Shipping a high value item to an APO?

Pokermandude

I just had an Ebay buyer (low ~30, but good feedback) buy a very expensive item (nearly 5 figures) from me. He's paid for it and his address is an APO, location in Afghanistan. I've never shipped to an APO before. A little research and I see this means my package will be shipped to a sorting center in the USA (I'm in Canada), and then forwarded to him in Afghanistan.



It appears that I can't send the package by UPS, FedEx or any other world courier to that address. My best option is Canadapost Xpresspost (says it has tracking and signature confirmation, even to an APO) which, I believe, is equivalent to Priority Express once it enters the USPS system.



I looked over his buying history, and the majority of it is low value clothing/shoes/etc, only one seller who specializes in coins of all values.



I'll of course talk to my local PO, but I doubt they will know any more than I do.



Any assistance would be much appreciated!

mustangmanbob

I would NOT ship under any circumstance.



Although I put 9 years in Uncle's Army, and served in many overseas spots, and had stuff sent to various APO's, I would NEVER have had anything like that shipped to me.



Realistically, why would a person want a 5 figure coin sent to Afghanistan? It is not like the Taliban like to look at coins.



The US Mint never succeeded in getting any of the proof coins I ordered shipped to me, and many random things were lost along the way.



I would email them, and ask for a US delivery address, and have the buyer go through paypal and confirm an alternate address, so you are protected. I get requests all the time to ship to alternate addresses, due to people being gone during the holidays, and I just direct them to paypal and have the email come directly from paypal, or have them add the address to their paypal profile. I have a package going out today, person lives in Tennessee, but they are in South Carolina for 1 month for a family situation, and they just updated their paypal address, so I get the OK to ship to the "alternate" address.



I also did this myself to have some things I bought off ebay shipped directly to the grandkids, so I do not have to double ship the item.

messydesk

Too many red flags for my taste here, and a lot that can go south with this transaction. 5 figures to Afghanistan? The only advice I have is to make sure you are thoroughly covered on this sale in case there are problems.

jtlee321

An APO is a military address. The equivalent of a US address overseas. I know if I was stationed in Afghanistan, there is not a chance I'd have a 5 figure coin shipped to me. It sounds very odd to me. I would do as suggested and see if there is an alternative address.

291fifth

Some APO's are actually embassy addresses. Still, I would decline to ship an item of that value to an APO, especially if it is in a war zone.

BIGAL2749

What Mustangmanbob said

SamByrd

I had sold a 20 buck seated dime several years back on ebay to an APO address customer.

The coin was mis-routed and presumed lost for months. It did get there eventually long after I had to refund the item. It was 5 months and the buyer offered to pay for the item he contacted me when it got there.

My view is no way would I ship an item where I was not protected against loss to an APO.

If you can fully insure with a third party insurance which I doubt would be the only scenario where I would ship anything over 500 bucks.

I would ask if the buyer has a US based address he can use and then he can arrange the shipping himself. He can add an address to his paypal easily and it would be much better as a seller.

I have had a few serious delay and mis-routed items going to APO's no loss though and these were a few hundred dollars at most.

LindeDad

PM sent.

streeter

I've shipped two items to APO's that were never received. Why would any serviceman want this item while stationed there?

coin22lover

Not in a million years; you can't even get delivery confirmation at an APO address...tell them they can have someone here order it for them.

oih82w8

I have encountered many mis-steps within the APO mailing system. I would not send anything of that value (greater than $100) to an APO, even with all of the precautions; insurance, signature confirmation, etc..., I would send it to an alternate stateside address...or have some sort of "indemnity clause" with wet signatures, prior to shipping.

amwldcoin

I recently sold and shipped a PCGS Graded Proof Trade Dollar to an APO. All is well. I insured it through USPS. The thing I don't like about APO's is sometimes it takes a long time for delivery as well as custom forms. I do scrutinized who I will ship to. I believe there are more coin collectors in the Military than any other demographic. Knock on wood I've done dozens of APO transactions with no problems.



If I was in Canada,with a coin of that value there is no way I would ship through the Canadian Postal Service. How close to the Border are you? Perhaps you could scoot across and ship it Registered through USPS.

Nap

When I lived out of the country and purchased nonessential things over the internet, I had them shipped to my mom. I would not trust my local post to guarantee arrival. And I was living in a country at peace.

golden

Danger,danger Will Robinson!!!!!!

TopographicOceans

I've shipped coins to APO before without any problem, but they were low value coins.
I'd ask the buyer to provide a US Address and use that at checkout.

Cougar1978

No way would ship that to him there. Totally way out there, too many red flags.

DDR

Many time in my life I have had APO addresses, including once in a war zone, and have purchased coins from eBay, Heritage, major dealers, etc., and never once had a problem. It takes a little longer to arrive, but it always made it to me in good shape.



That said, the one time I purchased a very expensive, irreplaceable coin, I decided against APO. Instead, I paid for the coin in installments and picked it up at the dealer's office the next time I was in the States on leave. (I admired it, photographed it, then drove straight to my bank's SDB.)



So, despite my uniform positive experiences with shipping coins via the APO, I understand your reluctance and would try to work out something else.

BryceM

I was involved in the process of getting a nice double eagle to PCGS where it successfully crossed. Our hosts then shipped it to an APO and the coin went missing. After many months, the insurance paid to cover the coin and then many months later it showed up. Too many issues, and this one went to Germany. No way would I ship that to Afghanistan.

winky

DON'T DO IT. Big MISTAKE if you do.

davewesen

Why would someone want a 5 oz gold bar in Afghanistan? It makes it more difficult since you are not in USA shipping through USPS. Did they use PAYPAL? and is it confirmed?

mustangmanbob

Related, unrelated, I was just looking at something on ebay (steel stamps) for the princely sum of $20 and there was this comment in their shipping information:



APO/FPO Shipping: I have decided that I will no longer ship to APO/FPO addresses abroad. They are either lost by the USPS or take several months to get there. It is just not worth your time or mine.



So the seller with 20,000 feedbacks and 2500 items for sale, won't ship.

keyman64

Wow! I keep my headaches to a minimum and ship to the USA ONLY! If I miss out on a sale, so be it!

Pokermandude

Thank you for the advice. The buyer does not currently have a real North American shipping address, so the sale has been cancelled.

Originally posted by: keyman64
Wow! I keep my headaches to a minimum and ship to the USA ONLY! If I miss out on a sale, so be it!

If you had bothered to even read the first post, I am located in Canada.

Treashunt

punt!



And cancel the transaction