Do US sellers no longer ship to Canadian PO Boxes?

[scootersdelight]

I use a PO Box/Flex Delivery address for parcels to avoid theft from my doorstep. However, the last few times I've considered buying an item from a US seller whose listing doesn't indicate that they're using the Global Shipping Program (which I know doesn't send to PO Boxes), when I've entered my PO Box address at checkout, I get an error message saying "This seller does not ship to this address."  Is this a new eBay policy for international sellers? Should I check with a seller beforehand as to whether they'll send to PO Boxes? Has anyone else experienced this?

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@scootersdelight wrote:

I use a PO Box/Flex Delivery address for parcels to avoid theft from my doorstep. However, the last few times I've considered buying an item from a US seller whose listing doesn't indicate that they're using the Global Shipping Program (which I know doesn't send to PO Boxes), when I've entered my PO Box address at checkout, I get an error message saying "This seller does not ship to this address."  Is this a new eBay policy for international sellers? Should I check with a seller beforehand as to whether they'll send to PO Boxes? Has anyone else experienced this?

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@scootersdelight 

devon@ebay  Can you address this issue please? As a side the concerns with eIS seem to be piling up. Majority of the new discussion posts as of late on the ca board.

[marnotom!]

@scootersdelight, what is the shipping method stated in the “Shipping” section of the listing or in the Item Description? Is there an exception for PO Boxes stated in the “Ships to” section of the listing?

[marnotom!]

At this point, @lotzofuniquegoodies, we don’t have anything to address as we don’t know the shipping method or if post office boxes were excluded by the seller.

[scootersdelight]

The item that I purchased, which is being sent to my home address, uses eBay International Shipping, with duties and taxes paid at checkout. The seller does ship to Canada, but there are no provisions in the listing for PO Boxes.

I also checked the earlier listing that I decided to pass on, and that seller also uses eBay International Shipping and doesn't list any exceptions for PO Boxes.

I hope this is helpful.

[scootersdelight]

According to the eBay International Shipping Program Buyer Terms and Conditions page (https://pages.ebay.com/internationalshippingprogram/buyer/terms/), dated April 18, 2024:

"The delivery address that you specify must be within the destination jurisdiction and must be a valid and complete delivery address. The delivery address that you specify may not be a Post Office (P.O. Box), Army or Fleet Post Office."

So it looks as though this is indeed current eBay policy for international shipments.

I did recently purchase a small item from a US seller that will be sent to my home address, but it looks as though for the foreseeable future I'll be sticking within Canada for any larger purchases.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@marnotom! wrote:
@scootersdelight, what is the shipping method stated in the “Shipping” section of the listing or in the Item Description? Is there an exception for PO Boxes stated in the “Ships to” section of the listing?

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If eIS chooses to use DHL/UPS/??? for end of line deliveries to Canada that IS a problem because in practice the only company that has access to  PO boxes is Canada Post. In many centres porch pirates is a major problem. It needs to be less of a grab bag as to who eIS is using before a buyer commits to purchasing and finding out there will be problems either with delivery or super high customs fees.

As per @scootersdelight this confirms the above.  "The delivery address that you specify must be within the destination jurisdiction and must be a valid and complete delivery address. The delivery address that you specify may not be a Post Office (P.O. Box), Army or Fleet Post Office."

[marnotom! · Accepted solution]

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@scootersdelight wrote:

According to the eBay International Shipping Program Buyer Terms and Conditions page (https://pages.ebay.com/internationalshippingprogram/buyer/terms/), dated April 18, 2024:

"The delivery address that you specify must be within the destination jurisdiction and must be a valid and complete delivery address. The delivery address that you specify may not be a Post Office (P.O. Box), Army or Fleet Post Office."

So it looks as though this is indeed current eBay policy for international shipments.

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"eBay International Shipping" (or "eIS") in this context is the confusingly-named international forwarding service that's replaced the Global Shipping Program in the United States.  (The GSP is still a "thing" in the UK.)  As with the GSP, eIS is not used by all US sellers who ship out of the United States.  You may find some sellers who still ship directly to Canada using the US Postal Service and those sellers' shipments would be able to be shipped to a Canadian post office box.

There's no "policy" prohibiting sellers from shipping to foreign PO boxes, @scootersdelight.  It's just how eIS operates, just like the GSP had its own way of operating.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@scootersdelight 

As a side for sellers in Canada have access to the following setting.

For US sellers it looks like this:

So it is possible PO Box being checked off by seller could be what is causing the message flag you saw. 

[reallynicestamps]

If your mailbox was UPS and the eIS used DHL or FedEx as a last mile carrier, would that count as a "PO box" or do they only discriminate against Canada Post.
I recognize that PO workers are not required to accept/sign for courier shipments addressed to a PO box, since they are not the owner of the PO box.

[marnotom!]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

If your mailbox was UPS and the eIS used DHL or FedEx as a last mile carrier, would that count as a "PO box" or do they only discriminate against Canada Post?

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A UPS mailbox would be a "UPS box" and not a "post office box."  It appears that addresses for them are designed to look like street addresses:

https://promo.theupsstore.ca/mailboxes/

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@marnotom! wrote:

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

If your mailbox was UPS and the eIS used DHL or FedEx as a last mile carrier, would that count as a "PO box" or do they only discriminate against Canada Post?

