International Shipping Info+Questions

[LizziesLuck]

Apologies if this has already been asked somewhere in this thread, just wanting to check, when the parcel is shipped will it be clearly marked as perfume OILS on the box?

Ordinary perfumes are prohibited to ship to NZ, so are essential oils, but perfume oils are okay to ship here. A friend received their BPAL order with no trouble last year, but I wanted to double check because I don't want my parcel to get seized accidentally

 

 

 

I happen to have a box from the Lab sitting here, and the customs form is marked "Essential Oil". HOWEVER, that could be because the Lab knows that's what they need to mark it to get it into Canada. Essential Oils are fine to ship here, but not anything marked perfume. I think your best bet would be to email to Lab before placing your order. Chances are if you live somewhere they offer shipping to, they know how to fill out the customs forms to make sure it gets there ok. Doesn't hurt to check and be sure though!

[mazaru]

Random question but... is it normal not to get an order confirmation by email from the Lab? I've got confirmation from PayPal, but not the Lab itself.

[LizziesLuck]

Random question but... is it normal not to get an order confirmation by email from the Lab? I've got confirmation from PayPal, but not the Lab itself.

 

I think you would usually get both. I know in the past there have been issues with this, so it may be worth an email to the Lab just to make sure all is well with your order!

[Kerry]

Random question but... is it normal not to get an order confirmation by email from the Lab? I've got confirmation from PayPal, but not the Lab itself.

I'm in the same boat, only had an email from PayPal!

[Sharnig]

I placed an order this morning and got the usual two emails from paypal and the lab.

[seida]

Usually I get both, but I placed an order on October 1st and only received my confirmation from paypal, not the lab. Slightly concerned, but in my account on the site the order is listed as "processing", so I'm assuming there was just a system hiccup that day...?

[theshapeshifter]

Hmm. When I look at tracking for my latest order, it's been stuck on "arrived at facility" (in LA) for a week now. Whereas my Trading Post order that shipped several days later has gone through the facility and is "enroute to destination". At what point should I get worried that my Lab package is lost somewhere in the bowels of the US Post facility?

[bunnyechoes]

Hmm. When I look at tracking for my latest order, it's been stuck on "arrived at facility" (in LA) for a week now. Whereas my Trading Post order that shipped several days later has gone through the facility and is "enroute to destination". At what point should I get worried that my Lab package is lost somewhere in the bowels of the US Post facility?

 

I'm afraid it's something like 45 days for us internationals... Fingers crossed it'll start moving again very soon!

[Scarlet Woodland]

Hmm. When I look at tracking for my latest order, it's been stuck on "arrived at facility" (in LA) for a week now. Whereas my Trading Post order that shipped several days later has gone through the facility and is "enroute to destination". At what point should I get worried that my Lab package is lost somewhere in the bowels of the US Post facility?

This happened with my last order but it did suddenly start moving again after 6 days or so. Fingers crossed your tracking will spring to life again soon

[theshapeshifter]

 

Hmm. When I look at tracking for my latest order, it's been stuck on "arrived at facility" (in LA) for a week now. Whereas my Trading Post order that shipped several days later has gone through the facility and is "enroute to destination". At what point should I get worried that my Lab package is lost somewhere in the bowels of the US Post facility?

 

I'm afraid it's something like 45 days for us internationals... Fingers crossed it'll start moving again very soon!

 

 

That's what I figured. I'll keep an eye on it and hope for the best!

 

Edited to add: After sitting in limbo for 17 days, it seems to be on the move again - taking a circuitous route, but hopefully it'll be here soon!

Edited December 28, 2016 by theshapeshifter

[Spaztic]

I made an order on the 30th of Dec. and I received an order confirmation the next day, but to-date I still haven't received a shipping notification.

I've looked around this site at other peoples order/ship dates and no one's seems to be taking this long and they've ordered seemingly similar things to me.

About how long should I wait before I email the lab to check if my order was lost/dropped?

[Spaztic]

I made an order on the 30th of Dec. and I received an order confirmation the next day, but to-date I still haven't received a shipping notification.

