Hi, I’m going to Chicago from London with my family in February and I’d really like to get a few things from US eBay to take home with me. How will I be able to get things delivered to me when I’m in Chicago?
As another option, there are storage lockers and other places you can have things shipped to as well. UPS and some others have these services. I’ve never lived in Chicago so do some research around where you will be staying.
So, there are people telling you how to ship packages to a hotel, which is fine. The issue is going to be if eBay will let you. Having packages sent to a hotel is likely going to trigger a lot of fraud warnings, especially as your account is from another country.
Call the hotel and ask.
I have done this before and it’s hit or miss if the will hold the package for you.
Correct. They’ll usually just hold it at the front desk. Make sure it’s addressed as with something “Guest : Mr Johnson”
IL do that later today thanks!
IL do that later today thanks!
I see what you did there.
What did I do?
If that was genuinely a typo, it’s brilliant!
Chicago is in Illinois, whose 2 letter code is IL 😁
You can have things shipped to yourself at the hotel, it’s actually quite common e.g.
Firstname Lastname (Guest)
Fancy Hotel Name
123 This Street
This City, State, Zip CodeThat said it might be helpful to notify the front desk that you plan to receive package(s) during your stay in the case they set up a different procedure for that.
Also be aware sometimes you’ll need to check in with the front desk or receiving department if there are any packages for you - More than a few receiving departments at hotels just don’t do the extra work to notify guests that packages arrived for them… this sometimes results in the guest checking out without ever knowing there was something waiting for them to pick up.
Ah I see. So I will need to put in the address of the hotel when ordering something and when I have ordered it, I will need to notify the front desk that there will be a package coming soon. Is that right?
That’s the idea. But definitely check with the hotel if they will accept and how long they’ll hold it for. Some hotels only accept guest packages for a few days before their check-in; they’re usually not going to want to hold it for a week or two. Maybe something you can work on with the seller to time the shipment appropriately?
Thanks for your help!
Yup, I’ve done it many times. They’ll just call your room when it arrives.
Be aware that with eBay, shipping times can vary.
The seller has a grace period to pack stuff up, and even once it’s handed off, shipping can take longer than the estimate, especially with USPS.
You can say that you will pick the things up at some location instead of them being delivered to you. Sometimes you can just send them to a pick up location directly. If not possible, once you get a tracking link you can change the destination and redirect to a pick up location.
Thanks mate!
You will need to add the hotel address to your eBay account. Otherwise asking a seller to send an item to a different address makes you sound like a scammer.
Most hotels accept guest packages.
Thanks!
