buying then seller doesnt send to po boxes

[naughty1atnight]

Im getting tired of going all the way to locking in or comitting to buy and a message comes up "seller doesnt send to po boxes" . This gives the seller the option to place an unpaid item on my account. I contact the seller with no prevail. The advertisment of the item doesnt nesasarily state the item doesnt send to po boxes either. Any ideahs on what to do with my unpaid items ?

[trulyspecialgoodies]

You must contact eBay and explain why the items remain unpaid so that you don't receive any strikes against your name. In future you should message sellers before buying anything to ask if they send to PO Boxes. IMO they're really silly not to do so as it's the safest way of ensuring that items are received by the buyer - I love PO Box addresses

[boggo58]

I bought an item and they only sent to street addresses, I asked why and they said its safer. Which is **bleep**.

[digital*ghost]

Some sellers use couriers, which can not deliver to PO boxes, so in some cases you can check the postage info in the listing and can know whether or not a PO box is out of the question.

In some countries, the requirements for acquiring a PO box are a lot less than they are here (where you need 100 points of ID), so it is like an anonymous, unverified address and some sellers will not post to them because of that.

What eBay really need to fix is when and how you're notified about the seller's shipping restrictions...

I prefer the majority of my items to go to my PO box and it's my primary address on file with ebay - I get this warning pop up before purchase confirmation:

but -stupidly - only when I've bought the item before and already know that it can't be sent to a PO box (it's not as huge an issue for me, as I can still use my home address if absolutely necessary. Do you have a street address, workplace or relative's address, to use?)

[helvee]

We try to avoid posting to PO Boxes as some of our items have been damaged whilst they sit on the floor because they are too large to be placed in a mail box. The items delivered to a physical address have not been damaged.

[jerryman12a]

What rubbish , have you ever seen how a parcel is (man) handled during any stage of it's transport to delivery ? Being at a PO waiting to be collected means they are either stored on shelves or in drawers , large boxes may sit on the floor but I'd prefer that then a large box sitting on my front lawn 

[bmwkim165]

I own a post office (really!) and we have items delivered to our PO boxholders all the time via couriers.  Just use the physical street address of the PO and just make sure your PO box number is added to your name- should look like this-

Jane Smith Box 107

Pyrmont Post Shop

Harris Street

Pyrmont NSW 2007

Give it a try.  The ONLY reason couriers don't deliver to a PO box is they don't get paid unless you sign. Really.  

[lyndal1838]

I am very surprised to see you say that bmwkim165.

From a courier's point of view we are NOT ALLOWED to deliver to post offices unless we are delivering on behalf of Australia Post Couriers, Aae or Startrack and even that is discouraged because Australia Post now charges the companies for every parcel that is left at a PO....something like $15 per parcel I believe.

[jerryman12a]

I wonder how that works for addresses that do not have mail delivery . All our mail goes to the PO . If AP was allowed to charge a fee for parcels left at a PO even when AP does not deliver to street addresses then that would be manipulating a service to their advantage .

[lyndal1838]

Jerry, my comment is in regard to COURIERS not leaving parcels at the PO.  It has nothing to do with AP not delivering parcels to a PO Box.

The whole idea of using couriers is that they do deliver to addresses that have no Australia Post street delivery.