Why Amazon Won't Let You Ship To Certain Addresses

Many of us have become so accustomed to the convenience of Amazon Prime delivery, as well as the other perks of Amazon Prime membership, that we don't even realize how reliant upon it we've become. If you suddenly remember something you forgot to add to the weekly shopping just as you're about to turn in for the night, you can just pop it in your Amazon basket and relax in the knowledge that it'll often be with you as early as the next day. Same day delivery is even possible in a lot of cases, and it's strange to consider how big a task that is on this scale. As Amazon boasted in July 2024, "So far this year, more than 5 billion items have arrived the same or next day globally."

It's almost unbelievable how many packages this global powerhouse deals with, but there are some things that even Amazon can't do. You might have found an order refused or a package delivery denied and wondered why. This is due to a combination of the type of item you're buying and the address you want it sent to. Amazon's delivery rules, it turns out, are more restrictive than you might think. The wide network of sellers that use Amazon's platform also have their own policies and procedures regarding what items they will ship to certain locations.

People in prison can receive packages, though it's advised to have Amazon deliver the item to you at a residential or business address and send it on to the prison via the United States Postal Service (USPS). This extra step is necessary because Amazon's own drivers and those from other carriers Amazon uses won't be able to make the delivery. As Amazon explains, "because inmates can't sign for packages, they can only receive packages from US Mail." Another interesting case is that of Fleet Post Office (FPO), Army Post Office (APO), and Diplomatic Post Office (DPO) addresses. These virtual addresses allow military personnel to send and receive mail from faraway posts, so things are understandably a little more complicated than they would be with a domestic address. 

As with shipping to prisons, FPO/APO/DPO deliveries can only be made by the USPS. A second caveat is that it may take up to 45 business days for parcels to be delivered to these addresses. Amazon advises that outdoor furniture and hazardous materials cannot be shipped to military addresses, nor can cell phones or computers. The interesting thing is that items that use lithium batteries — one potentially dangerous item often restricted by delivery services — can be sent to either FPO or APO addresses, but batteries can't be dispatched separately to these addresses. 

An important factor to consider when shopping online on Amazon is that you often aren't buying a product directly from Amazon. In May 2024, Amazon reported that over 60% of its sales came from third-party sellers, which is a huge positive for those who aren't gargantuan mega-corporations. It also means, though, that each of these sellers can have its own rules that complicate deliveries to certain addresses. Domestic and international regulations are complicated and varied, and have a huge impact on shipping policies.

If a seller is based in the United States, for instance, they might only offer shipping within the country. This is especially the case if they specialize in larger and heavier items, which are expensive to ship internationally. These costs could become prohibitive for some potential buyers, and so it can be more practical for sellers simply not to offer international shipping. Difficulties such as tangling with the Value Added Tax (VAT) for shipments to Europe also complicate things. Amazon offers the Global Selling program, through which the corporation streamlines the multi-faceted process of shipping worldwide, but not all sellers are eligible for this.

The larger a package is, the heavier, more difficult and expensive it is to deliver. In some cases, even the mighty Amazon won't be able to deliver an item to your doorstep. Fortunately, it provides information as to which deliveries would cause concerns. Amazon's About Shipping Restrictions page notes that "large or oddly shaped" packages may not be available for delivery to certain addresses, while anything with a weight of over 70 pounds or a single measurement over 108 inches exceeds its "dimensional shipping limits." 

Some products may be offered by Amazon but not to specific addresses, depending on the laws in the locale where you want the package delivered. Different carriers will have their own sets of guidelines. The USPS notes the difference between restricted and prohibited items, offering mercury as an example of the latter and stating that it "can't be mailed internationally, in devices like antique thermometers, barometers, and switches; or as mercury vapor contained in devices like compact fluorescent lamps." You can visit the USPS Postal Explorer site to check out regulations for dozens of countries, and if you're shipping domestically, USPS' newly-upgraded mail trucks are likely to be able to deliver your package. 

Of course, with an enormous corporation like Amazon, there's one universal truth: A larger number of customers means a greater chance of potential issues. Because of its size and scope, Amazon has measures in place to streamline the user experience. What does Amazon do to alert users that it won't be able to deliver a particular item to a certain location? Amazon's customer service page states that "To determine your location, we use your Buy Now delivery address while signed in to your account. If you do not sign in, we use your IP address." This helps enable an advance warning if an item in your cart is ineligible for shipping to you. 

If you click on a product after a search, you'll see "delivering to" in the bar beneath the product's price. Here you'll see whether super speedy Amazon Prime delivery is available, or if the item has a shipping restriction. Amazon also uses this information to help shoppers by filtering items that can't be sent to their delivery address from their search results. This isn't always possible, though, and should an order go through with such an item in the basket, the checkout screen should also note the shipping restriction. From there, it should be easy to get a refund for the product from Amazon.