eBay

velvet_vintage89 · ‎04-15-2015

I sell to Canada and the US and most recently I sold something to someone in the Northern Mariana Islands which is part of the US. However, I can't ship this to them with Paypal. It doesn't matter which shipping option I select, it just says there is a postal code and province mismatch. I've sent a message to the buyer to confirm they provided the correct address, but I'm suspecting it's an issue with the state of MP since it isn't physically part of the United States. I really don't have time to go to the post office to mail this so does anyone know why Paypal doesn't recognize that MP is a state?

mr.elmwood · ‎04-16-2015

That has happened each time I have had an order from there. I "think", the first time, I figured out a different name as the islands are part of another area. Since then I have forgotten and I do the hand written CN22 and buy the postage at the PO.

Play around with different names. I "think" I remember the Northern Marianas Islands being part of a larger group.

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View solution in original post

lucitabby · ‎04-16-2015

The USPS site does list MP and the 5 digit zipcode should start with 969.

Maybe try again and make sure you have USA and not Canada for the country.

The statement that the province and postal code don't match makes me think you have the country as Canada.

mr.elmwood · ‎04-16-2015

That has happened each time I have had an order from there. I "think", the first time, I figured out a different name as the islands are part of another area. Since then I have forgotten and I do the hand written CN22 and buy the postage at the PO.

Play around with different names. I "think" I remember the Northern Marianas Islands being part of a larger group.

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pierrelebel · ‎04-16-2015

http://www.mongabay.com/igapo/zip_codes/Northern_Mariana_Islands.html

mr.elmwood · ‎04-16-2015

Saipan rings a real loud bell.

Good call Pierre.

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velvet_vintage89 · ‎04-16-2015

I double checked on Paypal and yes the buyers address shows United States and their postal code starts with 969. I think the reason it says postal code and province is because I am shipping from Canada so that is just the "default" warning.

velvet_vintage89 · ‎04-16-2015

Thanks! The buyer's city is Saipan, and their zip code matches what is on that link.

I'll look into if these islands may go by another name.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-16-2015

Try paypal.com/shipnow

Sometimes it will print a label when you can't do it through ebay/paypal.

mr.elmwood · ‎04-16-2015

Replace Marinas with Saipan and see what happens.

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velvet_vintage89 · ‎04-16-2015

Oh I see. Dang, that is not an option in the State drop down. I've looked through it line by line and the only thing close is Northern Mariana Islands (doesn't say anything about Saipan). I did notice there was another country to choose instead of United States. It's US Minor Outlying Islands. But, after a bit of research I concluded that the Northern Mariana Islands isn't included in this. How these people receive international mail is beyond me! Haha. This could just be a limitation or glitch in Paypal.

I think I'll just have to manually fill in a shipping label and pay for it at the post office.

toff3 · ‎04-17-2015

Wicked Angel,

No mystery as to how residents of the Northern Mariana Islands receive their mail. This island group is US territory and has the destination code MP (analogous to NY for New York, CA for California, PR for Puerto Rico, etc.). In any address, the zip code follows MP and the country is USA.. The Northern Mariana Islands fall in Canada Post's US Zone 7.

If PayPal/eBay hasn't made provision for a Northern Mariana Islands address then that is indeed a glitch that should be brought to their attention and fixed.

Tom

38e_avenue · ‎04-17-2015

The buyers from there must be very active recently

I just got an order from Saipan - and I was not able to print the shipping label.

I edited the address - all seems to be OK. The error is definitely on PayPal/Canada Post side.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-17-2015

I edited the address - all seems to be OK.

What did you do when you edited it?

38e_avenue · ‎04-17-2015

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
I edited the address - all seems to be OK.

What did you do when you edited it?

Nothing, I just checked if there is another choice. But all was OK, right city, right destination, right ZIP code, right country.

I quite often edit addresses, mainly to remove too long lines or famous "not provided" province field.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-17-2015

ummm...if you didn't change anything then you didn't really edit it. lol I had thought you had changed something to make the address work so I was curious what you did so that I would know for the future.

toff3 · ‎04-17-2015

PJ,

I don't think 38eavenue means that he got the address in Saipan to work. As I read his previous post, he was unable to get PayPal/eBay to print out the address label.

For some reason PayPal/eBay seems to believe he's shipping to a Canadian address as they tell him the province and postal code don't match. Well, it's not a province, it's a territory and it's not a postal code, it's a zip code. Maybe North Mariana Islands is not on the PayPal/eBay dropdown menu. It is on the Canada Post dropdown menu for US states and territories.

Tom

38e_avenue · ‎04-17-2015

@toff3 wrote:
PJ,
I don't think 38eavenue means that he got the address in Saipan to work. As I read his previous post, he was unable to get PayPal/eBay to print out the address label.
For some reason PayPal/eBay seems to believe he's shipping to a Canadian address as they tell him the province and postal code don't match. Well, it's not a province, it's a territory and it's not a postal code, it's a zip code. Maybe North Mariana Islands is not on the PayPal/eBay dropdown menu. It is on the Canada Post dropdown menu for US states and territories.

Tom

No, it didn't work finally. I went to the post office today and shipped from there as a letter, so not ZIP code was checked by the clerk, neither. North Mariana Islands is on the PayPal dropdown menu (look at the pic) - but it didn't work. I looked for something else, but it matched perfectly - except it didn't work.

I shipped also to Guam several times (not far from North Mariana Islands). The address was very similar and I printed the label without any problem.

And writing about provinces I meant another cases.

38e_avenue · ‎04-17-2015

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
ummm...if you didn't change anything then you didn't really edit it. lol I had thought you had changed something to make the address work so I was curious what you did so that I would know for the future.

I did play a little bit, shortening the ZIP code (from xxxxx-xxxx to xxxxx), and looking for another US territory, but I didn't find anything to replace the North Mariana Islands. But nothing worked.

Finally, I shipped is as an over-sized letter (I had to go to the post office). For now - I think - this is the only working option.

toff3 · ‎04-17-2015

38e_ave,

I presume you originally wished to follow Canada Post's ridiculous rules and ship via Light Packet. Why didn't you do so at the PO?

What was the difference in postage using oversize letter-post? In your favour or Canada Post's? Just curious...

Tom

38e_avenue · ‎04-18-2015

@toff3 wrote:
38e_ave,

I presume you originally wished to follow Canada Post's ridiculous rules and ship via Light Packet.

Why didn't you do so at the PO?

Laziness. No need to fill out the custom form

What was the difference in postage using oversize letter-post? In your favour or Canada Post's? Just curious...

The LP would cost 5 dollars. For the letter I paid 3.40.