Anyone else experiencing significant delays on US-bound shipments through Canada Post? | Selling | eBay Canada EN

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Anyone else experiencing significant delays on US-bound shipments through Canada Post?

Summary: dinomitesales shares concerns about significant delays with Tracked Packet shipments to the United States, especially those routed through Chicago. Many participants, including randomchans and lotzofuniquegoodies, report experiencing similar delays, particularly with packages stuck at customs for extended periods. However, others such as silverpinups and cottagewoman note that shipments going through different routes like Montreal to New York face no unusual delays. The discussion highlights potential issues with enforcement on goods made in China and inconsistencies in customs processing times. A couple of participants, including hansatrade and ilikehockeyjerseys, report normal delivery times, suggesting the problem may be isolated to specific routes or customs locations.

I've been noticing significant delays in the past 1-2 weeks for all my Tracked Packet shipments to the States.

Usually, once they get to Mississauga they pass through the border and get moving with USPS within 24 hours or less. But I've had about four shipments now that have been stuck at the border for many days. These are all properly declared, lower-value items (DVDs; none made in China).

I acknowledge that nothing regarding international trade with the United States is "normal" right now, but I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing similar issues or if this is unique to me.

Here are some of my experiences (I'm in Winnipeg):

Package 1 (accepted at Post Office June 5).

- Made it to Mississauga and "being forwarded to destination country" on June 6 (Chicago ISC).

- Released by customs on June 12 and handed to USPS.

- Delivered June 14.

Total time in customs: 6 days

Package 2 (accepted at Post Office June 6).

- Made it to Mississauga and "being forwarded to destination country" on June 10.

- No further updates.

Total time in customs: 4 days and counting

Package 3 (accepted at Post Office June 9).

- Made it to Mississauga and "being forwarded to destination country" on June 10.

- Indication on June 11 that it was processed at Miami ISC customs? First time I've seen something go directly from Toronto to Miami but I suppose it's possible - the destination address was in Florida. Or maybe they're rerouting parcels from Chicago to Miami due to backlogs?

- No further updates.

Total time in customs: 4 days and counting

dinomitesales

1277 View listings

Posted 1 year ago·Last reply 11 months ago

39 comments

easoss

·11 months ago

I've actually had no problems whatsoever. Being in Alberta the packages go to Los Angeles and it's a breeze through that facility. I think its a Chicago problem more than anything else.

landobaile-0

·11 months ago

Anything going through Usorda (Chicago's O'Hare) has been a **bleep**shoot. I've had 2 packages RTS, 4 that are currently sitting in customs for 7+ days, and about 5 that have gotten through. All items have a CoO of China. Started adding HS codes but doesn't seem to have made a difference.

Definitely appears to be something specific to Chicago. I wonder if they're understaffed, or are doing a poor job of interpreting whatever new tariff related policy they've been given.

dinomitesales

OP1 year ago

All of my packages sent in mid-June have been released and are moving. Average customs hold time for me is about 9 days between my last 4 shipments.

Sent another one on June 30, and will be sending another one on July 2, so we'll see how long those take.

ypdc_dennis

·1 year ago

June 25 tracked packet USA via Chicago.

Took about a day in customs for a USA/Canada 1973 paperback novel.

Delivered June 30 to Oregon from Ontario.

Pretty good speed.

snaylehouse

·11 months ago

I'm a bit late to your thread. Have you been experiencing further delays?

Most of my orders have been within Canada this summer, but one higher priced vintage piece went to the U.S. a week ago, from Ontario to California. It has been stuck at customs since August 16 and it's now August 21.

I'm not sure what's happening with it - if they're just backlogged, or if it's because it's a higher value piece (it's a band t-shirt, which always go for $$$).

Today is the original delivery date so I'm bummed for the buyer that it won't make it on time, but I'm concerned in general as I've seen lots of weird updates from Canadian sellers this summer about stuff like this.

I'm hoping it moves soon but I guess it's only been at customs for 5 days at this point in time, which isn't the hugest deal in the grand scheme of things. I'm just used to seeing stuff move faster.

marnotom!

·11 months ago

@snaylehouse, have you been checking the tracking on eBay, the Canada Post site, the USPS site, or a third party site such as Parcelapps? Some sites have more event scan info than others.

Did the item go through customs in Chicago or Los Angeles?

