eBay Standard Envelopes and US Protectorates

[carolinabluelady]

I received an order for 1 regular basketball trading card.  The buyer was located in Puerto Rico.  The buyer picked the eBay Standard Envelope shipping method.  I charge $1.50 + $0.25 for each additional charge.  ( I figure if I have to ship first class package or some other method, the charge for additional cards is going to cover that cost).   Puerto Rico is a territory of the US so is included under Domestic shipping.  I do not ship Internationally.

Went to buy and print the shipping label and lo and behold, the eBay Standard Envelope option was grayed out.  I thought maybe there was a glitchy thing going on but tried again this morning and the option was still grayed out.  My only option was to send by First Class Package for a cost of $3.72 (if I had sent by a regular envelope, there would not be a tracking # and I would be dinged for that).  

After spending way too much time trying to figure out what was wrong, I finally found that you can exclude "Protectorates" from your shipping area.  (whatever happened to the word 'territories'')

So obviously, you cannot use eBay standard envelopes for US "Protectorates" (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands). 

I don't know if anyone else has had this happen.  I could either raise my flat shipping charge to cover possible sales to the "Protectorates" or I could exclude them from my shipping area.  

I guess the reason that I'm a little ticked off about this is that nothing was ever mentioned in the eBay Standard Envelope information or at least I couldn't find anything. 

Just thought I would bring this up.

[nobody*s_perfect]

Be sure that the label prep page has PR as the state and US as the country. Once source of problems is when PR is entered as the country.

The comprehensive TOS for the standard envelopes is unclear (to me, at least) about whether they can be used for mailing to PR.

https://pages.ebay.com/sell/standarddelivery/termsofservice.html

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

@carolinabluelady    Unless something changed recently eBay standard envelope service is not available for Puerto Rico or the other US Protectorates.  

You should block those locations on in you shipping preferences.  

You can set up your shipping preferences and buyer requirements in account settings.
1. Exclude shipping locations
https://www.ebay.com/ship/prf/excludeRegions

2. Block buyers whose primary shipping address is in a location I don't ship to AND block buyers with 2 or more unpaid in 12 months.
https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements

I am going to tag staff to make sure nothing has changed.

Is it possible to make it clearer on the terms of service page that this service is only for the 50 states and the District of Columbia.    Also can it be used for shipping to Alaska and Hawaii or only CONUS.

velvet@ebay   jasmen@ebay 

[carolinabluelady]

In reading the terms and service agreement, it does not mention that it excludes the territories.  It does say within the United States but does not limit it to the continental US.  Based on USPS Domestic postal rates include the territories and its possessions, APOs, FPOs, DPOs.  USPS guidelines for size, shape, etc is the same for all.  I think the only difference would be the requirement of a customs form for 'international' locations for military.

If it is eBay's contract with USPS to not include certain 'domestic' places, then the eBay program shouldn't allow those places to be included or they should tell us in the guidelines specifically that they are not included and for us to take the appropriate actions.

Also, the reason shown for the shipping option being grayed out was not that it wasn't available;  just that there was a problem and I should try later.  Obviously, the buyer was able to choose it.

The order did show Puerto Rico for both the state/province and country in the shipping details, but then eBay requires us to use that address as shown.  

I did go into my 'trading card' policy and excluded the territories.  Think I will go ahead and exclude Alaska/Hawaii and APO/FPO, too.   I'm just a little miffed and wish that eBay would do a better job with their instructions and/or policies.

Thanks for your responses.

[jasmen@ebay]

Thanks for the tag @comics-scifi-collectibles we're more than happy to pass along that feedback for sure! 

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

jasmen@ebay    "Also can it be used for shipping to Alaska and Hawaii or only CONUS."  Are PO boxes okay?

[hobbycenter]

can we use ebay standard envelope for Alaska Hawaii and po box? 

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

@hobbycenter   Let me try tagging a new eBay staff member.   We have a had change in community staff since this question was asked and not answered.  I should have bookmarked it to follow up.   

Can eBay Standard Envelope be used for shipping to Alaska and Hawaii or only CONUS."  Are PO boxes okay?

devon@ebay  elizabeth@ebay   kyle@ebay  

The terms of service doesn't mention any exclusions although I know for sure that protectorates are excluded.    

[kyle@ebay]

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@comics-scifi-collectibles wrote:

@hobbycenter   Let me try tagging a new eBay staff member.   We have a had change in community staff since this question was asked and not answered.  I should have bookmarked it to follow up.   

Can eBay Standard Envelope be used for shipping to Alaska and Hawaii or only CONUS."  Are PO boxes okay?

devon@ebay  elizabeth@ebay   kyle@ebay  

The terms of service doesn't mention any exclusions although I know for sure that protectorates are excluded.    

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Hey @comics-scifi-collectibles our shipping team has confirmed the eBay Standard Envelope does ship to Alaska, Hawaii, and P.O. Boxes.  And you are correct that it does NOT ship to protectorates at this time.  

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

kyle@ebay   I asked back in May of last year if the terms of service could be updated to note that protectorates are not included ( I doubt they ever will be at this special rate).  Can you please pass the message on to the shipping team that having that information in the terms is very important to sellers.  

Terms:  

https://pages.ebay.com/sell/standarddelivery/termsofservice.html

[kyle@ebay]

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@comics-scifi-collectibles wrote:

kyle@ebay   I asked back in May of last year if the terms of service could be updated to note that protectorates are not included ( I doubt they ever will be at this special rate).  Can you please pass the message on to the shipping team that having that information in the terms is very important to sellers.  

Terms:  

https://pages.ebay.com/sell/standarddelivery/termsofservice.html

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Hey @comics-scifi-collectibles you bet!  I've also asked them to include more specifics in the terms and conditions in relation to AK and HI (and P.O. Boxes) too.  

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

kyle@ebay   Thank you.  😀

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.