Puerto Rico

[bbcardzman]

Just got this message from ebay telling me that they are excited to announce the expansion of eBay International Shipping to Puerto Rico! This proves that ebay has no idea what they are doing! Puerto Rico is a United States Territory and as such the USPS treats it as just another state in America. There IS NO SURCHARGE to Puerto Rico nor is it International shipping. GOOD GRIEF!!!

[inhawaii]

I heard they will also be expanding international shipping to Hawaii!    😉

[rainbowcomicsandcards]

There has unfortunately been some issues with shipping to Puerto Rico and the shipments not arriving or not arriving in a timely manner(we had actually blocked sales to Puerto Rico for awhile because of it). So by doing this way once its received at the eBay international shipment center the part of the seller is done at that point eBay will take over and get it to Puerto Rico weather that's USPS or another carrier I don't know but if its late or doesn't arrive its no longer a sellers issue because once its at the center its done on our end.  At least that's my understanding on why they made this change I have also heard they may be doing the same with Alaska. 

[chevymontecarlo88]

There are going to be many posts on this topic. 😂

[kensgiftshop]

Buyers from Puerto Rico are always coming here asking why so many sellers don't ship there.

Now, maybe more sellers will be willing to ship there, knowing they'll have some protection.

[slippinjimmy]

---

@bbcardzman wrote:

Just got this message from ebay telling me that they are excited to announce the expansion of eBay International Shipping to Puerto Rico! This proves that ebay has no idea what they are doing! Puerto Rico is a United States Territory and as such the USPS treats it as just another state in America. There IS NO SURCHARGE to Puerto Rico nor is it International shipping. GOOD GRIEF!!!

---

To my mind this expansion of eBay International Shipping (EIS) proves that eBay DOES know what they are doing.

Personally I would never use it just like I would never use EIS for anything but there are hundreds of thousands of sellers who would benefit from this service.

[bluestardiecast]

We have been shipping to PR for as long as we have been selling here (1998) and have NEVER had an issue shipping there except when eBay deemed it International. There was a short time in 2017 where the system wanted Customs forms to be generated and made a USPS International Shipping label, but it was fixed in a few weeks back then.

Small diecast cars are a big seller for us there and this is going to be an issue not only for the Sellers, but for the Buyers. When this goes into effect, it will cause the shipping rate to increase for no reason other than now we ship to eBay hub and they ship to PR. 

I contacted CS today and was told to do the work around that is suggested in the Help section. - Exclude PR on the International List by clicking the country and turn off the "Expand your reach...." button. After doing this, all it did was exclude PR completely on all listings - even with just sticking in a zip code for PR (which is a USA zip code) the listing just stated "Does not ship to Puerto Rico".  The only other option is to allow other shipping options in your listing for International Buyers to choose, but we don't want allow Buyers in other countries other than PR to choose the option of not using eBay International Shipping.

I hope we get a work around for this as we do like the eBay International Shipping as it is now other than not giving Buyers combined shipping discounts. We have been working with International Buyers to make custom lots when they want more than 1 item listing. This will be another big issue when AK & HI are also folded into eBay International Shipping as we have been told will happen. It seems like this is a solution to a non-existent problem since USPS service delivers to those locations just fine as it is now with no extra cost to those Buyers in PR for a majority of Sellers using a Flat Rate price to USA addresses.

[allthingssurplus]

Yes I have been saying eBay has no business being involved in shipping they do not have a clue on how it really works.

[kalyoth]

It is likely part of EIS to 1) open up sales from those whom refuse to sell there due to 2) the return mail fraud rampant from PR known for over a decade & to 3) make a profit by using their own shipping network.

Expect it to expand as USPS unreliability expands.

[ltldpr]

---

@chevymontecarlo88 wrote:

There are going to be many posts on this topic. 😂

---

There already are lol.

[mybigsale]

---

@inhawaii wrote:

I heard they will also be expanding international shipping to Hawaii!    😉

---

Yippy for you! It may cost 3 times as much for shipping and take twice as long to receive your orders, but your orders will be more reliable as eBay International Shipping will be handling the extra paperwork and customs form to ship to Hawaii! 🙄

I've been out of school for a while... when did Hawaii leave the USA? Did Hawaii join up with Puerto Rico?

[jbbowers12012]

Quick Question - Do you have to use EIS when shipping to Puerto Rico or can you continue to use USPS GA????   Not enrolled in EIS & do not choose to ship internationally but do have customers in Puerto Rico & Hawaii.

[a_c_green]

---

@jbbowers12012 wrote:

Quick Question - Do you have to use EIS when shipping to Puerto Rico or can you continue to use USPS GA????

---

Yes, you can still ship there directly yourself if you want. I forget which thread I was in at the time, probably 2-3 weeks ago now, but I asked that question myself and one of the eBay contacts replied.

P.S. I should add that I fully intend to continue shipping directly to PR myself (and to HI, and AK, and even VI where I have some regular buyers). I don't have any high-risk shipments and I see no other reason to delay the arrival time by who-knows-how-many days just so that Glendale Heights can add my package to their stack.

[jbbowers12012]

Can we still use eBay labels with GA or do we have to use the PO & download the tracking manually.?  We also have regular buyers in PR & HI.  Thanks.  Sorry To Be A Bother.  This whole idea seems a bit silly.  (J.B.)

[a_c_green]

---

@jbbowers12012 wrote:

Can we still use eBay labels with GA or do we have to use the PO & download the tracking manually.?  We also have regular buyers in PR & HI.  Thanks.  Sorry To Be A Bother.  This whole idea seems a bit silly.  (J.B.)

---

They did say (back when I got my question answered) that you can still offer your own direct shipping, so yes, you could continue to buy your labels here as usual.

Here's what I'm wondering: how does eBay International Shipping co-exist with the seller's domestic shipping (to the same place) in the listing?

I mean, I ship to Puerto Rico all the time, since of course it really is domestic shipping: ZIP+4 codes, no Customs forms, etc. (Same for AK, HI, VI, etc.) Why (or how, for that matter) would a buyer see International shipping and think it was for him? Would it only be visible to buyers who have Puerto Rico listed as the Country in their Ship-To: address?