USA packages being returned

[pvj2]

Anyone else have problems lately with packages being returned to sender? I had one that cleared customs in Chicago went to Texas which is the delivery state and then sent back. Had another this week with the m=buyers address blacked out and a RTS on the box.What's going on?

[sapphyres-designer-jewellery]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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@sapphyres-designer-jewellery wrote:

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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@doc_scribe wrote:

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@fergua3 wrote:

there definitely appears to be some sort of issue with Chichago ICS.  Both packages i mentioned a few posts above are still stuck in Customs.  6 days and 7 days respectively with no updates.  Both low value Lego sets going to two different buyers.  No sign of them being returned to me, yet,  just no movement at all.

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My first thought as well @fergua3 . 

FWIW, my last 3 CP shipments to the US from AB - all tracked packets to eastern states, one right next door to Chicago -  ended up doing the grand old west coast USPS tour before heading east. So far, no delivery delays; just significantly longer distance with extra hops...which is something I've only noticed when the Chicago hub was under stress and/or backlogged. 

Of course, that wouldn't explain the blacked out address and return instead of rerouting...

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I've had a couple of US shipments recently take 2 to 5 days longer than normal standard to arrive. When they get to destination they show as out for delivery followed by scanned back as On hold. Unsure reasoning. USPS shows similar tracking info. Unsure if in some cases ebay is either wanting a signature or there is customs owing. The current one is a 10 dollar set of Canadian stamps so low value and should be no duties owing. Trying to advise buyers or get a reason for these holds has become EXTREMELY challenging over the past couple of years. Majority of eBay mail rarely gets a response. Or the alternative get a response once it has long been delivered. 

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I hear you. I had one package I was pretty sure Customs was going to check (because the thing I shipped that I made myself is often made in China), and I asked the buyer to let me know if anything unusual happened with this package. She said she'd take a picture of the outside and send it to me, but then I never heard from her again, so I can only assume everything was fine.

Yeah, customers are often not quick with answering, and some of the ones who do answer are a little bit chattier than I'd like.

C.

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@sapphyres-designer-jewellery 

My biggest concern there is no way to know with eBay mail if it is arriving. As an example with gmail and a tiny app you can confirm mail has been received. I am under the impression many sellers and buyers have ebay mail filtered. Either by choice or accident.

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Generally if I have to tell a buyer something I just send it, and never worry about whether or not they've received it. If I need an answer I'll ask them what they want and tell them if they don't reply by this date/time I am going to do it this way. So far it's only bit me once that someone wanted to cancel after I shipped (when I'd already waited 3 days to confirm if they still wanted the coin). I somehow suspect she cancelled on purpose after I shipped so she could whine for a refund because of whatever... I just refunded on that, I just wish I had been told before I shipped she wanted it cancelled.

C.

[silverpinups]

"Fingers crossed. Have still had zero problems with COO China items going to US via CanadaPost (via California entry point). I wonder if it is the CATEGORY of item that is the problem for sellers with returned items?"

All the problems are with ISC Chicago and no where else. 

[electronic_dist_intl]

From what I heard there's some disagreement between USPS and Canada Post about who should be collecting and remitting the tariff on China made goods. Seems clear to me that it should be USPS, but maybe not? The Chicago facility is clearly not setup to be collecting these tariff charges being applied by US customs. About 50% of the time the parcels are flagged for tariffs and that's when we get the label blacked out and "RTS" written on. The other 50% is just them letting those through without scrutiny at customs. It's literally luck and a coin-flip. The recipients of these parcels are none the wiser so we can't blame them.

[fergua3]

why on earth should CP or any other postal service collect Trump's tariffs?  Seems the USPS is as clueless about what tariffs are and how they work as Trump is.  Besides, with the way Trump keeps changing his mind, between the time CP collected tariffs and the time the package gets to US Customs the tariff amount could have changed.

The US can manage their own mess.

[cottagewoman]

I've stated this before in other posts - CBP is directly responsible for assessment, processing and collection of duties for any items passing through the postal system. This includes contacting the recipient and making arrangements with USPS to collect the duties. If they don't contact the recipient ahead of delivery they are foregoing their own mandate. They haven't had to do any of this since the explosion of e-commerce for decades: they don't have the mandate, resources or wherewithall to handle the volume. So they bail and just reject packages. They'll probably get better at it as time goes by though.

CP has no responsibility in this matter - they forward packages from a foreign country (Canada) to the appropriate centers in the US for processing.

[3islanders]

Are these sellers who are getting returned packages using eBay's shipping labels, going through Canada Post's website, taking it to the post office, or what?

