Glitch in eBay's Shipping Charges for Puerto Rico Customers

[cobhp-usa]

Dear eBay Community,

I'm writing to discuss a persistent issue related to shipping charges on eBay, specifically for our customers in Puerto Rico. It appears that there is a glitch in eBay's backend, which is causing shipping charges not to be applied for Puerto Rico customers.

Despite thorough checks and correct settings within my Shipping Policy, this issue persists, and both free economy and expedited shipping options are being displayed. It's becoming increasingly evident that this issue is not on the seller's end but is rather a glitch within eBay's system.

I would appreciate any insights and guidance on how to address this problem effectively, as it seems to be beyond our control as sellers. Your assistance is highly valuable, and if anyone else in the community has encountered this glitch and found a solution or received information from eBay support, I would greatly appreciate your input.

[1786davycrockett]

@cobhp-usa 

Please explain the "glitch" about which you feel there is a problem.

Puerto Rico is part of the United States, and not a foreign country, and many of us have been shipping to Puerto Rico for years, without encountering any problems.

So -- what's this "glitch"?

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@cobhp-usa wrote: ... issue related to shipping charges on eBay, specifically for our customers in Puerto Rico. It appears that there is a glitch in eBay's backend, which is causing shipping charges not to be applied for Puerto Rico customers.

Despite thorough checks and correct settings within my Shipping Policy, this issue persists, and both free economy and expedited shipping options are being displayed. ...

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I, too, do not understand what the problem is.  What shipping charges are supposed to be applied for buyers in PR?  Where are the "free economy and expedited shipping options"  displayed, and do you mean that expedited is also offered for free? In other words, please clarify (1) what is supposed to happen and (2) what is happening.

[cobhp-usa]

According to my Shipping Policy settings, shipping charges should indeed be applied for buyers in Puerto Rico, with the calculation based on the weight and dimensions of the items they purchase.

The issue arises because eBay is not consistently applying these charges as it should. Instead, buyers in Puerto Rico only are presented with free economy and expedited shipping options, leading to discrepancies in the final shipping costs.

The reason this is labeled as a "glitch" is because it appears to be a technical problem on eBay's end, and it affects the consistency of shipping charges for Puerto Rico buyers. While Puerto Rico is part of the United States, this discrepancy is causing issues.

[wastingtime101]

Puerto Rico is considered a domestic sale. You cannot set up free shipping for domestic purchases with calculated shipping to Puerto Rico. It's systematically not possible.

What you can do is offer free shipping to the continental 48 and charge flat costs to the outliers AK/HI and also PR and other territories, but to do that you have to set up rate tables and apply the rate table to your shipping policy.

Are you using rate tables @cobhp-usa ? If you're not, then this is most likely a user error, not a system error. A misunderstanding of how to set up your shipping options.

[cobhp-usa]

I understand that Puerto Rico is considered a domestic sale, and it's not possible to set up free shipping for domestic purchases with calculated shipping. However, in my case, the issue is that despite using rate tables for both domestic and international shipping and ensuring that shipping charges are applicable to the USA, the system is charging for the USA but not for Puerto Rico, as it should have based on the established rate tables and settings.

To clarify, I have set up rate tables for both domestic and international shipping, including PR, and added freight charges. Additionally, this specific listing is without free shipping to the USA, and shipping charges are supposed to be applicable to the USA. The problem lies in the fact that, for some reason, the system didn't charge for Puerto Rico as it should have based on the established rate tables and settings.

I'm looking to understand why this particular discrepancy occurred, as it seems to be an issue with the system's behavior.

[wastingtime101]

OK, so if you're using rate tables that's key info to provide upfront. It's difficult to help when we have to guess at variables. 🙂

Can you provide a few item numbers? I can check those listings entering PR as the shipping location to see what's displaying and we can go from there. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this for you without having to direct you to CS.

[buyselljack2016]

@cobhp-usa , @wastingtime101 

shipping from India ?

[1786davycrockett]

@cobhp-usa 

According to your seller profile, you are located in India.

That could be a big part of your problem.