Standard Shipping from China/Hong Kong/Taiwan to worldwide, is it worth the cost?

[patken123]

I'm interested in two items from Hong Kong ,the seller has two shipping options available,

the first one is Economy Int'l Postage for $5.56. delivery : 8-36 days

The second option is  Standard Shipping from China/Hong Kong/Taiwan to worldwide  that costs $22, delivery time  is 8-20 days

Has anyone ever used the more expensive shipping  some HK sellers offer? does it get here any faster ? is it worth $22 Canadian $?

I appreciate your thought and comments.

Ken.

[momcqueen]

If the items are something you need in less than four months, go with the more expensive expedited option.

There are major delays at incoming Customs which are caused by agents searching for fentanyl in China lettermail. 

I don't buy from China, so I cannot offer first-person experience with their standard versus expedited options. I would, however, check with the seller that the expedited is really expedited and get an actual delivery estimate and carrier used.

[patken123]

Thanks mjwl.
I did ask the seller as clearly as I could but there seems to be a language barrier.
he replied with " sorry, can not combine shipping" and no mention of the delivery time of the two methods.
The cost for two items to ship the expensive way is in fact very expensive, $44 but I've noticed some Chinese sellers do recommend the faster method in their listings.

[momcqueen]

If combined shipping is a problem for the seller, this is a clear indicator he may be a dropshipper and has no actual inventory on hand. If it were me, I might try finding the same product from another seller. Chinese or not. When a seller has control of their supply, they can usually better control the experience for their buyer.

[vinage]

Agree with the previous replies.  And I would add "avoid all sellers from the Asia-Pacific region". Western US, Midwest USA, Asia, Australia, NZ.  Canada Post issued a press release saying that moving packages and mail through the Vancouver Customs is experiencing major delays.  For Canada Post to publicly admit this, means that the problem is huge!  There has been media coverage on the subject this summer also. 

The cause of all this mess is the fentanyl organized crime is smuggling into Canada's west coast through the mail system.  Customs is trying to intercept the illegal shipments and to prevent the harmful drug to enter the country.  However, that is causing major backlogs for all of us.

Are your items available elsewhere?  Eastern US, western European countries?  Canada - would be ideal = no customs!

[patken123]

Thanks again ,it makes a lot of sense , never thought of it that way.

[patken123]

The items are available by US sellers at twice the cost but I haven't explored north american vendors fully yet.

[femmefan1946]

Remember to include the cost of shipping when you make your comparisons.

And if the item is at all bulky, keep in mind that Canadian duty and Sales Taxes kick in at $20Cdn (about $16US).

If your seller chooses the Global Shipping Program, you will certainly pay the applicable import fees, but there would be no CBSA holdup since the import fees are dealt with at the GSP plant in Kentucky.

OTOH, CBSA and Canada Post rarely bother with inexpensive (under $100Cdn) items that are not bulky so you might get away with not paying the import fees. Maybe.

[patken123]

The items are machine parts, $100 each,(2 of them), they are small but not light in weight, the much higher shipping charge from the US made the Chinese listings a bit more attractive.
I also have begun to count on getting charged for sales taxes for anything over $20 after getting dinged by CBSA for a $70 item sent from the US.
It was highly unusual to pay sales taxes /other fees of $21 ,the last time was 2008 so it was long overdue for me,lol.
Thank you all for your comments.

[momcqueen]

In that case, if it were me, I think I'd stick to a North American supplier. Between shipping costs and delivery times, an international return for reasons Not As Described becomes more difficult to manage. If your eBay MoneyBack Guarantee expired before you determined the parts worked as promised, you could still return them under PayPal Buyer Protection which lasts longer but the return postage via PayPal is at your own expense.

I am admittedly biased. In my 11 years on eBay, I've bought directly from China 15 times, mostly at the start. Literally 14 of those purchases were not as described. Junk, undisclosed factory-reject, counterfeit et cetera. And that was unimportant stuff: toys and housewares. Also inexpensive. If it was something important like an expensive machine part? Well. USA or Canada seller to be sure. If you get a piece of junk from that seller in the USA, you'll know it quicker and have a faster, easier time sending it back.

But that's my advice only. Others may share different insight and/or experience.

[momcqueen]

Or... are you located anywhere near the Canadian/USA border? You could ship it to a USA Parcel Service and then pick it up. Depending on the details of the purchase, you may save enough on postage to cover your border taxes (GST and PST) on a day trip. 

[terrlo96]

Adidas Trefoil Hoodie Men's Activewear Sweatshirt High Quality Pullover Clothing  Item price $13.50 Quantity 1 

My name is Terrance Love an I just want to know where excatly is this package I ordered 1 month ago. Poor Cominication and I just want to see any Updates and Tracking number 

[pjcdn2005]

We are ebay users just like you so we have no way of knowing where your item is. You should go to your purchase history and beside that item, click on contact seller.  If the seller is overseas they may not have tracking on the item but if you wait until one day after the last expected delivery date you can go to the resolution center and open an item not received claim.

You have somehow made it to the Canadian discussion board so you might want to sign out here and sign back in to ebay.com.

[femmefan1946]

EBay gave you a window for delivery.

If the last day has passed you have 30 days to open an Item Not Recieved Dispute in the Resolution Centre at the bottom of this page, and most eBay pages.

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

Tracking is not required. Tracking is a Seller Protection.

In my 30+ years in mail order, a 30 day delivery period from Asia is not unusual, and if you have tracking, it is on its way.

If you are still impatient, about a purchase made (on September 22? or later), you have 180 days from Payment to open a Paypal Dispute. If the seller cannot prove delivery (not shipping, delivery) you will be refunded.

[kh-leslie]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.​​​​​​​