International shipping - oh dear...

[HamishR]

As I live in the most isolated capital city in the world I rely a lot on shipping. I have been buying stuff online from all over the world for over 15 years I guess - maybe longer. I very rarely have a problem. Even Ge transistors from deepest Siberia show up in timely fashion - Russian time of course!

But the past couple of years have been challenging. Transformers I buy from the US have been taking two months to get here when they used to take two weeks. Guitars via UPS or Fedex used to be a week - now over two. That's ok, there's a pandemic. But last night I tried to order a set of transformers for an amp I'm building - already have the chassis and a lot of parts - and the guy I buy transformers tells me he can't supply them because the US Post has stopped all basic shipping to Australia. Usually it costs around $70 to ship them - now they want us to use the premium service at over $180. And it will still take months.

It's getting to the point where it's not a valid exercise any more. It's just too expensive. I want to buy a few yards of tolex to cover my cabs and Mojo or Antique electronics want $180 to ship $50 worth of tolex. So I'm buying what I can from Stewmac because I can get free or cheap shipping, but they don't have much of a range. The USPS is getting way too expensive for worse and worse service. I'm at a point now where I have to stop doing what I love because it's too expensive, even though the parts aren't. The main cost in building things at the moment is shipping. I suspect there are a lot of US suppliers who are losing business because of this. I hope PedalPCB can manage.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

That's pretty close to my experiences as well especially in a post brexit world. Shipping to the UK is getting silly now.

I'm not remotely suggesting prices to deliver to the UK are as bad as Australia though it's really hard to get parts now without getting absolutely rinsed for postage.

I contacted Gorva two weeks ago about placing an order and got a really nice reply basically telling me it was only worth doing if I was spending over £150. I'm not blaming the guys at Gorva at all the process regarding collecting VAT etc for sales outside the UK is a minefield and just not worth it for small orders now.

 

[DAJE]

I'm in Melbourne, and yes, I have cut back on buying online recently because there's no way of knowing when/if anything will arrive. I had a package of 10 3PDT switches from China that took a week to get to Melbourne then Australia Post took FIVE WEEKS to get it to my letterbox. Which is literally a few km from the airport. I could walk there and back in a few hours.

I put in a PedalPCB order a couple of weeks ago and that hasn't left the US yet. I'm expecting another 4-6 weeks for that to arrive, but at this point I could be looking at next year. Or maybe never.

 

[HamishR]

I've had similar experiences - something arrives in Australia in excellent time then spend weeks in Sydney.

I just bought a guitar from Wildwood in Colorado. I spent all day at home because Fedex said it was to be delivered today before 5.00pm. Then when it didn't arrive I tracked it and it's still in bloody Sydney. WTF? Fedex is usually better than this. It still says it will be delivered today. It's now 8.00pm Perth time. I have my doubts.

 

[Robert]

USPS has suspended all but Priority Express to Australia and New Zealand. GlobalPost, UPS, FedEx, and DHL are the only options for now.

USPS is pretty horrible within the USA right now as well, but FedEx is just as bad. I had a FedEx 2-day shipment sit at one location for two weeks with no explanation. I haven't had a FedEx shipment arrive on time in months.

The issue with GlobalPost Economy (aside from being ridiculously slow) is that tracking isn't reliable, so while a shipment appears to be stuck in a location (usually Miami, FL) it's generally much further along than it appears. There are also several exchanges that happen as it leaves the USA that makes a shipment appear like it's being returned.

I've shipped a couple orders with the GlobalPost Standard method lately, I'm monitoring those to see what transit time is going to be like.
Tracking is much better than Economy, but so far they haven't been delivered so it's too soon to say for sure.

 

[DAJE]

The issue with GlobalPost Economy (aside from being ridiculously slow) is that tracking isn't reliable, so while a shipment appears to be stuck in a location (usually Miami, FL) it's generally much further along than it appears. There are also several exchanges that happen as it leaves the USA that makes a shipment appear like it's being returned.

My order from you was in New Jersey recently. GlobalPost Economy. As I said, I'd be surprised to see it in October, and mid to late Nov seems more likely based on how long everything has been taking to get to me. I don't expect Australian shipping times to start improving until next year.

