I sold a coin to a buyer based in Israel and shipped via registered mail incl. int'l tracking. It seems there's no tracking available in the destination country. Now the buyer is getting nervous, as it has been a couple of weeks since I sent the coin. What are your experiences with Israel post & their customs service? What delays can I expect? Are there many lost parcels?
Tracking will be available only after the parcel arrives into Israel. The first scan by Israeli customs or post will make the tracking info available at http://www.israelpost.co.il/itemtrace.nsf/mainsearch?OpenForm&L=EN Couple of weeks is normal. When it is more than 30 days, the buyer should visit post office, go to branch manager and ask to run a check on tracking number. In some cases when item is stuck in customs (before reaching main post sorting facility) only the post system can show details, website will show no info. Customs will hold any parcel in a larger box, it will be examined with extra attention and fees will apply if the cost is more than $75, according to the laws. If it is a padded envelope, even a $300 item will not be held by customs, they usually ignore small parcels, just run automated mass scan for drugs/chemicals etc.
Thanks for your reply, Taxidermist. It's a bubble mailer (padded envelope) and the declared value was below 85€ / $100. Still no tracking information available at http://www.israelpost.co.il though.
Means it is still in transit. Can take 3.5 weeks, usually its 2.5 weeks. Bubble mailers are great, there is a very good chance the parcel won't be held by customs and it will proceed smoothly to post sorting/delivery. If the customs do inspect it closely and notice the value ($100), your buyer might be required to pay $15-20 to get it from the post, but the chances are low. Other than that shouldn't be a problem. Israel post is rather reliable, not worse than USPS anyhow. Got around 7 years experience with it, coins/banknotes/coin sets shipments.
It was shipped from Europe, not from the US. But thanks for your insights. I am convinced it will be delivered eventually...
Shipping from EU can be weird, I`ve had a case when parcel from Germany went through Turkey first, wasted a few days. Although it should take less time than from US, time range remains pretty much the same, 2-2.5 weeks to 3.5 weeks.
Should not be any problem to Israel with Registered post - your buyer is just a bit too early expecting his parcel - I post coins to Israel with out a problem (Touch Wood)
Customs is most probably the hang up. I've never had any issues getting items from Israel to the states. However have had issues with the Swiss post a small package only took 7 weeks. And I've had issues with custom in and out of Canada. I'm sure each postal system had alerts and when this happens it brings shipping to a snails pace.
Great. Buyer opened an "item not received" case after less than 3 weeks and was immediately reimbursed. Now eBay wants me to pay them back. I have filed an int'l investigation request, but this may take weeks... will call eBay customer support *yawn* tomorrow... according to this it's a random decision anyway: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/seller-protection-faq.html "In cross border cases, where comparable forms of postal tracking do not exist, we will make a decision on a case by case basis."
"eBay Customer Support has made a final decision: We received insufficient tracking info from you." Case is closed. Not sure if I should laugh or cry, the tracking number is in the case notes... apparently tracking stopped at the border and eBay customer support sided with the buyer w/o even getting in touch. This sucks big time!
