If you are a U.S.-based Seller, and wish to clearly define to what destinations you will ship free, or for a fixed price (such as via UPS Ground), please read on. (For Sellers not based in the U.S., this advice will be minimally helpful because your governmental and private carriers already recognize as part of the United States the jurisdictions that I am about to describe).

The USA is comprised of 56 jurisdictions, several of which are commonly unfamiliar to Americans! The 56 jurisdictions differ from each other in terms of whether thay are contiguous and/or contiguous and/or in the Caribbean Sea and/or in the Pacific Ocean. The common unifying themes are that:

(A) Anyone born in any of these 56 U.S. jurisdictions is automatically an American Citizen; and

(B) Individuals residing in any of these 56 U.S. jurisdictions recognize the U.S. President, U.S. Court System, and U.S. Legislature above their own local governments.

The 56 U.S. jurisdictions are:

48 contiguous states

Washington, DC (federal, not a state), contiguous with the 48 aforementioned states

Alaska (a state but separated from the contiguous 48 states/D.C. by Canada, so not contiguous) = AK

Hawaii (a state but separated from the contiguous 48 states/D.C. by the Pacific Ocean, so not contiguous) = HI

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (not a state, not contiguous, in the Caribbean Sea) = PR

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (not a state, not contiguous, in the Pacific Ocean) = MP

Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands (not a state, not contiguous, in the Caribbean Sea) = VI

Territory of Guam (not a state, not contiguous, in the Pacific Ocean) = GU

Territory of American Samoa (not a state, not contiguous, in the Pacific Ocean) = AS

The shipping issues are these:

(1) The United States Postal Services recognizes all 56 U.S. jurisdictions and charges the same amount to ship the same item from any U.S. origin to any U.S. destination;

(2) Private couriers such as UPS, FedEx, and DHL definitely charge by distance as well as by weight and so shipping an item from your origin to Florida will not cost the same as shipping  the same item from your origin to Hawaii or to Alaska, even though Hawaii and Alaska are U.S. states;

(3) Private couriers, such as UPS, FedEx, DHL recognize only the 48 contiguous states and Washington, DC as part of the U.S. and you the Seller may encounter challenges in shipping to any of the 5 overseas jurisdictions of the U.S.

Perhaps this mini-civics lesson will have refreshed your memory, or added new information to iy, but please consider the above factors when setting up your business and writing the policies that will govern your eBay auctions.