International Shipping Info+Questions

[Morrighana]

Canada Customs has slowed down my orders here in the past. I think Amazon may have some sort of agreement with them (?), because I've never had a single Amazon order get held up at Customs.

[FeatherQwill]

Canada Customs has slowed down my orders here in the past. I think Amazon may have some sort of agreement with them (?), because I've never had a single Amazon order get held up at Customs.

 

 

Like I said, bribery.

[mayze]

I got my CnS on the 7th of November, and until the package arrived today the tracking status on the site did not change. I wasn't worried, but I was starting to wonder when my package would actually get shipped out. Is this common for international CnS?

[loladae]

I recently moved to Europe and while I'm moving back in 8 months I'm not about to change everything. Paypal, however, doesn't allow you to change a US address to an international one. What should I do? Do you think I could type it in a note or something? It makes it a bit difficult to send oversea gifts, I can imagine.

[eyeska]

I got my CnS on the 7th of November, and until the package arrived today the tracking status on the site did not change. I wasn't worried, but I was starting to wonder when my package would actually get shipped out. Is this common for international CnS?

 

Oh yeah. I have gotten three orders from BPAL myself so far and not one of them acknowledged that my package was anywhere other than picked up in Hollywood, twice until after I got it. A friend living in my city has the same problem. It seems to be something we have to put up with - thanks, USPS.

[Morrighana]

I got my CnS on the 7th of November, and until the package arrived today the tracking status on the site did not change. I wasn't worried, but I was starting to wonder when my package would actually get shipped out. Is this common for international CnS?

 

Because other countries' postal systems don't have access to the USPS system (unlike, say, when you send something via courier and so it is the same company handling the package all the way through), international Click'n'Ships don't update beyond the notification stage. It's annoying that they leave the track&confirm link in the email for internationals, but there's not much to do about that.

 

I recently moved to Europe and while I'm moving back in 8 months I'm not about to change everything. Paypal, however, doesn't allow you to change a US address to an international one. What should I do? Do you think I could type it in a note or something? It makes it a bit difficult to send oversea gifts, I can imagine.

 

answers (at) blackphoenixalchemylab (dot) com may have a better idea for you, but it could be an option to send the payment as "other" (rather than "goods), which then does not include your US shipping address with the payment. Can you fit your order and current address in the notes field of the payment?

[mayze]

Because other countries' postal systems don't have access to the USPS system (unlike, say, when you send something via courier and so it is the same company handling the package all the way through), international Click'n'Ships don't update beyond the notification stage. It's annoying that they leave the track&confirm link in the email for internationals, but there's not much to do about that.

 

Ah I see. Thanks!

[FeatherQwill]

I got my CnS a month ago, and still haven't received my package, and all the tracking page says is "Status: Electronic Shipping Info Received"

 

Canada Post has no information at all for the tracking number.

 

 

Is this normal? Should I contact the lab?

[Juliet's Silk]

My latest package from the Lab is caught in the customs. I'm supposed to bring a bill and payment confirmation and a translation of contents or something to that extent.

Eh? Anybody had that happen? Advice?

[Tesseljoan]

My latest package from the Lab is caught in the customs. I'm supposed to bring a bill and payment confirmation and a translation of contents or something to that extent.

Eh? Anybody had that happen? Advice?

 

Nope, but wouldn't a print of your paypal receipt do for the 'bill and payment confirmation' part? I'm at a loss for the latter part though. How hard is it to translate 'perfume oil' and couldn't they look it up in a dictionary themselves? Or do they go as far as wanting to know the ingredients or something?

[lunaticana]

oh no! customs give me the shiver all over

once they had my HAEE package and I had to pay about 50 euro which was more then the whole order!

I really hope they will just let it go if you take as Tesseljoan says a paypal print otherwise all of us will come to Germany

 

 

[Juliet's Silk]

oh no! customs give me the shiver all over

once they had my HAEE package and I had to pay about 50 euro which was more then the whole order!

 

50€?!

Problem is that I'm not home... I KNEW customs would mess up my order this time, just when I'm not home to sort it out!

I hope my mother is able to print that PayPal Email or something and sort it out. Ack! Just when I stopped worrying about customs...

[lunaticana]

oh.. I am sorry for you

I hope it's gonna turn out okey!

[lainevierge]

I recently moved to Europe and while I'm moving back in 8 months I'm not about to change everything. Paypal, however, doesn't allow you to change a US address to an international one. What should I do? Do you think I could type it in a note or something? It makes it a bit difficult to send oversea gifts, I can imagine.

 

I'm in the same situation. I put my canadian address in the comments section along with my order. It usually works out fine, except for the one time that the postal code got cut off somehow and my package took an extra few weeks to get to me.

Edited November 17, 2008 by lainevierge

[megank4]

I got my CnS on the 7th of November, and until the package arrived today the tracking status on the site did not change. I wasn't worried, but I was starting to wonder when my package would actually get shipped out. Is this common for international CnS?

