eBay doesn't follow AusPost addressing guidelines

[charmony]

I wonder if this is something eBay can address? (pun intended)

Australia Post has guidelines for writing addresses on envelopes. eBay doesn't follow these guidelines, and it seems to me it would be easy enough to fix in their software. It would be so nice if the packing slips and address labels printed correctly. I have to manually paste them into Word and fiddle with them, which becomes quite a task when you're mailing 10-20 items a day.

The worst part is that Australian states are not abbreviated, so we get "South Australia" instead of "SA" and "Australian Capital Territory" instead of "ACT". No Australian would make this mistake so I don't know why eBay does.

Then there's the inclusion of "Australia" as the last line of addresses for items being sent WITHIN the country.

For overseas addresses, eBay insists on printing the word "default" if the user has put their postcode in the wrong place, or in the case of Ireland (for example) if there is no postcode.

Finally, and this is really the fault of users but it's something I always fix before printing - why not have eBay apply Title Case to addresses for those who insist on using all lower case when they fill out their details? (In fact the AusPost guidelines ask for the last line (suburb + state) to be all-caps, if that's not too much to ask.)

So instead of this disaster:

joe blow

123 nice street

suburbia New South Wales 2220

Australia

we would get:

Joe Blow

123 Nice Street

SUBURBIA NSW 2220

The guidelines are here:

http://auspost.com.au/personal/addressing-guidelines.html

[jensmanchester-australia]

I think you should also be targetting PayPal as well.  When I sell an item I am advised by PayPal of the address to send the item to.

No you're not.. The address you get given is the buyers registered eBay address; it shows on the PayPal invoice but the address is actually your default postage address in eBay.. 

The address from Paypal is the address that the Buyer has provided as the delivery address for that particular order. It does not have to be your default postage address on ebay. It can be any address you choose to enter when you go through checkout.

I think you should also be targetting PayPal as well.  When I sell an item I am advised by PayPal of the address to send the item to.  I always address the item exactly as it appears in the PayPal advice.  This includes the use of lower case for names and the inclusion of capital city on addresses to capital city suburbs e.g. "Springvale Melbourne" or "Petersham Sydney".

The eparcel system will not accept this format - it has to be entered the exact way that Australia Post recommend. If the postcode doesn't match the suburb it will also not accept that.

We have to correct approximately 25% of buyers addresses where there are errors in either or both of the suburb and postcodes. It is no wonder so many parcels goes astray with so many buyers not even knowing what their postcode is.

The eparcel system doesn't correct street names so it makes you wonder how many buyers have those details incorrect as well.

[leader-of-the-band]

The eparcel system will not accept this format - it has to be entered the exact way that Australia Post recommend. If the postcode doesn't match the suburb it will also not accept that.

For those that use eparcel this would be a nuisance, but many of us that are casual sellers do not use eparcel or click and send.  I know many casual sellers do use C&S, but many do not.

I hand write all of my satchels, envelopes and boxes.  This means that casual sellers like me can address their items exactly the way the address appears on the PayPal advice with the address to be sent to supplied by the buyer.  I do usually write the capital city in smaller print to avoid confusion, but I have met my PayPal obligation by addressing it exactly as it appears on the payment advice.

[tonalidesigns]

I use a label printer, and take the trouble to correct every address that needs it ... we capitalise first letters, we remove city names where there is a suburb, we replace the ebay generated state with the abbreviatiins and capitalise the last line ... so everything is in line with Oz post. We also cross check postcodes where we have anydoubt.

Yes its a bit of extra wjork, but since we started doing this our delivery times have significantly improved.

[davewil1964]

I can't understand why anybody would use standard satchels when C&S is cheaper and safer. As long as you have a printer and are prepared to spend $1.25 for stock.

A big advantage, as said above, is that you can't put a non-compliant address in. Apart from the suburb/city I've had incorrect postcodes, wrong suburb (and that was to a business address. Luckily the business knew where they are located, according to their website, anyway), so regardless of Paypal I prefer to send goods to where the buyer is, rather than where they think they are.

[the-kazbar]

For those that use eparcel this would be a nuisance, but many of us that are casual sellers do not use eparcel or click and send.  I know many casual sellers do use C&S, but many do not.

I hand write all of my satchels, envelopes and boxes.  This means that casual sellers like me can address their items exactly the way the address appears on the PayPal advice with the address to be sent to supplied by the buyer.  I do usually write the capital city in smaller print to avoid confusion, but I have met my PayPal obligation by addressing it exactly as it appears on the payment advice.

Unless you register every single one of those parcels it makes no difference anyway.

Meeting the PP address guideline won't matter if you can't provide proof of shipment.