As I'm putting together a somewhat obscure set, the need arises to search for coins all over the world. I've had virtually no issues before buying from China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Spain, and a few other places (one slab box never arrived from China in early 2020, but it was inexpensive and things were getting hectic at the time). Will this time be any different? I won an auction on March 6th from a seller in the UK (London, to be specific). On March 9th I sent a message mentioning that I'm looking forward to the coin and to please let me know when it ships (along with the tracking info). There was no response but the status on eBay did change to shipped-no tracking number added though. Yesterday, March 15th, I sent a second message asking about a tracking number. No response has been given as of this posting. It's not an expensive coin (a bit under $60) and I know people are busy. However, I would expect a seller with a decent amount of feedback (all of it positive) would at least reply or add a tracking number? So will the coin arrive at some point? Anyone want to place their guesses? I'll update the thread if anything changes.
I hope it does too. Just wondering, how does that saying apply here? I've had no issues buying from foreign sellers before and I've never done business with this particular seller before the current purchase. Do you mean to not buy from them again? If so, I have no plans to do so for the foreseeable future.
Shipping from overseas is extremely slow. The UK is having a terrible time with COVID right now. I would give it a bit longer.
I know shipping takes a while. I've waited a month or more. I'm more frustrated with the lack of a tracking number or response to my question. The sellers from China, Russia, and Kazakhstan have all provided me with tracking info. I'd imagine if all of those sellers were able to do it, someone in the UK can as well?
If you don’t have a tracking number, you can probably assume it was not shipped. Like you, I have bought world coins, and while shipping can take a while, tracking should be available. That is not acceptable. Did you buy them from eBay? If so,I would open a case.
You stated you had a problem with a shipment from China so if you have another one with this order I’d say it’s time to stop buying from overseas. At least that’s the way I read what you wrote but I’m still not thinking clearly.
Is there any info in the seller's fine print about shipping? I've seen some that don't provide any shipping information. Why? I have no reason other than overhead. It takes a person to deal with recording and sending info, so they don't do it. Hope it works out okay for you.
Yes it was eBay. It's too early to open a case and I do want the coin. If I don't hear anything else, I will open the case when the time is right. I mentioned that I've had virtually no issues among multiple shipments. There was one box that never arrived from China (under $10) but that was around the hectic times of early 2020. I would not consider one item not arriving in many years of eBay purchases to be a reason to not buy from any country outside the US. There was no mention of shipping besides the auto generated information from eBay. This is a coin in its original box that I would think would require tracking information but maybe the seller just uses a lot of stamps and does not have tracking.
Positive update: the seller replied and provided a tracking number. It was mailed out a little after my first message. They just hadn’t uploaded the tracking info to eBay.
My experience with packages from the U.K. to my home in New York has been quite good. Anywhere from two to three weeks. Not that different from some items coming from the west coast or Texas. Of course if your item gets backed up by CBP it could add a bit of time. If it is real nice, it may never be seen again like your slab box from 2020. I've had a lot of coins get as far as "ISC", but go no further.
It arrived today and I left positive feedback. I'm glad that everything worked! A thread on the coin will follow soon.
