New Glitch - Excluded Shipping Locations being added to listings

[mountaincoop]

This is a very strange one.  eBay is adding excluded shipping locations to the listings that we are creating.  We don't have any excluded locations saved in our site preferences.  No matter how we list an item, eBay is adding these excluded locations to our listings:   US Protectorates, APO/FPO, PO Box

We've tried revising/saving, selling similar, and creating a new listing from scratch (at the direction of eBay CS).  No matter what we try, the excluded locations are added once we save/post the listing -- even though the listings show:  Exclude shipping locations - No excluded locations.

We attached some images of how it appears as we are creating the listing and how it shows after the listing posts.  We don't know how to fix this and CS couldn't figure out what to do either.  It's not a huge percentage of sales for US Protectorates and APOs/FPOs, but the PO Box issue is definitely going to cause daily problems for our customers.  If anyone knows a solution, we're all ears.  

[gracieallen01]

With the new Managed Payments, ebay may be responsible for repaying the cost of items not received, when they go through GSP.  That is what prompted my comment about ebay tightening up on their procedures. It would also be more convenient for ebay to simply block the purchase by persons with those addresses, on items that qualify for GSP and it is offered, to begin with.

If you weren't aware, APO/FPO are addresses in the US - actually, more of a distribution center(s), shipping to military and government installations around the world.  Many P.O. Boxes may fall under this classification, as well. Many of those locations are classified and the carrier for GSP would not know the destination, or if an item arrived - or when.  And, it wouldn't make a difference if the address were to a Protectorate or not.

[gracieallen01]

I should have added that once the GSP carrier drops off to the APO/FPO facility, they have no way of knowing where in the world - literally - the package will end up, right or wrong.  No tracking and ebay may have to cover the cost if anything goes wrong.

[berserkerplanet]

I don't use business policies, don't ship internationally, have all non-US international destinations excluded, and do not exclude APO/FPO, PO Boxes, Alaska/Hawaii, or Territories.

I recently noticed 3 of my listings disappear from search if I change my location to Alaska (99514), Puerto Rico (00785), Guam (96913), Palau (96940), or an FPO (99675) but the listings themselves indicate they do ship to those locations normally.

Hawaii (96801) and an APO (09012) I checked however are ok, and the items show up in search.

The shipping exclusions in those 3 listings DO NOT get changed - Alaska/Hawaii, US Protectorates, and APO/FPO are still unchecked and not excluded - and there is no obvious reason for what is going on.

I recently received a PM from another user informing me that the HATA bug (Hawaii, Alaska, Territories, APO/FPO) appears to have gotten fixed on or around when the new USPS rates went into effect in January, which is why I started testing and found my issues, but it looks like something similar to it and/or as a result of the "fix" may be broken in a new and weird way.

Example item: https://www.ebay.com/itm/273659273741

Not exactly the same issue as OP's, but seems very related @Anonymous

[mountaincoop]

Right.  I understand regarding APO/FPO addresses.  We ship to those locations frequent enough.  Not daily, but usually weekly we'll have one or two come through.  It definitely makes sense as to why those orders don't process through the Global Shipping Program.     

The issue is that excluded shipping locations are not specific to GSP destinations, they apply to all customers.  So, not being able to actually edit/remove them is a problem.  eBay CS seems to think that the sell similar/revise feature may have been corrupted.  A ticket has been started, but they don't know when to expect a fix.        

[pjcdn2005]

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

I should have added that once the GSP carrier drops off to the APO/FPO facility, they have no way of knowing where in the world - literally - the package will end up, right or wrong.  No tracking and ebay may have to cover the cost if anything goes wrong.

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The gsp carrier does not handle APO/FPO packages at all.

[gracieallen01]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

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The gsp carrier does not handle APO/FPO packages at all.

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Thank you.  Not personally using GSP, I wasn't aware of that.

[gracieallen01]

I think I understand, now.  Just the current 'glitch du jour'.  Oh well, I'll go back to my room. 

[ittybitnot]

Just the current 'glitch du jour'.  

Glitch

Enhancement

Intended Change

Take your choice.  They all look the same.

It has been reported on off ebay forums as well. 

[prodige_processing_inc]

Does anyone know if this glitch of ebay adding shipping exclusions ever got fixed?  I was on the phone with ebay CS many times in spring and summer of this year, 2019, getting very different responses everytime I called!  They finally put in a ticket to their engineering team (if memory is correct) and nothing ever came of that.  However, one ebay rep told me that a portion of ebay sellers was dealing with this glitch.  As of now, despite my site preferences, each time I create a listing and choose NO shipping exceptions, when I go back into the listing to revise/check it, ebay put in ALL shipping exceptions, which means buyers with PO box or from any location outside the contiguous USA cannot purchase our items!

[dhbookds]

Two places I can think of might be checked as adding the info

Site Preferences

https://www.ebay.com/ship/prf/excludeRegions

and Business practices........  I've not messed with that, so don't have a link, but I know there have been some complaints about it switching something  on or off.........

both of those would override anything you put in a listing as they are site wide (not sure of that with business practices). 

[autotran]

"Does anyone know if this glitch of ebay adding shipping exclusions ever got fixed? "

I just noticed recently that I have this exact problem also and I exclude nothing except India via USPS. When I started selling on eBay 2½ years ago I never had or saw this problem.

I really ship everywhere and anywhere yet eBay adds a ton of places that says I don't ship to. Also it appears that this list is getting longer!

[dhbookds]

may be because of countries not having mail service at all right now due to the virus......you can go to USPS site to see where they are not sending mail now......

[anneecakes]

I wish that my listings would exclude these right now. I got a sale to an APO today (which usually isn't a problem for me). AFTER I shipped it, I was looking at USPS International Service Advisories https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/international/welcome.htm   --- it says there not to ship to the APO zip code that I sent to (i.e., temporarily requested not to ship there). 

Maybe the automated eBay system was/is trying to protect you from shipping to places without service during the crisis (?)

[autotran]

"may be because of countries not having mail service at all right now due to the virus"

Ding Dong!

You win, I just read a email from stamps.com and they listed an endless number of countries you can't ship to right now. I guess that why it looked like I thought the list was growing, it was. I wish eBay had advised us of this instead of an outside vendor. Possibly they did but I never did see anything about it. 

Thanks, Dave

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@autotran wrote:

"may be because of countries not having mail service at all right now due to the virus"

Ding Dong!

You win, I just read a email from stamps.com and they listed an endless number of countries you can't ship to right now. I guess that why it looked like I thought the list was growing, it was. I wish eBay had advised us of this instead of an outside vendor. Possibly they did but I never did see anything about it. 

Thanks, Dave

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They did:

Originally posted April 3 and kept updated since then (last update on 4/20)

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/Advising-you-about-shipments-during-COVID-19/ba-p/308179...