Is there a negative to shipping to Alaska or Hawaii?

[DK | 260]

I've sold many things to people in HI, less to those in AK, but I've never had an issue, and shipping isn't crazy higher.

So, why do I see many US sellers saying they don't ship to AK/HI?

Like this guy:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175156188013

(He isn't the best example)

They have the same Paypal/Ebay protections for sellers, what's the deal?

[Tabonga | 2,318]

I am guessing that that seller isn't terribly sophisticated - he apparently doesn't realize that AK and HI are in the U.S.  - if he wanted to be clear he should have just said he only ships to the continental U.S.

Given that  - there has always been a myth that shipping things to AK/HI via USPS is much higher.  It just isn't.  Private shipping is another story.

There was a time when contactors would sometimes ship things such as bags of concrete and building blocks via the Post Office because of a loophole in regulations made the Post Office the cheapest way to go.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/07/30/parcel-post-paying-the-freight-for-alaskans/467be7cf-8962-41b2-804a-6e31c5e14d34/

[Code Monkey | 2,011]

The same reason someone a 4 hour drive away in Montana will ship to Florida but not to me because I'm in Canada. I don't get it.

[Tabonga | 2,318]

2 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

..... I don't get it.

Well of course you don't since they won't ship it!

Although the last time I transhipped something for a friend in Canada it was pretty pricey.

[Tanooki | 4,934]

Other than it will take a little bit longer than in the 48 and maybe a little more money too especially non-priority since it's flat rate again due to distance.  That's it.  Anyone who says they won't and has some weak excuse are liars or misinformed.

I've shipped enough times to them over the years before I quit ebay sales this year.  Priority mail usually took a day longer, maybe 1-3 more for parcel, first class, etc style that's slower.  The non-priority since there's that asinine zone shipping in recent years adds more price to that extreme distance.

I've seen the same loathsome behavior about puerto rico too which is equally bs, but maybe easier to confuse people because it's a territory and not a state.  Mail wise, it doesn't matter, same little more money and time involved with HI/AK but that's it.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

On 2/12/2022 at 11:37 PM, Code Monkey said:

The same reason someone a 4 hour drive away in Montana will ship to Florida but not to me because I'm in Canada. I don't get it.

It's pretty easy to explain for someone who's done that sort of thing before.  Simplest answer?  Because there's like 30-60 minutes worth of paperwork at a standard USPS branch to fill out in order to ship something outside of the US (for those who don't commonly do so, I imagine it gets quicker if you're used to that sort of thing).  In addition, shippers have little to no protection regarding getting their money back if the receiver makes any sort of claim (whether they actually receive the package or not) once it's left the US, so any such thing is a risk.  Someone shipping from the continental US to the continental US has no additional paperwork to do and is fully covered by the USPS on properly insured packages, while someone shipping abroad will have much higher fees and a lot more work to do, with no real guarantees of any claim they file with USPS actually paying off for them should something go awry.

[Code Monkey | 2,011]

9 hours ago, darkchylde28 said:

It's pretty easy to explain for someone who's done that sort of thing before.  Simplest answer?  Because there's like 30-60 minutes worth of paperwork at a standard USPS branch to fill out in order to ship something outside of the US (for those who don't commonly do so, I imagine it gets quicker if you're used to that sort of thing).  In addition, shippers have little to no protection regarding getting their money back if the receiver makes any sort of claim (whether they actually receive the package or not) once it's left the US, so any such thing is a risk.  Someone shipping from the continental US to the continental US has no additional paperwork to do and is fully covered by the USPS on properly insured packages, while someone shipping abroad will have much higher fees and a lot more work to do, with no real guarantees of any claim they file with USPS actually paying off for them should something go awry.

I think USPS will cover insurance for anything that can obtain delivery confirmation. I don't live in Mozambique.

[fcgamer | 4,725]

Currently due to covid 19 restrictions, Taiwan cannot ship to Alaska or Hawaii

[RH | 4,905]

Playing a little devils advocate (and I'm not saying I do advocate for this line of thinking) but I guess the only reason why one might avoid shipping to these locations is that it might take longer for items to show up to these destinations, especially if a seller likes to stick with First Class mail.