I take USA packages to the PO rather than deal with online forms, and I don't recall the last time I had to declare country of origin.  She asks me what's in it, generalizes (a lot of small gift items get labelled 'trinkets') and the overall value, and that's all.  I don't think I've put country of origin on anything since back when they had the little white stickers that you filled in yourself.  🤔

It's a very small rural PO ... maybe she is somehow skipping that step...?

[reallynicestamps]

Yes, she is skipping the step.

But the thing is that so much goes through any terminal, once it reaches the big city, that a lot of small, low value packages are just ignored.

Until they are not.

Be aware that any parcel can be stopped, inspected (even opened and repacked), at any time in the mailstream and decide how much risk you are willing to take.

BTW - The Tracked Packet USA you can buy on eBay and print at home is 53% cheaper than buying at the counter. It is cheaper even than buying that service with your Solutions for Small Business card , never mind being a quick scan of thebarcode instead of filling in the form with the clerk.

[fergua3]

i'm in the GTA and yet my local PO had no clue about COO or HS codes until i educated them.  They didn't even know they were able to add the codes to the Customs form on their computer.  I wouldn't count on going through the Post Office being any kind of safeguard from packages getting returned by US Customs.

[marnotom!]

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@fergua3 wrote:

i'm in the GTA and yet my local PO had no clue about COO or HS codes until i educated them.  They didn't even know they were able to add the codes to the Customs form on their computer.  I wouldn't count on going through the Post Office being any kind of safeguard from packages getting returned by US Customs.

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Is this a post office operated by Canada Post Corporation with post office employees or a franchised postal outlet operated by another business (e.g. a pharmacy) with employees employed by the business, rather than Canada Post?

[fergua3]

it was a postal outlet at Shoppers Drug Mart.  But i don't see using an actual CP postal outlet being any more of a safeguard from packages being returned by US Customs.  The only difference is they MIGHT have known about COO and HS codes and how to add them.  

[byto253]

Honestly, you are dodging a bullet so far.  Your packages are just getting swept up in the volume as they are not compliant but if anyone does a cursory check, no COO or HS Code on the outside of the package would move them to the front of the line for getting pulled.

At least put the COO and HS Code on the outside of the package, even if it is not on the CP label.   Even hand written, I would just make sure it is there.   If the COO and HS Code section of a label are blank, I also hand write it in at the post office.  Most of my stuff is through ebay labels but I do some directly. 

[dinomitesales]

Canada Post currently has no requirement to have a COO or HS Code on an outgoing international package. Obviously, it's best practice for anyone exporting goods to include this information (which is why it is a mandatory field on some online shipping platforms), but Canada Post does not require it to be entered when purchasing the postage at the counter, or through their online SnapShip platform. There is also no directive to post office clerks to ask for this information, but the fields exist on the computer to enter it if it is voluntarily supplied by the customer.

If Canada Post was concerned with this mess then they would make it a required field on all shipments. They have not done so, so they clearly don't see it as a major concern.

As a postal clerk myself, over the past few months I have scanned the occasional tracking number from a customer's US-bound parcel into one of my tracking apps just to see what happens with it. I have yet to see a parcel with no COO specified be rejected by customs - they seem to be experiencing the same delays as any other parcel, but are eventually passing through and getting delivered. I'm in Winnipeg so everything passes through Chicago. The only anecdotes I've seen of items being returned to sender from customs are from those who have intentionally declared the COO as "China". Based on my observations, if you really need to send something to the States made in China then you're best bet is to just purchase the label directly from Canada Post and leave the COO field blank.

[itolduandso]

From Aug 1st it seems this will affect far more US bound packages, all non-USA-made items will get the same treatment.

Since the De-minmis are cancelled Aug 29, the non-China/USA packages will go without any issues till Aug 29, that's my guess from the situation. Any news from Stallion, Chitchats on this?

I wonder how long will Stallion Express and Chitchats stay in business. DYK Post had plans to expand in Ontario with locations in Toronto and that is put on ice too.

Basically back to Canada Post. I am informing the US buyers of COO China items, there is 33% chance package will get stuck in customs and either the tariff will be applied or simply returned to me (shipper) and I am warning the buyer I will not refund them the shipping cost if the item returns to me because of customs return it to me. Many US buyers cancel the sale after the message, same take the chance.

I don't want to lose money on shipping cost as the items I used to ship are heavy, shipping cost is often 25-55 CAD but I have mostly US buyers, very few Canada buyers and most of my items are non-China.

I am a perfect loser on this August 1st b*tch day.

