Delivery times from the US?

d3moliti0n · 29-07-2009, 10:50 AM

Hi

This is a general question about delivery rather than one regarding a specific company which is why I have posted it in the General Discussion forum.

I ordered a DVD set from the US (via the Amazon.co.uk Marketplace) 13 days ago and was wondering how long it usually takes when ordering stuff from the US to arrive over here? I've ordered stuff before that's only usually taken around 10 days (including both weekdays and weekends) so it's weird that it's been nearly two weeks with no sign of it.

Thanks for your help.

Best regards.

**thesilverfox** · 29-07-2009, 11:03 AM

It really depends on the service the person in the US pays for.

I was recently in Miami, and a postcard arrived at three addresses here in the UK within 48 hours, which is impressive.

A set of headphones that I received for free, took 28 days to arrive.

A set of US state quarters took about 5 days.

Perhaps ask your seller which service was used? If he or she declares a relatively modest value in dollars, it should sail through, but higher amounts can be subject to inspection.

DVD-Man · 29-07-2009, 11:19 AM

DVD set will be anything up to 28 days.

Liam

nheather · 29-07-2009, 11:27 AM

Agree - typically my stuff has generally turned up around the 14 day mark - but sometimes longer and hardly ever shorter.

Cheers,

Nigel

baldrick · 29-07-2009, 12:29 PM

If they paid for next day 9am delivery then it's late, if they put it on a ship then you've still got a couple of weeks to wait!!!!

d3moliti0n · 29-07-2009, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baldrick

If they paid for next day 9am delivery then it's late, if they put it on a ship then you've still got a couple of weeks to wait!!!!

Since when do they use ships for mail these days? I would have thought all of that sort of stuff was done via planes (being that it is ten times faster than waiting for a ship to arrive at a port).

**unique** · 29-07-2009, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by d3moliti0n

Since when do they use ships for mail these days? I would have thought all of that sort of stuff was done via planes (being that it is ten times faster than waiting for a ship to arrive at a port).

because it costs 10 times as much for airfreight (not exact amount). it's much cheaper to use seafreight. there would probably be no ozone left if everything was shipped by airfreight

Nik73 · 29-07-2009, 2:53 PM

I did the same thing and it took 3-4 weeks to arrive, but it did get held up by customs. How much was the set? Anything over £18 and there's a chance it'll get stung for customs, which will also delay it a few days as well.

I ordered a DVD boxset of Amazon.com themselves though late on a Sunday night with standard shipping and it came on the Tuesday morning, including customs!

d3moliti0n · 29-07-2009, 2:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nik73

I did the same thing and it took 3-4 weeks to arrive, but it did get held up by customs. How much was the set? Anything over £18 and there's a chance it'll get stung for customs, which will also delay it a few days as well.

I ordered a DVD boxset of Amazon.com themselves though late on a Sunday night with standard shipping and it came on the Tuesday morning, including customs!

It cost me £39.68 excluding shipping, £40.89 including shipping.

Nik73 · 29-07-2009, 3:05 PM

You could get stung then I'm afraid mate. It seems to be a total lottery to be honest as to whether you do or not. A lot depends on the company as well, some like Amazon.com themselves are guaranteed to get stung. Some mark the item down as a gift, in which case the limit rises to about £30 I think.

If you do get hit it's only on the value of the item itself and it'll be about £10 for the bullcrap admin fee then VAT so I would say about £16 in total if you're unlucky.

Even with customs charges, there's still bargains to be had. The VAT is understandable or else or the economy would go to poo with too many imports but the ridiculous admin charge is what makes my pee boil.

d3moliti0n · 29-07-2009, 3:08 PM

Well, I bought it from an American Amazon.co.uk Marketplace seller (called 'supermart_usa'). So I'm not sure what type of value they will have placed on the item. How long do items tend to get held over for if they are stung for a customs charge?

Thanks for your help.

Edit: I contacted the seller earlier today to find out when it was posted, just got a reply stating that it was posted out on the 20th July, so last Monday.

baldrick · 29-07-2009, 3:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by d3moliti0n

Since when do they use ships for mail these days? I would have thought all of that sort of stuff was done via planes (being that it is ten times faster than waiting for a ship to arrive at a port).

As per unique's comments, sea freight is alive and kicking and considerably cheaper than airfreight.

If you don't need the stuff and just want to get it from A to B for the lowest price than 'surface' mail is the way to go!!!