How often does stuff REALLY get lost in overseas shipments?

Aadra310

Aadra310

Pixie Cut Pony
Joined
Jun 18, 2005
Messages
820
Alright, 3 different packages of ponies that I've purchased from 3 entirely different sellers/traders have supposedly gotten lost somewhere in the journey from parts of the UK to the US in the last 4 months.

I'm really peeved. I don't know if the Royal Mail just sucks or I'm getting some dishonest dealers. 2 have good feedback here and 1 on ebay and all have replied to my messages.

What do you all think? Do your orders/trades from overseas get lost in the mail? Does this happen often to you?

I have dealt with overseas buyers in the past where I shipped stuff to them and never had a problem.
This is so maddening! I don't want to accuse others of not sending thier end but to have 3 packages go missing?!
 
I've never had anything lost when I was getting packages, but I've had several packages that I've sent out get lost in transit. One to New Zealand, one to Australia and one to the United Kingdom. After all that fiasco, I decided to only ship via AIRMAIL from now on. And the one going to New Zealand WAS airmail and it still got lost. :roll: I don't know. It sucks, but there's really nothing you can do about it. Hopefully you are dealing with some honest sellers and got your money back. I refunded all of my customers' money minus shipping. It's all I could do.
 
I haven't dealt with anyone overseas recently but have done quite a bit buying/selling in the past and have only had one package go missing. Maybe it will just take a little longer to get to you.
 
I've been dealing online since 1999, and two packages on their way to me have gotten lost- one package coming from my friend in the states, and one from an eBay-seller (but she recieved a huge lot of negs for items not recieved from others too, so I doubt she even sent it). So, one package in so many years is not bad- and I have done a lot of deals, and most of them out of the country and overseas.
 
re

Hi,
I'm in Canada and ship about 5-10 parcels per month to UK, Sweden, US and Canada. I've been doing this for the past 4 years and have never had a package go missing....

however....

I traded with someone from the UK. She shipped one part of the trade airmail (arrived on schedule) and the other part surface (it was cheaper). The 2nd part of the trade I had pretty much given hope up of ever receiving -- it took about 2 months for it to arrive instead of the usual 3-4 weeks for surface from UK. I wasn't worried about it though since I had traded with the same person a few times before and trusted her.

I don't know what to tell you.... have patience and hope they arrive. It's strange it was 3 things that got lost -- something sure is suspicious about that. Have you checked to make sure it wasn't someone scamming you? I've had that happen to me before (D*MN YOU BINA WIGLAND!!! -- she took me for 7 ponies!!!!!).
 
I had a trade coming to me from Germany for those g3 seasides with babies a while back. Supposedly they got lost and I never heard from the person again. They were shipping out first and once I had rcv'd the pkg I was going to send out mine. Never saw them and that was a year ago.
 
If they're coming from the UK, they could have all gotten lost. I've had 2 packages get lost in the mail since I started collecting *knocks on wood*, and both were from the UK.

I'm waiting for something from South America, and boy am I worried:/ I'd probably be more worried if it was coming from the UK though. I've had more problems with UK post than any other post.
 
I ship quite a few overseas... I'd say about 1/25 go missing. My most recent my international package was ripped open and all the contents lost before it ever left the USA *grumbles*

Really, I have more go missing in the USA... though I ship a whole lot more in the USA, too ;-)
 
hmm..

I've been trading and selling overseas (I'm in the USA) for about 11 years. I've had 1 package that I sent a couple of years back to either New Zealand or Australia go missing. I lost contact with the person though, so I don't really know if it ever DID show up eventually or not (we had already waited around 2 months or so with no sighting of it). I really believe it did go missing though as the girl I traded with sent her end promptly and the ponies were as described...I see no reason for her to have fibbed about it going missing.
 
I've never had a problem with something getting lost. I also used to work in a job that required a lot of overseas postage, and we hardly ever had problems either.

To have three losses in four months sounds like plain bad luck to me. Even if one or more of the sellers are lying, you've dipped out by getting three packages not turn up. I hope things improve!
 
I've been selling/trading overseas for about 7-8 years, I've had only a handfull of things go missing, and 3 returned to me with my lables shredded to bits, thank god my mail man knows my name and address really well or who knows what would of happened to them. I've had 2 payments of cash go "missing" :roll:

But one package was sent to Italy a couple years ago, never made it:(

I bought a beat up MIB MGR flower bouquet for like $7 from a seller in the UK like 4 years ago, who swears it went out but I never got it. They they said they'd send another one...never got that...so I highly doubt they were ever sent.

