Parcel post small packet (Air) from Canada to Ireland

Tony EH

So I bought something off eBay and the seller is in Canada. The item is very light and is getting posted from Alberta by Canada Post. It was posted on the 7th May and now it's the 6th June. Basically a month and it's still not here.

I can't recall such long waiting times in the past for parcel post from the US/Canada. But, lately post from that region seems to take forever (well, a month ) to get here.

Just got post from America today that took a month to get here too. International USPS First Class. I'm used to waiting a month for stuff from China and that's with free postage, so I expect it.

Is it just me, or has post got slower as it's got more expensive? I seem to recall at most a couple of weeks waiting time? Admittedly, I don't buy that much online any more. But , I used to all the time a few years ago. Never remember having to wait 4 weeks or more for post from America and Canada.

recipio

Some of the 'economy' services can be very slow - a month roughly.They only cater for light packages under 4 lbs as a rule. In general I use USPS as they are tracked and you have some chance of getting it duty free. You will always be stung for import duty using the couriers. If the government had any cop on they would allow duty free importing up to a certain level.In Australia for instance you can import $1000 worth of goods duty free.

Tony EH

Was it always this bad though? I can't seem to remember anything over 2 weeks before. I can't ever recall myself calendar watching for a package until recently.

BTW, I think there is Duty exempt packages allowed into Ireland. But they have to be marked as "Gift" IIRC and the cost is quite low.

As it stands, Irish customs are quite lax anyway. I've only ever had to pay duty on two items in 15+ years of ordering stuff online.

joujoujou

Bought something off ebay from Canada some time ago - nothing huge, nothing heavy. Took over 3 months to arrive here.

Tony EH

Jesus really?

What did it come by, fish?

3 months is a ridiculous amount of time for a package to cross the Atlantic.

stimpson

I ordered something from British Columbia on October 12th last year and it arrived on Jan 11th, the day after I asked the seller for a refund. Stupidly I ordered again last week!

joujoujou

Tony EH wrote: »

Jesus really?

What did it come by, fish?

3 months is a ridiculous amount of time for a package to cross the Atlantic.

No fish.

This:

whiterebel

recipio wrote: »

Some of the 'economy' services can be very slow - a month roughly.They only cater for light packages under 4 lbs as a rule. In general I use USPS as they are tracked and you have some chance of getting it duty free. You will always be stung for import duty using the couriers. If the government had any cop on they would allow duty free importing up to a certain level.In Australia for instance you can import $1000 worth of goods duty free.

Using a courier is going to drive the value for customs up by a minimum of maybe €50/60. Using the post is only going to cost a couple of euros in comparison.
We do have a threshold for VAT and Duty, but the EU and governments hate cheap imports, as there is no tax revenue generated. Not great for local businesses either.

stimpson

stimpson wrote: »

I ordered something from British Columbia on October 12th last year and it arrived on Jan 11th, the day after I asked the seller for a refund. Stupidly I ordered again last week!

My 1st June order arrived from BC this morning. I'm shocked!