email address displayed on letter

[collect247]

OK this is a first for me,I just had an item delivered by letter and it had my email address written underneath my name and address.

Has any one had this happen to them and is it ok for a seller to write your email address on an envelope for everyone to see through the postal system or am I just being paranoid?

And yes I'm feeling paranoid. 

Where's the wine let me see 

[digital*ghost]

I actually thought about doing that a while ago, but only for orders where the buyer used a parcel locker / collect address and it was being sent as a letter.

My reasoning was that email addresses are required when sending parcels to such addresses and that not having then on the letter may have contributed to the delivery problems I was having, with buyers never being notified that the package was transferred to a PO for pickup. In the end I decided against it, though and now just refuse all locker / collect addresses unless the order requires me to send as a parcel.

Doesn't really answer your question, but thought I'd mention it as there may be sound reasoning behind why your seller did it, maybe.

[zanadoo_56]

---

@collect247 wrote:

OK this is a first for me,I just had an item delivered by letter and it had my email address written underneath my name and address.

Has any one had this happen to them and is it ok for a seller to write your email address on an envelope for everyone to see through the postal system or am I just being paranoid?

And yes I'm feeling paranoid. 

Where's the wine let me see 

---

I had an item (US seller - item dropped shipped from China) that had my email address and phone number on the parcel. 

The customs notice also said 'electronic parts' (not even close to the contents which was some kind of weird plastic toy as the packer in China sent the wrong item).  I wasn't happy, and while I had bought from that seller in the past (with no issues) this was the last time.  The addressing bothered me more than the fact that I got the wrong thing.

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

---

@zanadoo_56 wrote:

 The addressing bothered me more than the fact that I got the wrong thing.

---

Sometimes sellers don't have a choice.

It may not be the case with your seller (and certainly not with crow's, since it was a letter), but I can't create a postage label without providing the buyer's email address if it's going to a parcel locker or collect address, and I can't create any international labels at all without adding one - and I know Australia Post is not the only service around the world that won't allow a label to be created without one, thanks to the huge reaction from sellers all over the globe when Etsy announced they were planning to no longer provide buyer emails addresses to sellers; all of them saying the same thing I was (I can't post if I don't have an email address). 

When it comes to parcels, a phone number or email address on the package provides additional options for the buyer; for example while you can track any package with just a tracking number, your phone number / email address has to be associated with the parcel in order for any additional options to become available via My Post (as long as the phone number / email address is the same), such as parcel redirection, authorising safe drop, etc. so a lot of sellers put it on there to provide buyers with those options, or to ensure they can be contacted in more ways than one if necessary, or just for tracking updates. (My phone number is on packages from an international supplier, so I automatically get signed up for SMS notifications re: delivery, which is handy. I honestly don't think people are looking at mail en masse for email addresses or phone numbers, and the delivery guys know where I live, so I'm not too worried about them knowing an email address). 

There are lots of ways you can protect your info if it's a worry, though, eg have one email address that you use for shopping sites, that isn't associated with any of your other accounts. 

[countessalmirena]

That's a perfect suggestion, digital*ghost. For anyone worried about their privacy or security, a special eBay-only or etsy-only or Amazon-only email address would be a good solution.

[porcelain_dolls_by_me]

Send a "letter" item addressed to a parcel locker and it will be returned to sender as regular letter items will not be accepted for parcel locker address'