BrickLink Discussion Forum

In Shipping, kzinti writes:

Received a high dollar order on Feb 10th. Pulled, Packed, Invoiced, Paid, Posted
all in about 24 hours. Post office received package on Feb 11th. As it's
an international shipment, it goes through the Chicago International Distribution
Center on the evening of Feb 16th. Then it basically disappears until April 12th.
No one knows where it went, how it got there, what cruise line it detoured through,
nothing. Here's what the time interval looks like on the USPS tracking page
looks:

- Processed Through USPS Regional Facility
CHICAGO IL INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER
February 16, 2024, 7:43 pm

- Processed Through Facility
NETHERLANDS
April 12, 2024, 9:46 pm

Did they travel through the Bermuda triangle? Where did it go? I cannot express
the amount of appreciation I have for an understanding customer who paid so much
for this order, and then patiently waited almost two months for a tracking update
from USPS. TWO MONTHS! It's almost like the postal service is purposefully
trying to kill off international business opportunities. First with huge price
jumps, then with a decreased level of service that borders on apathy.

The postal service told me that after it leaves the US there's not a lot
they can do, 'it's out of our hands'. Why offer tracking at all when
it's of little use? And when I asked them about filing a case for a missing
package, they tell me that it has to be missing at least 60 days before I can
file as a missing package. Insane, absolutely insane. Going to send a Christmas
box of dog poop to Mr DeJoy... through Fedex.

Based on a de-minimas amount of information that I am aware of ... When it clears
an ISC (Chicago, Miami, whereever) it is typically loaded into a shipping container
(ULD for air, probably TEU for sea cargo) then it is not tracked until the receiving
agency gets it, and finds the time to enter it into their system. Some national
post offices do better and some do not [1]. In any case, the national post office
should have a manifest of what is in a particular shipping container, because
USPS knows that. Somewhere in all of this is inbound customs inspections.

As a complete side issue (but still illustrative) over the last 6 months I've
placed 12-15 orders for electronics components from a large distributor in China.
All but the first couple of small orders went via FedEx International Economy.
Typically, the package would get to some FedEx warehouse in HK, then appear to
just sit there. But in actuallity, it was (sometimes) already in transit. I've
watched them transit thru Anchorage, Seattle, Chicago, and one or two other landing
points. A FedEx rep told me that the inbound customs clearance was happening
in Memphis. Tracking said otherwise. So it's not just USPS. I've seen
these orders take 3 days to move from HK to my receiving box, and I've seen
9 or 10 days. Unless I was willing to pay for the premium level service, it gets
there when it gets there.

Nita Rae

[1] and some countries, in less traveled parts of the globe, don't even attempt
to deliver to your street. You have to go to the post office (with fingers crossed)
and ask if they have seen any packages with your name on them. What we have here,
is worlds better.

Author:

tec

Posted:

Apr 24, 2024 16:39

Subject:

Re: Test the shipping options?

Viewed:

21 times

Topic:

destination: IT
14,79 eur under 215gr
21,19 eur under 650gr
TBD above 650
First 2 tiers works for IC, 3rd is an invoice request.

Author:

Nubs_Select

Posted:

Apr 24, 2024 12:07

Subject:

Re: Test the shipping options?

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20 times

Topic:

In Shipping, mycoolbricks writes:

Hi, I've been playing a lot with the shipping options. Unfortunately, it's
always a matter of luck whether it works for the buyer. Is there a way to test
the options too? I have created a workaround and a private account here. This
now works for domestic shipments. But how can I test worldwide shipping? I don't
want to create a separate test account for each country. Thanks Johannes

You can just change the country of your test account

Author:

Adjour

Posted:

Apr 24, 2024 11:17

Subject:

Re: How does USPS even operate? A short rant.

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41 times

Topic:

I turned off international shipping recently. For different reasons, but I did
have something similar happen during covid. Parcel took 10 weeks with no update
to Europe.

On a different site I use UPS a lot and they have a habit of marking things "delivered"
and then actually delivering it 2-3 days later. They also sometimes forget to
scan things in transit. So that is fun.

Fedex is notorious for employee theft, crushing parcels, and of course, shipping
surcharges that are insane.

