Shipping Edge Cases

Most domestic shipping is straightforward, but a few scenarios come up regularly that deserve dedicated guidance. This article covers shipping to Alaska, Hawaii, and US territories, explains why eBay Business Policies conflict with Ecommerce, and walks you through setting up domestic rate tables for regional shipping control.

Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico Shipping

Shipping to non-contiguous US destinations is one of the most common support questions we see. The setup depends on whether you want to ship to these locations or exclude them entirely.

"I Want to Ship to AK/HI/PR"

If you want buyers in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico to be able to purchase from your listings, you need to make sure nothing is blocking them on either the eBay side or the Ecommerce side. Follow these steps:

Check your eBay Shipping Preferences. Log into eBay, go to Account Settings, then Shipping Preferences. Make sure Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are NOT on your excluded locations list.
Check your eBay Selling Preferences. In the same Account Settings area, go to Selling Preferences. Make sure you are NOT blocking buyers from locations on your exclusion list. If this setting is enabled, buyers in any excluded location will be unable to purchase even if the listing itself does not exclude them.
Configure your Ecommerce listing template for accurate rates. Standard flat rate shipping charges the same amount regardless of destination, which often means you undercharge for Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico shipments. Instead, use one of these options:
- Calculated Shipping: eBay automatically calculates shipping rates to every destination based on the package weight and dimensions you provide. This is the simplest way to ensure accurate rates for remote destinations.
- Rate Tables: Set custom flat rates by region. You can assign specific rates for "Extended Regions" (Alaska and Hawaii) and "US Protectorates" (Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, and others). See the Rate Tables section below for setup instructions.

Either approach prevents you from absorbing unexpectedly high shipping costs on orders to these destinations.

"I Do Not Want to Ship to AK/HI/PR"

If you want to exclude these locations entirely, you need to set the exclusions in both Ecommerce and eBay. Setting it in only one place can lead to conflicts where a buyer can still purchase but you cannot ship to them.

In Ecommerce: Go to eBay Settings, then Shipping Locations. Add Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico (and any other locations you want to exclude) to your excluded locations list.
In eBay: Go to Account Settings, then Shipping Preferences. Add the same locations to your ship-to exclusion list.
In eBay: Go to Selling Preferences and enable blocking buyers from locations you do not ship to.
Important: Set exclusions in BOTH Ecommerce and eBay. If you only exclude in Ecommerce, eBay may still show the listing as available to buyers in those locations. If you only exclude in eBay, Ecommerce revision feeds may overwrite your eBay settings. Keeping both in sync avoids conflicts.

eBay Business Policies

What They Are

eBay Business Policies are eBay's built-in system for managing reusable shipping, return, and payment profiles. They let sellers create named profiles (for example, "Free Shipping - 30 Day Returns") and apply them across listings. Many eBay sellers use them, and eBay occasionally auto-enrolls accounts into the program.

Why Ecommerce Does Not Use Them

Ecommerce manages handling time, dispatch time, delivery options, return policies, and payment settings through its own listing templates. These templates control the listing data that Ecommerce sends to eBay on every creation and revision feed.

If your eBay account also has Business Policies enabled, a conflict arises. Here is what happens:

Ecommerce sends a revision to eBay with the shipping and return settings from your Ecommerce template.
eBay's Business Policies engine overwrites those settings with the values from the assigned business policy.
On the next Ecommerce revision feed, Ecommerce sends its template values again.
The cycle repeats, creating a "tug of war" between Ecommerce and eBay.

This back-and-forth can cause inaccurate lead times displayed to buyers, incorrect shipping rates, wrong return policies on your listings, and other hard-to-diagnose inconsistencies.

What to Do

Do not enable eBay Business Policies if you are using Ecommerce to manage your eBay listings. All shipping, return, and payment configuration should be managed exclusively through Ecommerce listing templates.
If you are already enrolled and experiencing issues, go to eBay, then Account Settings, then Business Policies, and opt out of the program.
If eBay has auto-enrolled you and the option to opt out is not available, contact Ecommerce support. The team can help you work through the situation and ensure your listings are configured correctly.

Domestic Shipping Rate Tables

What They Are

Rate tables give you regional control over flat shipping rates within the United States. Instead of charging every US buyer the same flat rate, you can set different rates for different regions:

Base region: All standard domestic destinations (the contiguous 48 states).
Extended region: Alaska and Hawaii.
US Protectorates: Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.
APO/FPO: Military addresses.

This is particularly useful if you want to offer competitive flat-rate shipping to most buyers while accounting for the higher cost of shipping to remote destinations.

How to Set Them Up

Step 1: Create the rate table in eBay.

Log into eBay and go to My eBay, then Account, then Shipping Preferences.
Find the Rate Tables section and select "Create a Rate Table."
Choose "Domestic" as the table type.
Configure rates for each region. You have three rate types available for each:
- Flat amount per item: A fixed shipping cost regardless of item details.
- Flat surcharge per item: An additional charge on top of your base shipping cost.
- Surcharge by weight: An additional charge calculated by the item's weight.
Save the rate table. Give it a clear name you will recognize later (for example, "Standard Domestic + AK/HI Surcharge").

Step 2: Connect the rate table in Ecommerce.

Open the listing template in Ecommerce that you want to apply the rate table to.
Go to the Shipping Details section.
Find the "Domestic Rate Table" dropdown and select the rate table you just created in eBay.
Save the template.

Important notes:

The rate table must exist in eBay first. Ecommerce pulls the list of available rate tables from your eBay account, so if you do not see your rate table in the Ecommerce dropdown, make sure it has been saved in eBay and try refreshing.
Rate tables work alongside your template's base shipping settings. The rate table overrides the flat rate for the specific regions you configure, while all other shipping settings (handling time, delivery service, etc.) still come from the Ecommerce template.
If you use Calculated Shipping, you generally do not need rate tables for domestic shipments, since eBay is already calculating destination-specific rates. Rate tables are most useful when you want the simplicity of flat rate shipping with regional adjustments.