No International Mail From Japan

[85AKbN]

Patience is a virtue.

[Intensity]

Ordered some inks from Japan from a reliable seller I've bought from before. I think shipping will be via EMS. Guess I'm in for a looong wait.

[Ambien]

My package shipped on 4/6 and waiting for a plane since 4/7. Oh well.

[Tokei-ski]

Thanks to everyone for the updates. I guess we have a pretty clear picture.......of just how unclear all of this is right now, and will be for the foreseeable future. Obviously anything pen related is not really urgent, and so any wait only makes the anticipation greater. My original post to this thread was because I got into a very difficult situation due to the EMS delays with some items that had to be delivered by a certain date for the price to be valid, and also some legal documents that had to be delivered by a certain date. It is pretty obvious right now that the ONLY option for a definite, guaranteed delivery is Fedex. EMS is completely unable to give any real estimates, as they are just loading planes and shipping when the capacity becomes available. UPS is a bit better, but having suspended any and all delivery time guarantees, that tells me that they have also run into capacity constraints. I just wish Fedex had some other reasonably priced options for delivery. A letter pack at ~$75 just makes it uneconomical to ship anything, and if you are talking a package, then the cost skyrockets easily over $250++ (and I was quoted $850 for an 8.5 kg package to New York! I could fly there myself round trip and hand deliver it for less right now!). Please keep the updates coming.

 

Regards

[mke]

DHL is also an option.

 

I got a package from Germany by DHL Express. The shipping cost increased from estimated 50 Euro to over 100, in contrast the shipping time decreased from nearly 2 weeks to 4 days.

 

In my case, it was worth it - compared to the price of the contents.

[Tokei-ski]

mke,

 

Yes, DHL is also another option. The main difficulty with all of this is shipping low value, small letters/parcels. With EMS you could do this for ￥2,000/$20, but now with only private carriers providing a timely, reliable service, the cost has at a minimum quadrupled, making it impractical, and almost impossible to send low value shipments. What can I do to send a $100 pen (or any other type of low value goods) to someone? After shipping via Fedex/UPS/DHL, Paypal fees, and packing materials, I would likely end up actually losing money. The way I see it, for any type of goods worth less than ~$500, it is not feasible to consider shipping overseas. I say this as a hobbyist, not as a business trying to make money, so I reckon this must be crushing for companies that sell low value items overseas. From what I have read on other forums, people have become so used to receiving packages in 24~48 hours, that they find any type of delay unacceptable, and have filed Paypal disputes over slow shipping. This also seems to be not just a Japan/International problem, but even within other countries domestically. I also hesitate to say, but I can also see that the possibility for fraud is very high. If a package is in transit, it cannot be returned in most cases. A buyer files a claim for a delay/not received, they get their money refunded, and the package then eventually is delivered, but by then it is too late. I am being very cautious in my dealings with other hobbyists, and make it very clear about the delays, and how long delivery may take.

 

Regards

[Intensity]

I don't mind waiting even 2-3 months for EMS, given the current situation in the world--I just hope that my inks will actually arrive after some amount of time. Would be bad to have them be lost in some random crate among thousands of crates.

[mke]

Shipping to Germany still works well.

 

Airmail parcel: sent 4/2 in the evening from Narita main post office; arrived 4/9 during the day.

[stan]

Shipping to Germany still works well.

 

Airmail parcel: sent 4/2 in the evening from Narita main post office; arrived 4/9 during the day.

 

My shipments are direct from Narita too. Seems much of the lost time (and missing packages) is in transit from somewhere else to Narita.

[mke]

time bending/reversal effects have now been proven by an ink/penophile

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-_Q0hpDIfx/

 

Thanks to the Canadian post.

[Tseg]

My German pen orders all arrived this month, my March Japan purchase still has not left Japan.

[Astronymus]

I ordered some thing from Germany and it got delivered quite fast to Austria. Letters are quite slower now though.

[Michael F]

My German pen orders all arrived this month, my March Japan purchase still has not left Japan.

Same here. Japan order stuck in Japan since 3/27, but order from Germany timely arrived.

Edited April 20, 2020 by MichaelF

[langere]

My pen order from India is also stuck. According to the supplier, it will be posted by late May.

 

Erick

[Ambien]

I got my package today which shipped on 4/6 to 4/20 via EMS as usually it's only 3-4 days in the past. I probably won't see other packages via Airmail for some time.

[Driften]

Same here. Japan order stuck in Japan since 3/27, but order from Germany timely arrived.

 

Seems to be something about that date. My order has been stuck since 3/27 as well with "Processed Through Facility: OSAKA INT V BAG 2 JAPAN" message.

[mke]

OK, tomorrow I will send an EMS ink care package to a friend in US. Let's see what happens.

[85AKbN]

I have a Platinum 3776 and a Sailor Promenade from ebay, both shipped 4/7 & 4/12 respectively, whose Japan Post tracking shows them stuck in KAWASAKI PORT. I wonder if they'll eventually be released or returned to seller / sender.

[stan]

My last package came in a large envelope. Always in box before pandemic. Envelopes take up less cargo space. Have another package being sent in about a week. We'll see.

[Tseg]

I just read an article that the Japan state of emergency is slated to end May 6th... maybe that will be when shipping from that country starts to unclog?

 

Today I almost bought a Cross Peerless 125 to get my Sailor nib that I've been waiting for, but luckily, patience won out with me for one more day.