Why did Etsy show two shipping labels for one order and charge a label adjustment later?

Hi! The most common explanation is simply that a second label got purchased for that same Etsy order (by mistake or because you tried to “fix” something), and the carrier’s tracking/adjustment ended up tied to that second label’s tracking number—not necessarily to the package you actually shipped. A “delayed first scan” at a sorting center is also pretty normal when a package misses an acceptance scan; it can look like nothing happened until it hits the first automated facility.

Here are the most likely reasons you’d see two labels on one Etsy order:

• You (or someone with shop access) bought a second label by accident (easy to do if you click “Get shipping labels” again, or you thought you were reprinting but actually purchased a new label).
• You needed to change something (weight/service/address/ship date) and Etsy had you purchase a new label (the “corrected” label) while the old one stayed on the order history.
• You were trying to print again after the ship date / had a print issue and ended up purchasing a new label instead of re-downloading the existing one.
• Split shipment / multiple packages (less likely if you only shipped one parcel, but Etsy still allows multiple labels per order).
• Address change (if you edited the address for any reason, you might have generated another label).

Why the second label shows a “late” first scan:

• No acceptance scan: USPS (and other carriers) often won’t scan at drop-off, so the first scan can be at a regional/sorting center.
• That second label may have been used later on a different parcel (accidentally swapped labels in your shipping area, a label got stuck to the wrong box, or a spare label sheet got reused).
• Carrier/processing oddities: occasionally a barcode gets damaged and only becomes readable later, or it’s manually entered later.

How to handle the adjustment (what I’d do in order)

1. Confirm which label actually delivered your buyer’s order.
   In the order, compare both tracking numbers and see which one shows “Delivered” to the buyer’s city/ZIP and on the right date. That’s the label that mattered for the customer.

2. Open the adjustment details inside Etsy (the adjustment receipt) and note exactly what was changed (weight, dimensions, package type, or origin ZIP).
   If it says something like a much higher weight/different package type than you ship, that’s a strong clue the adjusted label may not match your actual parcel.

3. If one label truly was unused, request a refund/void for that unused label (if it’s still eligible).
   This won’t automatically fix an adjustment on a different label, but it at least recovers the cost of the extra label if it never entered the mailstream.

4. Dispute the adjustment with the carrier (usually USPS Verify Postage), not the buyer.
   Etsy’s process for label adjustments is basically: the carrier makes the call, and Etsy passes the charge/credit through. So if the adjustment is wrong, the right path is a carrier dispute using the tracking number + the adjustment/transaction info from the receipt. (There’s also a time limit—Etsy notes you generally have 60 days from the adjustment notification to dispute.)

5. Only contact the buyer if there’s an active delivery problem.
   If the buyer already received the package and everything’s fine, I would not message them—this is almost always between you and the carrier/Etsy billing. The buyer can’t really help, and it can create confusion.

When a big, “doesn’t match my package” adjustment happens alongside a second label, the two biggest culprits are (a) a second label was accidentally used on a different parcel later, or (b) labels got swapped/misapplied during packing. Your best next step is to identify which tracking actually delivered the order, then dispute the adjustment using the carrier’s postage verification process based on the adjustment receipt details.

If you tell me which carrier it was (USPS/UPS/FedEx) and what the adjustment receipt says changed (weight vs dimensions vs package type), I can help you draft a short dispute message and sanity-check the most likely cause.