How people from US of A respond when asked for address

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Ok, there is nothing personal.
It's been my experience that guys from USA when responding to GB query for address, forget to include the country name. Everyone else from other part Of the world includes their country name... Well I have not only done GBs but also got pcbs from other countries including USA.
I never forget to include my country name when sharing address.

Do they really forget that they are dealing with an international community? Is it sUpposed to be known by everyone the state codes also?
What the heck is PA? What's IL? What's TX?... and sO many more.
What if I write my name, my area name and then MH-411038 when I give my address to someone in USA.
Will they be able to deliver the goods to me? find out my address and where I live..... Don't see my flag and say I am from India and in Maharashtra . Many times flag is different bUt in address, there will be TX or MA and what not.

I really want to understand the reasoning for givIng a local address when dealinG with international community in an international forum....
 
I think a lot has to do to the fact that historically most people in the USA are used to dealing with 50 States which are in many cases the size of other countries. There is no need to put USA on the address when sending a package from Main to California, which are over 4,237 km / 2,633 miles apart (greater than the distance from Madrid to Moscow, 3426km / 2129miles).

People in most countries have greater interaction with neighboring countries via mail.

People in the USA lack that context.
 
well, people in a small country like India are apart like more than 3000 kms from north to south and east to west..what about Russia? I have had dealings with the Russians.... they never fail to write Russia when sharing address internationally.
Forget small countries of the size of states in USA, never have I had experience/ dealings while interacting with people from bigger countries where people dont think to include the their county's name.....take your neighbour, Canada..... people from that country always write Canada in address... funny isnt it? Canada is much bigger... So distances within the country or mail interactions with smaller countries dont matter.

mail interaction: Not true, I would think its other way round. People in USA have more mail interaction within... so thats the reason why they forget they are dealing internationally. I have, in my 4-5 years on diya have dealt with more guys in USA and other such similar bigger countries/ economies than any other smaller countries like Pakistan/ Bangladesh, etc.....

regards
Prasi
 
like I said, and I truly mean.... nothing personal with any one... all of you from US are great and I have made many friends too.... I just want to understand the reasoning behind not giving the country name while sharing address internationally...
if there isn't any particular/valid/acceptable reason, please make sure to include the name of your country in CAPITAL LETTERS...

this is how others do (e.g. Spain and India)... Its an actual address label I just edited to hide details...
 

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PRR

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Joined 2003
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...There is no need to put USA on the address when sending a package from Main to California...

Where is "Main"?? Every town, almost, has a Main Street.

Prasi - yes, many people in the USA are thoughtless and sloppy. The USA is the center of the world, isn't it? (Hmmm....)

It's not just you. I got an address from a guy in California which was so run-together that it took three tries to figure out what was the street and what was the town. (California does have some fancy names...)

Also our post office gives very specific instructions but does NOT tell us to put "USA" on mail.

What is "PA"? You do not need to know it is Pennsylvania-- "PA" is the correct preferred form on the envelope/package. Our post office has a scanner from 1970, which often auto-reads addresses for auto-sort, but only the 2-letter abbreviations. "ME" = Maine, etc.

The USA also wants "ZIP code" number. This was originally a 5-digit number for the town. Now it can be a 5+4 number which gets it into the right bag.

What’s the Deal with Those Last 4 Digits on ZIP Codes? | Mental Floss

FYI: if the address ends with a 2-letter abbreviation and a 5 or 5+4 digit number, it is "probably* in the USA. I have never noticed any non-USA postal codes which were similar.

We *never* put "USA" on in-country mail. Most of us never send mail outside the USA. And our creaky post office scanner would probably be confused.
 

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PRR

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Joined 2003
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Maybe the fact that diyaudio is mostly a US forum ?

Here in the US, I sense a strong Canadian faction on DIYAudio.

I guess from where you are, the differences are subtle. ("Colour" always gives it away.)

