Bidder is asking me to ship outside the USA

GirlieShoppe

Formerly HermesNewbie
O.G.
Jun 2, 2008
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A bidder on one of my auctions just messaged to ask how much I would charge for 2-day shipping to Guam. My auction states that the shipping method is USPS Priority Mail and that I only ship within the USA, which I communicated to the bidder. He/she then followed up by saying that shipping to Guam is the same as shipping within the States because it is a US Territory. I understand that, but I still prefer shipping within the USA, as the few times I have shipped out of the county there were issues and I just decided it was more trouble than it's worth. Once I shipped to an overseas US military address and it took a very long time to reach the buyer, who had become very impatient. Has anyone here had any trouble shipping to Guam? Am I being overly cautious?
 
IMHO you are not being "overly cautious"! I would not ship to Guam. Your listing clearly states Shipping to US only. You might want to change that to "48 contiguous States". Because shipping to Hawaii & Alaska can also be quite expensive.
If, per chance, this transaction goes bad, the shipping alone could be quite expensive for you. I would stick to my guns on this one dear. :yes:
 
Do you have your preferences set to exclude buyers from outside the U.S. or do you just say it in your listing?
It isn't enough to just say that you don't ship somewhere......you have to go in and manually set your preferences .
 
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Do you have your preferences set to exclude buyers from outside the U.S. or do you just say it in your listing?
It isn't enough to just say that you don't ship somewhere......you have to go in and manually set your preferences .

I did manually set it, but the potential buyer was still able to bid. Their location is set as Guam, United States.
 
IMHO you are not being "overly cautious"! I would not ship to Guam. Your listing clearly states Shipping to US only. You might want to change that to "48 contiguous States". Because shipping to Hawaii & Alaska can also be quite expensive.
If, per chance, this transaction goes bad, the shipping alone could be quite expensive for you. I would stick to my guns on this one dear. :yes:

Thanks for your feedback! Something definitely feels off about this bidder. Can I cancel the bid?
 
I feel sorry for your potential buyer. Guam is part of the US. I would have no problem shipping to Guam since I use USPS. I've never shipped there but I've shipped to APOs and Puerto Rico. It's exactly the same as anywhere else in the US, and a lot easier than APO for which you have to do extra paper work. With APO, you have no idea where the package is actually going so it can take a long time.

I also can't understand why people won't ship to Alaska or Hawaii. If you use calculated shipping, it should calculate whatever it actually costs. I use a flat rate shipping charge. For me, being in California, it is cheaper to ship to Hawaii than New York.

Let me stress - Guam is not outside of the US!!
 
Guam and APO/FPO addresses are US *domestic* addresses, which is why they were able to bid. Most systems recognize these addresses as US domestic addresses. For these addresses Priority will almost always still go air and arrive within 3-5 business days. Parcel post, DHS, UPS and Fed Ex almost always end up on a boat and can take 4-8 weeks or more. So, for example. I have an APO address. Ipsy uses UPS so I get my Ipsy pouch a month late without fail as it goes by boat to get here. Sephora, Nature's Gift and most Amazon purchases get here within a week.

I also recommend changing your terms to continental US / 48 contiguous states as well if you'd prefer not to ship to these territories and specifically state you will not honor US territories, outliers (hawaii/alaska) or APO/FPO addresses. Because despite not being physically attached, those locations are actually part of the "US" and fall under domestic shipping when saying "US Only".

That said, ultimately its your choice where you're willing to send. It may be "overly cautious", but its not unreasonable and there are good reasons for not wanting to do it. Unreasonable buyers like the individual you mentioned with military addresses that can't get over the fact that sometimes mail gets sent by boat and takes a while for example. . If you don't want to ship somewhere, don't do so.
 
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I'm not even sure if you can hold someone to having to be in the "continental US" or "lower 48." I believe the settings for domestic shipping cover the entire country, which includes all 50 states as well as US territories.

Stating that you'll only ship (wherever) may not be enforceable, just as saying you won't ship to newbies, buyers with fewer than a certain feedback score, etc.
 
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Guam and APO/FPO addresses are US *domestic* addresses, which is why they were able to bid. Most systems recognize these addresses as US domestic addresses. For these addresses Priority will almost always still go air and arrive within 3-5 business days. Parcel post, DHS, UPS and Fed Ex almost always end up on a boat and can take 4-8 weeks or more. So, for example. I have an APO address. Ipsy uses UPS so I get my Ipsy pouch a month late without fail as it goes by boat to get here. Sephora, Nature's Gift and most Amazon purchases get here within a week.

I also recommend changing your terms to continental US / 48 contiguous states as well if you'd prefer not to ship to these territories and specifically state you will not honor US territories, outliers (hawaii/alaska) or APO/FPO addresses. Because despite not being physically attached, those locations are actually part of the "US" and fall under domestic shipping when saying "US Only".

That said, ultimately its your choice where you're willing to send. It may be "overly cautious", but its not unreasonable and there are good reasons for not wanting to do it. Unreasonable buyers like the individual you mentioned with military addresses that can't get over the fact that sometimes mail gets sent by boat and takes a while for example. . If you don't want to ship somewhere, don't do so.

I'm an Air Force officer in South Korea. I've been active duty for almost 16 years. I was a Navy brat for most of my life as well. Or so it seems. Lol.

