Shipping to APO..Am I covered

[steelheader]

I have had several potential customers inquire about shipping eBay items, valued over $250.00, to APO and FPO addresses. I have shipped to a couple with very high feedback numbers but I have someone that wants me to ship an item and his feedback is only 15. I usually use Priority Mail with signature confirmation per Paypal's rules but cannot get sig confirmation to an APO. Any suggestions on how I can ship and be covered, and does it help that I am a powerseller? I can't seem to find an answer anywhere on eBay or Paypal. Any help from you veterans would be appreciated.
Thanks

[steelheader]

Bump

Please help. Is there any way to ship to APO with value over $250, and still be covered?
Thanks

[deboesports]

i wish i could help you...did you try calling paypal? or your local post?

[iluvfish2]

Dave I think your covered, but I'm not 100% sure. If its signature confirmation you should be ok. When it doubt use Registered..this way the signee will have to sign for it.

[Highcheese4U]

Yes, fish is right. Use registered if in doubt. But at the very least insure for the amount + hold onto the receipt so that way you have a way to get your money back should it not turn up. If you do not insure your package, you are going to be S-O-L...better to be safe than sorry.

I am also a USAF reservist and also worked as a postal augmentee (USPS) overseas so i have an idea of how it works. I can tell you this- its very hard to get mail overseas to begin with so keep that in mind. Our guys do get hard rub from people not wanting to ship to an APO but thats all they have! So try to work with them if possible, its very frustrating to need something overseas and have to jump through so many hoops and pay so much just to get it, when you know for a fact its not that hard stateside!

Also, I can confirm that signature confirmation is not available to an APO... due to system limitations at certain AMT/APOs and GSU... hope this helps!

[steelheader]

Thanks for the replies. I will ship registered with insurance. I really want to ship to our military, I feel its the least I can do, but don't want to get hit for 300-400 dollars.
Thanks

[wyomedina]

I tried to ship something registered mail which gave me a signature confirmation but my problem was that the USPS would only allow me to insure for $50 max. Maybe that has changed but I don't know.

[Highcheese4U]

Originally Posted by wyomedina

I tried to ship something registered mail which gave me a signature confirmation but my problem was that the USPS would only allow me to insure for $50 max. Maybe that has changed but I don't know.

Yes, registered mail is always accountable as this type of mail is kept under lock & key via storage seals which have to be matched by USPS personnel when being accessed. This is by far the most safest way to send mail.

However, there are special hours for the reg-mail rooms overseas and is not always accessible (with good reason) like regular mail in PO Box's are... plus the insurance only goes up to $50. The only other option is to send it Priority Mail with insurance, its a $1.35 for the first $50 of insurance which is cheap considering you could lose the item and still recoup the maximum amount of your of what your package is worth.

Unfortunately, though there is no way to track it via USPS.com unless your sending it 'Express Mail' in which every package has its own tracking#

[papajim]

I lived at apo addresses for years and received all my stuff priority insured, you can also do DC.
Lots cheaper than registered.
Only thing that pi$$ed me off was sellers that tried to charge EXTRA for APOs. It is the same rate as U.S..
You may have to do the leg work and go to the post office instead of through PayPal.
Help the APO people collect and DON'T charge extra because it is an apo. No local shops overseas although they did sell Upper Deck low end Basketball in Spain & Italy Tabaco shops.

From usps.com:
Is online delivery information available to an APO / FPO?

Mail addressed to most APO/FPO destinations can be combined with Delivery Confirmation either at the local Post Office or online at Click-N-Ship.
The following Pacific island ZIP Codes can also be combined with Delivery Confirmation at the local Post Office or online:

Pacific Island Destinations for Delivery Confirmation

Destination
Zip Codes

American Samoa
96799

Guam
96910, 96912-13, 96915-17, 96919, 96921, 96923, 96928-29, 96931-32

Rota Island
96951

Saipan Island
96950

Wake Atoll (Wake Island)
96898

[Chucky]

Dave- to address your orginal question.. even though registered mail is safe to send, Paypal will not cover you for this as it is not trackable online. Only the people at the Post Office can see the tracking. I would speak directly to your Post Office about your options to an APO/FPO for items over $250.

[Highcheese4U]

Originally Posted by papajim

I lived at apo addresses for years and received all my stuff priority insured, you can also do DC.
Lots cheaper than registered.
Only thing that pi$$ed me off was sellers that tried to charge EXTRA for APOs. It is the same rate as U.S..
You may have to do the leg work and go to the post office instead of through PayPal.
Help the APO people collect and DON'T charge extra because it is an apo. No local shops overseas although they did sell Upper Deck low end Basketball in Spain & Italy Tabaco shops.

Wasn't that pretty frustrating? I bet it was because we had a lot of service members paying a lot more than they should just to get stuff to an APO. Its true also that the overseas zip codes are no different than that of the stateside ones, people just use that to their advantage to charge more for people overseas.

Anyhow, its really your preference on how you send it ...just trying to help out!

[rwgorilla]

hehe...it sucks being one of those apo/fpo guys! i normally pay an extra $10-$15 shipping and you guys on the mainland can eat up all those free ups deals...anyway you shouldn't have a problem sending to an apo/fpo. you will have to be patient though because apo/fpo normally have only 1 to 3 flights a week receiving mail, and more stops along the way. it sometimes takes up to 3 weeks for me to receive from ebay purchases.

try visiting your local usps and shipping priority mail. i have insured things for more than $250.00 to relatives who are apo/fpo. i am not sure about policies there but our policies are sometimes different b/c of our status.

another things is that the local usps post office here is kinda' silly bout' the type of package (i.e. bubble mailer, flat rate box, etc.,) to offer delivery confirmation/tracking.
its kinda' more complicated out here.

hope this helps and gives you an idea of what happens on the other end...btw my zipcode is listed on papajim's post...

[steelheader]

Well I figured it out. It cost me profits, but oh well. I was selling my most popular APO item for $259.99, which requires signature confirmation. I dropped the price to 249.99, which only requires delivery confirmation. When I start up my new auctions after the holidays I am going to require insurance on all sales over $50.00 to cover myself that way. Ebay and Paypal are so tilted for the buyer they are losing sellers like crazy.