why does Ebay not require the sellers to state on their listings on the home page that they do not ship to PO boxs?i
EBay does allow sellers to Block some domestic US addresses. But the three I've noticed are Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico (off the mainland, with high shipping rates) and APO (military) addresses.
But there is no such Block on PO boxes.
It's a sign that your seller copied his Terms of Sale from a much older listing, probably by a US seller who shipped using a courier like UPS.
This should be taken as a warning that the seller is not paying attention to current online practices.
The reason back in the 20th century that some US sellers used couriers was that the couriers would pickup packages for their customers.
And couriers could not deliver to USPS post offices, especially since the posties would /could not sign for packages.
Now throw in the normal American state of paranoia.
Since then, USPS and Canada Post both have instituted home pickups, and couriers can in some circumstances, deliver to PO boxes.
PO boxes are the safest address an online seller can have. Either the buyer has a key, or she has to show her Notice to the mailclerk and show ID to get her parcel.
Community mailboxes are not as secure, since posties can make mistakes and put the key to the parcel box in the wrong box all too often.
Here's a workaround.
Instead of
Jordon3302
PO Box 123
Main St Post Office
Prairie Centre SK
Use
Jordon3302
456 Main St - Unit 123
Prairie Centre SK
I sometime google the addresses of my customers, because I am bored and nosy, and it was remarkable how many "apartment" addresses were in strip malls with no housing but with a post office, or even in standalone PO buildings.
