eBay International Shipping Program Expands To Include Alaska, Hawaii & Puerto Rico
eBay will soon allow US sellers to leverage eBay International Shipping hubs to help reduce friction and risk of shipping to domestic locations in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
The expansion of EIS services was announced in this week's Summer Seller Check In, with Program Manager Kristen Pincus explaining that while they are technically domestic to the US, the longer distance can make shipping challenging and expensive, leading sellers to block sales to these locations.
I know Puerto Rico is a US territory and Alaska and Hawaii are non-contiguous US states, so this may sound a little silly given that they aren't international, but eBay International Shipping found a cost-effective solution that allows sellers to reach buyers in these locations by adding them to the EIS program.
If you're already shipping to these locations, no changes are needed and you'll still benefit from having us move these into the program.
But, if you're somebody who has them excluded, we think this is the solution for you. The long distance of shipping to Puerto Rico, Alaska, and Hawaii has made it difficult and ultimately costly for some sellers to include these locations. We're seeing them excluded despite the large buyer pool that exists in these areas.
So by including these faraway locations in EIS, the seller only has to ship to the domestic hub. You can continue offering free shipping and only pay the rates to our hub...
..You'll also enjoy all the other protections EIS has to offer, like eBay handling returns and refund at no cost to you and VeRO complaints. If your account is in good standing and you're already enrolled in EIS, we will automatically display your listings to the expanded locations when they're available.

Kristen said the expansion is expected to rollout in Q3 and was quick to reassure sellers in the Q&A segment that self-shipping options will still be available for sellers who wish to continue to offer shipping directly to those locations instead of using EIS.
This expansion could be useful in some situations, but both buyers and sellers may be concerned about whether the EIS hubs can handle the additional volume.
Delays, missorting and lost packages have been an ongoing problem since EIS launched in 2022.

In theory, there should be less issues with shipments going to AK, HI, and PR since there will not be additional customs or regulatory issues to consider, but even domestic shipments can experience delays if the hub is flooded with many orders to process - as we've seen with eBay's authentication centers.

If you currently block shipping to AK, HI, and PR, would you consider using the eBay International Shipping to offer service to those locations? Let us know in the comments below!
eBay seller since 2022
Just started selling about a year and half ago
800 items sold 99.7 feedback
Recently I went away for family things for 30 days set my acct to be away … got back with items not received cases opened
I wasn’t able to revise existing listings post new listings OR refund the buyer from my eBay funds …
The items were caught up in recent wild fires but ended up being delivered late. I had to beg the buyer to let me pay them off of eBay to close the case because it was on hold and I wasn’t able to refund them from my eBay acct etc…. So luckily they obliged and I did … but ever since then my acct must be strikes as high risk because funds have been on hold 3 days after delivery since then indefinitely might I add… I get the run around everytime etc etc FINALLY I got someone saying it’s temporary it’ll be back to normal etc. these r all reps from escalated departments… one lady told me that with my history and feedback I’ve proved beyond doubt that I’m reliable seller and shouldn’t be on hold she put in for a appeal never heard back got the run around for another few months… they keep telling me I’ve been chosen for the new update they r rolling out total BS … do you believe that sellers will stay on eBay with these holds ? No they will simply go to another platform … they r 100% making money on the holds and use any reasoning to tell you basically no and keep profiting…. The get around is creating a new acct… these cases were closed without eBay having to step in and might I add I lost $$ and its been truly frustrating esp since I’ve built the acct up but I know I can do it again.. when they tell me its going to happen to all accts I just mention how my brother just opened one n now has immediate payments they don’t know what to say I don’t think they really even know.,, its sad n scummy but I see a class action lawsuit coming honestly ! I don’t know💬 if I forgot anything but well written thanks for the information. Have a great one!