eBay

ejonessss · ‎06-28-2022

i buy stuff on ebay and more and more people dont want to ship to po boxes.

either that is because you changed the default settings so excluding of po boxes are on by default or the auto listers enable it by default.

it would be nice if you would not have it enabled by default and make it difficult to enable by sending the seller through a loop of "are you sure" alerts .

i buy items and i want them to go to a po box because where i live i have nosy neighbors that question my purchases and sometimes signature is required and with no precise delivery time i cant be there to sign so i would like to pick up the packages from the post office to keep the neighbors out of the loop and in the dark.

if there was an option to tell post office to hold the package i would have them come to my house.

the only option i have right now is to use the trick on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvxvvJP_hKA

it basically sais to send to name c/o postoffice box number witch can vary depending on local post office.

Anonymous · ‎06-28-2022

The PO Box is the absolute SAFEST way to get items to buyers and I love having one!!! It's irritating to find something I want to purchase and then get the notice that they don't ship to PO Boxes. I go out of my way and often pay more to someone who does do it. It's a LOSS to those that don't.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎06-28-2022

Most PO's also have an option called "Street delivery" which lets you use the PO's street address so you cn shop with sellers who block PO Boxes. Here's the form you'd fill out:

https://www.usps.com/pobox/customer-agreement-for-premium-po-box-service-enhancements.pdf

The Post Office has an option to ask them to hold all of your mail for pickup. But IIC it can only be in effect for 30 days, and it affects all of your mail. Still, it might be useful to activate it if you come across an item you rally want, IF your PO doesn't do street addressing.

tsme35 · ‎06-28-2022

It might be that UPS and FEDEX don't ship to a PO boxes

bbravo65 · ‎06-28-2022

...if buyers used "Street Delivery" from USPS provided service, they can get their packages to be shipped to their PO Box from UPS and FedEx...

luckythewinner · ‎06-28-2022

@ejonessss wrote:
the only option i have right now is to use the trick on youtube

That is not your only option. You could rent a street address from the Mailbox Store or a similar service.

tsme35 · ‎06-28-2022

yea, "nobody's perfect" mention that

fab_finds4u · ‎06-28-2022

It's not a default. Sellers have to exclude PO boxes if they don't want to ship to one.

Some methods of shipping like UPS doesn't ship to PO boxes so that is a reason PO boxes are excluded.

The problem is a lot of sellers that use USPS are excluding PO boxes, maybe out of ignorance or because they think buyers with PO boxes are sketchy, who knows? Find a better seller when you see they ship USPS but PO boxes are excluded. That's a stupid seller. Don't buy from stupid sellers.

ejonessss · ‎07-02-2022

ok if it is ignorance or not knowing what a setting does then ebay should embed little popups that when you hover the mouse over a blob of text comes up and describes what the option is (you see it alot on other software).

or if ebay can set up a bunch of hoops that you have to jump through to enable the exclude po boxes it will force the sellers to allow po boxes as they would have to click away several "are you sure" notices

so if you it department of ebay is monitoring these boards please make it difficult for sellers to block po boxes.

make instead when a po box is detected you are only presented with fedex and ups for the shipping option.

i am begging you ebay to change that because my biggest fear is if it is a bid item i may not be able to bid and may lose out on the item due to being told that the seler does not want to ship to po boxes

soh.maryl · ‎07-02-2022

Can understand your frustration. My personal opinion is that sellers who exclude PO boxes have no idea of what a PO box actually is and don't take the trouble to learn.

Incidentally, it appears from your message here that you believe you're actually addressing eBay when you post here. You're not. These Boards are made up mostly of experienced eBay buyers and sellers who volunteer their time here to help others or answer questions. It's fairly seldom that an actual eBay employee will come here and their messages generally identify them as such.

gamersbaystore · ‎07-02-2022

A lot of sellers used to block P.O. boxes because buyers weren't picking up their packages, and the postal service wouldn't hold the items for more than a day. This is what I experienced myself. I had P.O.'s blocked for like 5 years because I was tired of selling items and having them returned, it was a constant headache with PO's.

Back a decade ago, the postal service would only hold onto the item for 24 hours after it reached the buyer's post office, then throw it right back at you, every time.

The situation has greatly improved today though, and I no longer block P.O. boxes anymore, I havent had a single P.O. order come back over the past 3 years since I started accepting them again. I also noticed many postal locations are holding the packages longer.

Had the postal service actually made an effort to give buyers time to pick up their packages to begin with, this issue with blocked PO boxes likely never would have happened.