furkidmom
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posted on October 26, 2000 06:50:50 AM
An auction just finished and it is quite a heavy item, costing about $9.00 to send . (in the ball park) I state in my TOS no international sales and get a winner that says. "I will be sending XXXX , and says "The money make take a bit longer to get there since it is coming from a navy base in Iceland, but send the product to PSC XXXX Box XXXX FPO, AE, and then a 5 digit number. Sheesh, where am I shipping this to? Iceland? Are FPO,AE's just US addresses with destination based shipping charges or just US shipping charges to that address. I am so confused. If it is an international shipping thing, can I refuse to send there since my TOS does state US only? Thanks! (p.s. I did re-email the winner and ask where in the world I am sending the product to, and no reply.)
[ edited by furkidmom on Oct 26, 2000 07:04 AM ]
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nowwhat
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posted on October 26, 2000 06:58:46 AM
This is kind of hard to explain so bear with me. The armed services only require their people to pay postage to a U.S. site. The postage from that site to overseas is paid for by the government. You therefore only have to charge to ship to the US location that your bidder gave you. So you are selling internationally and you are not. You do however have to fill out a customs form as I recall.
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eventer
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posted on October 26, 2000 07:00:53 AM
The items I've mailed to APO & FPO addresses have been treated pretty much like any other piece of mail. You don't need a custom's form.
On the USPS website, run a search on "FPO" & you can review several publications on this. I believe the limit is something like 70 pounds & a certain length restriction.
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furkidmom
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posted on October 26, 2000 07:06:03 AM
WOW! You guys are quick! Thank you so much. Big help! 
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nowwhat
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posted on October 26, 2000 07:21:44 AM
Eventer: Maybe my Post Office doesn't know what they're doing but I recently mailed a book to someone in the Armed Services and was told to fill out a customs form. I didn't think I needed to but she said I did. Who Knows!
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eventer
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posted on October 26, 2000 07:24:38 AM
nowwhat,
If you were mailing it w/an overseas address on it, I can understand the customs form. But I've mailed a number of items to APO/FPO addresses (just one last week to Italy & recently another one to United Arab Emirates) and never been asked to fill out a custom's form.
Where is KRS when we actually NEED him for a change? 
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cdnbooks
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posted on October 26, 2000 07:27:34 AM
....now that's a first...
Bill
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eventer
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posted on October 26, 2000 07:30:59 AM
Bill,
nowwhat,
I just reviewed some of the USPS guidelines (HIGHLY recommend this for anyone suffering from insomnia) & it does indicate there are certain ZIP codes which could require a customs form declaration.
So it appears it can be dependent upon the destination as to whether or not a customs form must accompany the package.
There's a whole publication apparently dedicated to this discussion but I really don't need a nap right now.
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mybiddness
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posted on October 26, 2000 07:32:04 AM
I mailed an APO package last week and was told that it wasn't heavy enough to require a customs form. I didn't ask what the weight limit was though.
Not paranoid anywhere else but here!
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rampaged
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posted on October 26, 2000 07:35:10 AM
Must be different with different post offices for I have sent many packages to APO/FPO addresses in Germany and Italy to name a few and I always had to fill out a customs form.
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borgt
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posted on October 26, 2000 08:07:35 AM
I use 2 different post offices and both insist I fill out a customs form for APO & FPO addresses. And it needs to be the 'long' form, regardless of weight or value.
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anthro1966
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posted on October 26, 2000 09:11:58 AM
Maybe a lot of US postal employees are not used to dealing with APOs / FPOs. I just got out of the army after 10 years (3 1/2 years in Germany and 1 year in Korea), and you are required to have a customs form to ship to any military stationed overseas. And the type of customs form is based on weight, even when going to an APO.
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yisgood
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posted on October 26, 2000 09:17:55 AM
I have shipped to APO, FPO many times. I found that it is best to send it priority with $100 of insurance. It gets there very quickly and always in good condition. Someone at the PO told me they treat priority with insurance more carefully.
http://www.ygoodman.com
[email protected]
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borgt
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posted on October 26, 2000 10:12:17 AM
Here's the official word:
[i]"Any mailpiece weighing 16 ounces or more that is addressed to an APO or FPO
ZIP Code must bear Form 2976 and must be presented to an employee at a post
office or as designated by the postmaster. Certain destination APO and FPO
addresses require Form 2976-A, as shown in the chart Conditions Applied to Mail
Addressed to Military Post Offices Overseas, published in the Postal Bulletin."[/i]
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Shadowcat
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posted on October 26, 2000 03:25:23 PM
We're an APO address and mailing to us is no different than mailing to anyone in the US. Our zip is a valid USPS. APO/FPO addresses signify Americans stationed overseas.
Customs forms are required and the kind of customs form used depends on where you're sending it. We take the little green form at this base but at our last base, we had to use the big white form. The way our postmaster explained it was that the customs forms were more a security measure than a customs measure.
Lately, though, some of our packages have been coming without customs forms and nothing has been said to us about it so I don't know. If I were you, I'd put one on there, just to be on the safe side.
I tend to include a little explanation with every initial response email, just in case a seller has never dealt with APO/FPO addresses before. One seller, told(erroneously) by his PO that there was no such thing as an APO, pulled my contact info-which he confessed in an email really wasn't a big help since I'd used my APO address.
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hcross
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posted on October 26, 2000 03:28:43 PM
I have mailed many APO packages, but have never had anyone tell me what country it was going to, it also never tells me on the USPS website when I figure shipping, how can you find what country it is going to? Heather
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hcross
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posted on October 26, 2000 03:28:51 PM
edited because it was such a thrilling post it had to be said twice. Heather
[ edited by hcross on Oct 26, 2000 03:29 PM ]
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Shadowcat
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posted on October 26, 2000 03:34:28 PM
Hcross: Ask the bidder. I have sellers ask me all the time where I am, mainly because they're curious. I even ran across a seller who had been stationed at our base in the 80's and we chatted about the changes since then.
Edited to add that some bidders may be reluctant to divulge their location because there are some locations that are fairly classified.
[ edited by Shadowcat on Oct 26, 2000 03:36 PM ]
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talonis2
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posted on October 26, 2000 04:19:39 PM
If a package is sent to APO/FPO, AE it is Europe. APO/FPO, AP it is the Pacific region. Yes, the address is considered part of the US postal system.
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dman3
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posted on October 26, 2000 04:30:44 PM
FPO address are Ok The shipping will be the same as if you shipped inside the USA you can even insure the Item but you wil have to fill out the paper work for customs.
WWW.dman-n-company.com
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