China to Canada getting longer

[radiove4crg]

Before ebay from to China to Canada used to take around 3-4 weeks. Lately from China stuff has been taking upwards of 2 months now.

-Is Canada post still catching up from the Chrismas rush?

-Did the mules on land or slow boats on water lose their GPS system and get lost?

 It seems to me as of Christmas China delivery times have doubled and not reverted to normal yet.

Am I the only one waiting 2 months for China items or has anyone else had this problem start withing the last 3-4 months? I'm still waiting for something that was shipped on Jan.5 that said it should be here Jan.21 - Feb.5.

Bottom line of the question: DO CHINA DELIVERIES SEEM TO BE TAKING 2X AS LONG THAN 6 MONTHS AGO TO ARRIVE IN CANADA.

[dmil8030]

Hello 'radiove', 

<< DO CHINA DELIVERIES SEEM TO BE TAKING 2X AS LONG THAN 6 MONTHS AGO TO ARRIVE IN CANADA.>>

I've always found that cheap little items from China can take around 2 months to arrive but since I accept that mail order can be slow I am always willing to wait for my items to show up.  And there is nothing I can do to speed up the world's transport systems. 

If it has been more than 2 months I would contact the seller.  I very rarely need to do this because things do eventually show up.  If you are getting fed-up with waiting, however, you do have 180 days (nearly 6 months) to file a claim with paypal for an Item Not Received.  It says so in Section 13.5 of the following:

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full#13

Just as we have recently had a Christmas festival which slows things down, so too might the Chinese New Year when the people there have more on their minds than getting cheap items delivered quickly to international buyers.  This year it is 'officially' Feb 7-13, so yes, it may take a bit of time for shipments to pick up.

But yes, I am finding items from everywhere to be a bit slow lately.  There is an online book site I buy from quite a bit and every order seems to take at least a month (mostly from the US or UK).  For me it is all the more exciting when the thing finally arrives. 

[synaptic2112]

I have been noticing since last fall that shipping from asian countries has been really slowing down. Especially

in the last 2 months. Most stuff from there is not arriving by the end of the shipping time window or not arriving at all.

I am starting to question if they are really shipping stuff at all as they are very quick to issue refunds. And then they

expect 5 star ratings. Is quite frustrating really when you need or want the item. Seems a lot of sellers from there ratings are dropping quite fast, mostly for shipping issue or not arriving at all. Part of the problem is that it is really difficult to not buy from

there as price difference is so dramatic. Especially for electronic parts where they are so difficult to get in North America

and if you do find them can cost as much as 10 times higher. Don't even get me started on overly expensive shipping in

North America....especially from the US. I get a bad feeling the stuff from China thing is about to change in some way or other.

Is it our own Canadian Customs that is causing all this??

Ebay needs to get on this and find out what is going on as a lot of buyers will just stop buying from there or buying at all

via Ebay. I for one have already decided to chill on my purchases for a while until Ebay addresses our questions and tells

us what is going on.

[marnotom!]

If you do a Google search on "why is mail from China so slow" you'll find a lot of results, many of them from sources outside of Canada.  This isn't an issue with Canada Post or Canada Border Services.

[femmefan1946]

Seems a lot of sellers from there ratings are dropping quite fast, mostly for shipping issue or not arriving at all.

Which is why it is a good idea to read feedback.

Any China seller with less than 99% feedback is not a good seller.

And yet anywhere else in the world a 97% FB is poor but not hopeless.

Read (as you have ) the Detailed Seller Ratings.

Read the actual negative comments for a pattern of non-arrival, poor quality etc.

Part of the problem is that it is really difficult to not buy from there as price difference is so dramatic.

It is easy to sell at a low price when the item is not as described (8GB thumbdrives sold as 32GB), counterfeit (Coach purses made of plastic with forged labels), or as you have found non-existent.

Also there really are pirates in the South China Sea, but that is the seller's problem, not yours.

And of course, if you have to buy five or six times to get what was described, then the price starts to rise. Not counting annoyance and stress.

Ebay needs to get on this

The simple answer is the Item Not Recieved dispute. You have up to 30 days to file for a full refund after the last suggested arrival date. But you can file before that.

