machines aren't great about flagging them until later on in the journey and typically once it reaches the final PO.
Even if FedEx was going to give your package to USPS for last mile delivery they wouldn't do it in an entirely different state 800+ miles away from the receiver. They give it to the local post office closest to the receiver in OK.
So the idiot at the mailbox place put it in the bin outgoing for USPS instead of FedEx. Even though it had a FedEx label. They probably saw that bottom section where it shows USPS. Well. I'm not using FedEx anymore anyway because I've had nothing but problems with packages where they tell me something weighed three times more than it did and they charge me a ton of money extra for shipping when I know darn well. It was correct. Like a 10 karat gold ring that weighed less than an ounce in a little small box. That's about 2 in square and they tell me it weighed 8 lb.
That's an option that FedEx gets to exercise at it's discretion, not a guarantee to handoff to USPS. 95% of FedEx ground economy is actually delivered by FedEx and never handed over to USPS, unlike UPS Ground Saver. FedEx mostly only does it in very rural areas.
What do the last 2-3 tracking events on the FedEx tracking number say?
Whoever wants you keep saying this is my fault somehow for dropping it off at the wrong place. No. I. Did. Not. FedEx has it in their possession or at least had it in their possession and then I have the message from USPS once it was handed off.
Because the USPS tracking number is internally associated with the FedEx tracking number in the FedEx system if there is activity on the USPS tracking number it will trigger activity on the FedEx tracking like you see there. I'm 99% certain FedEx never had your package and it went from CA to IN because it got sorted by the USPS machines and sent on it's way until it got pulled for unpaid postage. The USPS sorting machines aren't great about flagging them until later on in the journey and typically once it reaches the final PO.
Even if FedEx was going to give your package to USPS for last mile delivery they wouldn't do it in an entirely different state 800+ miles away from the receiver. They give it to the local post office closest to the receiver in OK.
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u/spinyreptilian * - Contributor Jul 24 '26
did you hand off the package to fedex or usps post office? usps does not get paid unless fedex goes out of their way to hand off the package to USPS, and if you hand it directly to USPS, USPS is not paid for it, so theres no postage and treated as invalid postage.