 

[Preverb]

I'm in Melbourne, and yes, I have cut back on buying online recently because there's no way of knowing when/if anything will arrive. I had a package of 10 3PDT switches from China that took a week to get to Melbourne then Australia Post took FIVE WEEKS to get it to my letterbox. Which is literally a few km from the airport. I could walk there and back in a few hours.

I put in a PedalPCB order a couple of weeks ago and that hasn't left the US yet. I'm expecting another 4-6 weeks for that to arrive, but at this point I could be looking at next year. Or maybe never.

Just put in an order myself and hope it will get here within a month. I have a guitar that has been sitting in a warehouse in Japan because EMS Japan is not shipping to Australia either. I think many of the postal services pay for using part of the cargo holds of passenger flights. Since we banned most of them and also prevented citizens from even leaving the country, this whole shipping thing has turned into an even bigger mess.

I've shipped a couple orders with the GlobalPost Standard method lately, I'm monitoring those to see what transit time is going to be like.
Tracking is much better than Economy, but so far they haven't been delivered so it's too soon to say for sure.

GlobalPost works to Australia? I had thought about shipping my order to my brother in Canada since I will visit in December. That being said, shipping from US to Canada often incurs a stupid "brokerage" fee for crossing the border. Not sure if this happens in other countries but it drives me nuts. Someone once shipped my mother a present from the US. She didn't know what it was since it was a surprise. She had to pay $50 before they would leave it with her.

 

[DAJE]

I've had similar experiences - something arrives in Australia in excellent time then spend weeks in Sydney.

I just bought a guitar from Wildwood in Colorado. I spent all day at home because Fedex said it was to be delivered today before 5.00pm. Then when it didn't arrive I tracked it and it's still in bloody Sydney. WTF? Fedex is usually better than this. It still says it will be delivered today. It's now 8.00pm Perth time. I have my doubts.

My order from Tayda got here a couple of days ago, in less than a week, so DHL are still reliable. But from what I've seen and heard recently, most courier companies are suffering from overload too. Not as bad as Aus Post, but not that far ahead of it either.

 

[DAJE]

GlobalPost works to Australia?

I have had a couple of previous orders from our host sent via GlobalPost Economy. 4-6 weeks seems about standard by that method, but I'm adding a couple of weeks to that estimate and won't be all that surprised if it's more like 2-3 months.

 

[fig]

Thankfully, I'm currently not affected by this issue on the receiving side.

BUT..If anyone could fill in a few blanks for me though as far as me sending things Int'l , I would be grateful. The last thing I want is to send someone a gift and them have to pay tribute (VAT or any associated fee) to receive it.

I've been using USPS Priority exclusively, but if that results in fees on the other end I need to expand my shipping methods.

 

[Preverb]

I have had a couple of previous orders from our host sent via GlobalPost Economy. 4-6 weeks seems about standard by that method, but I'm adding a couple of weeks to that estimate and won't be all that surprised if it's more like 2-3 months.

Arrrgh, I wonder if I can still change my order destination? I am in central Queensland so it will take even longer to get to me.

 

[Preverb]

Thankfully, I'm currently not affected by this issue on the receiving side.

BUT..If anyone could fill in a few blanks for me though as far as me sending things Int'l , I would be grateful. The last thing I want is to send someone a gift and them have to pay tribute (VAT or any associated fee) to receive it.

I've been using USPS Priority exclusively, but if that results in fees on the other end I need to expand my shipping methods.

The brokerage fee I was talking about is just a US to Canada thing. Something the couriers cooked up to squeeze more money out of the consumers. It is nonsense. USPS packages usually didn't result in that fee. The stupid thing is that packages can end up costing less to send to Australia as a result.

 

[Robert]

I've been using USPS Priority exclusively, but if that results in fees on the other end I need to expand my shipping methods.

As of July 1st any shipment to any EU or UK territory is likely going to be subject to ~20% VAT fees upon arrival, regardless of the shipping method. Some slip through, some don't. I suspect as we move forward there will be less and less that make it through unscathed.

This, I suspect, is probably why Gorva doesn't want to bother on a shipment below £150 (this is near the threshold where sellers are no longer expected to collect/remit VAT, depending on the region).

