Printing eBay shipping / postage labels

[the_walsh*s]

Does anyone else have this same problem that I have with the labels nine times out of ten, NOT scanning when being lodged at local PO ?  I have had sevearl different PO employees tell me various reasons as to why they rarely scan, from it's my printer settings (so I changed them) to my ink being low (which is wasn't and never usually is) to the quality of the paper I use (I have treid several brands from cheap to expensive) or it's because of the plastic on the satchels (so I leave out and don't secure till after lodging but made no differnce) and the staff become so frustrated AT ME that they have to manually enter the tracking numbers so I have preoof of lodging.....I have tried everything possible, please tell me it's not jsut me? Oh, and I did try a Click & Send label today, which one worked fine and the other didn't, so I can't even say that's the reason. It is now at the stage wher the PO cringes when they see me coming loaded up with all my parcels. (from my other account not this one) Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance

[black*poppy]

Never had problem. I use a laser printer and regular reflex printer paper.

The label takes up about a quarter of a page.

Do your parcels get scanned regularly along the way? Maybe it's the post office?

Do the barcodes look sharp & defined?

[the_walsh*s]

Thanks for reply, and to my knowledge they too get scanned along the way (I track them and it tells me it is here and then there or delivered) is that what you mean?  I have the same issue with a few PO not just my local as I thought that too may have been an issue.....The "look" clear and crisp, but if I am to believe the PO staff it is the BOX / SQUARE code that is important more so than the Bar Code itself, but not to sure how true that is.......I have cleanned printer heads etc and everything else suggested like the seetings, but still no luck and can't see the point in getting a "new" printer if the same thing just happens

[black*poppy]

If your printing looks sharp and the edges crisp, then gettting another printer ain't gunna to make it any clearer 🙂

I think those QR codes are harder to scan and I've observed by PO staff mostly go straight for the barcode.  If they do use the QR code, they have to zoom in and out with the hand held scanner a few times before it beeps

I can only suggest to try printing the labels larger, say 20% bigger.  You can select Use Printer Dialogue Box (or whatever your computer says) to change the printer settings before printing the label.

[jfmgray]

I have just started using eBay post labels for some of my sales.  I have only tried twice.  Our local PO found it difficult to scan either but got it with persistance.  Today I printed better quality and the PO scanned the barcode first go but not the QR box.  My first item was scanned all the way to delivery.  I am guessing injets will not be as clear/defined as laser printers.

[englishrosegardens]

My local PO once told me that another local has such poor quality printing that theirs rarely scan and he has to manually key the barcodes in.  He was really aggro about it and said in future if they won't scan they can go without because he's not going to do it manually any more.  I've always been paranoid about it because of that and for a long time I avoided printing labels through ebay or click & send.  I've never had any problems though, even with my last printer which was REALLY old.

He seemed to be saying at the time that it was the print quality but it doesn't sound like that's the case with you.  If your parcels get scanned along the way (where you see scan events, eg. processed at Sunshine West) then it sounds like it's only your PO that's having a problem.  I can't see the big sorting centres manually keying in the barcode if they don't scan.  Maybe all your local post offices had their equipment updated at the same time and it was all faulty, but if that was the case I'd imagine they'd have problems with lots of other people's parcels as well.  

Have you ever tried at a post office a long way away, eg. if you go somewhere take a parcel with you and lodge it at a completely different PO and see what happens.  Something else to try would be to print the label at a friend's place so you're using a completely different printer.  It does sort of sound like "just one of those things" that you might have to learn to live with.

[davewil1964]

Very occasionally the barcode won't scan, but the QR(?) code (the square squiggly one) does.

I use a $30 inkjet printer and, usually, used paper.

The PO bloke does sometimes have to move the scanner in and out to find the optimal range, but that only takes about a second.

[phorum_junkie*]

My PO doesn't bother with the QR code as it rarely works, about 1 in 10 bar codes don't scan but if it isn't busy they often try the other till and that works so suspect it is the scanner not the scanned.

I can't imagine my PO getting shirty if they have to enter the number but if they did on a regular basis I would be sending off a complaint.

[sparrow2207]

Maybe they should try cleaning the lazer scanner gun.  They get grubby with finger print smudges and oils and when they do they won't scan properly.

[my7733garden]

I had the exact same problem, my labels were always hard to scan and it didn't matter what ink I used.

I eventually bought a new printer and problem solved. Easily scanned now.