International Shipping Using USPS Taking Forever

[Nicolas.Radlauer]

I generally don’t ship internationally but in the rare event that I do it is under these conditions:
1) only to first world countries
2) buyer pays for extra shipping cost (beyond the cost of domestic shipping)
3) pay using F&F (not breaking the exchange rules since I never offer international or F&F in a sale)
4) buyer agrees that once the package leave the US that all responsibility ends on my part
5) no returns
6) no customs liability on my part and no lying on customs forms (which is illegal)

I’ve always used Usps priority international and had fine results, delivery to Western Europe is usually 7-10 days.

John, this work also for automatic and balis? I am from Europe and I am looking for a way to make some transactions with Canada/US. Here is my thread https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/selling-and-payment.1735965/

 

[barleywino]

I did have a package from Germany sit at the Chicago USPS International center for two months -- it simply did not move. My guess is there is a huge backlog due to COVID-19, they are slowly catching up, and it can take upto 4 to 6 months at this point in time for international packages.

Have you tried asking your local PO to check the tracking#? The USPS backend API (application programming interface) has detailed tracking that isn't visible to consumers, but exposed to several USPS partners (like eBay), including the PO.

Patience is a virtue, and a lot of it is demanded from us at this point -- our modern comfortable life due to incredibly efficient supply chains has been greatly disrupted.

Same happened to me. After 6+ weeks where nobody at usps knew where my package was after leaving Chicago, I filed a lost package claim, had to get the sender to verify for usps that they sent the package and it was lost, then they found the package. Going UPS in the future.

 

[choombak]

Same happened to me. After 6+ weeks where nobody at usps knew where my package was after leaving Chicago, I filed a lost package claim, had to get the sender to verify for usps that they sent the package and it was lost, then they found the package. Going UPS in the future.

For me, this was a one-off for me in about a decade of exclusively using USPS. Not yet there when I have to evaluate choices of carriers.

 

[Frankki]

The knife I ordered in the spring, shipped March 8th, took three and a half months to eventually arrive. That was a long wait and I put all purchases from the U.S. on hold.

In September I did buy something from Ebay, as it was a rare opportunity etc. Figured it'll get here when it gets here, what have I got to lose, eh? This time, however, USPS only carried it (rather slowly) as far as the nearest DHL sorting centre and from there it took a couple of weeks to arrive in Finland. Shipping took four weeks in total, which in previous times would have been unpleasantly slow, but nowadays quite acceptable. Much, much better than three and a half months, at least.