I've looked around this site at other peoples order/ship dates and no one's seems to be taking this long and they've ordered seemingly similar things to me.

About how long should I wait before I email the lab to check if my order was lost/dropped?

 

 

 

Realized I posted this in the wrong thread, read the correct thread and found the answer to my question!

[Dienne]

Do you guys know if there is a way to get your order shipped by DHL or similar? (instead of USPS becuase I've had issues with customs in the past).

 

I've sent a couple of emails about this to the customer service address but no answer

[aniemel]

Is the lab shipping international with USPS again? The tracking number I got was for USPS and today I have an orange alert saying "Your item arrived at a facility in CANADA on May 31, 2017 at 7:01 am.". Does anyone know what that means? I thought it meant it was attempted delivery but when I checked the mail it wasn't there. Thanks in advance for any help!

[sarandipitee]

Is the lab shipping international with USPS again? The tracking number I got was for USPS and today I have an orange alert saying "Your item arrived at a facility in CANADA on May 31, 2017 at 7:01 am.". Does anyone know what that means? I thought it meant it was attempted delivery but when I checked the mail it wasn't there. Thanks in advance for any help!

This just happened to a shared order myself and another forumite had last week. I had my Canada Post employee family member check on it and all was fine. Also, the alert notification was only on the USPS site, not Canada Post's. Basically I was told it had something to do with the information on the package not being entered into the system properly at time of shipment. My fam member thought it was likely customs double checking or requesting said info before they put it into Canada Post's hands.

 

Literally cleared customs the next day. So I wouldn't worry.

[aniemel]

Thanks sarandipitee! Mine cleared customs yesterday, it's good to know I'm not the only one it's happened to!

 

Update June 1: The package arrived with no customs fees , yay! I had stopped ordering from the lab when I heard they started shipping with DHL(I loathe them), so so glad it's back to USPS!

Edited June 1, 2017 by aniemel

[KatyC]

More of a rant than a question... I just received a package from BPAL and customs had torn it to pieces! Fair enough that the outer packet had to be torn open and taped back up, but the inner box was also torn open and left that way, and all the bottles had been taken out of their bubble wrap so they were just rattling around. The outer packet is really filthy too, for some reason!

 

Obviously I'm glad not to be charged VAT after all of that, but even so it's pretty annoying they couldn't make sure glass bottles are secure after checking them

[Lillice]

Is there anyone else who got a shipping notification on 01 June? My tracking says 'shipment picked up' on 01 June and nothing happened since then. Should I be worried?

[Hadewig]

No, it probably is still in the sorting facility. Sometimes I did get no response at all and the box would show up on my door after 3 to 4 weeks without no notification what so ever. Tracking sadly doesn't say much, it shows when it leaves the US and it says when it arrives in NL. When it arrives in NL you still have a chance you have to wait for more then a week, and sometimes it shows up after 2 day's. Mail is a fickle thing...

[Lillice]

Thank you. I am used to detailed tracking info and a week without updates kills my patience. Not that I have much of that to begin with.

[Convallaria]

Fellow forumites from Japan, what do you label the oils as when shipping swap/sale items internationally? "Essential oils" seems to be iffy based on my research. I'm afraid general "cosmetics" might bounce back if scanned.

[miss_rynn]

My order has been "held in US Customs for further inspection" for over a week. Has anyone else had this happen?

[Lucchesa]

Oh good lord. We can't regulate assault rifles, but we can make the skies safe from perfume.

[miss_rynn]

There's no way I can respond to that without coming across like an extremist harpy except yes, I agree, it's incredibly stupid. (No fault to the Lab!)

 

 

EDIT: Success! It took about three weeks in customs, which (having whined at friends) is not that unusual if it's been detained for extra man handling.

Edited March 9, 2018 by Celrynnya

[becca_s]

Is anyone else ordering from Australia or Nz? What's the international shipping been like in the times of covid? I did my first order in ages the other day. I'm very excited but hope everything goes smoothly with the shipping 🤞