Calculated shipping returns no rate for UPS Standard to Canada
US seller, eBay Motors Parts & Accessories. Any listing configured for calculated international shipping via UPS Standard to Canada returns no shipping option at all. Buyers see "Check item description or contact seller for shipping options" instead of a quote.
What eBay's own APIs say about the service
GeteBayDetails (DetailName=ShippingServiceDetails) returns UPSStandardToCanada identically on site 0 and site 100:
- ServiceType: Flat, Calculated
- InternationalService: true
- ValidForSellingFlow: true
- Supported packages: Letter, LargeEnvelope, PackageThickEnvelope, USPSLargePack
What eBay's own APIs say about the listing
GetItem (DetailLevel=ReturnAll):
- ShippingType: FlatDomesticCalculatedInternational
- Domestic: UPSGround, $0.00 (free shipping)
- International: UPSStandardToCanada, calculated
- Package weight and all three dimensions present
- Canada is not excluded (15 exclusions, none covering Canada)
What the buyer actually gets
Browse API getItemByLegacyId with header X-EBAY-C-ENDUSERCTX: contextualLocation=country=CA,zip=H7N2Y9 returns the item successfully with an empty shippingOptions array. This matches the listing page exactly.
Variables I have eliminated
1. Package size/weight. Originally 21 lb, 28x13x18. Retested at 5 lb, 10x5x10 (roughly 3.6 lb dimensional). Same result: no rate.
2. Ship-to scope. Changed the international service from "Ships to: Canada" to "Ships to: Worldwide." Same result: no rate.
3. Exclusions. Canada does not appear, directly or via any region grouping.
4. Listing configuration. ShippingType resolves correctly, package data is complete.
5. Service metadata. Valid, international, calculated-capable, and the listing's package type is on its supported list.
The controlled comparison
Adding UPSWorldwideExpedited to the same policy, same listing, same package, same destination ZIP produces a quote immediately ($643.22). UPS Standard is silently dropped rather than returning an error. The only variable that changes the outcome is which UPS service is selected.
Questions
1. Is UPSStandardToCanada actually rateable under calculated shipping for US-origin listings, or is it flat-rate only in practice?
2. If it is flat-rate only, why does GeteBayDetails report ServiceType=Calculated and ValidForSellingFlow=true for it on both site 0 and site 100? Any seller or third-party listing tool reading that metadata will build an invalid configuration and get no error.
3. If it is supposed to rate, what explains an empty shippingOptions on a configuration that passes every validation eBay's own APIs expose?
