Anyone with issues shipping to the US reliably right now???

[darak10]

I'm getting ready to re-open my store and I am leaning towards requiring tracking for shipments to the US.  I have done some ordering from the US since lockdown and my receipt of item success rate is sitting at 50%.  Two items got here - took a month though, and the other two items, god knows where they are or what happened to them.  

From my limited perspective, it doesn't look like Canada Post & USPS are getting the parcel job between our countries done right now, whatever the reason.  

What is the experience of other Canadian sellers shipping to the US right now?  Are you having problems getting stuff to the US, or not? Are you even shipping there? From your sales, how long is stuff taking to get there? Are you getting lots of "where's my item?" messages from US customers?  Please advise, I'd really like to hear what other sellers are experiencing so I can make a firm decision either way.  Thanks!

[teenytrinkets]

I've shipped several tracked packets to the US from BC Canada to FL, IL, AZ, CA - and all have been scanned at every step, and arrived within a week.  All through SF.

So I'd say BC===>SF is great and up and running normally!

[ypdc_dennis]

A view from inside the USA (shipping from Virginia):

During the pandemic some USPS sort facilities are having to temporarily close and whenever there is a closure, mail in transit gets re-routed around that facility to another one. So because of that we've been seeing a few of our USPS parcels go on the grand tour. One standard mail parcel can be delivered in a few days, and another one can take up to 2 weeks for delivery. The lack of regular scan data in route that accompanies this is also annoying. From time to time we have been seeing an in transit sort scan, and then the parcel is not scanned again until it actually goes out for delivery. Patience is the key here.

Source: Robert's Anime Corner Store newsletter (May 22)

They also report delays when shipping to Canada (UPS, FedEx and USPS) of a few days to several weeks.

-..-

[e.j.kim]

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@lady.stark wrote:

One package sent Small Packet Air Mail on May 9 arrived on May 20 in Maryland. It was scanned on eBay's "Order details", so that's how I know.

A package sent Tracked Packet on May 15 is still "En route" to Nevada. But I just verified, and it arrived there today. Will probably be delivered soon. However, a package I sent SP Air at the same address (but different name) and shipped on the same date is still in Florida according to the Order details scan.

On May 18, I shipped a package to Netherlands and another to Australia. Both by SP Air Mail. Since there is no tracking, I do not know if they left the country yet.

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I had no idea that Small Packet Air can be trackable. However, when I input the tracking number in USPS. com as of now, it shows "Not Trackable". Does it mean the recipient hasn't received the package yet? Will postal workers in US scan the package only at the moment of delivering the package to the final destination? Please let me know. Thanks.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@e.j.kim wrote:
I had no idea that Small Packet Air can be trackable. However, when I input the tracking number in USPS. com as of now, it shows "Not Trackable".

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It is only "trackable" on ebay for the USA.

Canada Post and USPS do not display any scans they make for Small Packet USA.

In general, the scans are not available for other countries.

You have to enter the number manually as "tracking" on ebay for the purchase, and hope some scans were made. Any scans will only be ones that the USPS made.

[museumrarities]

If you can send UPS. Thats the way to go. I can't believe you don't do tracking...

[fh991586]

UPS is the most voracious broker when going through a border, so the buyers usually don't like to use their services.
I certainly would not buy from a US seller only using UPS because of that!

[e.j.kim]

Thanks for your answer with a pic. Could I ask one more question? Is there a chance that the tracking info not showing up on ebay? I was thinking about a scenario that a buyer receives the package but the tracking info on ebay is not showing the same result. It may put sellers in an unpleasant situation. Let me know. Thanks.

[styleclash2]

usually it depends on what company you use to ship your items, I pay a little more and usually my packages gets to U.S within 2 days, mostly I use DHL, I found a company that offers good pricing.

[femmefan1946]

Today, June first,  I received an order of mailing labels from Vistaprint, shipped April 4 -- via UPS Canada.

[amcdc79]

Most of my items go letterpost and in Canada they have been arriving faster than usual which is very strange.

A banner sent in April from Burnaby to London Ontario went quick,

Delivered to recipient's front door

Apr-08-20, 11:11 AM, LONDON, ON

Item out for delivery

Apr-08-20, 09:52 AM, LONDON, ON

item processed

Apr-08-20, 06:26 AM, LONDON, ON

Item in transit

Apr-06-20, 19:12 PM, RICHMOND, BC

Item processed

Apr-06-20, 16:55 PM, RICHMOND, BC

Item accepted at the Post Office

Apr-05-20, 12:11 PM, BURNABY, BC

A pair of Mudflaps to Allentown PA also arrived quickly,

DELIVERED IN/AT MAILBOX

May-20-20, 11:08 AM, ALLENTOWN, PA 18104

PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY

May-17-20, 20:06 PM, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94128

INBOUND OUT OF CUSTOMS

May-17-20, 20:03 PM 94128

PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY

May-17-20, 20:01 PM, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94128

ARRIVED AT INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CENTER

May-16-20, 22:45 PM, ISC SAN FRANCISCO (USPS) 94128

INBOUND INTO CUSTOMS

ORIGIN POST IS PREPARING SHIPMENT

May-15-20, 20:53 PM

FOREIGN INTERNATIONAL DISPATCH

May-15-20, 20:53 PM, VANCOUVER, CA

FOREIGN ARRIVAL AT OUTWARD OFFICE

May-15-20, 07:21 AM, VANCOUVER, CA

Acceptance

May-13-20, 12:00 PM

At the start of the COVID issue I sent an item Expresspost to Sask on the Sunday before CP issued their guidance (Wednesday) that they no longer were going to meet their delivery standards. I phoned to inform them that the item was supposed to be delivered the day before, and surprise surprise I actually got a cheque in the mail to cover the postage.

So CP for me have been just great, of course ,YMMV.

[shannonseclectic]

My shipping from Vancouver to the U.S. has been an utter disaster using tracked packet starting mid-April. I've had packages go out and be in limbo for up to six weeks and then they are returned as undeliverable. I had a couple returns and the buyers still wanted the item. I had no problems when I upgraded to EXPRESS pricing levels for the reshipping via Canada Post to USPS. Unfortunately I have a couple of tracked packet items in limbo now in the U.S. and I have no idea where they are. Looks like I'll be checking into the alternatives. I'm apprehensive about even sending out EXPRESS/EXPEDITED via CP to USPS even though I had success recently. The USPS website has indicated that regular mail is very slow but express is being delivered closer to on time. I'm having issues with customs via usps as well now which in the past five years I've never had a problem. All of sudden it's problematic. 

c'est la vie

.

[reallynicestamps]

@shannonseclectic 

On general principles, have you checked on google maps to see if the address does actually exist?

I had one of those last year where the business had two doors on different streets, and the postie would only deliver to one of them. So back came the package.

Fortunately not an eBay sale and we straightened it out amicably.