Having said all that, why have you been checking the tracking so closely? I appreciate that the item is pricey and it's kinda dear to you, but at the same time, watched kettles never boil.

snaylehouse

·11 months ago

I have checked on all the sites: The info is the same. It went through customs in Chicago.

dinomitesales

OP11 months ago

The most significant delays I was experiencing where throughout July (which prompted creation of this thread) and into early August. My last couple shipments to the States (in the last week or so) have passed through relatively quickly (within 2-3 days), but sales to the States have pretty much dried up.

The issues were always unique to the Chicago ISC for some reason. Either they're severely understaffed there, or they're scrutinizing packages a lot more than at the other customs facilities.

lotzofuniquegoodies

·11 months ago

@dinomitesales wrote:
The most significant delays I was experiencing where throughout July (which prompted creation of this thread) and into early August. My last couple shipments to the States (in the last week or so) have passed through relatively quickly (within 2-3 days), but sales to the States have pretty much dried up.

The issues were always unique to the Chicago ISC for some reason. Either they're severely understaffed there, or they're scrutinizing packages a lot more than at the other customs facilities.

@dinomitesales

Pre all this I routinely saw a few days at most via LAX. New average is 4 or 5 and have 2 recent shipments in the 9/10 day range. I didn't want to say anything to jinx myself. The impression I was getting was bulk of the kerfuffle was anything breaking wind when it got to Chicago. You are very likely correct. There is going to be a major learning curve to either figuring it out or resolving the bugs.

As a side on any of these problem child orders as far as I can tell there is no way to confirm if there are fees owing before delivery for buyer. (Advanced warning of potential problems for seller.)

ilikehockeyjerseys

·1 year ago

Knock on wood, but still no issues with packages going through Montreal to New York. So I assume this has to do with the Chicago customs facility.

cbelieve

·1 year ago

I've been having the same issues. 20-30 of my packages are stuck in customs (Chicago as well). Majority have been stuck for 1-2 weeks now.

hansatrade

·1 year ago

Business as usual. A 250g item / Tracked Packet, made in Germany. Shipped on Friday, delivered on Wednesday.

dinomitesales

OP1 year ago

Lucky. Must just be Chicago then. None of my parcels have left Chicago yet. Oldest ones been there since June 10.

silverpinups

·1 year ago

One of my two packages stuck in ISC Chicago finally saw some movement today...

Sat, Jun 28
12:45pm
Inbound Out of Customs
Wed, Jun 18
10:25am
Processed Through USPS Facility
ISC CHICAGO IL (USPS)
Tue, Jun 17
7:46pm
Processed Through Facility
TORONTO-A
Mon, Jun 16
10:10am
FOREIGN ACCEPTANCE
CA

It spent ten days in Customs and now is finally released.

silverpinups

·1 year ago

The second package stuck at ISC Chicago is now out of customs....

Mon, Jun 30
12:57pm
Inbound Out of Customs
Sun, Jun 22
9:12am
Processed Through USPS Facility
ISC CHICAGO IL (USPS)
Sat, Jun 21
12:27pm
Processed Through Facility
TORONTO-A
Thu, Jun 19
10:10am
FOREIGN ACCEPTANCE
CA

It spent 8 days in Customs and now is finally released.

I sent two more packages today, one Tracked Packet-USA and the other Expedited-USA. As an experiment to see if they treat the Expedited package the same as the Tracked Packet when it goes through customs.

easoss

·1 year ago

I've had no problems at all. Mailed a large figurine to Pennsylvania and arrived very quickly.

dhslk

·1 year ago

Business as usual so far. No unusual delays, no rejection of COO China items. I wonder if the RTS in the other thread were due to insufficient postage or something not related to China tariffs?

marnotom!

·1 year ago

@dhslk wrote:

I wonder if the RTS in the other thread were due to insufficient postage or something not related to China tariffs?

As suggested in an earlier post, most USPS workers would have no idea if an item originating from outside of the US has insufficient postage. It’s up to the postal system in the originating country to catch that.

dinomitesales

OP1 year ago

I've seen a few other reports of delays similar to mine on the Facebook groups.

Of more concern, there has been several reports of US-bound packages being rejected at customs and returned to sender with no indication on the tracking, or on the returned package, as to why. The common denominator amongst them is goods made in China, so I think they're unfortunately starting to ramp up enforcement. I've seen two examples so far: one a set of drinking glasses, and the other a plush toy. In both cases they sat in customs for a while and then popped back up in Canada and were returned to sender.