Canada also uses 2-letter abbreviations for what we call states and they call provinces. When this was new, there was conflict between Nebraska (USA) and New Brunswick (Canada). Nebraska got new letters. Canada has changed a few other province codes for political happiness; I assume the old codes work after a change.

While USA and Canada are 2-letter "state", the Canadian "ZIP code" (they say "postal code") is formated A1A 1A1. So you do not have to recognize state/province codes to know USA from Canada. And FWIW, the Canadian PO apparently *tells* users to add "Canada" on international mail.

Sample of a properly formatted address
John Doe
27-1643 DUNDAS ST W
TORONTO ON M6K 1V2

For International mail:
John Doe
1643 DUNDAS ST W APT 27
TORONTO ON M6K 1V2
CANADA
 
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I was simply trying to explain the mind-set of most people in the USA.

It is a small percent of American citizens who ever go out of country.

We are, for the most part, creatures of habit and our habit is a 7 digit postal code with a two letter state abbreviation.

This is not so much a matter of arrogance as it is a matter of ignorance.

By the way, I just checked and there there is no place in Pay Pal to add a country to the address information. However there is a field for country. Hopefully, Pay-Pal adds that to the address information when sending an address to an invoice.
 
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While USA and Canada are 2-letter "state", the Canadian "ZIP code" (they say "postal code") is formated A1A 1A1. So you do not have to recognize state/province codes to know USA from Canada.

Well... First off, there are no states in Canada, thus, no state codes. Provinces and territories, yes, but no states. :p

ZIP Code was originally a registered trademark (until fairly recently), but apparently the USPS allowed the registration to lapse. It is only used by the USPS. Everywhere else (that I'm aware of) uses postal codes. It's the same thing, though. Some alphanumeric string that narrows down the delivery area. The Canadian postal codes are incredibly specific. Try typing 'T2M4H8' into Google Maps, for example. You'll find it covers one city block (in a low-density residential area).

And FWIW, the Canadian PO apparently *tells* users to add "Canada" on international mail.

I've never been told, but I've also never needed to be told. I've lived in three countries so far: Denmark, US, and Canada. None of the three used the country name locally. All three used country names for international mail.

I'm not sure I'd be all bent out of shape about Americans 'forgetting' to add USA to the address, though. Others have provided their opinions on why that might happen. I'd chalk it up to one of those cultural factors that you'll just have to deal with.
Maybe OP could come up with a sort of point-of-sale system for group buys that would require people to indicate the country when they signed up for the group buy. :)

Tom
 
I have just put M6K 1V2 into google maps with satellite photos enabled and it jumped right to the city block containing the address shown with the city block highlighted.
It does much the same with a UK post code.

Strangely, that doesn't work with US ZIP Codes. 98003 and 98105 for example will get you close (Federal Way and Seattle, WA(shington)), but no indication of the ZIP Code boundaries. Go figure.

Tom
 
By the way, I just checked and there there is no place in Pay Pal to add a country to the address information. However there is a field for country. Hopefully, Pay-Pal adds that to the address information when sending an address to an invoice.

All orders I receive have the country indicated under "Billing Address" on Paypal. Orders I receive from the US are marked "United States" for the country.

Tom
 
Checking address labels for correctness when doing a big GB is not very convenient/ always possible.
Tom, this keeps happening despite this.....
CRC Power Supply (Class A amplifier)

so I wanted to understand.

Ok, like you say its probably a cultural thingy or a bit of discipline-thingy as PRR says.
Probably just have to "deal with it"

regards
Prasi
 
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Checking address labels for correctness when doing a big GB is not very convenient/ always possible.

I understand that it isn't convenient, but it certainly is possible to check the address on Google (or by emailing the buyer). Also, Paypal gives you the buyer's billing and shipping address (including the country). In the cases where the Paypal address and shipping address provided by the buyer are different, I always check with the buyer. It only takes a minute and is a lot less hassle than shipping to the wrong address.

Tom, this keeps happening despite this.....

Ah. So you've figured out that people don't follow instructions. What else is new? :D

Tom
 
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