Postage overcharging?

[deValcourt]

Originally Posted by DougD

Glad there was some progress!

Progress: first the wheel, then the squeaky wheel.

Phillip

[Esteban_cool]

Hello everybody.
When I started buying online, packages took 2 weeks when sent from the US or Europe, 3 weeks from China, and 3 to 4 weeks from Eastern Europe/Balkans.
However, during these last two years approximately, there is not a single package I have bought from abroad that takes less than 1 month and a half, and, of course, shipping costs have skyrocketed. What the heck is going on???

Since when and why did shippings start taking so long to reach its destination? Is this just happening to me or any other of you have been experiencing the same? I have absolutely zero clues...

Your thoughts are very welcome.

Thanks,

E.

[Nota Bene]

Esteban,

I do international shipping all the time. I prefer International Express and it never takes more than a couple of weeks. It's possible that your package is being held by the customs, tracking will usually show that.

Alexei

[Esteban_cool]

Thanks for your reply, Alexei.
Whenever the package takes longer than the 2-3 weeks it used to take with standard shipping, I usually track it twice or three times a week. But I´ve never seen any data on customs when I do. The reception of the package and shipment abroad are usually done in no more than two days, but since that there is no information until the package reaches the customs office at Valparaiso (that is, after a gap of 6 weeks). After that, the package gets home usually next day.

[CtahhR]

Packages from different places to different places can take a great range of different times and that's without taking different services into consideration.

From my experience;

Great Britain to Great Britain 1-4 work days, Rarely traceable these days.
Bulgaria to Great Britain - 6-12 work days, Usually traceable until it enters the international depot in Sofia (2-3 days in)
Moldova to Great Britain 8-12 work days, Usually traceable until it enters the international depot in Chisinau (1-2 days in)
China to Great Britain 12-30 work days, Rarely traceable other than "existing" to China Post. Rather size dependant on speed.
Israel to Great Britain 3-5 work days, Traceable within Israel and infrequently all the way.
India to Great Britain 5-8 work days, Traceable within India.
Slovenia to Great Britain 4-8 work days.
Hungary to Great Britain 2-5 work days.
Sweden to Great Britain 1-6 work days. (Under 18 hours very infrequently)
Ireland to Great Britain 3-5 work days.
Germany to Great Britain 2-6 work days. Often traceable the whole way.
United States to Great Britain 2-80 work days. Traceable within the US.
Canada to Great Britain 5-12 work days.

United States to United States 1-12 work days, Usually brilliant tracking, infrequently more than 12 hours out of date.
Canada to United States 5-15 work days, Poor tracing in Canada, good in US.
Israel to United States 8-14 work days
China to US 10-25 work days


I can't remember the last time I had a package lost in the post (and didn't turn up anywhere at all) but I believe that is primarily due to using only dealers I trust. I'm sure there are many people who say it is "in the mail" but haven't sent or never intend to send the package.

Sellers have become quite aware of the packaging requirements for the long distances items now travel. Rarely does anything get seriously damaged. The last package I got from Poland took a surprisingly long time to get here and when it did it was very battered and even ripped open. Fortunately the person who packed it knew what to do. Nothing was damaged or lost.

[Al-muell]

The packeges from Europe to America (any country) are sent as Priority/express/airmail etc., which means they go by air - they load them on the plane, and the very same day it flies across the ocean.
However, If the packege is non-priority/non-express etc., it is loaded into a container, which will NOT be loaded on the ship before it is full - and that usually takes up to a Month for more popular destinations (from Poland it's Canada, USA, Brasil),and up to over 2 months to "less popular" destinations. Then it has to go all the way on the ship and around a week in the country of destination.


IF the packege is small, the price difference between air and sea is small, but the larger the packege, the higher the costs. That's why larger packeges are usually sent by sea.

[CtahhR]

Everybody knows I hoard like a magpie but I wasn't expecting to find this whilst I was searching for some reference books to post on the forum today. What was an even better surprise is I'd stuffed the pages of one of the reference books with a few dollar bills some years ago and forgotten about it. A nice surprise when I picked it up to scan it.

(I've tampered with the colours a bit to make it more readable).

The prices have changed a little since 1906.

From the United States to Chile - 20 cents per pound plus 8 cents registration.