Are there shipping issues from China recently?

[pansophic.innovator]

I have been buying small items here and there from China for a long time now, but recently things just don't arrive as consistently. 3 of my last 10 purchases have not reached me 2 months past purchase which are the last arrival date. Though I think 2 of them might have been the same company, just different staff running loads of accounts to avoid fees. Paypal account name points to the same company. Makes it difficult to avoid sellers with low arrival rates because you don't know who they are until you pay for your stuff.

Is any one experiencing the same thing? Are there custom strikes or port closures going on right now? I didn't notice anything in the news.

[ypdc_dennis]

Side effects of the Trump USA China trade war?

[femmefan1946]

While China is made at Canada over the Huawei/Meng Wanzhou thing, that's being fought at a much higher level.

The important thing is to be proactive. (I'm sorry for the jargon) 

If it doesn't arrive by the last estimated date, open the Not Received Dispute in the Resolution Centre at the bottom of most eBay pages.

Keep a record of the estimated arrival dates with item and transaction number, if you buy a lot from China.

You only have 30 days from estimated arrival to open a Dispute, but if the seller cannot prove delivery (not shipping, delivery) you will be refunded.

If you missed the deadline, you have 180 days from payment to open a dispute on Paypal.

Again if the seller doesn't prove delivery, you will be refunded.

And of course, read the Feedback.

Anything under 99% is horrible for a Chinese seller. And read the negs and neutrals for patterns. While some people don't want to be satisfied, a pattern of complaints about late or no delivery, or poor quality, or bad packaging, should be a red flag.

[ichopshop]

Sounds pretty standard to me.  File INR as soon as the item is past due, don't accept their offer to ship another one.

The item will probably eventually show up,  but I've had things take 90-120 days when the same item takes 3 weeks to my US address (I ran an experiment a couple of years ago with a dozen items, shipping times were usually double of those to USA, a few far worse).

My record for fastest item shipped from China to my US address is 6 days by "regular" mail (not express).

Ian

[pansophic.innovator]

The thing for me is that, I have filed claims twice this year already, and I haven't bought that much stuff. From observer's perspective, it's not impossible but rare that a buyer claims several missing deliveries in a row, especially when this all comes down to a buyer said seller said situation with no proof from either side. I am that unlucky person, but observers don't know that.

And yeah I have been buying under 99% sellers quite a bit just to save a couple dollars. The sellers I buy stuff from hover between 94~97% quite a lot.
I like buying non-essentials cheap even if I have to wait for long shipping time, but I can't say I enjoy having to keep track of missing items recently.

[reallynicestamps]

And yeah I have been buying under 99% sellers quite a bit just to save a couple dollars. The sellers I buy stuff from hover between 94~97% quite a lot.

But you don't save money if you don't get what you paid for, and even if you get a refund, you missed on getting the item you wanted and lost time (and time is money-- 18cents a minute at BC minimum wage).

And if the cheap stuff that does arrive is poor quality, then you have to pay to replace it. 

Which comes to the Sam Vimes Theory of Boots.

"The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness."  Sir Terry Pratchett , Men At Arms.

with no proof from either side.

That's where the tracking comes in.

I rarely track my products, because the postal system is very good at what it does and the cheapest tracked service is about $12.00 for Canadian delivery while untracked letterpost would be ~$5.00 .

But I know I shipped and I believe my customers will not take advantage.

Because without tracking the seller must refund the buyer, no other questions asked.

That's fine. Most people are honest.

But if the FB shows a pattern of buyers reporting non-delivery or horrible quality, believe them.

[xenotime]

About a year ago it started taking longer for me to receive stuff from China. It went from a 4 week wait to 2 to 3 months. To the USA it takes about 2 weeks, so it's a Canada Post issue.

(I'm replying to the OP by the way)

[amcdc79]

Personally, I think it is a combination of both what has been said regarding the seller, and CP.

Checking the feedback of the seller, is a very wise suggestion. If they are in the 98% range, look for others which are higher. Canada Post did put the items from China on the back burner so to speak, while they cleared their backlog from their labour dispute.

Of the four items I have ordered in the last few months, two never arrived, and the other two took less than 2 weeks. I was impressed how fast they got to me. The two that did not arrive were both from sellers with feedback in the 98%, the two that did were from sellers in the 99% range.

I was able to receive refunds for the two "lost" items, if they ever show up, I will be happy to pay for them again.

I found a seller who says they are from China, yet when I ordered an item last Sunday about 10PM. it was delivered on Monday about 2PM, and the email from ebay that it had shipped, did not show up until Monday evening. How about that! Of course I left them glowing feedback, and will order from them again as they have great product.

[gunther14]

I am having the same problem.  I heard that many Chinese sellers are using "logistics companies" to ship their items.  These companies put these packages into giant shipping containers where they sit until the container is full.  

Unfortunately, as far as I know, there is no way to tell if a seller is using such a service or not (other than contacting them and asking, but then there's no guarantee they're telling the truth.

[reallynicestamps]

@gunther14 

there is no way to tell if a seller is using such a service

The Shipping tab on the product description will give you an approximate delivery time, even before you buy.

Anything over 20 days is probably coming from overseas. Anything over 30 days is coming by Surface (that's the container ship).

When you buy eBay gives you a window for delivery. Mark the last estimated date for delivery on your calendar.

If the item does not arrive by then, open an Item Not Received dispute in the Resolution Centre at the bottom of this page.

If the seller cannot prove delivery (not shipping, delivery) you will be refunded.

If you have more specific questions, just hit Reply.

[xenotime]

Well this is unexpected... I bought an item from China two weeks ago and it came today. I bought another item just one week ago and it came yesterday. Both shipped free from two different sellers. They both also had "Return Parcel Only" addresses from Mississauga.  Perhaps this SpeedPAK service, which previously was only available in the US, is now working in Canada.