If these items were rejected for being made in China it indicates that US CBP isn't even bothering to assess them, they're just flat out refusing them.

cottagewoman

·1 year ago

Thanks for that information. In cases where this occured (including your delays), were the items marked with a CoO of China? This is important info on my side as I'm hoping to ship vintage items that I know aren't Chinese in origin yet are not marked as such via Canada Post, to avoid possible rejection by CBP.

dinomitesales

OP1 year ago

@cottagewoman wrote:
Thanks for that information. In cases where this occured (including your delays), were the items marked with a CoO of China? This is important info on my side as I'm hoping to ship vintage items that I know aren't Chinese in origin yet are not marked as such via Canada Post, to avoid possible rejection by CBP.

None of my delayed items have a CoO of China, as I specified in the original post. One of them just got updated today to say it's been released by customs, so 7 total days spent in customs (this is the longest time in customs I've personally experienced).

The instances I've seen of packages being returned to sender have been reported on the Facebook group "Canadian eCommerce Resellers". There was another one added today - someone shipped a baseball cap to the States via Tracked Packet, it sat in customs for a bit and then was returned to sender. The common denominators amongst all packages that have thus far been returned to sender are: (1) the country of origin was "China"; and (2) the border crossing was Chicago.

Anyone still shipping China-made goods to the U.S. via Canada Post—especially if the packages route through Chicago—should exercise caution right now.

These items are not being refused for incorrect addresses or deficient payment. In all cases they didn't even make it to the destination state before being returned to sender (they were returned from Chicago), and the senders confirmed the delivery addresses with their buyers. A package with deficient postage sent through Canada Post would never make it all the way to customs and then be rejected for being underpaid - at the point it reaches customs it would have to be considered fully paid, as they don't deal with postage rates at all, and USPS can't return a foreign package for being underpaid.

sapphyres-designer-jewellery

·1 year ago

@dinomitesales wrote:
@cottagewoman wrote:
Thanks for that information. In cases where this occured (including your delays), were the items marked with a CoO of China? This is important info on my side as I'm hoping to ship vintage items that I know aren't Chinese in origin yet are not marked as such via Canada Post, to avoid possible rejection by CBP.
None of my delayed items have a CoO of China, as I specified in the original post. One of them just got updated today to say it's been released by customs, so 7 total days spent in customs (this is the longest time in customs I've personally experienced).

The instances I've seen of packages being returned to sender have been reported on the Facebook group "Canadian eCommerce Resellers". There was another one added today - someone shipped a baseball cap to the States via Tracked Packet, it sat in customs for a bit and then was returned to sender. The common denominators amongst all packages that have thus far been returned to sender are: (1) the country of origin was "China"; and (2) the border crossing was Chicago.

Anyone still shipping China-made goods to the U.S. via Canada Post—especially if the packages route through Chicago—should exercise caution right now.

These items are not being refused for incorrect addresses or deficient payment. In all cases they didn't even make it to the destination state before being returned to sender (they were returned from Chicago), and the senders confirmed the delivery addresses with their buyers. A package with deficient postage sent through Canada Post would never make it all the way to customs and then be rejected for being underpaid - at the point it reaches customs it would have to be considered fully paid, as they don't deal with postage rates at all, and USPS can't return a foreign package for being underpaid.

Someone else just started a thread about this with a link to Chit Chats Blog (posted today).

There was a post in the past few days of someone who's package went to Chicago and then magically appeared returned to sender in Canada.

C.

cottagewoman

·1 year ago

@dinomitesales - I posted a previous message asking if any of your items were marked on the customs form as being of Chinese origin - as well as those you mentioned that aren't yours, if you know. If you can send along links to platforms where this is being discussed it would be greatly appreciated!

cottagewoman

·1 year ago

@dinomitesales - any updates on the customs status of your packages in your original post? Thanks!

dinomitesales

OP1 year ago

@cottagewoman wrote:
@dinomitesales- any updates on the customs status of your packages in your original post? Thanks!

Nope, no further tracking updates since making this post. Caught in customs now for almost a week.

I've sent many hundreds of packages to the States and have never experienced delays such as this.

reallynicestamps

·1 year ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoke%E2%80%93hub_distribution_paradigm

reallynicestamps

·1 year ago

My shipments are always slow to get to the border, because Canada Post sends all Vancouver Island mail to Richmond across the Salish Sea, by ferry.
Once there I've had no problems.

needsmorerobots

·1 year ago

Just the once, but it had more to do with bureaucracy than a delay.