I have no clue how thorough eBay's algorithm is in estimating when packages should arrive from point A to point B, but if you're on the East coast and you've learned that historically shipping something First Class takes an extra week or two to get to AK or HI, then that could cause issues.  I know that with eBay, if your package doesn't arrive in a specific amount of time, you can initiate a refund.  After a week or so if it doesn't arrive at the destination, eBay will push through the refund.  Then, if the items arrives, you have a free item.

I'm obviously not in Hawaii, but I actually had this happen to me once, pre-COVID.  A package took it's sweet time getting to me and I assumed it was lost in the mail.   I requested a refund and got it.  A couple days later, the package arrived.  To be clear, the whole purchase-to-delivery process took over a month.  After the package arrived, I did the honest thing and contacted the seller and mentioned that I'd work out a way to pay them.  It was a cheap item, so they thanked me and just said to not worry about it.

Regardless, my thought is that if you are seller who sells semi-frequently and had to go through the whole process for issuing a refund for an item that was "lost" but then did arrive days or weeks after the refund was auto-processed, I can understand why you'd think it was smart to avoid regions that take additional time to ship too, even if there are not additional fees to ship to that region.

Edited February 15, 2022 by RH

[dr_orangejuicer | 20]

Been shipping to AK/HI for decades, literally never an issue. 

Re: int'l - Int'l shipping requires filling out a form that, for those new to it, may take five minutes. You can end up with unreliable tracking and customs issues though, depends where you're shipping. I use Endicia and get insurance through their provider and have never had an issue getting reimbursed for lost packages. Never tried via USPS insurance though, certainly may be trickier.

I think some people have a single bad experience, or hear about someone else's bad experience, and then make a policy decision off that very small piece of information. And for folks that don't sell much, the idea of undertaking any additional work to facilitate a transaction just isn't worth it.

[Nintendopower4ever | 88]

I sell a lot of books using media mail that are too heavy for 1st class and media mail goes by ground and not air, so I've had books take 5+ weeks to Hawaii and Alaska. I block Alaska and Hawaii buyers from immediate checkout and I require anything over 1 pound go Priority mail to both because I'm not dealing with INR claims because of shipping delays and I am also not paying the big difference in costs because I offer free shipping.
I just calculated a 1lb 8 oz book to Alaska or Hawaii with Priority mail and it would be $16 instead of $3 something media mail! lol

The Priority padded flat rate envelopes do help a little sometimes, but I'm still not willing to lose $6+ on shipping on a book when the buyer should pay it. 

Edited February 15, 2022 by Nintendopower4ever

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

On 2/15/2022 at 12:00 AM, Code Monkey said:

I think USPS will cover insurance for anything that can obtain delivery confirmation. I don't live in Mozambique.

It doesn't really matter.  Once a package has left the hands of the USPS, regardless of where it's going, getting tracking updates tends to be spotty at best, and nonexistent at worst.  Sure, Canada's postal system tends to lose things a lot less and provide updates a lot more frequently than others, but if/when it's lost, USPS will just shrug its shoulders, whether you paid for insurance or not.  I don't know that I've personally ever heard of anyone winning a fight with USPS about getting paid for a package that was lost by a foreign carrier, especially after a buyer put in a claim that it was never received.

On 2/15/2022 at 10:37 AM, dr_orangejuicer said:

Re: int'l - Int'l shipping requires filling out a form that, for those new to it, may take five minutes.

I've had to fill out one once, at the post office, by hand, and it took the better part of an hour to get everything filled out properly, double checked, etc.  Granted, that was roughly 7-8 years ago, so it's possible that the forms have changed since then (or you're referring to filling it out electronically, which, yeah, that would have been 1000x faster to do), but there's no way anybody is filling out that beast in 5 minutes if they're not already well versed with it.  I was shipping tracked, insured, and "priority" (since it was the lowest level that was offered at the time that offered the previous two options) from the US  to Namibia, and my hand ached by the time I was done filling out all that crap properly.