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A UPS mailbox would be a "UPS box" and not a "post office box."  It appears that addresses for them are designed to look like street addresses:

https://promo.theupsstore.ca/mailboxes/

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@marnotom! 

@reallynicestamps 

This would also be a potential problem for buyers who live on rural properties with community boxes. As for their physical address many have secure gates. Not all with intercoms. 

– UPS cannot deliver to a P.O. Box number. Packages and pallets require a street address including apartment/suite/unit number and the Receiver's telephone number. – A Rural Route number is acceptable if the Receiver's full name and telephone number are clearly marked on all Packages and pallets.

Getting something delivered to an apt or condo with a mail room can even be challenging when a courier is involved. (CP would be the only other outside party with keys). Many drivers are no longer patient enough to ring an intercom. Why from a personal perspective couriers should be a last resort except they seem to be the default method when using eIS.

[devon@ebay]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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@scootersdelight wrote:

I use a PO Box/Flex Delivery address for parcels to avoid theft from my doorstep. However, the last few times I've considered buying an item from a US seller whose listing doesn't indicate that they're using the Global Shipping Program (which I know doesn't send to PO Boxes), when I've entered my PO Box address at checkout, I get an error message saying "This seller does not ship to this address."  Is this a new eBay policy for international sellers? Should I check with a seller beforehand as to whether they'll send to PO Boxes? Has anyone else experienced this?

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@scootersdelight 

devon@ebay  Can you address this issue please? As a side the concerns with eIS seem to be piling up. Majority of the new discussion posts as of late on the ca board.

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Hi @lotzofuniquegoodies! Just as @scootersdelight shared from our help page a buyer must use a valid address and PO Boxes cannot be used through the eIS program. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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devon@ebay wrote:

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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@scootersdelight wrote:

I use a PO Box/Flex Delivery address for parcels to avoid theft from my doorstep. However, the last few times I've considered buying an item from a US seller whose listing doesn't indicate that they're using the Global Shipping Program (which I know doesn't send to PO Boxes), when I've entered my PO Box address at checkout, I get an error message saying "This seller does not ship to this address."  Is this a new eBay policy for international sellers? Should I check with a seller beforehand as to whether they'll send to PO Boxes? Has anyone else experienced this?

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@scootersdelight 

devon@ebay  Can you address this issue please? As a side the concerns with eIS seem to be piling up. Majority of the new discussion posts as of late on the ca board.

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Hi @lotzofuniquegoodies! Just as @scootersdelight shared from our help page a buyer must use a valid address and PO Boxes cannot be used through the eIS program. 

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devon@ebay 

@scootersdelight 

The error message the buyer sees is not super helpful. "This buyer does not ship to this address." It might be better for it to state does not ship to PO boxes and the buyer could try to arrange somehting else at that point vs having to go through a major process to confirm this is the problem. With the postal system PO boxes are not a problem in Canada. They become a problem when unknown couriers (pre purchase) become involved. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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devon@ebay wrote:

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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@scootersdelight wrote:

I use a PO Box/Flex Delivery address for parcels to avoid theft from my doorstep. However, the last few times I've considered buying an item from a US seller whose listing doesn't indicate that they're using the Global Shipping Program (which I know doesn't send to PO Boxes), when I've entered my PO Box address at checkout, I get an error message saying "This seller does not ship to this address."  Is this a new eBay policy for international sellers? Should I check with a seller beforehand as to whether they'll send to PO Boxes? Has anyone else experienced this?

---

@scootersdelight 

devon@ebay  Can you address this issue please? As a side the concerns with eIS seem to be piling up. Majority of the new discussion posts as of late on the ca board.

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Hi @lotzofuniquegoodies! Just as @scootersdelight shared from our help page a buyer must use a valid address and PO Boxes cannot be used through the eIS program. 

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devon@ebay 

@scootersdelight 

The error message the buyer sees is not super helpful. "This buyer does not ship to this address." It might be better for it to state does not ship to PO boxes and the buyer could try to arrange somehting else at that point vs having to go through a major process to confirm this is the problem. With the postal system PO boxes are not a problem in Canada. They become a problem when unknown couriers (pre purchase) become involved. 

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devon@ebay 

As point of reference. Undated.  This issue is making life difficult for a large number of Canadian consumers. 

[reallynicestamps]

Many suburban and rural  buyers have only Community mailbox postal addresses.

Noting that a physical address will be necessary will help sellers complete sales

Or using Canada Post as the last mile carrier of course.

[fh991586]

A Community mailbox isn't a postal address (or a PO box): it's a way for Canada Post to not deliver directly to home addresses. The # on the Community mailboxes are not used by the senders, as only canada Post or the recipient know which one it is. Therefore, even if someone uses a community mailbox as a client of Canada Post, it doesn't mean it can't receive other deliveries to its actual home address. This is just a way for Canada Post to cut corners and save money on deliveries, bypassing the last strech of individual homes.

[regs43]

My mailing address is a PO Box and if I use my Home address to bypass ebays  po box bypass and it gets sent through Canada Post I get a nice stamp on the mail saying "address mail to your PO Box" and angry postal workers (they know me so likely not that mad but still extra work for them)

[mckenna0913]

My mailing address is a P.O box at the post office, not community box. Depending on where I order from I can put just the P.O box number as my street address, street address + P.O Box, street address + "apartment", or the post office address with my box number/"apartment" marked on it.  Try playing aroung with how your address is setup and I'm sure one of those will work.