Seller wont send to PO Box

[cunniaan]

I've just encountered two sellers that don't say anything about not sending to PO Box anywhere in their listing & you only find this out once you go to buy the item.

Then you have to ask then if you can cancel the order.

Not good enough. They send the items by post anyhow, so I don't see what the problem is from their end.

But if it was in their listing that they don't send to PO Box I wouldn't buy from them & therefore wouldn't have to ask to cancel the order.

How can this be avoided?

[4channel]

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@tazzieterror wrote:

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@4channel wrote:

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Hi cunniaan, I'm glad you have brought this up. I have to say (from memory)  that I have never encountered a seller that won't send to a P.O. Box. (Oh execpt one in an annoying GSP situation) It should be up to the seller to state clearly on their page, "I DO NOT SEND TO A P.O. BOX" and if they don't put it on the page, they should make a reasonable effort to send to a P.O. box.

You have been inconvinenced by a seller who should have stated their policy clear. They didn't make it clear!

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Looks 4channel has returned to their non-sensical ways!

Seller doesn't need to state anything anywhere, as postage exclusions are shown *GASP* under the postage tab on the listing. You have erred in characterising this seller's policy as unclear.

What is unclear is how you could not be aware of this despite nearly two decades on eBay!

Also, I hope you feel special as countess went to the trouble of rubricating for you in her response above! You are fortunate!!

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*SIGH* here we go again with more of the more.   I have seen on more than a few occasions buyers being opset due to having been caught out by sellers not having clear instructions on their page or not having any indication whatsover that they don't post to P.O. boxes. I have also seen sellers who have clear instructions at the bottom of their page or elswhere stating that they DO NOT post to certain destinations or countries.

It takes no effort to add this to a page.

[tazzieterror]

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@4channel wrote:

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*SIGH* here we go again with more of the more.   I have seen on more than a few occasions buyers being opset due to having been caught out by sellers not having clear instructions on their page or not having any indication whatsover that they don't post to P.O. boxes. I have also seen sellers who have clear instructions at the bottom of their page or elswhere stating that they DO NOT post to certain destinations or countries.

It takes no effort to add this to a page.

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If when checking out a buyer cannot have their order sent to a PO box address, it is because the seller has excluded PO boxes in their postage preferences for that listing.  When this is done for a listing, the PO box exclusion is shown under the 'Postage and payments' tab of the listing. There is no need to replicate this information in the 'Description' tab, because, funnily enough, that area is for the description, and the 'Postage and payments' tab is for postage information.

A buyer should be checking the 'Postage and payments' tab as a matter of course anyway, as it's not only where they would learn about shipping exclusions and options, but also the seller's handling time and returns policy - standard things for a buyer to look at before making a purchase.

"I have seen on more than a few occasions buyers being opset due to having been caught out by sellers not having clear instructions on their page..."

The buyers haven't been "caught out", they've been lazy and not bothered to check.  Sellers don't need to replicate information already given under the correct section of the listing.

"It takes no effort to add this to a page."

It takes even less effort for a buyer to click on the 'Postage and payments' tab of the listing to view info about postage, payments, handling time, and return policy.

Stop defending lazy buyers, 4channel.

[brerrabbit585]

Hey, let's repeat everything in the description. Don't worry about it clogging everything up so that buyers can't find the actual description of the item. We could tell buyers what the postage will cost, as well as the price, and everything else they're too lazy or incompetent to find for themselves.

[*tippy*toes*]

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@cunniaan wrote:

I've just encountered two sellers that don't say anything about not sending to PO Box anywhere in their listing & you only find this out once you go to buy the item.

Then you have to ask then if you can cancel the order.

Not good enough. They send the items by post anyhow, so I don't see what the problem is from their end.

But if it was in their listing that they don't send to PO Box I wouldn't buy from them & therefore wouldn't have to ask to cancel the order.

How can this be avoided?

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I doubt the OP will be back, but for the benefit of others, if the item is small enough to come through regular post, create a (free) My Post account and use the Parcel Collect option. That way the parcel is sent to the PO, it just won't be in your PO box. It's easy peasy. If you live in the city, there is also the Parcel Locker option.

Parcel collect also means you can get the parcel sent to any PO in Australia. If you are going to be away, you can get it sent to the PO that is local to where you're staying. You will have a unique Parcel Collect number which stays the same, just the PO address changes. You can also intercept a parcel and get it redirected if you have to go away urgently.

Of course, if the parcel is coming via courier, then none of the above applies.

[cunniaan]

Thanks to you all for your replies.

I've found where it's listed that PO Boxes are excluded, right at the botton of all the exclusions.

So even though it states on the front page of the listing that they post to Australia (or Worldwide) you have to click into the exclusions & at the very end it'll have PO Boxes excluded.

To me this isn't that obvious, but now I know where to look I'll check that from now on & avoid those sellers who exclude PO Boxes.

[cezm]

I have a PO Box.

I have found that if I use the cart, it will let me know if the seller won't post to a PO Box. I have the option of changing my address or not proceeding with the purchase.

[glenbankloel]

Hello countessa welcome back, hope all is well at least for a while.

[4channel]

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@tazzieterror wrote:

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@4channel wrote:

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*SIGH* here we go again with more of the more.   I have seen on more than a few occasions buyers being opset due to having been caught out by sellers not having clear instructions on their page or not having any indication whatsover that they don't post to P.O. boxes. I have also seen sellers who have clear instructions at the bottom of their page or elswhere stating that they DO NOT post to certain destinations or countries.

It takes no effort to add this to a page.

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.....................................

Stop defending lazy buyers, 4channel.

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Just becuse some buyers don't see where it says ....  "I don't send to P.O. boxes" (When and if it's there) doesn't make them lazy.

If I was still selling and for some reason I didn't send to P.O. boxes or a certain area, I'd make it clear for the buyers. Doesn't take much effort.

[4channel]

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@cunniaan wrote:

Thanks to you all for your replies.

I've found where it's listed that PO Boxes are excluded, right at the botton of all the exclusions.

So even though it states on the front page of the listing that they post to Australia (or Worldwide) you have to click into the exclusions & at the very end it'll have PO Boxes excluded.

To me this isn't that obvious, but now I know where to look I'll check that from now on & avoid those sellers who exclude PO Boxes.

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That' why you missed it because it was right at the bottom of where you wouldn't see it. Sometimes this works in favour for a seller when they want to attract bidders and have a bit of  excitement going.  And speaking of excitement, sometimes when a buyer or collector sees something they realy want and get a bit excited about it, they won't see a disclaimer, an exlcusion or a warning when it's in the fine print or in a place not so obvious.

Cunniaan, you got caught out because it was in a not so visible place on the page.

[tazzieterror]

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@4channel wrote:

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@tazzieterror wrote:

Stop defending lazy buyers, 4channel.

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Just becuse some buyers don't see where it says ....  "I don't send to P.O. boxes" (When and if it's there) doesn't make them lazy.

If I was still selling and for some reason I didn't send to P.O. boxes or a certain area, I'd make it clear for the buyers. Doesn't take much effort.

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Price, quantity, title, postage cost, seller name, etc etc are all consistently displayed in the same parts of the page as those from any other listing. Likewise return policy, shipping service options, handling time, and....postage exclusions!

Arguing that a seller is somehow making life difficult for buyers by not manually transposing any of this information into their item description is backwards. Your argument is backwards.