If the seller cannot prove delivery (not shipping, delivery) he will be forced to refund.

I allow 20 days for arrival from North America from purchase and 30 days from Asia, since many Asian sellers use the slower and cheaper Surface shipping.

If a seller's defects and violations warrant, and they can build up fast if buyers open those Disputes, his account will be closed.

One problem is that buyers all too often either forget they ordered something very cheap or just leave a neg, which is opinion and not really acted upon.

A high number of negs may warn future buyers but it does not mean that a scammers account will be closed. The Disputes system does that because it deals in proofs not opinions.

[hlmacdon]

Many sellers in China use forwarding/consolidation services. These tend to be quite slow compared to direct shipments.

[retroman_studios]

I used to order lots from China and delivery was good.

I hate to admit it, but I may for some of my purchases use another eCommerce site that caters almost exclusively to Asian sellers as at least there you have the option to use EMS or DHL. I find for certain items if the price is right and it's a hard to find item, even with DHL or EMS it's still a bargain. 

I wish the sellers from China would offer EMS or DHL as an option. For example, my last order was about $200.00 Canadian. All from the same seller. I would imagine based on the size of the box, it would be about $50 extra for DHL. I would have paid that!

Somehow though they are stuck in "cheap is better mode" and well, cheap sucks. But then I get what I pay for. 

[psychoticcomics]

I have read some of the responses and as something someone with Canada Post I can say this is later delivery is partially the result of China not paying Canada Post for many of the extra services ( ie: registered items). This did cause a lot of issues as to how things from China where handled. And, also yes Canada Post has fallen behind in the amount of packages waiting for delivery.

[sylviebee]

Yes, I agree.  It's taking longer than ever for Chinese shipments to arrive.

I don't like to open cases for these items but order after order is close to the deadline.

[ferrantho]

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to add my recent experience buying from China. I live near Toronto Ontario and I always pay instantly via PayPal (if it matters). Lately the shipping times have been horrendous.. I purchased a Raspberry Pi from China on Feb04 2016, I just received this item April 25th, just about 3 months to deliver a small item? Even taking into account the Chinese New Year festival, this item should not have taken near 3 months to come in. My purchase history is filled with items past the last ETA date. This is a serious problem for not only buyers but sellers alike; we are forced to open a INR case around day 25 after the ETA, just to keep our protection at its maximum. If a seller sees a high number of 'Recenetly opened cases,' they may not want to conduct business with that buyer even though the buyer was right to open every case. Every month I am noticing more and more of my items are taking longer to come in. I don't know if I should contact Canada Post, Customs, or the seller to check on the status of my items. Anyone else having problems with China to Canada lately?

[reallynicestamps]

It's an ongoing problem.

The number of cases you open is not actually public, unlike Feedback Left for Others.

The thing is, if buyers don't take a stand against cheap but slow shipping , the sellers will continue to use it.

And the way to take a stand is:

Pay more for the items you buy.

The total cost (asking price PLUS shipping cost) should be some indication of how fast you are going to get your purchases.

A $2 item with Free Shipping is going to be slow.

A $100 item with Free Shipping will usually arrive fairly promptly.

And open those Item Not Received Disputes.

There are way too many Asian sellers who fool naive buyers into waiting past the deadline for Disputes.

All buyers are responsible for getting those scammers gone.

We're all in this together.---Red Green

[hlmacdon]

The number of cases you open and are refunded for are both metrics which are tracked. If you don't want to open too many cases keep in mind you have 180 day paypal protection. Do what makes the most sense for you.

[sylviebee]

ferranho,   That is exactly my experience as well.

Another thing I find annoying is that I constantly have to monitor those transactions so they don't go over the deadline etc. and it does take some effort.

Something's up with China but those deals are amazing and worth waiting for.

I find myself feeling sorry for those sellers.  It seems to me that they work very hard for their money and the new eBay rating system could sink a lot of them.   Hope not.

[marnotom!]

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@saltca4 wrote:

I have read some of the responses and as something someone with Canada Post I can say this is later delivery is partially the result of China not paying Canada Post for many of the extra services ( ie: registered items). This did cause a lot of issues as to how things from China where handled. And, also yes Canada Post has fallen behind in the amount of packages waiting for delivery.

