Here is my short list of stores that DON'T ship APO or that have ridiculous prohibitions shipping certain items. Those that don't are listed in red, those that don't ship particular items (even though not barred by APO) are in blue, and those stores with preposterous shipping charges are in yellow. The list will be updated when I hear about more bad guys.Amazon groceries
Amazon Mom subscribe and save
Babiesrus.com
Boscovs
Buy.com
Diapers.com
Danskin
Kohls (can't ship ties with standard shipping?!)
Sephora
Target
Toysrus.com
To add to your list :
ReplyDeleteAmazon groceries - red
Amazon Mom subscribe and save - red
Sephora - red
Diapers.com and Toysrus/Babies r us - crazy APO shipping charges
Consider it done! Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteIf you get a target credit card they offer FREE shipping on ANY order and 5% off each order, just saying :)
ReplyDeleteHo! Another gem! Okay, maybe Target is redeeming itself. I spent over 2 hours with a representative last winter on an order of over $200 trying to determine which of the 20 items was prohibiting me from having it sent APO and he never mentioned this! I ended up berating Target's policy towards those serving our country. Still, you shouldn't have to get a Target credit card to spend money in their store and have it shipped APO. Just saying :)
DeleteThank you so much for sharing! I LOVE it when people speak up! It benefits us all! What else did I miss? Tell me!
I haven't ordered from Walmart because I've read they inflate the prices for APO orders. They try to justify it by saying its for transportation costs but in reality they don't spend anything extra because the DOD picks up the tab to ship overseas once the package leaves the states.
ReplyDeleteThank you for contributing! I haven't had that experience with Walmart in the past. Because of Target's ridiculous restrictions, I've ordered from Walmart several times. What has been the rest of you out there's experience? Should we beware of Walmart? Thanks, again, for the heads-up!
ReplyDeleteThis list is very helpful. We're moving to Bangkok soon with our 18-month old. Out of curiosity, how much does Diapers.com charge for the APO shipping (say on one big order of diapers -- box of 140 or so). And, with Amazon Mom, if I had it shipped to my sister in the states, and she took it to the post office to ship it to me APO, despite the hassle, do you think it would save money? (I have no idea what APO shipping costs.) I'm thinking maybe I should pack/ship as many diapers with me as I can before we leave.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Anna!
DeleteOkay, Bangkok Spouses (I personally know a few of you), what do you recommend? Anna, check Diapers.com and on the pull down menu choose APO as your city and A? (what is the Asia code? AE is Europe and AA is South/Central America) as your state (or type it in if you can) and see what the shipping costs would be before you finalize a "pretend" purchase. With your sister, the cost depends on where she lives and where the nearest military APO post office is. I'm pretty sure that's what USPS bases its price. You can also check the pouch address, if your embassy has one. That is a Dulles, Virginia address which is then sent on to you overseas. I'll try and garner the Bangkok group for advice and hopefully, they will post something soon. Thanks! And good luck in Bangkok! It's a fabulous city! Oh, so fun!
Thanks for the tip! I did a mock purchase and for one 140-diaper box the shipping was $19! Ack. Yes, that is prohibitively expensive. It also estimates 30 days for it to arrive. Oh gee. I will check out Walmart and Target.
ReplyDeleteA BIG part of our shipment when my kids were babies was diapers. It was difficult to estimate how many we would need at each size. When we ran out we were able to get them on the local market, but they were either super expensive or sub-par (yuck). Check to see if you have a commissary- it's possible you might be able to order through them. We can also see what the Bangkok group has to say. Thanks for checking on Diapers.com and posting your results!
DeleteHmmm. I'm perplexed. We send diapers all the time via Amazon subscribe and save to our DPO and never pay any shipping costs. In fact, because we use subscribe and save we get free shipping and a nice discount. The same is true for a lot of bulk items we use...cereal, toilet paper, bread machine mixes, school snacks, etc.
ReplyDeleteWe just haven't had any problem at all getting the things we need via DPO. And I wouldn't necessarily consider Amazon groceries (on the whole) a red list item. Some things are. But if you're a Prime member there are plenty of items that are discounted & ship free.
NKL
You know, that is what I heard too! But then I put it on the list following the recommendation of my first commenter of this post. Maybe I should have another color for contested stores? I personally haven't used Subscribe and Save, but I have another friend in Finland who swears by it. Should I remove them or add the color purple for contested stores? What do you guys think?
ReplyDelete