Government Employees! What would you expect?
A common question from international buyers is "When will my item be delivered?
The above image is not the worst case sceneario, just the near worst.
Let's be fair, though; government employees are only human and subject to the same pressures you and I face in our daily lives, That may include such maladies as
Chapped lips
Paper Cuts
Hemmerhoids
Pet training accidents
We should cut them some slack, eh?
Excluding lost items, these are the records so far for delivery and/or return:
International Delivered 62 days
International Return 131 days
Domestic Delivered 48 days
Domestic Return 53 days
And That's not all!
Check this email I received from my insurance carrier* on August 18:
To: mccoys_deals;
International Shipping Trends
Summer is in full swing and hopefully your eBay shipping has been smooth and fruitful to this date. Our insurance partner, Shipsurance, has been seeing some disturbing trends for overseas shipments and we thought we would let you know to keep you on the lookout. Specifically, shipments sent to Germany.
Why Germany?
We are not picking on Germany, but we have seen an increased amount of lost (or delayed) shipments sent there. After analyzing the losses and speaking with some of our insured's, the conclusion is that German customs is holding packages for an increasing long time. It is not uncommon for packages sent via the USPS First Class or Priority Mail services to take 7-9 weeks to be delivered!
We are not going to guess the reasoning for this (politics, post office, service levels) but we want you to be aware. If your recipients are claiming non receipt (loss) after a few weeks they need to be patient.
How Can I Explain That to My Customers?
Education, education, education! Make sure to detail International shortcomings on your listings. Explain that shipments to Germany may take 7-9 weeks. Perhaps verify that your buyer understands this with email communication. The more details you give PRE SHIPMENT the more protection you have POST SHIPMENT. Protect yourself from recipients "jumping the gun" and filing loss claims or claims against you with a credit card company or PayPal.
We have singled out Germany, but shipments sent overseas to any destination can get caught up in customs. Australia is also another destination taking an abnormal amount of time to complete shipments. This is on top of the countries that always seem to take a bit longer such as Italy and Greece. Make sure to contact the carrier and request tracers if your packages sent to International recipients are taking longer than 6 weeks to arrive. We suggest educating your International customers about timeframes and requesting their patience. Tell them that 6 weeks can be an expected timeframe; especially with First Class shipments.
They can afford some patience. After all, their shipments are insured* !"
* We insure all shipments with values over $50 and guarantee delivery on smaller shipments, so if your delivery is delayed, you may rest easy.
New Record Below 131 Days!!!!!!!!!
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