---

Don't postal services negotiate amounts to be paid to each other on an annual basis?  Might be that since it's almost the end of the fiscal year, China's payment to Canada has been all spent up and Canada Post is sitting on a lot of stuff from China as a result.

[reallynicestamps]

But since it would be Canada Post getting the blame, once tracking showed arrival in Canada, that would be something the PR department would not be happy about.

And China Post has already done its job.

[hlmacdon]

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@marnotom! wrote:

---

@saltca4 wrote:

I have read some of the responses and as something someone with Canada Post I can say this is later delivery is partially the result of China not paying Canada Post for many of the extra services ( ie: registered items). This did cause a lot of issues as to how things from China where handled. And, also yes Canada Post has fallen behind in the amount of packages waiting for delivery.

---

Don't postal services negotiate amounts to be paid to each other on an annual basis?  Might be that since it's almost the end of the fiscal year, China's payment to Canada has been all spent up and Canada Post is sitting on a lot of stuff from China as a result.

---

WTO regulations mean they can't reject shipments, but it doesn't mean they have to processed in a timely manner either. Most postal services that are in the red are busy complaining about the terminal rate reimbursements, which are largely structured towards lettermail rates. With most of that volume having switched to parcel many are sitting in the corner and stomping their feet.

[gilliankehler]

I completely agree, have totally noticed a difference in my China purchases since Christmas. Each one, no matter the seller or the seller's score, has taken well over 1 month, more like 2 and sometimes 3 months to arrive. Actually now that I think of it, a small packet from Australia took almost 2 months to arrive as well.

Glad I'm not the only one that's noticed, it sure is strange! However since I can't be sure what's to blame I've just been leaving positive feedback whenever the goods arrive (they always do) and evading the dreaded "Did this item arrive by...." question. This could be out of the seller's control so why punish them I figure 🙂 I'm not gonna complain too much since goods from China usually mean a sweet deal (unless you're that girl on Buying forum who thought she'd try out hiking galoshes, ouch haha). Good ol Paypal protection lingers around for quite a while just incase, 180 days or something? 

[madlac]

Agree, I've been buying since 2001 and it always used to be 2-4 weeks but I had 7-10 day deliveries, too. Longest this year have been 3 months, barely any items within 8 weeks. This is something the Chinese have to complain about as they're loosing money on INR cases, items that usually arrive after 2+ months.

[synaptic2112]

Ok just lost yet another China purchase and was refunded. I had to give negative feedback.

So here is the question..... to Ebay. I am not entirely sure that fault lies with the seller or with

China post. How do I know that the problem is not right here in Canada at Canada Post or

Canadian Customs? Ebay is not saying a word, they just speedily arrange the refund after their investigation.

I need to know....... we need to know. I dislike **bleep**ping on the wrong entity because that is the only option I have.

I do not want to find out that I am losing purchases from other countries in my own countries systems and have

**bleep**ped on Asian sellers.

So Ebay....  and give us the real reason for all this. No canned answers please.

[pjcdn2005]

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@synaptic2112 wrote:

Ok just lost yet another China purchase and was refunded. I had to give negative feedback.

So here is the question..... to Ebay. I am not entirely sure that fault lies with the seller or with

China post. How do I know that the problem is not right here in Canada at Canada Post or

Canadian Customs? Ebay is not saying a word, they just speedily arrange the refund after their investigation.

I need to know....... we need to know. I dislike **bleep**ping on the wrong entity because that is the only option I have.

I do not want to find out that I am losing purchases from other countries in my own countries systems and have

**bleep**ped on Asian sellers.

So Ebay....  and give us the real reason for all this. No canned answers please.

---

This is a user board so eBay is unlikely to answer your question but even if they did, how would they know where the problem is?

If there is no tracking, they have exactly the same information that you do. They don't know if or when the seller mailed the item, if or when it left the seller's country and if or when it arrived in Canada.  

In the case of your Thailand seller, if you look at their feedback there are a lot of negative item not received comments so it is very possible the problem is with the seller. It's a good idea to look at things like that before placing an order.