Honestly I don't know how all this is going to function a decade from now.
I've already lost the world market a couple years ago, which used to be 1/3
of my sales.

and I'm already noticing that most of my buyers on other sites are from
the states surrounding mine, which means calculated shipping is getting too expensive
to anyone past Texas in my case. I've been looking more and more into local
selling options in person, which of course, has its own set of drawbacks.

Crystal

Author:

zorbanj

Posted:

Apr 24, 2024 09:11

Subject:

Re: How does USPS even operate? A short rant.

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56 times

Topic:

The post office is right when they told you after it leaves the US it's out
of their hands. That's always been the case. Your package probably got stuck
in customs.

These tracking sites oftentimes have additional/different information than the
USPS ste, especially for international orders:

https://www.17track.net/en

https://parcelsapp.com/en/tracking/

https://www.ship24.com/

https://www.trackmyshipment.co/shipment-tracking

Enter the tracking number for the Netherlands order and see what pops up.

In Shipping, kzinti writes:

Author:

kzinti

Posted:

Apr 24, 2024 08:38

Subject:

How does USPS even operate? A short rant.

Viewed:

135 times

Topic:

Author:

ZwarteMagica

Posted:

Apr 24, 2024 04:33

Subject:

Re: Test the shipping options?

Viewed:

33 times

Topic:

It is quite a long shot, but probably if a lot of sellers vote for some kind
of sandbox to test their settings it maybe got implemented.

https://www.bricklink.com/messageThread.asp?ID=229122&nID=1066341

In Shipping, mycoolbricks writes:

Author:

mycoolbricks

Posted:

Apr 24, 2024 03:37

Subject:

Test the shipping options?

Viewed:

70 times

Topic:

Author:

zzed

Posted:

Apr 23, 2024 07:30

Subject:

Re: Fees

Viewed:

42 times

Topic:

In Shipping, Brickman4you writes:

Instead of reporting them...

Why not just choose to purchase from stores where you are in agreement with their
Terms and Conditions.

I read the terms of every store selected via "Buy All". However, this
week (for example) I got a surprise fee that was not mentioned anywhere in their
terms page. This time the fee was a reasonable amount for packing materials.
But I really wish everyone would disclose any fees in the terms page. Otherwise
it annoys people. Assembling multiple carts is enough of a pain without that
game.

Author:

BrickDeals

Posted:

Apr 23, 2024 01:40

Subject:

Re: Fees

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39 times

Topic:

In Shipping, justwright writes:

Does anyone know if you can report a store for charging excess fees. i found
a store that charges 10 percent of your order plus an additional 75 cents. needless
to say, i will avoid that store for any purchase.

Bricklink must legally comply with SB-478 Consumers Legal Remedies Act, which
will be the law in the state of California effective July 1, 2024.

Personally rather than create a system that specifically targets California sellers,
I would prefer a prohibition on the practice of unnecessary fees sitewide.

The practice itself is deceptive, because it manipulates the price guide, making
some sellers prices look artificially cheap.

Under the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Section 1770(a)

The unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices
listed in this subdivision undertaken by any person in a transaction intended
to result or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to any consumer
are unlawful:

(29) (A) Advertising, displaying, or offering a price for a good or service
that does not include all mandatory fees or charges other than either of
the following:

(i) Taxes or fees imposed by a government on the transaction.

(ii) Postage or carriage charges that will be reasonably and actually
incurred to ship the physical good to the consumer.

Author:

zorbanj

Posted:

Apr 23, 2024 00:10

Subject:

Re: Fees

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45 times

Topic:

In Shipping, justwright writes:

You could try, but i don't think 10% is going to be deemed excessive. I have
seen stores that charge a nominal amount for parts + a gigantic "handling
fee" shut down for fee avoidance (BL fees are not charged on shipping).

Author:

Brickman4you

Posted:

Apr 22, 2024 20:38

Subject:

Re: Fees

Viewed:

44 times

Topic:

In Shipping, justwright writes:

Instead of reporting them...

Why not just choose to purchase from stores where you are in agreement with their
Terms and Conditions.

Author:

1001bricks

Posted:

Apr 22, 2024 19:34

Subject:

Re: Fees

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52 times

Topic:

In Shipping, justwright writes:

Packaging material (carton or bubble wrap envelopes for ex.) are far from free.
Stickers, printer ink...

