China to Canada got a whole lot faster

[dipmicro]

Shipments from China to Canada are usually very slow, but now some of them are coming in 2wks, usually the ones where tracking number starts with PPxx . So I looked into it and found some sellers use this new (2013) service called PayPal Package (ppbyb.com). It is partially trackable, no delivery confirmation but tracks container movement until destination airport.

Try my tracking number PP252913542BJ - I made the purchase on 8/21, mailed 8/22, departed 8/27, arrived in Canada 8/28, in my mailbox on 9/5, no signature, so I do not need to drive to PO, which I appreciate - comparing to other tracking numbers from China starting with Rxx. I am not sure why it took 1wk to get from airport to me, but if airport is Vancouver, that would make sense. Perhaps someone from BC who has had shipment with PPxx tracking can join in and comment.

Also I think this may be limited to Ebay sellers because I did not notice any PPx tracking numbers from Chinese vendors operating on other websites.

[dipmicro]

Interestingly, when they started in Dec. 2013, they signed up with 13 shippers and first batch was 340,000 packages. (from their About page).

[femmefan1946]

This could be good news for buyers (and bad news for North American sellers) since one of the great drawbacks of buying from China has been slow delivery.

Is there any indication of how much this new service costs the seller? It may not be of interest to sellers of cheap stuff with 'free' shipping.

Is there any way a buyer can know that the Chinese seller will be using this service? Sophisticated buyers can spot the GSP sellers in the US. Knowing that a Chinese seller is using this program would make purchasers more confident.

Any clue on the customs/sales tax situation? At the moment, most Chinese seem to use the postal system and most items come in under the radar. Will this change with Paypal being involved?

[tee_bee_ay]

 I can tell you I'm not too impressed with it so far with my latest order.

First the seller included a track link in ebay that said nothing but 'OTHER' and led to no tracking info.  After several days and plenty of google translator into simple chinese, the seller sent me a tracking link that led to a page completely in chinese (17ckd.com)that when you click on English version, takes you to a page that requires you to select a carrier from the entire global list.  Again specifically requesting the actual shipper I managed to get the pp package link from them, only to then discover that Paypal Package Unregistered tracking stops with the arrival of a huge freight container at the recipient's country's border ( in Vancouver on CA991 (china air) in my case).

PLEASE charge the extra $3 and let buyers see it tracked to my post office, or it will open China sellers up to false and real non-delivery claims.