This other guy from Hawaii who had the first MOC Mimic,,I bought a MOC TE Sweet Tooth for $40..he cashed my MO but I never got the pony...he said he was in a car accident and all kinds of other excuses then dropped off the planet, so who knows what happened there since he did send out like half people's stuff :?

I've had a few recent packages to canada take 2-3 weeks...sent airmail but luckily they've all shown up.

And one of those shredded packages was a bay breeze replica that I sent out like a month or more ago that just came back today inside a plastic bag..the box was totally ruined, thank gosh she was ok and enough of my name was left on there for her to get back to me, but now I need to send her back out and let the seller know...

It's just the luck of the draw..who know's what really happens to stuff? UK royal mail used to be really bad with postal workers stealing things, but they've cleaned up a lot since then:) 98% of my parcels get to their destinations with no problems, so it's probably just a stroke of really bad luck:( Hopefully they'll turn up! If anything, maybe ask the sellers for a partial refund and you'll send it back to them when and if the things show up?
 
In 5 years of eBuying and later trading too i only lost 2 packs in the mails, both from Canada (but one of them i dont trust was really sent, seller says she sent but refuses so sent me proof of sending and told i was rude to ask)

I had only one sending problem, pack was violated but it returned to me and i was insured. Then i send it again.

I dont have any claim agains Brasil mail service.
Ponies from France and Canada takes forever to arrive here. UK and Germany mails are usually very fast to arrive here.
 
I've never had anything go missing (yet!) but I must say that the royal mail is slow... Most of my buying/selling/trading is done with Ukers and while nothing has ever gone missing things often do seem to take an awfully long time to get to their destination.

I've also had our lovely Australian customs hang on to a package once for 4 nearly 5 months. Usually 2 to 3 is more like it (they're slow for some reason you'd never think untaping, checking the contents and retaping a box could take so long).

So who knows, the packages could have gone missing or just be floating around taking their sweet time. Really though if you send stuff you should try to remember to put the postal address and return address inside and out, just incase as if the package gets damaged they will often check the contents for an address. Having said that I alway seem to forget to do it until after I've sealed the thing. :roll:
 
The only package I've ever had lost on me was coming from the UK, and was the one and only time I've ordered from overseas to Canada and it was for my favorite pony to! I was so dissappointed I havn't ordered from the UK again and now I can't seem to find a replacment for her anywhere, I was also never refunded. Hopefully things turn out better for you and you don't get discouraged as I have.
 
Since 1998, which was when I started sending to and receiving from abroard, ONE parcel has gone missing. Just one.

That one was going to the US. It was kind of funny because I split the parcel because part of it might have been stopped by customs under the new rules (it was chocolate), but that was the part that got through!)

I find Royal Mail as a whole to be generally good. most things I send or receive airmail from the US get there or arrive in 4-7 days.
 
I've traded,sold and bought for over a space of 6 years from Belgium to the rest of Europe and the US and Canada.

I've been really fortunate to have never lost a parcel.

However: when you're dealing overseas, always, always use airmail. Ground/sea is a lot more risky it seems. It takes forever (one package took 3 months) and it seems more packages get lost that way.

Air is quicker and you notice sooner when something's wrong. It's more expensive but a lot more reliable. Also if you're trading/selling HTF/expensive things, insurance and or tracking is not a luxury.:)

I hope your packages will show up soon!

Firefrie
 
Re:

I've had 3, maybe 4 packages I've sent go missing (all to the US / Canada, I am in the UK) over the past 5 years, and a couple of packages being sent to me haven't arrived, but generally everything gets here eventually!

There have been some instinces where parcels have just taken ridiculous amounts of time to arrive, with no apparent good reason, but do eventually turn up :)

Hopefully your packages have just been delayed, did you ask if the sellers have proof of postage? It's free at UK post offices

Barnebous :p
 
I've sent packages that have taken been delayed, but I don't think any I've sent have ever become lost going overseas. *knock on wood.* The only packages I had go missing was during Christmas time. One didn't show up for some unknown reason and another became lost since the recipient moved right before it was sent.
 
I've received a few packages from Britain and France and none have gotten lost... But I've only gotten a few things from out of continent.
 
Ive had one parcel that I know of gone missing in the past, from here to the USA. That was about a year ago. I've never had any gone missing coming to me.

TBH, it wouldn't surprise me if all your packages had gone missing. The Royal Mail is awful.
 
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