Conditional addressing for buyers whos post office doesn't deliver to their street address.

[ez-e-parts]

For folks who live in a town where the post office only delivers to your PO Box....

In case anyone is wondering how to deal with the issue of sellers blocking PO Box delivery, and how to get your packages properly without knowing which shipping provider the seller uses (for cases where they offer multiple providers and don't allow you to choose USPS or other...)

I believe the only way would be to message the seller and ask, but if they sometime use USPS and sometimes others... and won't allow PO Box delivery, and won't allow you to choose another provider during checkout, there is no way to know for sure if your package will arrive properly if you were to provide your street address.

I submitted a suggestion to eBay on the checkout page, I would reccommend others doing the same who are facing the same dilemma. This has been an issue for a long time, and at my last place of residence I actually installed a mailbox just so I could receive eBay packages easier. That doesn't appear to be an option here where I'm living now.

I know others are in the same situation and the more people who submit a suggestion the more it will show up on their radar as a potential feature to add... the ability to provide conditional addressing for USPS packages, and for other packages (UPS, Fedex, etc). This should satisfy the option for sellers who need to block PO Box addresses... instead of blocking, the seller could provide an alternative address.

This is what I submitted as a suggestion:

"The seller doesn't ship to PO Boxes. It is unclear if they use USPS as a shipping provider or not. For me, that is crucial information to know for the shipment to arrive properly. Many buyers are in my same situation. I live in a small town where the post office doesn't provide mail delivery to mailboxes. The only option for USPS mail is to have a PO Box. Thusly, in order to have packages delivered to the house (UPS or Fedex) I have to address it to my street address but with the neighboring town's zip. If a USPS package is addressed this way, the neighboring town's post office will reject it and return to sender.

For my situation, I need to provide two addresses to the seller, one for packages shipping via USPS (the PO Box), and another for packages shipping via UPS or Fedex (the modified street address with other zip code)

I would love to see a feature at checkout, or within my eBay profile, to supply the conditional addresses required for my mail to be delivered properly."

[soh.maryl]

So what is accomplished if a buyer uses his street address, but uses the wrong zip code?

Does he intentionally do this for the package to be returned to sender?

I don't understand your idea of a solution.  Perhaps I am being dense.  Care to return and explain further?

[pickermall]

You do what I have to do at those times... use the post office address as your ship to address with "Unit XXX" with your box number in place of "XXX"

It's stupid and irritating that there are sellers who ship using USPS don't ship to PO Boxes. It's safe and secure and if the item does not fit in the box, it is held safe and secure behind the counter

[albertabrightalberta]

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@pickermall wrote:

It's stupid and irritating that there are sellers who ship using USPS don't ship to PO Boxes. It's safe and secure and if the item does not fit in the box, it is held safe and secure behind the counter

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Exactly! It's the safest and securest way to have items shipped. Those buyers don't have to worry about porch pirates or items getting delivered to the next door neighbor or a similar address on the opposite side of town.

[buyselljack2016]

That doesn't work everywhere.

[pickermall]

OP would need to check with their post office... good idea!