Payment with a PO BOX

[ncaissie]

The check out process is messed up. AFTER you hit COMMIT TO PURCHASE is says "THIS ITEM CAN NOT SHIP TO PO BOX" How messed is that? I live in a small town and EVERYONE has to use a PO BOX because they don't go Door to Door. PLEASE CORRECT THIS!!!!

I know I can contact the seller and have the order cancelled but this takes time ties up my money and looks bad on my account. You need to verify addresses BEFORE the COMMIT button. It is just common sense. Does Ebay read these or will I need to call them?

[femmefan1946]

Let's start with the reason some sellers don't ship to PO boxes.

In the US many sellers use UPS or other couriers for delivery because at the turn of the millennium couriers offered fast, tracked shipping with free home pickup, which was not true of the USPS. (That has changed.)

However, couriers at that time, nearly 25 years ago, could not deliver to PO boxes because the PO staff would not sign for the delivery. (That has changed.)

And lazy sellers have been copying the refusal every since.

It's not an eBay problem. It's a Seller problem.

What you can do is change your address to "look like" a street address.

If your post box is #123 RR# 5 Elbow SK S1A 2B3, change it to

Unit 123

456 Any Road

RR#5

Elbow SK S1A2B3.

PO boxes are the safest address for deliveries. No porch theft,clean dry storage of shipments, presenting ID to pick up the parcel.

But try to convince an American of.... anything really.

this takes time ties up my money and looks bad on my account.

Yes it ties up your money-- unless my workaround is accepted.

But having a transaction cancelled for 'bad address' has no effect on your buying account.

BTW, because I am a busybody and easily bored, I look up most of the locations I ship to on Google Maps.

About a third of the US addresses are to some sort of mailbox handler (PO, MailboxesRUS, etc), although the label didn't indicate that.

[ncaissie]

Hi
Thanks for the info.

I live in Canada and not the US.
My point is if Ebay has the PO Box error handler. Why can't they put it Before the Commit button and not after?
I recall getting that warning before a few times.

Thanks for the unit tip.

Norm

[momcqueen]

If the seller-initiated block occurred after Commit to Purchase but before payment was accepted, your money is safe. As femmfan says, alter your Primary shipping address to include both your postal box and the place where you actually live. Emergency services providers know your address based on where you reside, they're not coming with cardiac-arrest paddles to the superbox on the side of a road. So use your physical address first, and add the rest on the next line. Example:

Joe Kool

97123 Cloverleaf Road

Box 34 Unit 567 RR3

Picture Butte, MB  R0T 0Y3

Alternatively, you could ship it to your workplace, or your partner's workplace or your sibling's house as a Secondary Address. The importune thing is that you make the change to your actual account in order to facilitate your pathway though checkout, don't try adding it after the fact, it will only red flag your seller like you're trying to pull some kind of fast one. 

[marnotom!]

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wrote:

My point is if Ebay has the PO Box error handler. Why can't they put it Before the Commit button and not after?  I recall getting that warning before a few times.

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Is this item being forwarded through the Global Shipping Program?

[reallynicestamps]

I live in Canada and not the US.

The point is that there was a historical reason why US sellers would/could not ship to PO boxes.

But later, lazy sellers copied their Terms of Sale holus bolus, without any understanding of why those few would not ship to PO Boxes.

The actual destination is irrelevant.

The mistaken choice is the seller's.