I sold some cards on eBay that I have to ship out to Brazil.
I’ve done it in the past, but that has been over 2 years ago and I am totally confused about the address format.
As always, with any shipment, I copy-paste the address into Google Maps to verify the address but Google Maps spits out a total different format of address than posted on eBay. With an address in the US or Canada I just slap it on it as it is, because those postal services know how to deal with wrong written addresses, I got my doubts on the Brazilian postal office.
What eBay and Paypal give me: John Doe Street 1 ap 10 Sao Caetono do Sul, Sao Paulo 00000000 Brazil
What Google spits out: John Doe Street 1 ap 10 Sao Caetono do Sul, SP 00000-000 Brazil
Only a small difference, but I wanna limit any possible errors.
It hasn’t steered me wrong so far, and after taking a look I would say what Google spits out is what you want to go for as it matches the site. I always make sure to do a google maps search with the address before I ship to make sure it exists. Any potential differences I go back to the buyer with a message asking them if that format will work for them and we can usually come to something that ends up being successful.
I found the exact same website, but really wanted to do a double check.
As I said, a bit worried on how the Brazil Postal Service handles a wrong address.
I’ve always used a similar address format for Brazil similar to the Google one and that’s what my friend gave. But I think package will be delivered with both methods.
A word of warning to you though: get ready for delays if you are sending a big package…
I sent my Brazilian friend a package on November 2016 and he received it on May 2017… Meanwhile small things like letters always reach him in 2-3 weeks… I don’t understand that but my friend keeps telling me how crap the Brazilian postal services are and I can see that.
I am aware. Last shipment to Brazil was in mid 2015 I think. Just 3 cards in a normal envelop took 4 weeks.
But still beats shipping to Italy for me =)
SP is Sao Paulo, so you won’t have any issues. Though the Brazilian post does tend to be “one of the worst”, they seem to have stepped their game up like the Italian Post. Haven’t had anything lost in quite some sales which is always positive. Just avoid Chile and Argentina, Chile takes FOREVER to reach and could get lost and Argentina charges customs even on low value items, have had returns because of this and its just not worth it.