As of March 5, 2015, these services have been discontinued.

We were happy to provide access to e-DC (known as "PBS Delivery Confirmation" or "PBS-DC") and Custom DC as affordable ways for our members to get Quick Credit and track their packages. For more than eight years it worked really well. Members were able to print a USPS-generated barcode onto their package labels and apply the postage separately, then mail the package from the PO.

As of March 2015, the features work well about 90% of the time. On our end, our programming is working perfectly: our system accepts each USPS barcode scan, records the information on the transaction on a member account, and grants Quick Credit when applicable. Unfortunately, during 2014 USPS decided to discontinue the electronic DC option. This wasn't a clear-cut decision - meaning, we weren't notified in a definitive way. It became apparent that there was an issue when some members began reporting to us that they were having difficulty getting their PBS-DC packages accepted at the PO. Still, the majority of barcodes were being scanned by USPS (and Quick Credit was being given), so it was difficult to decide to "kill" the feature since it was working well for the majority of users.

However, the situation became more bothersome when members began reporting that when trying to mail with e-DC at the PO they were being charged $1.05 for USPS Tracking (and sometimes the USPS Tracking sticker was applied over the printed e-DC barcode, obscuring it). USPS Tracking does not interface with our system and so does not earn Quick Credit, and if the PBS-DC barcode is obscured Quick Credit won't be given. We don't want our members to pay $1.05 extra and not even get the Quick Credit service. We are also beginning to hear from our Custom DC users that USPS is rejecting the packages with Custom DC barcodes at the counter.

We don't actually provide the mailing service (USPS does that), and we have to abide by the USPS change in policy regarding electronic Delivery Confirmation.  So that is why, even though PBS-DC and Custom DC still work for most PaperBackSwap users of those features, we are discontinuing both services.  We want swapping (which includes mailing) to be easy and enjoyable.  We don't want to continue to provide a service that we can't support (there is no way to "fix" the problem if USPS rejects a package at the counter). We also don't want to wait until most members are having difficulty, so we are discontinuing PBS-DC and Custom DC now.

To all the members who used these services, we say Thank you!  We also say, consider using Printable Postage for your swaps - it comes with Free Swaps (= free swap fees) as well as Instant Credit, and it makes mailing very convenient.

For Custom DC users: we are hoping to provide a Custom Postage feature, which many have asked for. Stay tuned!