Shipping to PR, unexpected cost to me

[everythingmercedes]

Hello

Does anyone know if there is a way to exclude PR from my ebay sales?

The reason: selling an item, i factored in the shipping cost (provided by ebay) of 18.06 to 24.85, and put the item up with free shipping. Well, someone from PR purchased it. Ok no big deal right, but then suddenly my shipping cost changes to 67 dollars. Now I have to refund buyer. Would like to avoid in future for the sake of both me and the buyers.

[coastaltechsolution]

I take it this was not USPS because PR is domestic zone 6 

What shipping carrier did you use?

[dende5611]

Now I have to refund buyer.

....

No, you don't. You could be professional, suck up the cost because you didn't put blocks in place before hand, and ship.

[double2trouble]

Check US protectorates in the shipping exclusion list. USPS flat rate is the same to PR, and the regional rate boxes can also be reasonable if they fit withing your items  weight and size. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

The unexpected high shipping cost was not because your buyer was in PR.  It was because you did not enter the correct dimensions for your package when you estimated the shipping cost in advance. Packages that are over 1 cubic foot are charged by a formula for "dimensional weight" rather than by their actual scale weight.

Furthermore, the prices you cited ($18.06 and $24.85) are not USPS Priority Mail prices, yet that's the service you listed with.  Shipping via  a private carrier such as FedEx or UPS will incur an even bigger upcharge than with USPS, because FedEx and UPS do charge extra for shipping to AK, HI, and PR, which USPS cannot do.

What were the actual dimensions of the package as shipped, and what service cost $67? That could be the cost for a large Priority Mail package to any ZIP Code in Zone 8, including not only PR but also the entire east coast.

[everythingmercedes]

Thank you for that, I will check.

And yes I put in the proper dimensions from the beginning. The prices I listed were the ebay estimates I get on every listing. Once it sold and I clicked print label the usps pricing was not the same at all. I'm definitely clicking usps I'm looking at it now.

[chapabargain]

Try shipping with UPS or FedEx?

[a_c_green]

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@everythingmercedes wrote:

The prices I listed were the ebay estimates I get on every listing. 

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I wouldn't trust eBay estimates any further than I could throw them by the leg. Just weigh and measure the item in its shipping box (you don't have to seal it, but know its dimensions rounded up to the next inch, and its weight rounded up to the next ounce or pound), plug that data into the Calculated Shipping area of the listing form, and the eventual buyer will be charged the correct amount to deliver it to his doorstep. In particular, there is no special USPS surcharge to reach PR. 

I offer Free Shipping on all my items having a packed weight of less than one pound, as I can send those via First Class Package, and I'm okay with eating the postage for that. For items of one pound or more, they go via Priority Mail, buyer pays.

[kare-bearb · Accepted solution]

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@double2trouble wrote:

Check US protectorates in the shipping exclusion list. USPS flat rate is the same to PR, and the regional rate boxes can also be reasonable if they fit withing your items  weight and size. 

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The US Protectorates (Domestic) exclusion will only block those buyers who have a shipping address using US as the country & PR as the state.

To exclude buyers who have a shipping address that uses PR as the country, the seller would need to select

PR in the list of Carribbean locations under International exclusions.