[Code Monkey | 2,011]

4 hours ago, darkchylde28 said:

It doesn't really matter.  Once a package has left the hands of the USPS, regardless of where it's going, getting tracking updates tends to be spotty at best, and nonexistent at worst. 

I have a rebuttal for this that people don't seem to realise. I know once it leaves USPS they don't really update their tracking anymore but all you do is go to canadapost.ca, enter the exact same tracking number and you get every step of the tracking after it crosses the border, right up to delivery confirmation and signature. I always have to switch over whenever I track packages from the USA. I often order things from Japan (my main collection) and it's the same with theirs, use their site until it hits the border and then switch to Canada Post.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

12 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

I have a rebuttal for this that people don't seem to realise. I know once it leaves USPS they don't really update their tracking anymore but all you do is go to canadapost.ca, enter the exact same tracking number and you get every step of the tracking after it crosses the border, right up to delivery confirmation and signature. I always have to switch over whenever I track packages from the USA. I often order things from Japan (my main collection) and it's the same with theirs, use their site until it hits the border and then switch to Canada Post.

I'm well aware of that, but USPS doesn't care.  And since they don't care, and it isn't part of their process to go to a foreign nation's website to look up tracking, most people who aren't shipping to foreign countries aren't doing so because USPS will screw them, even with insurance, if the person in the foreign country claims they didn't get the package, tracking or not.  If the foreign carrier's system doesn't communicate back to the USPS system, USPS won't see it and won't act on it.  It's nonsense from a practical standpoint, but they have their systems and procedures, and that's what they act on.  As such, sellers avoid shipping abroad so they don't get screwed--either losing out on packages lost (legit or claimed as such) as well as losing plenty of time filling out lots of long forms that aren't required when shipping to 99% of their other customers.

[dr_orangejuicer | 20]

11 hours ago, darkchylde28 said:

I've had to fill out one once, at the post office, by hand, and it took the better part of an hour to get everything filled out properly, double checked, etc.  Granted, that was roughly 7-8 years ago, so it's possible that the forms have changed since then (or you're referring to filling it out electronically, which, yeah, that would have been 1000x faster to do), but there's no way anybody is filling out that beast in 5 minutes if they're not already well versed with it.  I was shipping tracked, insured, and "priority" (since it was the lowest level that was offered at the time that offered the previous two options) from the US  to Namibia, and my hand ached by the time I was done filling out all that crap properly.

 

That's really strange. Back in the day, I filled out customs forms regularly and the info required is just the usual stuff - sender/receiver addresses, phone number, contents, shipping method. Just a few minutes per form. I wonder if the uncommon destination (Namibia) required additional forms? Literally have never heard of USPS int'l forms requiring this much time before and filled out hundreds myself. 

That said, today the customs portion of electronic labels takes maybe 30 seconds. I don't use Ebay/Paypal shipping services but I imagine it's pretty simple there too (though I could be wrong!). It just really isn't that much of an inconvenience in 99.99% of cases but I do think people get it in their heads that it IS, and the cost/benefit analysis of selling old stuff online to make a few bucks probably precludes learning a new annoying form to deal with, longer shipping times, potentially less reliable shipping depending on the destination, etc. It all sounds like a lot before you've done it a couple times, and then suddenly it's pretty simple.  

I echo Code Monkey on int'l tracking via non-US sites - canadapost is great for this - but that's a hot tip that most just aren't going to know about or think to check. Ultimately shipping internationally requires a little bit of learning and a little bit of extra work and a lot of people just don't want to deal with it. 

 

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

On 2/15/2022 at 10:37 AM, dr_orangejuicer said:

And for folks that don't sell much, the idea of undertaking any additional work to facilitate a transaction just isn't worth it.

This right here. Although I would certainly and happily ship to Canada or elsewhere if the transaction occurred with a reputable member from a message board like this one. It's a lot more personal and little to no risk involved.

That being said, I avoid shipping to countries with known sketchy postal services. Italy comes to mind as does Brazil.

[AnimalHouse | 117]

Maybe the seller thinks a custom form is required to ship to AK/HI?