Wonky Looking Shipping Addresses

[havemyfaves]

Yes, I said "wonky". I don't know how else to put it. So Sellers, what do you do when you have a shipping address that looks a little wonky? In other words, it appears that the Buyer carelessly entered their shipping address and so you are assuming there are multiple typos in their address?!

A buyer (who literally JUST created an eBay account to buy my item) has a Puerto Rico address. Here's the typos:

1) No spaces used to separate the words and numbers in the address.

2) There's a random period (.) placed in between the address number.

3) They wrote the city on the address line and again on the city/state line.

4) The zipcode is completely wrong for the city that they entered. Not even close!

Here's an EXAMPLE of what I'm seeing. Completely made-up because I'm not going to publish the buyer's address: 

Johnny Doe

hc-4box456.7 AguasBuenas

Aguas Buenas, PR 54321

I mean, that address is all sorts of wrong! And the funny thing is that eBay says it's a verified address. It can't be true. I mean, the city and zipcode don't even match up when I Googled it. And if that's a "P.O. Box" in Puerto Rico, I know there shouldn't be a period in between the numbers.

When I sold on Etsy, they would give me a Suggested USPS Address if the one that the customer entered doesn't match up to what should be USPS verified. Why doesn't eBay do the same?! It would be SO helpful if eBay could suggest the verified address, or at least, suggest that it is not verified. 

Also, I messaged the buyer two days ago for clarification on their address. NO response. I don't want my ebay ratings to drop because I don't ship the item out within my selected shipping timeframe (1-2 days shipping).

WWYD?!

[kensgiftshop]

You can cancel the sale as problem with buyers address.

[havemyfaves]

True! I'll probably have to do that if I don't hear back by morning so that I don't get a late shipment ding on my account.

Thanks!

[importparts123]

send the item. if it is returned to you as undeliverable, buyer loses buyer protection. I am tired of buyer being lazy, not reading, etc.... you shouldn't have to bend over backwards for a buyer who cant enter a simple address. 

[disneyshopper]

Log into USPS.COM and select the option to verify/standardize an address and see what comes up.

[orangehound]

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@disneyshopper wrote:

Log into USPS.COM and select the option to verify/standardize an address and see what comes up.

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This is what I would do.  Postal workers are pretty good at deciphering addresses.

[lacemaker3]

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@havemyfaves wrote:

...

Here's an EXAMPLE of what I'm seeing. Completely made-up because I'm not going to publish the buyer's address: 

Johnny Doe

hc-4box456.7 AguasBuenas

Aguas Buenas, PR 54321

...

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"HC" is one of the (many) standard address formats used in Puerto Rico. It means the address is a Highway Contract Route, not in the city itself. This is not the same as a Post Office (PO) box, or a Rural Route (RR) box. The proper format is "HC # BOX ###". It still has to have the City in the last line, but the zip code may be different. Also, most cities will have more than one zip code.

When I googled some addresses in PR, I found that in some cases, they use a kilometer number instead of, or in addition to, a street number. This is written something like "KM 6.4" or "Km 21.0". This does not seem to be a standard address format. I would go to the link above to figure out the correct format for this situation.

Some buildings in PR don't have physical addresses. Some streets are not named, and the buildings may not have an assigned number. This is covered in the same guide:

Another element that is sometimes used in PR addresses is the Urbanization:

[variety_nook]

Wonky??? That's just funny 

is the money in your account? Does PayPal say it's a confirmed address?

If so, ship it. No big deal.

PR is no different than shipping to any-other U.S. State.