How To Ship Products To Puerto Rico

Virginia Miller

September 19, 2023

In this article

The global sector of eCommerce has multiplied its value and size by manifold. If 2020 was the year of socioeconomic disruption, the disruption only aided the growth of the eCommerce sector. The eCommerce sector emerged as the primary marketplace for global citizens. The rise of the eCommerce sector is something that happened everywhere in the world in different regional markets. This was because customers had a common challenge, the unavailability of products in the offline mode.

Stores everywhere remained shut down even in 2021. The consumer segment has experienced the convenience of the online retail market. Even a country like Puerto Rico saw tremendous growth in online product sales. The recent eCommerce sales trends show that eCommerce companies need to strengthen their roots in Puerto Rico. This also requires a strengthening of the shipping process to the country. When the shipping process to the government is vital, it will boost eCommerce sales in the country further.

There are many eCommerce stores online today looking for fulfillment by Amazon companies to ship overseas. Whether you have a small eCommerce site or a large-scale ecommerce business, shipping to Puerto Rico can help you expand your global business. Puerto Rico is a smaller but more dynamic regional market with lesser competitors. Therefore, it is the best market to enter right now as a key player. To help you enter the market, here are some shipping pointers we present for your assistance.

Clearing The Confusion

Many international eCommerce chains do not enter the Puerto Rican market because of confusion. The confusion stems from whether Puerto Rico falls under a domestic US territory or an international one. Some private shipping companies refer to Puerto Rico as international territory; on the other hand, USPS considers Puerto Rico a domestic territory. However, it also enjoys a lot of federal services and privileges. One of the national services that have operations in Puerto Rico is USPS.

How To Ship Packages To Puerto Rico

Since USPS considers Puerto Rico a domestic territory, a business can quickly ship its products to the USPS environment. You can easily choose the domestic shipping option when sending a parcel to the area. This means that it is as easy to ship products to Puerto Rico as other US states. However, there are slightly different regulations around shipping products in Puerto Rican territory.

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Find out: USPS Mail Types: Cost, Speed and More

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Use English As The Default Language

The majority of Puerto Ricans speak Spanish as their primary language. However, 95 percent of the residents speak another language except for English. It would help if you used English as the default language on the labels. However, the names of the streets should remain as they are, only written in English. English is a globally recognized language. Therefore, using English has its benefits as most everyone can read it.

Follow the Correct Address Format

There are some addressing standards that your shipping label needs to follow. When taking an order for people from Puerto Rico, leave space for them to include urbanization names. The urbanization names are names used to describe the area of the city where they live. If the customer does not furnish the urbanization name, you should leave that part out on the label. However, the urbanization name helps in the arrival of the shipment earlier. Mentioning the name will help you and your customer both. Another fact is that Puerto Rican residents do not use street names all the time. Some may even skip it in the registered address. For such cases, you have to cut it too.

However, it is better to have an exact address than a short one for safe package arrival.

The Cost Of Shipping To Puerto Rico

If you use USPS to ship your package to Puerto Rico, the cost will remain as much as the domestic shipping charges. Therefore, it is best to use USPS. However, if you wish to use UPS or FedEx services, the shipping charges shoot up a little. The higher charges are there because Puerto Rico is an island. Thus, it is not connected to the mainland USA. Therefore, they see it as an international territory due to the distance. This way, the higher shipping charges by private companies make sense in their entirety.

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Learn more: Do You Know About USPS Shipping Cost?

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The crux of the entire discussion is that there are various shipping services available for Puerto Rico. Partnering with USPS is the most feasible option. You will not have to alter your shipping charges or other charges if you rely on the service of USPS. This is because USPS follows federal law. However, private companies charge more because they do so based on the distance of the territory from the mainland.
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simpl fulfillment can collaborate on packaging, shipping options so you can focus on scaling your brand. Learn how we can help here.

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