Thought I'd provide some tips I've learned over the last year regarding shipping. When will my *#(&# package ship!? Besides the fact that things have been slow for the holidays and 97% of the world has Covid, a number of countries also have export licenses. The auction house typically handle this for you, but it can take 3 weeks or more. I know for a fact this is the case from Austria, but I believe it also applies to Switzerland. Packages from sellers in the UK, Germany, and France typically ship quicker. There are no updates on my package! It just says "picked up" For those shipping to the US, typically the seller hands it off to Deutsche Post, France Poste, SwissPost, etc, and they're then sent via some means to the US, where they go through customs and are transferred to USPS. You won't receive any updates while the package is travelling to the US. Also, you typically won't see updates on the foreign post's site once it reaches the US. To see updates when it arrives in the US, use the foreign tracking number in USPS.gov. This will tell you how it progresses through customs and makes it's way to you. I don't live in Australia, but my package from Switzerland is heading there. Why? This confused me a great deal, so I followed up with the seller. It turns out it was a bug on SwissPost's site. The package was correctly shipped to the US. How long does it take a package to reach the US from Europe? So far, my record is about one month for a package I still haven't received from the Netherlands. It still hasn't arrived in the US. I've had packages take nearly that long from Germany. Note if they use DSL or Fedex it goes much quicker. Recently I ordered two coins - one from North Carolina and one from Austria. The Austrian coin arrived first (interestingly it didn't need export paperwork - maybe because it was cheap). In my experience, USPS can be phenomenally slow, so I try to avoid it. Hope this helps. Feel free to add your own tips. Obligatory coin:
I do not mind waiting for my coins to arrive. One of my biggest peeves is when I write the auction house to send material via priority post/ no value/ and they end up sending via DHL express/UPS/FEDEX and I end up having to pay customs fees of 13% on top of comm. fees (20%) and exchange rates of 30-60% depending on currency conversion rates.
Thanks for the info. USPS are very slow and they route parcels haphazardly. I'm in New Zealand so it should be easy - LAX to Auckland with many flights direct daily, but I often find the parcel goes from LA to NY then spends time trying to find a way back on route. One USPS parcel arrived quickly in NZ only to head off to France before returning weeks later. DHL are must better and very fast LA-AKL. Ship on Friday often arrives with me on Tuesday/Wednesday. British Post are much slower now. Before Covid maximum a week to NZ - now more usually upto 3 weeks.
I shipped a coin last year to the Netherlands. Tracking was smooth, but the coin was delayed in Netherlands Customs because I screwed up on the declaration form, describing the coin as a "numismatic token", and as a gift, as well as a copy photo of the group lot that included the coin, which apparently attracted the attention of the Customs examiners. It was really quite a mess, all of my making, but fortunately the coin was eventually released.
USPS. Here's a package sent 30th Dec from LA to Auckland - has been going around in circles at the 'Carrier Facility' . One day in may just get on a flight to Auckland, and then another long winded wait processing in AKL. 19 scans so far SHIPMENT ARRIVED AT CARRIER FACILITY Today - 3:02 pm SHIPMENT DEPARTED CARRIER FACILITY Jan 7, 2022 - 4:30 pm SHIPMENT ARRIVED AT CARRIER FACILITY Jan 4, 2022 - 3:02 pm IN TRANSIT TO DAIPARCELSDC TRACKING #: DP991784217NZ Dec 31, 2021 - 11:43 pm SHIPMENT ARRIVED AT CARRIER FACILITY RANCHO DOMINGUEZ CA Dec 31, 2021 - 7:13 pm ARRIVED SHIPPING PARTNER FACILITY, USPS AWAITING ITEM COMPTON, CA, 90220 Dec 31, 2021 - 5:42 pm SHIPMENT ARRIVED AT CARRIER FACILITY RANCHO DOMINGUEZ Dec 31, 2021 - 1:13 pm ARRIVED SHIPPING PARTNER FACILITY, USPS AWAITING ITEM LOS ANGELES, CA, 90051 Dec 31, 2021 - 8:33 am SHIPMENT ARRIVED AT CARRIER FACILITY LOS ANGELES, CA, 90001 Dec 31, 2021 - 4:42 am DEPARTED USPS REGIONAL FACILITY LOS ANGELES CA DISTRIBUTION CENTER Dec 31, 2021 - 1:30 am SHIPMENT ARRIVED AT CARRIER FACILITY LOS ANGELES CA DISTRIBUTION, 90052 Dec 31, 2021 - 12:51 am ARRIVED SHIPPING PARTNER FACILITY, USPS AWAITING ITEM LOS ANGELES, CA, 90052 Dec 31, 2021 - 12:44 am ARRIVED AT USPS REGIONAL FACILITY LOS ANGELES CA DISTRIBUTION CENTER Dec 31, 2021 - 12:44 am ARRIVED AT USPS REGIONAL FACILITY LOS ANGELES CA DISTRIBUTION, 90052 Dec 31, 2021 - 12:44 am SHIPMENT DEPARTED CARRIER FACILITY SANTA CLARITA CA DISTRIBUTIO, 91383 Dec 30, 2021 - 11:18 pm ARRIVED SHIPPING PARTNER FACILITY, USPS AWAITING ITEM SANTA CLARITA, CA, 91383 Dec 30, 2021 - 5:37 pm SHIPMENT DEPARTED CARRIER FACILITY SOUTH PASADENA, CA, 91030 Dec 30, 2021 - 3:04 pm ARRIVED SHIPPING PARTNER FACILITY, USPS AWAITING ITEM SOUTH PASADENA, CA, 91030 Dec 30, 2021 - 2:10 pm SHIPPING LABEL CREATED, USPS AWAITING ITEM LAS VEGAS, NV, 89146 Dec 30, 2021 - 11:33 am
I thought “numismatic token“ was a fairly common and accepted description, used in the belief that “ancient coin“ might attract the attention of postal workers with sticky fingers. Do you regret using that phrase? I rarely sell coins. But I think I have used that phrase in the one or two times that I have done so.
I've used a fictitious company with 'metal components' printed on the envelope when sending to Russia - surprisingly they always arrived OK. When sending to USA and UK I've used triangular shaped metal foil in the hope of avoiding XRAY detection by those with sticky fingers. One lot of 2 coins did go missing in the US. It always seems to be a gamble when you cant use tracking.
Some USPS services to New Zealand are suspended altogether due to unavailability of transportation. https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/international/welcome.htm I had a similar issue a couple of months ago with a parcel bound for Australia. It went round and round and round before eventually being returned.
I order from a seller in Portugal quite often and I usually get those packages in less than two weeks time. In fact they usually go from Portugal to the New York ISC in 3-4 days. Then things slow down substantially taking double that time to make it half way across the country to good old Kentucky. I just ordered some nice coins for my German States collection from Germany. It'll be interesting to see how long they take to arrive. Still waiting on a package from Finland mailed 3 years ago....smh. But I have had international packages randomly show up without any tracking updates. Mailed then boom, notification it's delivered, no warning at all.
According to the dispatch note it has been sent " First-Class Package International Service" - so I can only wait and see. The USPS notification mentions 'New Zealand’s service disruption affects Priority Mail International® (PMI), International Priority Airmail® (IPA®) M-Bags, International Surface Air Lift® (ISAL®) M-Bags, and Airmail M-Bags.'
But when things eventually work out (and they usually do) you can feel positively blessed. I knew I had ordered a Roman oil lamp, but I wasn't quite prepared for this message when it arrived...Boy, did I get excited! (shipment from Jesus)