I've been deployed, I've lived in Saudi, I've been stationed in Europe. They finally got me for Asia.

Unless the package is huge, mail to the APO AP (Pacific) and AE (Europe) goes from either Chicago, San Francisco, or New York (APs are California ZIPs, AEs are New York ZIPs) goes from the collection point to us via AIR, usually military airlift or government contract flight, not by ship. I can get mail from the East Coast, where my husband is at the moment as my assignment is unaccompanied, here in Korea in 10 days. I've had items from Amazon show up in four. No kidding. (When it says the item shipped from the West Coast, I know it'll be here crazy quick!!)

I ordered a small set of shelves via Amazon Prime that arrived in five days and were sent via Air through Incheon Intl in Seoul. Big ICN sticker on the side of the box. God bless Prime. That's certainly the exception!

My dad did two tours in Hawaii; I was born there and then we later returned there. Even in the late seventies and early eighties, mail got there pretty quick. (Commissary restock, which pretty much always cane by boat back then, was another story. Lol) Not like it does now, but impressive for the era.

Our delivery, if delayed, is usually held up due to airlift missions, contingency operations, congestion (like this time of year), or weather. As the saying goes on the wall of our post office - no mail, no morale. [emoji6] And yes, when it is delayed, which is rare for us - some get unreasonable. I've heard them in the post office. Mail here is practically religion, but it's no excuse for being out of one's pram.

Yes, some stuff goes by water. But it's extremely rare.

With that said, I'm picky about what I order and what I have mailed to me. Our APO system is far better than it was in the past, but I definitely understand not sending high dollar bags via it. I wouldn't either. That's why I've sucked up the price difference on a couple of things here and just bought it on the economy.

An APO outside of United States or her territories is a US address, but not on sovereign US territory. That's why you have to fill out Customs forms to ship, say, to me or to Germany. (That's also why US Air Force bases are called Air Base and not Air Force Base: they aren't ours.)

Most of us are extremely appreciative when folks assist us with shipping to an APO. But as I said - I don't blame you for refusing. I've passed on stuff because sometimes it makes me nervous, so I completely understand it from the seller's viewpoint.

Hope I didn't intrude. [emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji173]️[emoji173]️[emoji173]️
 
I'm an Air Force officer in South Korea. I've been active duty for almost 16 years. I was a Navy brat for most of my life as well. Or so it seems. Lol.

I've been deployed, I've lived in Saudi, I've been stationed in Europe. They finally got me for Asia.

Unless the package is huge, mail to the APO AP (Pacific) and AE (Europe) goes from either Chicago, San Francisco, or New York (APs are California ZIPs, AEs are New York ZIPs) goes from the collection point to us via AIR, usually military airlift or government contract flight, not by ship. I can get mail from the East Coast, where my husband is at the moment as my assignment is unaccompanied, here in Korea in 10 days. I've had items from Amazon show up in four. No kidding. (When it says the item shipped from the West Coast, I know it'll be here crazy quick!!)

I ordered a small set of shelves via Amazon Prime that arrived in five days and were sent via Air through Incheon Intl in Seoul. Big ICN sticker on the side of the box. God bless Prime. That's certainly the exception!

My dad did two tours in Hawaii; I was born there and then we later returned there. Even in the late seventies and early eighties, mail got there pretty quick. (Commissary restock, which pretty much always cane by boat back then, was another story. Lol) Not like it does now, but impressive for the era.

Our delivery, if delayed, is usually held up due to airlift missions, contingency operations, congestion (like this time of year), or weather. As the saying goes on the wall of our post office - no mail, no morale. [emoji6] And yes, when it is delayed, which is rare for us - some get unreasonable. I've heard them in the post office. Mail here is practically religion, but it's no excuse for being out of one's pram.

Yes, some stuff goes by water. But it's extremely rare.

With that said, I'm picky about what I order and what I have mailed to me. Our APO system is far better than it was in the past, but I definitely understand not sending high dollar bags via it. I wouldn't either. That's why I've sucked up the price difference on a couple of things here and just bought it on the economy.

An APO outside of United States or her territories is a US address, but not on sovereign US territory. That's why you have to fill out Customs forms to ship, say, to me or to Germany. (That's also why US Air Force bases are called Air Base and not Air Force Base: they aren't ours.)

Most of us are extremely appreciative when folks assist us with shipping to an APO. But as I said - I don't blame you for refusing. I've passed on stuff because sometimes it makes me nervous, so I completely understand it from the seller's viewpoint.

Hope I didn't intrude. [emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji173]️[emoji173]️[emoji173]️
When someone is serving our country, the least I can do is allow them to purchase my item. Thank you for your service.
 
Everyone - thanks for your feedback! I appreciate it!

Just for the record, I have not refused to send to military addresses. The one and only time I was asked to, I complied. The package took almost a month to reach the buyer, who had become very antsy and messaged me 2-3 times per week about the package. This was several years ago, so it might have been before tracking details automatically uploaded onto eBay. I can't remember all details, just that the buyer was not happy about how long it was taking to receive their item. It sounds like things have changed since then, according to KatNW1's post. I'm so glad you're able to get your packages quickly!

Each seller has to do what makes them comfortable. My goal is to get my buyers their purchases as quickly and as affordably as possible, without putting myself at risk. If sending to Guam and other US Territories is indeed exactly the same as sending within the US, then maybe I will reconsider it for future auctions.