I shipped a DVD to Seattle next door to me and USPS sent it to Los Angeles before it eventually reached it's destination.

lotzofuniquegoodies

·1 year ago

@needsmorerobots wrote:
Just the once, but it had more to do with bureaucracy than a delay.

I shipped a DVD to Seattle next door to me and USPS sent it to Los Angeles before it eventually reached it's destination.

If I send something from Calgary to Alaska it goes by way of Richmond and then on to LA where it shows as back to Seattle to be forwarded to Alaska. Like Supertramp sang...take the long way home. Something similar would happen if I sent it with UPS.

marnotom!

·1 year ago

@needsmorerobots wrote:

I shipped a DVD to Seattle next door to me and USPS sent it to Los Angeles before it eventually reached it's destination.

That only makes sense as there are only eight USPS International Mail Facilities where international mail enters the US system, and none of them is in Washington State.

cottagewoman

·1 year ago

My experience from Montreal via ISC New York is 1-2 days. I think Chicago is still slog for processing anything, domestic or international. Not sure why a package skipped down to Miami for customs processing, that's weird!

mrdutch1001

·1 year ago

referencing the a-fore-mentioned CP Tracked Packet I shipped to IL, that package spent less than 24 hours in Chicago, so I don't see any evidence of ..."Chicago is still slog for processing anything, domestic or international. "...

byto253

·1 year ago

Not for me going through Montreal then New Yourk. Some are quicker than others, but nothing more than normally seen.

lotzofuniquegoodies

·1 year ago

@dinomitesales wrote:
I've been noticing significant delays in the past 1-2 weeks for all my Tracked Packet shipments to the States.
Usually, once they get to Mississauga they pass through the border and get moving with USPS within 24 hours or less. But I've had about four shipments now that have been stuck at the border for many days. These are all properly declared, lower-value items (DVDs; none made in China).

I acknowledge that nothing regarding international trade with the United States is "normal" right now, but I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing similar issues or if this is unique to me.

Here are some of my experiences (I'm in Winnipeg):
Package 1 (accepted at Post Office June 5).
- Made it to Mississauga and "being forwarded to destination country" on June 6 (Chicago ISC).
- Released by customs on June 12 and handed to USPS.
- Delivered June 14.
Total time in customs: 6 days

Package 2 (accepted at Post Office June 6).
- Made it to Mississauga and "being forwarded to destination country" on June 10.
- No further updates.
Total time in customs: 4 days and counting

Package 3 (accepted at Post Office June 9).
- Made it to Mississauga and "being forwarded to destination country" on June 10.
- Indication on June 11 that it was processed at Miami ISC customs? First time I've seen something go directly from Toronto to Miami but I suppose it's possible - the destination address was in Florida. Or maybe they're rerouting parcels from Chicago to Miami due to backlogs?
- No further updates.
Total time in customs: 4 days and counting

@dinomitesales

I've been seeing similar along with missed or delayed by a few day scans. My orders go Calgary, Richmond and normally LAX. Lately instead seeing LAX...Bell Gardens....LAX...Bell Gardens and then forwarded east. Delivery times were between 7 and 12 days. Now more like 12 to 18 days.

Other day took chance and dropped one off in community mail box (11th) with tracking. Normally it gets scanned later that evening. Currently no processed scan but charges were billed earlier today. Have to wait and see if it hits Richmond Mon/Tues.

Delivery window on new orders is definitely longer compared to the past on listing details. If you check using ebay calculator tool it 4 to 7 days via tracked. 🤣

reallynicestamps

·1 year ago

@lotzofuniquegoodies

Bell Gardens is in Los Angeles about 30 minutes from the airport.

It's just south of Laguna.

Google Maps is fun!

randomchans

·1 year ago

I have one similar to your package 2. Same update on June 10 and then June 11 "International shipment has arrived in a foreign country". No updates since. Hoping it got sent to the US and not some other country!

regs43

·1 year ago

Most things I mail to the USA are delivered in 5-7 days from the date I mailed them, seems normal, not that I ever look at the tracking to be honest.

mrdutch1001

·1 year ago

Nope! in fact my most recent Canada Post Tracked Packet item was quicker than normal from SK. >6 days-- Put into the mail system June 3rd and delivered June 9th! (My item was a made in/printed in USA crochet pattern booklet)>>destination Illinois....)

silverpinups

·1 year ago

All my Tracked Packet-USA, Expedited-USA and Xpresspost-USA are going through customs and beyond without any interuptions. Business as usual here (keep my fingers crossed... lol).