 

Because other countries' postal systems don't have access to the USPS system (unlike, say, when you send something via courier and so it is the same company handling the package all the way through), international Click'n'Ships don't update beyond the notification stage. It's annoying that they leave the track&confirm link in the email for internationals, but there's not much to do about that.

 

I recently moved to Europe and while I'm moving back in 8 months I'm not about to change everything. Paypal, however, doesn't allow you to change a US address to an international one. What should I do? Do you think I could type it in a note or something? It makes it a bit difficult to send oversea gifts, I can imagine.

 

answers (at) blackphoenixalchemylab (dot) com may have a better idea for you, but it could be an option to send the payment as "other" (rather than "goods), which then does not include your US shipping address with the payment. Can you fit your order and current address in the notes field of the payment?

 

Aw man. Oh well, I guess that means I can't obsessively be checking it every two hours to see WHERE IS IT NOW and WHEN WILL IT GET HERE?!

[BlueSage]

Does anyone know the maximum number of 4oz or 8oz bottles Puddin can cram into one of the $21 international postage boxes?

 

I'm eying up a LOT of the BPTP yule and other items, but it's so pricy to ship heavy stuff to Euorope that I'm thinking that saying no more than one box would be a sensible way to budget.

[Juliet's Silk]

50€?!

Problem is that I'm not home... I KNEW customs would mess up my order this time, just when I'm not home to sort it out!

I hope my mother is able to print that PayPal Email or something and sort it out. Ack! Just when I stopped worrying about customs...

 

Just to update that - I finally received my order (WHEW) and didn't even had to pay whopping customs but "only" 11€.

For some reason this BPAL package was declared differently than all my previous orders - my previous orders were always declared as a gift while this one was declared "merchandise". I think the German customs had problems with that because the package lacked a bill inside or something, at least this is what they said.

Can anyone confirm that? I don't know if I should email the Lab about it or something because I don't want to have to go through this again with my next order...

[Hadewig]

I ordered a few bottles on november 8th and got a click-and-ship notification on november 28th.

But I haven't heared anything anymore after that. Even BPAL wont mail me back after I send

them a message or two. Is it that busy? Or should I get worried?

[Morrighana]

I answered your question in the other thread where you asked it: http://www.bpal.org/index.php?s=&showt...t&p=1329157

[ivyandpeony]

50€?!

Problem is that I'm not home... I KNEW customs would mess up my order this time, just when I'm not home to sort it out!

I hope my mother is able to print that PayPal Email or something and sort it out. Ack! Just when I stopped worrying about customs...

 

Just to update that - I finally received my order (WHEW) and didn't even had to pay whopping customs but "only" 11€.

For some reason this BPAL package was declared differently than all my previous orders - my previous orders were always declared as a gift while this one was declared "merchandise". I think the German customs had problems with that because the package lacked a bill inside or something, at least this is what they said.

Can anyone confirm that? I don't know if I should email the Lab about it or something because I don't want to have to go through this again with my next order...

 

I remembered that Beth had made an announcement about being contacted by Canadian customs a while back and that the Lab was going to have to be extra-strict with customs declarations to Canada - it would not surprise me if they are adopting this policy company wide. With the state of the world economy, governments are pursuing every opportunity for extra revenue (as well as doing what they can to stimulate their own economies - strict customs policy leads to more purchases within your own borders.)

 

There's no easy answer, I'm sure the Lab hates the idea of international customers getting dinged with duty fees (not to mention the slowdown it causes with packages), but they also can't afford to pay fines for inaccurate customs forms &/or be vulnerable to even larger penalties, which can come from both the customs and postal authorities in the receiving country and the US. So declaring an international package as a gift as a favor to a customer may be out of the question in the current environment, not just for the Lab but for any US business.

 

If you look back at the customs forms and it looks like you were charged an additional amount because the paperwork was incorrect, not just duty/import fees for the value of the merchandise, you should definitely e-mail the Lab and let them know. If there's something that they did incorrectly, I'm sure they will want to know about it so that they can try to make that up to you as well as change their procedure when preparing other packages to send to Germany, so it would be helpful for them to know.

[Jenesis]

I ordered some Anniversary smellies on November 18th. Have any Internationals had any CnSs from around that time, because I'm still waiting for mine..? US customers are getting CnSs for orders placed on the 30th...

 

(PS. Is there a better place to post this?)

[Morrighana]

If you look in the CnS thread in BPAL Chatter, you'll see that a few international orders received CnS notifications on Monday and late last week for orders in the last half of November. You could either wait and see if your order comes, since as far as I know the USPS system is still a little glitchy and some people just aren't getting their notifications, or you could email the lab and inquire.

 

You've only just surpassed the 14-21 business day window yesterday, so if it were me, I wouldn't be worried yet.

[Jenesis]

Thank you for the response. I will wait and see if it shows up

[etienne]

Jenesis, I think Beth's announcement said that some packages were sent without a CnS because of the problems with USPS online postage - so it's possible yours has been sent but you just didn't get a CnS.

[Jenesis]

Well, whadda y'know, it turned up today Guess I got caught in the no-CnS business!