Package from China to Canada

[foulger_tyson]

I have bought parts from a seller in China before and was very pleased. The package arrived within 3 - 4 weeks I believe and I had no problems. I paid around $65 for the part but had to pay no customs.

I ordered a package from the same seller in China a week ago that was shipped with China Post ePacket. It was about $53 + $2 Shipping. The package I ordered a week ago has been going back and forth from "International item processed in originating country" and "International item has left originating country and is en route to Canada". It has gone back and forth for at least 3 times. I am wondering why it says that it has "left originating country" and it is "en route to Canada", but then is "processed in originating country" again, and again. anyone else experience this? I am using a few different tracking sites and they all say the same thing, some update faster than others. Tracking on eBay site doesn't update at all. I know it will be another week or 2 at the least, especially that it's Christmas season. I am just curious as to why it goes back and forth. Also hoping there will be no customs to pay.

Here are the tracking sites I am using:

https://www.canadapost.ca/trackweb/en#/search?searchFor=LM388535187CN

https://t.17track.net/en#nums=LM388535187CN

http://parcelsapp.com/en/tracking/LM388535187CN

https://www.parcelmonitor.com/track-it-online/

[momcqueen]

I placed an order for Christmas gifts on Nov 27 from a seller that I did not know was located in China (I'd bought the same item from them before and the item shipped from Toronto) and it's currently sitting at Vancouver since Dec 3 awaiting Customs; I've lost hope I'll see it this year.

[reallynicestamps]

FWIW- tracking tells you where the thing has been,not where it is.

The only thing you know for sure is that it has not arrived at your house.

Go to your original purchase and write the last estimated date for arrival on your calendar.

Now stop looking at tracking. You're just giving yourself a tummyache.

If it hasn't arrived by the eBay deadline, open an Item Not Received dispute in the Resolution Centre at the bottom of this page.

There is  a suggestion that you Contact the Seller.

There are only two things you want from him.

A tracking number which you already have.

Or an immediate refund.

You do NOT want a 'replacement' that won't arrive either.

No refund? Ask eBay to step in an escalate to a Claim.

If the seller cannot prove Delivery (not shipping, delivery) you will be refunded.

When the item finally turns up, you can return the refund using Paypal's Send Money service.

[foulger_tyson]

I'm terrible at waiting for packages haha. The part I ordered last year came in a box about 12x15x3 inches. That's the one that arrived in 3 - 4 weeks. Didn't seem that long (but I didn't track it either). Any other few small packages that I got from China were in small bubble envelopes and took longer. I have a feeling that small items like that take longer as they are smaller and probably more of them then the big boxes that they probably process first.

[esclyons]

looks like something was wrong, as the package was ready to leave the country then went back into the system, to find it's way ready to go again.. good news is at least you are getting tracking info.. hopefully this time it gets on the plane..

[reallynicestamps]

The smaller (and cheaper?) packages may have been sent very cheaply by Surface, which can take months.

The larger probably was shipped by air, possibly using delCon, which is relatively new.

I think over the next few years, you are going to see a rise in the cost of shipping from China, because the Universal Postal Union has finally persuded China Post to admit that as the world's second largest economy, they really don't need 'undeveloped nation' status which comes with subsidized international UPU service.

The Chinese government still will be subsidizing Chinal Post however.

Both Canada Post and USPS are required to make their own money, no government subsidies.

[foulger_tyson]

They are both shipped with the same service (ePacket) so therefore, one would not be shipped by ground and another by air, as they both use ePacket.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

All I want for Christmas is for sellers to abide by the code that they honestly say where an item is being shipped from and the option to choose between several methods(prices/speeds) of shipping.  (Priority is not really Priority when it can take up to 25 business days for delivery from the USA). I could have asked for an end to global warming but that's not gonna happen in my lifetime!!! It's always important to have dreams!!!

-Lotz

[retroman_studios]

I've seen similar updates on tracking. More than likely the item has landed in Canada, ePacket usually goes to YVR or YYZ.

You will continue to get messages from China as they update tracking on that end. Some services I used (UBI Smart Parcel) would always have "Package uplifted to transhipment hub" or "line haul update" with an origin of Hong Kong, but the parcel clearly was in Canada based on tracking.

Usually you can see a line that says "Arrived foreign airport" or "sent to airline" which means it's leaving....