[i-will-sell-it]

Chit Chats made an announcement about the De-minimis, but I was under the impression it was repealed back on July 1st. Go figure. 

[i-will-sell-it]

I had about 50 parcels delivered with no issues in the last 5 weeks, but it was too soon to say they had fixed it. Just noticed this on one of my parcels. It is not any different from my ones - similar item, same HS code, same weight and size. But it's coming back. And it was only at US Customs for a couple days, I guess it's a good thing? 

[itolduandso]

1. Are all 50 packages China COO?
2. Do they have the COO in the shipping delcaration (e.g. Stallion, Chitchats, Shippsy, Shippo)?  Or did you ship by Canada Post directly and left the COO field blank?
3. Do they have the HS Code in shipping declatation (e.g. Stallion, Chitchats, Shippsy, Shippo). Or did you ship by Canada Post directly and left the HS Code field blank

Same questions would apply to returning shipment.

If all shipments are COO China then my guess they caufht 1 out of 50 and instead of calculating tariffs and giving the package to USPS to collect from receiver, they decided to send it back to you.

But it is still interesting to know if you had the COO field and HS Code field blank or filled to know exactly what is happening or not happening.

But the good news is it's returning and it's not lost.  And even better news is your other 50 packages have been delivered. So open the bottles  🤑

Thanks

[i-will-sell-it]

All 50 are China COO, all forms filled out with the HS Code (9503.00 in my case) and China; Canada Post postage purchased through eBay.

[vintage_america]

That’s better luck than me. 7 China COO packages with Canada Post. 6 returned. 1 went through. The lowest value one went through. Figures. All different HS codes.

I have another in customs (Chicago). And one to ship tomorrow. I’ll just keep going until I don’t.

I’m wondering if it’s a case of Customs/USPS needing buyer contact info to collect the tariffs before delivery, and it’s not there on eBay labels or internally . Or if some buyers are rejecting due to tariffs. Or….most likely they’re just being rejected by Customs due to whatever reasons.

I tried sending one with UPS and the buyer got hit with a 90$ usd fee (tariffs + brokerage fee) on a 60$ item. He refused to pay. Don’t blame him. Won’t be using UPS again.

I seriously hope this is sorted out soon. It’s a giant mess and I’m can’t imagine what it will be like when all countries lose de minimis on Aug 29.

Sales are already affected. Not an easy time.

[sapphyres-designer-jewellery]

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@vintage_america wrote:
That’s better luck than me. 7 China COO packages with Canada Post. 6 returned. 1 went through. The lowest value one went through. Figures. All different HS codes.

I have another in customs (Chicago). And one to ship tomorrow. I’ll just keep going until I don’t.

I’m wondering if it’s a case of Customs/USPS needing buyer contact info to collect the tariffs before delivery, and it’s not there on eBay labels or internally . Or if some buyers are rejecting due to tariffs. Or….most likely they’re just being rejected by Customs due to whatever reasons.

I tried sending one with UPS and the buyer got hit with a 90$ usd fee (tariffs + brokerage fee) on a 60$ item. He refused to pay. Don’t blame him. Won’t be using UPS again.

I seriously hope this is sorted out soon. It’s a giant mess and I’m can’t imagine what it will be like when all countries lose de minimis on Aug 29.

Sales are already affected. Not an easy time.

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It's going to be worse with the UPS when they come back to you for the tariff. UPS pays the tariff and it's non refundable, so they have to collect it from someone. If that someone isn't the buyer then they will come back to you to collect it.

I'm in the US forum and there are lots of people there struggling to make sales (for a variety reasons, may not necessarily have to do with tariffs).

I'm finding the US customers are being scared off from buying, even though de minimis hasn't gone away completely yet, every time there's a hubbub in the news, my sales drop for a few days.

C.

[vintage_america]

Ya well I will be writing the UPS one off. Lesson learned.

A lot of sellers will suffer while this tariff mess goes on. Buyers will suffer as well. It’s really a perfect storm.

Eventually at some point it will all land somewhere in a ‘new normal’ but I don’t think it will be the same again for quite some time.

And the problem with listing on .com is that I can’t even turn off USA as a sales destination. Worst case scenario will be ‘vacation mode’ for a while until things are at least sorted out. Probably a good time for a vacation anyway.

Then focus on local and Canadian sales for awhile. Which won’t be anywhere near as lucrative as American market. Our economy is getting hit hard already. I think it could get a lot worse before it gets better.

And to top it off I have a huge amount of great inventory I saved until Q4 to post. Oh well. Lol.

I hope Chit Chats/Stallion make it through this.