Missing Registered Mail?

[stanley613]

I have an stamp item that I ordered in early January 2019 that was sent by the seller on January 2, 2019 by registered mail from Brookfield, US  I was given a tracking number which gave me notifications until January 4, 2019 where it Departed USPS Regional Facility NY Distribution Center.  On January 8 2019 it now states on the tracking that it has been in transit to next facility and nothing since, that was 8 days ago since today is January 16, 2019.  I went on the Canada Post Tracking system and all it says there that

2019/01/03 16:01 , USA International item mailed in originating country

and nothing more I am wondering what is happening to this item?

[pjcdn2005 · Accepted solution]

Canada Post doesn't usually scan registered lettermail from other countries so that would explain why there is no tracking showing in Canada. But I'm surprised that there isn't a scan showing that the item left the US. Does the actual USPS site give you more information when you enter the tracking number?

[marnotom!]

By international mail conventions, international registered mail is generally only "trackable" in the country of origin. The postal system of the destination country will usually handle the item as a regular letter mail item.

The "next facility" in your item's "tracking" info may be Mississauga.

I've had the odd regular letter from the US take several weeks to reach me. I'd wait another week or two before giving the seller a heads up.

An aside: International registered mail is generally a waste of money, at least when it comes to eBay sales. The only reasons I can think why the seller may have opted for it are either ignorance or the indemnity.

[pjcdn2005]

I believe that some posters here have said they have used international registered mail and in some cases, it can be tracked in other countries.

@ricarmic  is probably more familiar with international registered mail than I am

[stanley613]

Hi pjcdn2005

No the only thing the US website says no matter how many times you put in the tracking number is January 8, 2019, that it on transit to the next facility.  This is the second item this month possibly gone missing I have another that was sent from New York on December 31, 2018 and I still have not seen this item which was not sent registered everything I have order from eBay around this date and further dates have been received.  I am getting rather discouraged at the Canada Post delivery system.

[ricarmic]

In the days that I used registered letters some were tracked all the way to deliverance on CP.

Sometimes one can find out the ongoing updates at the destination country's PO website, on the assumption they maintain the same registration number.

Another reason for using Registered is that it is visible to the handlers through the handling process that it is being watched, theoretically reducing the chances they'll steal that one.

Most places now probably won't allow them anyway with the current UPU rules ie they can only have documents in them.

[marnotom!]

I think we may be conflating the handling of domestic registered mail with that of international registered mail.

There's another thread on international registered mail somewhere on these boards from a little while ago. I'm pretty certain it contained an excerpt or paraphrase from the USPS International Mail Manual stating that while international registered items were handled as such in the domestic leg of their journey, once in the destination country they were handled according to the receiving postal system's "internal procedures".

https://pe.usps.com/text/imm/immc3_007.htm

In other words, it's a gamble as to whether a registered item sees special handling through to its destination.

[reallynicestamps]

I looked up the cost of a 3 oz package (which could be an envelope and stiffener) here:

https://postcalc.usps.com/Calculator/MailServices?country=10054&ccode=CA&oz=90210&omil=False&dz=v8r%...

The cost of First Class International Package (not FCI Mail) is $10.00 for the locations I used. And that includes tracking and confirmation of delivery.

How does that compare to Registration, which as stated by others above, does not necessarily include international tracking or Proof of Delivery?