December mail has been a disaster

[dipmicro]

Customers have been waiting for 4-6 weeks, the amount of "Where is my item" for mail sent in December is 10-fold, so far 2 chargebacks.

This year I am closing the store in December. There is no way I go through this again.

[coxengines]

Mail has been exceptionally quick this year - faster than last year.

However, I agree that Christmas mail has somehow been slower this year - about 3 weeks average to the USA.

Either it's perception because we have gotten so used to faster service all year or the postal system did experience a bottleneck in December.

I don't believe it's the postal system though but rather US customs being move vigilant.

Bernie

[dipmicro]

I have zero issues with US mail. The problems are with international including countries like France or Australia, where delivery is usually super fast.

But the worst are Eastern Europe.

[recped]

Deliveries in December (International) were slow this year but it's been pretty much the same for every December I can remember over the past 30 years.

On the positive side, It seems thing are back to normal, packages mailed in Buffalo last Wednesday (the 13th) started arriving in Europe (Sweden specifically) on Monday (18th) with others in Europe showing up a few days later.

One place that I did get good delivery speed in December was Japan.

[surplusdealdude]

I had no problems with USPS this year.

Last year, I remember 3 parcels being damaged in transit with CP.

[ameroindustries]

Your telling me .. Canada post had major issues this December I have had nothing but lost packages to the 9's .. I bet about 10% of my packages sent out in December are lost Or get delivered 5 weeks later (after 4 weeks i refund)

If canada post as so much scratches one of the paintball guns i send out there getting a claim . They can be harsh with me and lose my stuff / not deliver it .. ill be harsh right back .

[ameroindustries]

Good idea with Closing in December Im also fallowing suit Next year .

[dipmicro]

90% of my outgoing international shipments are USPS First Class Mail International (FCI).

Between 12/01 and 12/29 we sent 194 FCI and got two charge-backs (Croatia, Belarus), one neg from (Italy, reverted by now, buyer reconsidered). This is higher than normal. Plus many many "where is my item, it's been a month already" questions. I had one customer from Spain I was about to reship to, because it was 5 weeks already when we got "Stop, just got here" message.

Our US traffic is 3x international and close to zero problems including December. Out of thousands of First Class pieces mailed since we started with USPS, one FCM was lost at the sorting station. US customers expect their item to ship from Canada, but it ships from US, so we get zero "where is my item" questions. I don't even send out tracking numbers, only on Priority and Express items.

My speculation is that slow traffic and extreme delays on FCI in December mail are caused by customs. Items below $10 seem to fly through customs, except Italy.

[dipmicro]

Btw. several of international customers tell me they get packages from Hong-Kong in 10-14 days.

I believe the trick is in underdeclaring the value and sticking that red "R" barcode on it (gives true tracking on any item), which costs close to nothing in Hong-Kong and CanadaPost and USPS charge arm and leg for.

In 2nd half of the year I plan starting to ship from Slovakia (my birth country). Parents retired and will welcome extra income so we can keep the money in family. The little red worldwide "R" in SK costs close to nothing and EU deliveries will be 2-3 days and all customs cleared with VAT included.

[pjcdn2005]

I might feel dumb for asking this but what is "the little red worldwide R"?

Will you not have to pay VAT etc when the items are imported to Slovakia?

[pjcdn2005]

As far as lost/late packages in December...I had one to Australia and one to Nova Scotia....I think they are both lost forever. The Oz one had insurance so I'm only out on the NS one.

[dipmicro]

I might feel dumb for asking this but what is "the little red worldwide R"?

Will you not have to pay VAT etc when the items are imported to Slovakia?

"R" is international registered - it causes the postman to ring for signature or you need to pickup. It's also tracked online. USPS asks for $11.50 for that sticker, CanadaPost $12.95, Hong-Kong Post $13 HKD (~ $1.67), Slovak Post adds 1.00 - 1.30 EUR depending on the service.

Slovakia is member of EU, VAT is paid by importer, so consumers of small orders are not hit by brokerage fees, which are usually way in excess VAT and duties. This also means no customs delays, slovak post puts cargo on the train and next day is in Paris.

[dipmicro]

This is the sticker. Hong Kong post does not say much, but CanadaPost shows even the bl**dy signature online. They got paid nothing for it, HK seller paid $1.67 to HK post, while I have to pay $12.95 for this. Ridiculous.

[dipmicro]

Slovak version

[dipmicro]

And yes, this sticker dramatically improves mail delivery as the mail is not left at the door, post office keeps record and in most countries receiver has to sign the acceptance.

[pjcdn2005]

My first guess was registered mail actually but since it doesn't seem to meet paypal requirements, I thought you might be referring to something else....honest. lol

When I asked about paying VAT etc I wasn't referring to your buyers. I thought it might be expensive taxwise to import your products into Slovakia so that they could be sold from there. I'm assuming that your product isn't made in the EU.

[dipmicro]

My first guess was registered mail actually but since it doesn't seem to meet paypal requirements, I thought you might be referring to something else....honest. lol

When I asked about paying VAT etc I wasn't referring to your buyers. I thought it might be expensive taxwise to import your products into Slovakia so that they could be sold from there. I'm assuming that your product isn't made in the EU.

Actually many of my items are made in China and imported to Canada. I will setup a separate inventory in SK and import directly there. Some products may be found locally in EU.

And when I was talking about VAT, I actually meant duties and import fees. VAT is calculated before the sale to end customer and price tag usually includes it (as opposed in North America, where it's added to the sale price).

[surplusdealdude]

I think the Slovakia shipping point is a great idea - are you going to set up stores in UK and Germany as well?

If so, spend some times on the UK boards first - they have a couple of really nasty consumer laws there that are causing no end of problems, and I hear .de has some issues as well.

The stores would be worth the investment, I think, but you've got to know what you're in for.

[dipmicro]

It was spur of the moment idea that looks more and more promising as I am clicking those "Exclude Location" checkboxes in Site Preferences. I know EU is a great market, but the customs is spoiling the deal. I will have to look at all kinds of legalities, consumer laws, language laws, etc

I just ticked Croatia and Italy. I always wondered why many sellers refuse to ship to Italy. I must have been lucky. Now when my volume is getting higher I can see the reason.

[axe_n_gear_music]

No issues at all with our mail in December...I had maybe five US people ask about the arrival of their items, but just had to refer them to our "final shipping email" that we sent them upon shipping, which clearly shows them the quote of the approx arrival time of 10-15 business days, not incl. weekends and holidays. They can't argue with the printed word!
I am careful which countries I ship to, and maybe I just had better luck this year, but I would never close during X-mas given the product line that I carry.

Cheers,
AXE