PO Boxes

[aprildeedee]

Why is it that so many sellers insist on not sending items to PO Boxes. People, like my self have a PO Box because we are not at home during the day to collect any mail, security reasons because mail continually goes missing and some items that are left are damaged by different weather conditions, therefore it make perfectly good sense to have a PO Box. Perhaps sellers could charge fraudulent rates by using couriers etc ???

[curraone]

It is just a fact that some sellers only use couriers - probably because they have negotiated a better price with them than AP.

They are not using "fraudulent prices" - they will charge you what you see in the listing, it is up to you whether you want to buy.

They should say in their listings that they will not send to a PO Box.

Choose a different seller.

[crazyplacecostumes]

No it's usually because a seller can get cheaper freight by using a courier, and in some areas, it's faster by courier than Aussie Post. 

Eg

Shipping from Brisbane to Metro Sydney by our courier - 1 working day

Shipping from Brisbane to Metro Sydney by Aussie Post - 2-4 working days. 

Better for buyer, better for seller to use a courier - but only SOME of the time. 

Personally we never refuse to send to a P O Box because for some people they are more convenient and we like to help our customers. 

[lyndal1838]

If sellers are using couriers they cannot send to a PO box.  The only couriers who can deliver to a PO box are AP's own couriers and StarTrack who are owned by AP.

[phorum_junkie*]

You also have to accept that US sellers will invariably not send to PO boxes as it is a very different system over there and PO boxes are not regulated and no identity has to be shown to use one. That is why US sellers can block anyone with a PO box as their delivery address from buying.

Surely you must have a relative or friend with a street address that you could get the parcels posted to, as long as you change the address in checkout before going to the payment page the seller will never know that you had a PO box.

[jkhey1]

I have a post office box due to not having a postal service in my area. THere are no letter boxes and no postman so we get allocated an Australia post box for mail and deliveries. Why is it when most people use mail bags and not couriers still wont post to my mail address........

[lyndal1838]

Read the answers already given on these boards.  The question has been asked and answered many times.  They will not change just because it is being asked again.

[polly.the.cat]

Here, here, lyndal, .....thought l was going totally crazy there for a sec,  knew l had read all this before.

OP, please stop asking the same old question, over and over.  THE ANSWER WILL NOT CHANGE.

[2106greencat]

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@aprildeedee wrote:
Why is it that so many sellers insist on not sending items to PO Boxes. People, like my self have a PO Box because we are not at home during the day to collect any mail, security reasons because mail continually goes missing and some items that are left are damaged by different weather conditions, therefore it make perfectly good sense to have a PO Box. Perhaps sellers could charge fraudulent rates by using couriers etc ???

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Guess you have never used a courier for shipping ?

The biggest hassle with PO Boxes is simply that alot of buyers don't realise that LARGE items can not be shipped by AP, and other carriers can/will not deliver to POBoxes, also  some AP outlets simply do not have the storage space......

All you need to do is contact the seller and ask if they can send to a PO Box, (if it is an smaller item) then fill in the info at checkout in paypal, it really should not be a huge deal unless you make it one.

[afantiques]

You also have to accept that US sellers will invariably not send to PO boxes as it is a very different system over there and PO boxes are not regulated and no identity has to be shown to use one. That is why US sellers can block anyone with a PO box as their delivery address from buying.

Not really true. US PO box system is a lot more secure than you imply,  probably on a par with the Australian and British systems. When I used one years ago you had to know the combination to open the  box, which was a lot safer than a roadside mailbox.

The US objection is the same as the objection anywhere, and that is that couriers can only deliver to a street address.

Trouble is what happens is that people who use postal services see  courier using sellers saying 'No PO Box' and assume it is somehow unsafe. Then other ignorant sellers see sellers using the 'No PO Box' line and blindly follow tham. It's a herd thing.