Coins coming from Europe

Has anyone experienced a delay in coins coming from overseas? I won a coin in a Peus auction in early November and it has yet to arrive. The only message that i have gotten regarding the shipment is "orgin post is preparing shipment". This message was sent Nov 11th. Any feedback and or recommendations for recourse would be appreciated.

 

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I'm fairly certain everyone, everywhere in the world has unfortunately had this happen this year, with all international mail taking much longer than usual, regardless where you live, thanks to the cessation of international passenger flights.

1 month is no time at all these days, assuming it's registered mail. Mine have taken an average of 6-8 weeks since March, with a few zipping through in 4 and a couple even arriving in 3 weeks, but 6 is the standard and the longest took nearly 14 weeks.

edit to add: most of the tracking info is also abysmal, sometimes it won't update until it reaches your local distribution centre, so I wouldn't worry too much about an unchanged status either. This is again even more true for most registered mail where it only tracks at the very start and end of the journey with nearly nothing in-between.

 

I bought a coin from an European dealer on ma-shops back in early August that I only received last month!

 

It's not just Europe. Some domestic shipments and even first class mail has sometimes been really slow. I mailed a check to a dealer in the mid west from Florida. After two + weeks it still had not arrived. Finally I bite the bullet and paid the credit card premium. A week later the dealer received the check and mailed it back to me.

This week I had a registered envelope sit in North Carolina for a couple days. It arrived yesterday.

 

Still waiting after a couple of weeks for my coins from @John Anthony's auction from late November -- and that's domestic mail.

 

A number of my customers are waiting for coins, going on several weeks now. Very frustrating. I might have to switch to pigeons.

 

I have seen this with domestic mail here in the States. I have been buying from a dealer in the US Southwest and the first class letter time from his establishment to mine was three to four days here in the Northeast. Maybe it has has something to do with his recent move to a new state of the Mid-West, but the wait time is noticeably longer now.

 

I am from Europe. Somebody from the US sent me something (non numismatic) via FedEx last Friday and to my surprise it arrived this Friday.
But afaik this is the exception not the rule.
I have never bought something outside Europe and the main reason is the big delays in shipping. I heard many people in my country complaining about huge shipping times and a few months ago a seller from my city shipped a coin to New York. After 3 months it was still on the road and nobody was able to give him an explanation.

 

Yes, its crazy...the mail these days. Though i have recently gotten coins from a firm in France....they arrived within 2 days of placing the order via FedEx.

 

Hmm... wow. I have won a few coins over a couple recent auctions (within the last few weeks), from John. Received them within a few days. I reckon I was fortunate.

To be honest, I have probably participated in, what, 50, maybe almost 100 auctions from John. I ALWAYS received them within a few days of closing. One of the better Providers. (Same as with @Valentinian , too.)

It is all the freight / postal providers slow service. However, I have great luck with FedEx (Int'l and USA) and UPS (USA) so far.

 

In my experience, England, France, Holland (all FedEx) and New Zealand (USPS) have been fine. Germany on the other hand...

 

In my experience this year, coins from England via DHL and UPS Express have arrived very quickly, within a few days. The same is true for coins from France via Federal Express. My one experience buying a coin from Belgium this year (so not counting the one that got lost last year!) was also fine; I forget which courier the dealer used. Coins from Spain were fine earlier this year, but -- even with DHL Express -- have been taking weeks recently. And coins from Germany? Forget it. Even though DHL is a German company, they don't seem to understand what "express" means there. Even coins from Canada have taken a long time to get past US Customs, specifically in Buffalo.

 

The supply chain is only going to get worse. And rightfully so... lots of freight is going to be bumped for COVID vaccines.

Story today referenced an IATA estimate that vaccine shipments are going to total 8,000 FULL 110 ton 747 freight flights. And because Dry Ice is hazardous, air freighters can only be half full of the stuff. And most a/c have much lower freight capacity than the 747F.

 

I had a fairly large shipment from Norway a few weeks ago. I thought the time in transit was acceptable, about two weeks (and we chose to have him ship it regular post instead of registered mail...which would have almost been equal to 50% of the value of the items).

Steve

 

Well, with the pandemic really taking off in the US and in other countries, the impact on delayed mail can be severe. There are exceptions, such as a shipment from Spain that only took a little over two weeks, by tracked first class mail.

It is understandable that delays cause anxiety. The endorphin rush is delayed, and that isn't good in these uncertain, troubled times. I'm trying to cope by reading (Song of Achilles is next), organizing the collection, and trying to take decent photos, or at least avoiding photos that look like something in a petri dish.

 

I prefer my stuff sent from aboard via post, even if it takes 2-3 weeks. I know FEDEX is very fast, but its also costing way more money. With FEDEX you would end up getting dinged 13 percent taxes by customs The coins themselves + 20% comm. fees+ 30-60 % exchange=its enough to make you weep.

 

Yes, the fees add up, and I think many bidders don't take that into account, especially when bidding in an overseas auction.

Roma sent a couple of shipments through Fedex, with customs duties. I told them to use Royal Mail, and there have been no problems for a while. I did have one shipment from them with the wrong zip code, so it spent some time in Missouri before things were sorted out.

 

Yes, I just got a nice letter delivered by mailman yesterday from Roma/ inside a AV Agnel d'or/ Charles VI/ Paris Mint/ struck1388/ looks way nicer then Roma XXX photo! It took 12 days to arrive/ no duty
John

 

It all depends on who they ship the item with. Fed Ex, DHL and SkynetExpress tend to move a lot quicker through customs than Postal Mail. I've won a couple of AH bids from various places in UK. One package was shipped regular mail, tracking had it at Import and Customs for nearly a week alone. One I just won last month from Gorny, was shipped on the 10th via Express, it is already in TN making its way to TX. Est it should arrive on Monday.....Maybe Tuesday, so total of what 4-5?

 

This year - shipping Europe to the US is a few days to a couple months, or anything in between. Chill out, have a beer and most importantly, don't panic, as things will settle down eventually. Remember the vast majority of people on this planet are decent and honest. Paranoia does nothing to speed shipments.