Sellers not posting to PO Boxes

[aquacove]

Why doesnt Ebay warn buyers a seller will not post to a PO box?

You only find out AFTER you have agreed to buy the item then you have to fight to get order cancelled.

The listing should clearly state that the seller doesnt post to PO Boxes as it is a term of the contract.

The present system where you only find out that the seller wont post to you after you buy the item is NOT user friendly at all and NOT full disclosure by Ebay.

[tazzieterror]

tippy, may I respectully submit the following as evidence that shipping via GSP doesn't necessarily exclude delivery to PO boxes...this was my one and only GSP purchase, which came from the USA, and it was indeed shipped to my PO box here.

[*tippy*toes*]

Of course you can respectively submit! Was it a small item? If so it may have been ok as they would have passed it onto Aust Post to deliver. If it was a large heavy item it would probably be delivered via courier, so it probably wouldn't be allowed then. My large heavy items came via courier. The small items came with AP. I don't have a PO box.

If it was a large heavy item, that they allowed to go to a PO box,  then I'll have no choice but to eat my words!

[tazzieterror]

Roughly 85cm x 65cm x 48cm and weighing a bit over 17kg.

According to AP's website, it actually exceeded the maximum girth for an international parcel - after collecting it, I remember thinking it could get interesting if I had to return it:

"No you can't send that through us - it's too large."
"But you delivered it to me!"

[tiggywink92]

can i ask why sellers dont send to po box addresses?  Is it a risk and why?  Is there no seller protection?

[tangledstitches]

Your answer is in lyndal's and davewill's posts.

[countessalmirena]

Hi, tiggywink92,

I know that seller risk and seller protection are hot issues for you at the moment!

But no, sending to a PO Box address does not void seller protection.

The main reasons (already mentioned on this thread, but I'm wrapping it up into a nice neat parcel here) are:

• some sellers use a courier; couriers won't deliver to PO Box addresses because AP would charge them a considerable fee for doing so (except for StarTrack (a business of Australia Post) couriers);
• some sellers make a decision to exclude PO boxes because there may be a perception that PO boxes are not safe;
• quite a few overseas sellers (particularly in the US) do not send to PO Box addresses as such addresses in the US can be used without any ID requirements, an ideal situation for fraudulent shoppers (hence US sellers will want to minimise their risk of sending to an online shoplifter); it is of course very different here in Australia, where the usual ID is required at one's local Australia Post office when opening a PO box;
• if an item is coming from overseas, the method used by the seller will dictate whether a PO Box address can be accepted as the delivery address. It's not just about risk reduction for the o/s seller, but shipment method. Couriers can't deliver to PO Box addresses - as already stated in point 1.

Some sellers will send to PO Box addresses. Some won't. Individual seller choices and/or delivery address options for their shipment/postage methods.

[newbies2000]

ebay should have a filter option to filter out sellers that don't send to a PO Box, i get tired of clicking on the postage details to check.

[stevbak]

oh well,,,"Simple",,,the sellers will loose a lot of Business ..."won't they" which makes "Bad Business",,There loss......

[davewil1964]

Very helpful additional information, TWO AND A HALF YEARS down the track.

[4channel]

Helpful info is still helpful and somewhere along the line stevbak's post will come in handy.