Cannot ship because buyer's (confirmed) e-mail address is invalid

[clough42]

I sold an item two days ago, but I am unable to ship it because the system says that the buyer's address is invalid.  When I try to print a shipping label, the message is "This address was not found in this city."

The address is in Puerto Rico and I am trying to ship via USPS First Class.  The address is not too long.  It just appears to have no house or building number.  If I try to print the label from PayPal, it also blocks me, telling me the address is invalid.  I tried the zip code lookup tool at usps.com and tried purchasing a Priority Mail label there with the same results.  I even tried to locate the person using 411, to no avail.

I have sent three friendly messages to the buyer explaining the situation and asking for a valid address.  I contacted eBay last night and got a phone number, which I tried this morning.  It went straight to an answering service, unfortunately in Spanish, which I couldn't figure out.

So, what next?  How long should I wait?  Should I cancel the order?  Report the buyer?

This is a low-value item.  $8 with free shipping.

The support person at eBay said that since I called, this won't affect my TRS status for failure to ship in my handling time, but who knows...

[2noggins · Accepted solution]

PR addresses require careful formatting. If you can't print a shipping label, go to the PO and ship.

Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican addresses often include an urbanization code and have Spanish address information.

Four-line Address
MRS MARIA SUAREZ
URB LAS GLADIOLAS
150 CALLE A
SAN JUAN PR 00926-3232

Other Examples of Puerto Rico Addresses

U.S. Virgin Islands

Virgin Islands addresses have the same format as normal addresses. The right abbreviation for this territory is “VI,” not “US VI” or “USA VI.”

MR JOHN STEWARD
123 MAIN ST
ST THOMAS VI 00802-1222

MRS JOAN SMITH
RR 1 BOX 6601
KINGSHILL VI 00850-9802