# Ebay ethics question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480 "2003-07-14T21:37:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480/1 "2003-07-14T21:37:14Z")
I sold a small scanner on Ebay the other day as listed below where I offered fixed price shipping within the US. The section detailing shipping is listed below. > [@](#): > > Shipping and payment details > > Shipping and handling: US $7.00 (within United States) > Buyer pays for all shipping costs > Shipping insurance: Not offered > Will ship to United States only. A bidder has won the item who apparently lives in Camuy, Puerto Rico in zip code 00627. My question is whether I (ethically) have the right to email him and ask for additional shipping, or is PR considered part of the “United States” even though it is a territory and my offer of fixed price US shipping must be honored? I am in Maryland and I have a feeling the UPS shipping I normally use will not be at all reasonable to PR even for a package the size of a shoebox . ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480/2 "2003-07-14T21:48:50Z")
If PR doesn’t count as part of the US by the shippers, than that’s your answer right there. You were up front about where you’d ship to. I’d say you have every right to e-mail him and ask for additional shipping fees unless he’s planning on having you ship to a United States location. ---
**Author:** ![RotorHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@RotorHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RotorHead)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480/3 "2003-07-14T21:49:31Z")
go to [www.usps.com](http://www.usps.com) or stop at a local branch and find out what the shipping costs would be. If it is more than you expected, then you can tell the buyer the situation, and if he still wants it, then you can go from there. Guam is also part of the US by that argument, but I bet it costs a lot more to send something there than to anywhere in the actual states. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480/4 "2003-07-14T21:55:58Z")
Thanks! Apparently USPS Parcel Post is only $ 7.20. I’m pretty sure UPS would be way more than that for this item. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480/5 "2003-07-14T22:53:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\*Thanks! Apparently USPS Parcel Post is only $ 7.20. I’m pretty sure UPS would be way more than that for this item. \*\* One of the problems being only UPS offers only air service to Puerto Rico, not ground. Those big brown trucks don’t float worth a damn. Alaska is in the same fix, but they do offer, oddly enough, ground service _from_ Hawaii but not _to_ Hawaii. Packages fly to Seattle where they are then shifted to ground. Go figure. DD ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480/6 "2003-07-14T23:19:27Z")
For future reference, I get around this problem by specifying shipping prices for the _continental_ US. HI, AL, VI and PR and foreign lands can then pay higher rates. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480/7 "2003-07-14T23:39:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*For future reference, I get around this problem by specifying shipping prices for the _continental_ US. HI, AL, VI and PR and foreign lands can then pay higher rates. \*\* I may have missed something in geography class, but last time I checked, Alaska IS part of the continent. If you only want to quote for the 48 states, I suggest you state either that or _contiguous_, rather than continental, unless you want some very pissed off Alaskans and some negative feedback. Trust me, I live here and have fought and won that battle on more than one occasion. Also, UPS and DHL are now offering ground service to and from Alaska (or at least DHL is doing it now and UPS is right behind). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480/8 "2003-07-14T23:42:25Z")
Oh, and by the way, Alabama (AL) may be concerned that you don’t consider them part of the continent either. ---
**Author:** ![RotorHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@RotorHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RotorHead)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480/9 "2003-07-15T00:33:26Z")
From my limited experience selling items on ebay, my preferred method for dealing with shipping costs was to state that the purchaser pays it, without specifying the exact dollar amount it would be. That way it left me able to recoup any unexpected cost. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480/10 "2003-07-15T00:38:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chefguy \* > \*\*Oh, and by the way, Alabama (AL) may be concerned that you don’t consider them part of the continent either. \*\* How hard would I have to work to convince you that my finger slipped from the K to the L? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480/11 "2003-07-15T15:01:25Z")
“Thanks! Apparently USPS Parcel Post is only $ 7.20. I’m pretty sure UPS would be way more than that for this item.” What about insurance? Parcel Post is usually really slow, like horse & buggy 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480/12 "2003-07-15T17:00:45Z")
> [@](#): > > How hard would I have to work to convince you that my finger slipped from the K to the L? Hey, it’s an easy mistale to male. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-ethics-question/188480/13 "2003-07-15T18:56:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*How hard would I have to work to convince you that my finger slipped from the K to the L? 😉 \*\* Not hard at all, if you’ll forgive me for saying “DHL”, when I meant FedEx. 😛