UPS, FedEx, and DHL are also subject to an additional "brokerage fee" on top of the VAT / customs duties. This is most common for shipments to Canada, but has even happened to one of our members here on a shipment from Tayda to the USA.

The one that really bothers me is the shipment recently where customs in Australia suspected the declared value was incorrect, made the customer bring an invoice/other documents to prove the value, then charged them an "administration fee" despite the declared value being correct.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Thankfully, I'm currently not affected by this issue on the receiving side.

BUT..If anyone could fill in a few blanks for me though as far as me sending things Int'l , I would be grateful. The last thing I want is to send someone a gift and them have to pay tribute (VAT or any associated fee) to receive it.

I've been using USPS Priority exclusively, but if that results in fees on the other end I need to expand my shipping methods.

Jessica's parents regularly send packages to us from California to the UK which are marked as gifts and marked with a value of less than £39. These will not be taxed when they arrive in the UK. Anything over this and they will charge VAT before delivering.

 

[fig]

I'm hopeful things will improve for everyone. I'd rather see this community as a whole, grow rather than wither because of a logistics issue.

It's not for lack of ability that we struggle as a species.

 

[DAJE]

Thankfully, I'm currently not affected by this issue on the receiving side.

BUT..If anyone could fill in a few blanks for me though as far as me sending things Int'l , I would be grateful. The last thing I want is to send someone a gift and them have to pay tribute (VAT or any associated fee) to receive it.

I've been using USPS Priority exclusively, but if that results in fees on the other end I need to expand my shipping methods.

In Australia, there's no extra fee for gifts and personal mail, but there is a 10% tax for commercial products. That's only due if your company is over a certain size, PedalPCB wouldn't be in that league. Anything bought via eBay or Amazon, for instance, does get the GST.

Basically, if you want to send something to an Aussie, make it look unprofessional (hand write the address rather than printing a label) and it'll be very unlikely to get checked. Of course, the larger the parcel the bigger the target, so it depends what you're sending too.

I've had parcels opened by customs a couple of times, but never been charged a fee or had to explain anything to anyone.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

The USPS has been terrible domestically as well. In the past 6 months they’ve lost 7 packages of mine. That’s a 40% rate of loss. Half of what has arrived has been damaged as well. Luckily PedalPCB ships in padded envelopes, because the mailbox deliveries have been fine.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

I was very lucky over the summer, as USPS lost a package with my Flint and El Cap and couldn't find it for 5 days. Same with my Vick Audio Overdriver. Lost for a week before it showed up.

One was lost for two months and eventually was found and delivered to me completely smashed and water damaged. Another one was lost for 6 weeks and finally arrived after insisting to them that it was never delivered (tracking never showed movement from the original office but was marked as delivered after 2 weeks of being missing)— turns out that it was in fact at the original post office in Florida (I’m in NY). The rest were permanently lost

 

[Robert]

One of the previous FV-1 shipments got delivered to the wrong address. After going to two different post offices across town I was told that it was at a particular address and I could go get it if I wanted it.....

There was no offer for them to go get it and deliver it properly, my only choice was to go pick it up myself.... from a random persons house....

Luckily they were cool about it and we laughed it off.

The irony is about a month later I got a package addressed to them... I just cut out the middle man it took it to them. I really should be on USPS payroll at this point.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

One of the previous FV-1 shipments got delivered to the wrong address. After going to two different post offices across town I was told that it was at a particular address and I could go get it if I wanted it.....

There was no offer for them to go get it and deliver it properly, my only choice was to go pick it up myself.... from a random persons house....

Luckily they were cool about it and we laughed it off.

The irony is about a month later I got a package addressed to them... I just cut out the middle man it took it to them. I really should be on USPS payroll at this point.

My street intersects with another street with a very similar name (think “Oaktree road” and “Oakleaf road” or something like that), and at least a few times a week we have to exchange mail with each other.

There’s another street a few towns over with an extremely similar sounding and looking name to mine (think “Mayor word” vs “Major ward” or something like that), so that gets mixed up a lot whenever we have to say our address over the phone, and especially when it’s an automated system either using voice recognition or handwriting recognition.
The town planners really didn’t account for the future when they named everything 150-300 years ago