[foulger_tyson]

So I read all the tracking updates HERE (scroll down on that page and check the english box to translate it from Chinese) and it seems like it is stuck trying to leave Qingdao, China and go to YYZ (Toronto Pearson International Airport) but can't as it keeps saying something like leave Qingdao Send to Toronto / next destination and says "(via turn)" or "(via transfer)" probably meaning it got mixed up or something. I'm in NB so it doesn't have to far to go if it is in Toronto and it would be CP XpressPost. I'm not really too worried I am just wanting to know what is going on. If it doesn't arrive I don't really want a refund from the seller as it is not their fault, but the carrier.

Sometimes I wish they didn't have tracking numbers, as they make me go like this. HAHA 

[reallynicestamps]

@lotzofuniquegoodies

"Priority" is just a word. Canada Post uses it for its fastest (and most expensive) service but it is basically equivalent to Regular Parcel /ExpeditedParcel in the USA . Other countries have other services with the same name.

"The name of the song is called"-- White Knight, Alice in Wonderland.

@foulger_tyson

Sometimes I wish they didn't have tracking numbers, as they make me go like this. HAHA 

I agree.

Either you have it before eBay's last estimated date for delivery or you don't.

If you don't, it's time to visit the Resolution Centre.

from the seller as it is not their fault, but the carrier.

I understand your point, but the seller chose the carrier and is responsible to you for the actions of their sub-contractor. The sub-contractor is responsible to the seller, who paid them.

"Fault " VS "responsibility".

[foulger_tyson]

IT FINALLY ARRIVED IN CANADA!! Should be here this week, but since it's Christmas, it might be next week.

[momcqueen]

I don’t want to dash your hopes but I’m still waiting for my parcels from
China (didn’t know that was the item location when I bought them) that landed in Vancouver on Nov 30.

[foulger_tyson]

What was the value of the item if you don't mind me asking? The seller of my item sent me a tracking number for another one of the same item to someone else and it was 4 days after it arrived in Canada that it was delivered. My item was marked with only a value of $9 (US). Yours is probably stuck at customs.

[momcqueen]

Stuck at Customs, or lost and gone forever. 

It was two gifts valued at slightly more than $100 each, shipped together. The last time I bought this item from this seller, the parcel shipped from Toronto and I had it within two days. Had I known it was shipping from China at Christmas in the middle of a postal dispute, I'd have taken a hard pass on it.

Ordered Nov 23 with an outside estimate now of delivery by January 9 which means I'll be mailing it to the recipients in the New Year myself (if it ever arrives) instead of handing it to them at Christmas. Fortunately, these are gifts for adults I know well who understand sometimes the best laid plans go awry, and there won't be hard feelings about it.

But, yes. Landed Nov 30 in Vancouver and no updates since. Either the tracking is null and void now, or it's just vanished into thin air. Perhaps to materialize sometime in March of 2019. 

I'm losing hope. 

[foulger_tyson]

My guess is because of it being worth over $20 CA ($60 CA if it was sent to you as a gift), it is probably stuck at customs for review and they are processing it and determining Duty & Taxes owed. This can sometimes take a while as they have got so many packages to process and they are just slow anyway. Either you would pay at delivery or get a bill mailed to you that you must pay in order for it to be released from customs. Plus, on top of that, a $9.95 Canada Post handling fee (only applies if Duty & Taxes are owed).

You can calculate the Duty & Taxes owed here.  (Not including Canada post handling fee of $9.95).

[momcqueen]

Possible. I know the process, thanks, but it’s good to share for readers to come who may not.

Even for items stuck at Customs, this is a long time to wait. And that’s giving more benefit of the doubt than tracking shows; tracking doesn’t indicate anything at all about Customs taking possession of it. Only that the parcel arrived in Vancouver, not that it’s been dispatched as arrived in its destination country.

[foulger_tyson]

What's the tracking number if you don't mind? I find 17Track and http://parcelsapp.com/en are good they give a lot of detailed info.

[momcqueen]

Yes! I've tried that one and others. Some stop at China, the other ends at Vancouver. There is a second tracking number being issued but it returns no data at all. 

[momcqueen]

I stand corrected. The second tracking number returns a crazy amount of data on the parcelsapp site that makes it look as if my order has flown back-and-forth between Canada and China steadily. I must be misreading it and the events are being tagged with a non-accurate location. 

Yet Canada Post returns no information for that same tracking number. That's the most remarkable. 

I blanked out the tracking number since it pulls up Customs details that reveal my full and complete name as well as measurements, dress size, original hair colour and high school marks transcript. Okay, I exaggerate on the last part but I'd rather not reveal more personal information about myself than I already do.