Anyone on here having issues with the weight of a book they are trying to find cost to mail

showing up as being a lot higher than the actual weight of the book????  I noticed this

started a few days ago when I would go to get ready to print up my mailing label....

I had a small book that weighed 5.7 oz that was coming up as being almost 30 ounces!

I just did it again with a book that weighs 8.2 ounces and it came up 50.2 ounces.

What is going on here??????????   Never had this happen before.  Is there a button

that I need to change or is the site messed up? 

Thank you.......... Gail

The weights come from the 3rd party database.  They are estimates and can be changed when printing the label.  Just highlight the incorrect weight and change it.  Checking the correct weights should be done on every transaction.  Sometimes they aren't heavy enough and the book come get to the requestor with postage due.  I haven't noticed it lately as I haven't had any recent transactions going out.

Hi Kellie S.....

Thanks for the response.   However I have been a member for over 5 yrs and have never

had this problem before with the weight scale being so wacked out !   Usually the exact

book or books that I am going to send the exact weight for them is right there!  I never have

had to type them in.   Of course once I wrap the book or books the weight gets a little

higher but it never came up like this before.    I really feel something is wrong here with

the site when you get to that stage and are ready to get mailing address & print label.

In my 2 years here, my weights have always been incorrect.  They usually come up more than what the books weigh.  Not as much as what you just mentioned today LOL.  But I've always had to enter the correct weights.  It could very well be an issue.  You can always contact TPTB about it.

It has always been my experience that the weights are wrong, which is why I always use a scale. You can always go in under "Edit Book Data" and post the correct weights.

I also frequently weigh books when they arrive and they are often wrong, especially with people using PBS postage -- I have gotten 6 oz books where the sending member has paid for a book weighing over 3 lbs.

Then you've been lucky or you just haven't noticed.  I never trust the weight that PBS has, it is frequently off considerably. 

I had a small book that weighed 5.7 oz that was coming up as being almost 30 ounces!

I just did it again with a book that weighs 8.2 ounces and it came up 50.2 ounces.

Maybe somebody made a mistake with the periods? The weight in the PBS database is in pounds so 8.2 oz. should be 0.5125 lbs and 5.7 lbs. should be 0.35625 lbs.

If your weights were that far off, you need to contact the site owners.  Use the "contact us" link below and then feedback.

Yes - the weight is often off a bit but certainly not tht amount.

You can also submit data edits to correct weights to help out other PBSers.

What Mary said: You can also submit data edits to correct weights to help out other PBSers.

To do that, click on the title, then on "more options" --> "edit book data."  You'll be entering the weight in pounds, so if your book weighs 12 ounces, that will be .75.  And enter the weight of just the book, not your wrapped package.  (The software adds a bit for wrapping materials.)

Your edit has to go through the edit approval process, so it won't change anything for the wrapper you are printing out, but it will help the next member.

Now today I see that it is back to normal and working the way it always did so I

guess maybe the site had an issue for a while last evening.  I DO own a scale

which I use but always check out what comes up when I am first accepting a

book and printing address up.

Thanks for all those who sent me responses and advice!!!!!   Greatly appreciate it

as it is my first time on a "discussion forum" here on PBS !!!   -   GAIL

I think there were some issues last week...I sent about a dozen books one day and when printing postage, every single hardcover book I printed a label for--there were 7 or 8 of them--stated the weight as 2 lbs. 8 oz. Every one! Most had an actual weight of just over 1 lb., one was small and was only 13 oz and only one was even approaching 2 lbs. The fact that they were all showing the same exact weight is what made me think something was wonky. The paperback books showed near-correct weights.

Historically, I have found that most of the time, the weights are pretty accurate. Usually with a batch of, say, 10 books there might be one or two I would have to change slightly, but it normally would still be within the same weight class so didn't change the amount of postage. But I have a scale and always check, even though I've gotten pretty good at estimating by feel.

Cheryl