Can somebody PLEASE help me?

[sunflowers652016]

I just got an order and although I put NO international shipping in my auction I still wind up with this headache. I've already been fiddling with this for a half hour ($9 order).

I did notice right away that it was a FPO (?) address but it still said United States and the shipping came up at 2.70 (first class). THEN when I went to print, it brought me to a customs form. I still figured okay easy enough, just fill it out and print.

Not so easy, first it wouldn't let me read 'terms and conditions' so I finally just checked agree and print. Well it printed and I thought I was all set but then it says 'Don't forget to print the customs form!'

Um, WHAT? Where? And it says it has to be 8.5 x 11??? My envelope is only 4 x6! 😞  Seriously?

Now what? I'm so aggravated, and I already have in my auction no international!

[forgottenape]

there was a link when you ran the label tio fill out the form. you can still go to usps and fill it out. i dont even bother anymore for fpo apo they still go through without it. your local usps office will have the form and the sticky envelope to stick it in and attach to your package. one form that comes out to like 4 or 5 you keep one and send the others. like i said i dont bother with the fpo and apo anymore but to safe you can always fill it out

[jason_incognito]

These addresses are for the United States military stationed overseas.

These are the people keeping us all safe.

[gracieallen01]

You might want to double check what you are inputing as I didn't think that a regular envelope needed a customs form - well, it didn't used to - for FPO or APO, unless it is a thick envelope that comes under the definition of 'package'.  Both are military mail services and the basic zipcode is in the 'US'.

[gracieallen01]

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@jason_incognito wrote:

These addresses are for the United States military stationed overseas.

These are the people keeping us all safe.

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FWIW.  They are for military and government service personnel and not necessarily all of them are 'overseas' (sometimes it is just a classified address).

[nobody*s_perfect]

As noted in the other posts, military addresses have a domestic US ZIP Code so they are not excluded when a seller excludes international shipping.

The envelope dimensions do not affect the postage cost; they are probably  related to having enough space for the label and customs form.  4x6 isn't even enough for a regular domestic label.  Put your little envelope inside a bigger one.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@gracieallen01 wrote: ...  I didn't think that a regular envelope needed a customs form - well, it didn't used to - for FPO or APO, unless it is a thick envelope that comes under the definition of 'package'....

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eBay only prints domestic  labels for packages, so if the OP is purchasing a label through eBay, it's for a package.

[a_c_green]

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@sunflowers652016 wrote:

I just got an order and although I put NO international shipping in my auction I still wind up with this headache. I've already been fiddling with this for a half hour ($9 order).

I did notice right away that it was a FPO (?) address but it still said United States and the shipping came up at 2.70 (first class). THEN when I went to print, it brought me to a customs form. I still figured okay easy enough, just fill it out and print.

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Fleet Post Office (FPO) indicates a Navy address. You send it to the indicated location, and the Navy takes care of routing it to the recipient. 

Some ZIP codes will trigger the Customs form in the eBay shipping procedure, even if a Customs form is not technically required. For example, Puerto Rico addresses trigger the same Customs form for some silly reason, even though it is not needed for domestic mail to PR, and in fact the Customs form does not eventually print anyway. FPO addresses can be similar: if no Customs form printed, then assume that none is needed.

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And it says it has to be 8.5 x 11??? My envelope is only 4 x6! 😞  Seriously?

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Okay, what I think may be happening here is that you're trying to send the item as Priority Mail; I was assuming First Class Package before this. If it was really going to be an international shipment, the FCP shipping label would use a smaller one-piece Customs form that's integrated into the mailing label for the package. Priority Mail International is different: that generates a label of four half-pages that must be printed on 8½"x11" paper, hence that warning message about what size is needed in the printer.

However, again, I don't think it's going to print an international shipping label, nor a Customs label. I think it's just going to cough out a domestic shipping label, and that's it. Try it and see. Worst-case scenario is that you have to get a slightly larger package to accommodate the label(s).

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Now what? I'm so aggravated, and I already have in my auction no international!

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As noted, it is not international. The ZIP code alone shows that. 

[gracieallen01]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

As noted in the other posts, military addresses have a domestic US ZIP Code so they are not excluded when a seller excludes international shipping.

The envelope dimensions do not affect the postage cost; they are probably  related to having enough space for the label and customs form.  4x6 isn't even enough for a regular domestic label.  Put your little envelope inside a bigger one.

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Hehehehe, or do it the old fashion way - write the address, and put a stamp or two on it.

[gracieallen01]

I know, I know - 'What's a 'stamp'? 

[a_c_green]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

4x6 isn't even enough for a regular domestic label. 

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Sure it is. Well, just barely.

It's a perfect fit on the side of my 6"x4"x4" mailing boxes. I have found a little variation in dimensions based on printers, though. I found that a certain Konica Minolta would get the dimensions spot-on, where my workhorse HP had to be scaled down to 95% to prevent a little spillover at the edges of the box. (I never did find a printer setting to explain the discrepancy in default size, and finally decided to just pick my battles, and go with a 95% scaling factor on the HP.) I would say that the nominal size of the label is intended to be 4"x6" in size.

[sunflowers652016]

okay, thank-you all, I appreciate it. 🙂 

I figured it was some kind of military address or something from how it looked but then all of a sudden it's making me fill out a customs form.

But anyway, it's a bubble envelope, like 3 oz. I printed up the label and it looks like the 'customs' label that I filled out is part of the address label. It's small though so I thought I had to make it bigger, lol, and my bubble envy is only 4x6.

So, I will just tape it on and send it off, I will be dropping it off at the P.O so maybe I'll just check with the clerk and see if I need to do anything different.

Thank-you! 🙂

[a_c_green]

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@sunflowers652016 wrote:

But anyway, it's a bubble envelope, like 3 oz. I printed up the label and it looks like the 'customs' label that I filled out is part of the address label. It's small though so I thought I had to make it bigger, lol, and my bubble envy is only 4x6.

So, I will just tape it on and send it off, I will be dropping it off at the P.O so maybe I'll just check with the clerk and see if I need to do anything different.

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You should be okay, although I would suggest that in future, don't go below a #0 padded envelope. That's 0.4 ounces in weight and 6"x9", as compared to a #000 envelope, which is 4"x7" and 0.2 ounces. For only 0.2 ounces more in shipping weight, the #0 envelope has more room inside, and is large enough to accept either a First Class International label (with Customs declarations) full-width across the front, or a domestic 4"x6" label full-height on the front (i.e. right-side-up on the long axis of the envelope, the way the USPS likes to see it). In addition, the First Class Package rate on your mailing is the same all the way up to 4 ounces anyway. 

Ref: https://shippingeasy.com/blog/2019-first-class-shipping-rates-changes/

(Weight comparisons above were for Duck brand Kraft Bubble Mailer envelopes.)