Fees aren't forbidden.

Of course, while $0.75 is super correct, 10% seems more to be an abuse of fees,
or a BrickLink fees avoidance.

This said off context, with the few info (and no number) you gave us.

Anyway, to report, use this form, put the username once, select a reason, explain
a bit:
https://www.bricklink.com/problemMember.asp

Author:

Ziegelmeister

Posted:

Apr 22, 2024 19:26

Subject:

Re: Fees

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32 times

Topic:

In Shipping, justwright writes:

There really isn't a rule about fees I don't think. They could have
fat fingered it and meant to put in 1% unless that's what they say in their
terms. Do they have an long history of positive feedback?

Author:

justwright

Posted:

Apr 22, 2024 19:20

Subject:

Fees

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153 times

Topic:

Author:

Akir

Posted:

Apr 18, 2024 07:10

Subject:

Re: Neuer Verkäufer

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30 times

Topic:

In Shipping, Handballer40 writes:

Hallo

Ich möchte hier auch ein paar Klemmbausteine verkaufen , habe auch schon ein
upgrade auf Verkäufer gemacht nun soll ich bei der Storeeinstellung eine weiter
Versandart einpflegen ich weiß aber nicht wo, kann mir jemand weiterhelfen.

Hi!
Dein Shop sieht von hier aus offen aus, das hat also schon einmal geklappt. Wenn
Du weitere Versandmoeglichkeiten dazufuegen willst (ins Ausland z.B.), dann musst
Du dazu im Menue von "My Store" auf "Edit Store" klicken, und
dann auf der linken Seite "Shipping". Dort siehst Du Deine Versandoptionen
und kannst weitere eingeben.
Viel Erfolg als Verkaeufer auf Bricklink!
Patrick

Author:

WildBricks

Posted:

Apr 17, 2024 09:12

Subject:

Re: Postal delays with USPS

Viewed:

47 times

Topic:

Can you image if UPS had this kind of transition? They’d be out of business.

If DeJoy has his way, that is exactly what will happen. Then his corporate buddies
can sweep in and pick up overblown federal contracts taking dollars out of the
general population and putting it into the pockets of shareholders; all the while
blaming the federal government for mismanagement of federal dollars, continuing
to reduce the middle class, raise prices, blame the population for their lack
of drive and work ethic, while rigging the system so only the 1% can succeed;
while the cult of personality waves the flag, lies with his hand on the good
book and distracts the gullible by spouting Putin's talking points and prosthelytizing
about freedumbs.

Author:

watch505

Posted:

Apr 17, 2024 08:53

Subject:

Re: Postal delays with USPS

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37 times

Topic:

Many of the changes the USPS has been making are necessary and, in some cases,
have improved service. Package processing during the holidays has been great
the last few years after the pandemic meltdown.
But this was a disaster, my USPS rep as usual had no answers. I see now not even
a US Senator could get his answers without dragging Mr. Dejoy Infront of a committee.
Can you image if UPS had this kind of transition? They’d be out of business.

Author:

WildBricks

Posted:

Apr 17, 2024 08:27

Subject:

Postal delays with USPS

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124 times

Topic:

We are having so much fun in Atlanta with our postal system! (NOT.)

Please understand that I love the United States Postal System. I think it is
an amazing organization that has done an outstanding job serving the people of
our country since its founding. This post is not meant to denigrate the hardworking
individuals who are trying to do their jobs, but are caught up in a political
nightmare not of their own making.

In case you've been caught up with other stories around the world, here is
the latest on my region's woes and the USPS system in general:

https://www.wabe.org/postmaster-general-defends-usps-changes-amid-georgia-mail-delays/

https://www.11alive.com/article/news/special-reports/postal-problems/mike-collins-post-office-mail-delay-atlanta-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-hearing/85-b5f22bb7-4d7b-4390-bf27-adce131feea8

https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/how-is-the-mail-delivery-near-you-the-postal-service-has-a-tool-to-measure-that/5IAWKX2NJJCY7JGIQZRNTWMOGU/

Author:

jennnifer

Posted:

Apr 16, 2024 15:30

Subject:

Re: Frustrated with Shipping Fees being paid

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60 times

Topic: