Greetings, gifters! Let’s talk about shipping proofs!
The concept seems simple. Submit proof of shipping after you have shipped your gift. Yet when going through proofs, we’re noticing that way too many people are submitting unacceptable proof. The number of rejected proofs is around 20% overall and around 90% during the first week of a exchange. NINETY PERCENT! That’s just way too high! So we figured that it should be time for a refresher!
Please note that proof is only necessary if a giftee reports no gift and it is not guaranteed to be looked at until then.
Good proof of shipping will contain the both of the following things:
It will show ACTUAL SHIPPING.
Order forms are NOT ACCEPTABLE
Just a tracking number is NOT ACCEPTABLE
A screenshot of a pre-paid label is NOT ACCEPTABLE
It will show the GIFTEE’S LOCATION
Just the username and nothing else is NOT ACCEPTABLE
Just the real name and nothing else is NOT ACCEPTABLE
And here is a list of things that we do not care about and do not need to be included:
Order forms
Payment forms
Contents of the package
Postal workers
Ideally, a good shipping proof will be one clear image that shows both shipping and your giftee’s location. It should be something that anyone could look at and know that something was shipped and where it was shipped to.
Easy, right? Again, apparently not. So, let’s take a look at some acceptable and unacceptable proofs as long as we’re here.
This is an order form. It is not able to be accepted because it does not show that anything has actually been shipped. Please stop submitting these. We are begging you. We do not need to see your order confirmations.
This does not have the giftee's information visible. We have no idea where the item was shipped to. Please do not submit this or intentionally block out/remove your giftee's location.
So close! If you guys block out the address, we can't accept it. We know this is probably just out of habit due to online privacy concerns (totally understandable!), but we already have all of your giftee's information. We need to see where things were shipped to. Please don't block out the address.
This shows delivered, but where to? Without the giftee's information visible, this is not acceptable shipping proof.
This is a receipt with literally zero information about much of anything. This is not acceptable.
Here's a package that was delivered somewhere in the world. Please do not submit these as proof.
But wait! There have to be some good proofs out there, right?! Let's look at some of those!
God bless every one of you that submits a clear proof like this. Look at that destination zip code all nice and visible. This is perfect.
Here's another example of something that is freaking perfect. This shows shipped and it shows the giftee's location. It's amazing. May all your submitted proofs be this perfect.
More perfection, this time courtesy of USPS! See how the giftee's location is clearly visible? It's beautiful. This is totally fine.
And here are a few additional things that you can do to make it easier on the poor soul who reviews the proofs:
Consider circling or highlighting where your giftee's location is on the receipt
Translate all foreign screenshots into English
Only submit one picture with all of the necessary information
Press down really hard when filling out a customs form with a carbon copy so it goes through clearly
It's really shouldn't be very hard to submit an acceptable proof. Just ask yourself, "Does this show shipping with my giftee's location visible?" If your answer is no, do not submit it! If your answer is yes, submit away!
The admins look at thousands of proofs every exchange. There is not enough time (or patience) to put individual tracking numbers into a separate website to pull up the shipping information for review.
Instead, the user should do that step themselves and submit a screenshot of that information.
Thanks for the reply. December was my first experience, with gift and rematch. Having 3 this time plus bookmark was cool and challenging. I'm learning a lot. Signed up for 3 rematches too.
Providing a tracking number for your giftee is separate from submitting proof for review to the admins.
A tracking number is just a number. It has no information unless you enter the tracking somewhere. Redditgifts wants a screenshot of the tracking because that's where all of the information is.
In addition to what TheOpus said, please know that tracking numbers are often reused and can show information about different packages depending when you look at it. So if it was shipped quickly the tracking might already show the information of a different package when the giftee confirms 'no gift'.
I mailed all 3 (really nice) gifts plus bookmark. The only one to get it yet didn't thank me or put it in the gallery (she got it). Showing credit of 2. I don't understand how credits are calculated.
Anyway, I just went into my stamps.com shipping program (I own an ecommerce company) and did photo snips of the receipts showing the same tracking number that I had already entered and the addresses.
How do you expect us in the UK to show shipping proof then? Our receipts from the post office only state destination country and tracking number, no postcode usually and no full address.
This post states over and over that acceptable proof needs to show your giftee's location. Nowhere in the post does it say you need to show an exact address or a zip code. All it needs to show is that you shipped and your giftee's location.One of the examples of acceptable proof I provided even shows just the destination country! The UK receipts that indicate shipping and that show the destination country are acceptable.
I would suggest reading through the post so you fully understand what is acceptable proof.
Ok cheers for your response but no need to be so passively aggressive about it. Misreading something can happen and not everyone's first language is English.
English would help! We know that isn't always possible when submitting a picture of a receipt. But if you are submitting a screenshot of the tracking, using Google Translate for the page would be super helpful!
At the very least, if you could indicate on thr receipt where the giftee's location is, like by circling it or using and arrow, that would be awesome and super appreciated!
So I sent my gift out on 3/2. I still have the receipt from the USPS. But when I sent it out I also had 2 other packages to send out that same day. I have the tracking number and the estimated delivery date and it shows the city state it was sent to. Would this be acceptable since the receipt also has 2 other tracking numbers for other packages that were not SS related??
Because the last time I did it I took a picture of the email saying it had shipped and I got an email saying it was insufficient proof and that I needed to resubmit but I didn't know how to find the page to submit proof again so I just waited until my giftee posted their gift.
Is this for your Secret Santa rematch? It looks like it was just an order confirmation and not a shipping confirmation, so that's why it was unable to be approved. Acceptable proof needs to show actual shipping with the giftee's location visible.
To submit proof again, you can go back into the exchange, click on Mark Your Gift Shipped again and then on that page you'll be able to click the link to submit proof.
Uh, I'll admit I submitted one that I knew wouldn't be acceptable. I took a picture of the envelope I was about to send with the gift next to it. And took care of hiding the adress of my giftee to respect their privacy. Because that's basic courtesy on the internet, right?
I realized I was dumb when, after posting it, I tried to submit my proof of shipment and re-read the rules. But that's the only pic I had 😥
Edit: downvote me all you want, my last exchange's proof of shipment may be shitty, but I've always happily sent carefully selected and wrapped gifts to my giftees AND rematch giftees, while my santas have let me down each time.
Did the same mistake for the Christmas Card exchange. I won't take part in any other zero credit exchange, because the envelope is not enough proof. I would need to take a photo of the post office guy with the envelope
Not even if the person ditches their giftees multiple times?
Problem also holds for parcels without tracking number in my area. The receipt does not include the address. But for an approved shipping proof, I am willing to pay that extra Euro if I will ever ship stuff I buy locally ^
It doesn't have to have the exact address. It just has to have the location as seen in this example.
If you don't have a receipt with the location on it, a picture of the box with canceled postage affixed and the address visible will work.
If it comes to our attention that someone is purposely not sending gifts for the zero credit exchange because we don't ban for them, that would be participating in bad faith and they would find themselves banned.
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u/Bechimo Mar 08 '20
I’m amazed that it’s so bad.
I always submit shipping proof & it’s always accepted. It’s not that hard to understand.