Royal Mail Postage Issue

[cretacoranina]

I've printed two labels for tracked 48hr postage provided by ebay and the post office has rejected both parcels. Help!

[**peaseblossom**]

It's an ongoing issue.  Lots of sellers are affected.   Try again tomorrow.   It's supposed to be sorted out by then ..... hopefully!    If not you might have to buy the postage yourself and watch out for an announcement by ebay on how they will handle it.

[tressygirl]

Others are having the same issue started yesterday and still an issue  today, many reports of this coming through, you are not alone.

Some are reporting  this to CS,  and being told they would be sent a new label!    Hmmm!   Personally,  with the seemingly hundreds of cases which would need to be dealt with,  I wouldn't solely rely on this to happen.

Another member has reported CS telling them it's a Royal Mail issue, which will be solved in 24 hours!! 

Seems for the time being, the answer is to either buy your own postage label through Royal Mail / Post Office,  and manually enter the new tracking details.  Or, try again later for an SD label.

Then, for the unused label:

• If you selected 'Buyer pays’ when you created the listing, your buyer will automatically be refunded for any Simple Delivery label that isn’t used after 30 days

• If you selected ‘Seller pays’ and offered free postage on your listing, you'll need to fill out the Request a refund for Simple Delivery form for the label that wasn’t used. Make sure to send your request within 14 days of your item selling.

@cretacoranina 

[topadviser]

Apparently it is Royal Mail's fault which should be sorted today. On the Tracking label,  the letters and numbers below the bar code are showing 'YA' on the affected labels and they apparently should show 'TQ'. The one's showing 'YA' are not recognised by RM so do not drop them off or attempt to post them until a new label is issued.

[red9112013]

Just generated a new label now and it still says YA

[chearsey-uk]

It is still an ongoing problem at 10.15am this morning (Monday 4th)

[kat@ebay]

Hi All,

Thank you for your posts.

The Post Office is experiencing issues with Royal Mail T48 labels (print in store and at home). It is expected to be resolved by today the 4th of August. Post offices have been advised to still accept the packages. However if  your package is not being accepted there are alternative locations to send parcels such as collect + and lockers.

eBay has updated a banner to the site to advise users.

Thank you,

Kat

[red9112013]

Hi Kat,

Will ebay cover the difference in postage values?

I now only get paid on items being delivered.

Regards

[chearsey-uk]

I am sorry but the advised alternatives on the banner take you to buy
another alternative postage method when I have already paid for postage.
Not very helpful advice.
I purchased the label on Sunday 3rd August, there was no banner advising of
the issue then when it had been ongoing for 24 hours at that time.
Will Ebay be sending out replacement correct postage labels to those
affected? How quickly will this be done as this is delaying delivery to
Ebay buyers and funds to Ebay sellers.
Regards, Chris

[chearsey-uk]

Apparently the YA tracking number series is newly introduced by Royal Mail for Tracked 48, unfortunately they forgot to update the Post Office IT to recognise it. So we are all waiting on Royal Mail IT to do what they should have done in the first place. 

[hucc41]

Do I just print a new label tomorrow?

[cretacoranina]

What if it's too late and I've already attempted dispatch at the post
office? Honestly if it's Royal Mail they should have communicated already

Thanks!

[topadviser]

I have been to my local Post Office this afternoon and they are fully aware of the situation. They said that they can take the parcels, however they cannot provide the usual printed proof of postage as the barcode does not scan, although as the Lady stated, the tracking number is already on the Ebay system so there should not be any issues......not ideal, but at least the parcels are on the way!

[cretacoranina]

Mine refused to take them! Is it OK to take them to the sorting office?

[hucc41]

Mine just said 'no can do" , not sure how I get a correct label?

[cretacoranina]

It's a bit of a farce and this is meant to be a key part of their current
business model! I hope to send them with the current labels as printing
more will cost me!
Cheers

[kat@ebay]

Hi All,

The issue with the track48 YA labels has been resolved.  The Royal Mail systems are now accepting the parcels so you should be able to send them through the Post Office. If you were unable to send your parcels and new labels were purchased the original labels can be voided.

For Simple Delivery, the buyer purchased labels will automatically be refunded to the buyer within 30-40 days. For seller paid labels a refund request can be submitted through the webform within 14 days from the order date.

For non Simple Delivery eBay labels, they can be voided within 14 days by going to postage labels on your account.

There will be automated protections in place for impacted sellers for late shipment and INR service metrics.

Thank you,

Kat

[coltrain67]

Only 3 of my 5 parcels were scanned and accepted today (05/08/2025) at the Post Office even though ALL had postage labels with an YA prefix.

So, still not satisfactorily resolved.

When will Ebay advise me (and others) and my buyers what to do about their remaining undeliverable parcels? 

I have advised my buyers of this shambles as they already paid for the postage and therefore it is not down to me to purchase replacements and then mess around, hopefully trying to get it refunded.

To run into 4 days with no assistance from Ebay as to what to do is nothing short of “Couldn’t Care Less”.

[hucc41]

Hi, I sent two today and had no problems. My understanding is that the PO
may still accept them without scanning but that means no tracking. Ebay
have said that allowances for the delays in posting will be in place
apparently. hucc41

[18catsrfurryfriends]

Done a label yesterday and it has ya on it being collected by Royal Mail so hopefully it will be OK.

My question is what if there is an issue with the delivery because the wrong letters are on the barcode and it doesn't get delivered or is not scanned