USPS Shipping - How long to UK?

[Roland Rock]

I've had an item sent from the States on the 17th October. The tracking number, when entered into the USPS site, comes up with the following:

Date & Time: October 19, 2013
Status of Item: Electronic Shipping Info Received
Location:

Their elaboration of this status is as follows:
"Electronic Shipping Info Received: The U.S. Postal Service was electronically notified by the shipper on October 19, 2013 to expect your package for mailing. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date. Delivery status information will be provided if/when available. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later."

So it reads to me like they haven't even received the physical item! The sender assures me it has been sent.

Anyone know about this system, or how long these things usually take?

Edited October 29, 2013 by Roland Rock

[neepheid]

Depends on the service. The cheaper ones have little or no tracking. You just have to wait. Can take weeks. Be patient

[steve]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1383070756' post='2259870']
Depends on the service. The cheaper ones have little or no tracking. You just have to wait. Can take weeks. Be patient
[/quote]

I've had similar experiences too, it'll get here eventually

[warwickhunt]

Not sure if it helps but I used to get small packages from the States on a regular basis (not 'those' kinds of packages [size=4] [/size][size=4] ) and sometimes they'd arrive literally days after purchase yet I've known others take almost a month and I was in receipt of the same type of tracking info as you; in fact some showed as you have described even AFTER I had received them. [/size]

[Dave_the_bass]

My parcel, also USPS, Took 5 days from New York to UK.

It then took a further 6 days to get to my house.

Mine was well tracked.

You can sign up for email alerts on the USPS tracking site.

Edited October 29, 2013 by Dave_the_bass

[MilkyBarKid]

Depends on the service you paid for - I think the standard service is by sea. If there's any weight to it and you've got the cheapest service it can take six to eight weeks. By air and you'll probably get it in a fortnight.

[Dingus]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1383066235' post='2259782']
I've had an item sent from the States on the 17th October. The tracking number, when entered into the USPS site, comes up with the following:

Date & Time: October 19, 2013
Status of Item: Electronic Shipping Info Received
Location:

Their elaboration of this status is as follows:
"Electronic Shipping Info Received: The U.S. Postal Service was electronically notified by the shipper on October 19, 2013 to expect your package for mailing. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date. Delivery status information will be provided if/when available. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later."

So it reads to me like they haven't even received the physical item! The sender assures me it has been sent.

Anyone know about this system, or how long these things usually take?
[/quote]

Hi Roland, I ship stuff regulaly USPS to the U.K, so maybe I can help .

A lot depends on what service the sender has signed up for . I always use Priority Mail Express International , but I am shipping fairly large high value items that I don't want hanging about . A small package sent as cheaply as possible might go via a slower service . Does it say on the notification which service the package is coming via? USPS is by far the cheapest way to ship U.S to U.K that I have ever found and I have been at this game a long time , so if the seller in the States has been too tight to fork out a little more for air freight on a small item then that is regrettable because the airmail prices are so cheap that it doesn't seem worth even considering the alternative. .

In every instance using the Express service , I get the electronic notification you mention from the person shipping ( it's probably generated when they notify USPS that they want to ship an item and arrange collection ) , and then usually two to three days later the next notification I get is that the item is ready for international despatch . The next notification after that is usually 48-72 hours later that the item is in the U.K and then entering into Customs . All in all , one way or another , it almost always takes exactly ten days from the initial electronic notification to the item arriving at its' final destination in the U.K . There can be slight variation in that timescale depending on whereabouts in the U.S.A the item originates, but from most major urban centres, about ten to twelve days, though .

Edited October 30, 2013 by Dingus

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1383148905' post='2260813']


Hi Roland, I ship stuff regulaly USPS to the U.K, so maybe I can help .

A lot depends on what service the sender has signed up for . I always use Priority Mail Express International , but I am shipping fairly large high value items that I don't want hanging about . A small package sent as cheaply as possible might go via a slower service . Does it say on the notification which service the package is coming via? USPS is by far the cheapest way to ship U.S to U.K that I have ever found and I have been at this game a long time , so if the seller in the States has been too tight to fork out a little more for air freight on a small item then that is regrettable because the airmail prices are so cheap that it doesn't seem worth even considering the alternative. .

In every instance using the Express service , I get the electronic notification you mention from the person shipping ( it's probably generated when they notify USPS that they want to ship an item and arrange collection ) , and then usually two to three days later the next notification I get is that the item is ready for international despatch . The next notification after that is usually 48-72 hours later that the item is in the U.K and then entering into Customs . All in all , one way or another , it almost always takes exactly ten days from the initial electronic notification to the item arriving at its' final destination in the U.K . There can be slight variation in that timescale depending on whereabouts in the U.S.A the item originates, but from most major urban centres, about ten to twelve days, though .
[/quote]

Thanks Dingus and everyone else.,
The service, ironically, is called Global Priority, and the parcel is coming from Texas

[Dingus]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1383150193' post='2260837']
Thanks Dingus and everyone else.,
The service, ironically, is called Global Priority, and the parcel is coming from Texas
[/quote]

I don't want to speak too soon or be alarmist, but Global Priority is the express airmail service , and if the item was dispatched on or around the notification date then it should be with you by now , or at least well on its' way . Global Priority items are supposed to get priority preference both in the U.S.A and on arrival in the U.K .

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1383151348' post='2260865']


I don't want to speak too soon or be alarmist, but Global Priority is the express airmail service , and if the item was dispatched on or around the notification date then it should be with you by now , or at least well on its' way . Global Priority items are supposed to get priority preference both in the U.S.A and on arrival in the U.K .
[/quote]

I've just checked, and progress!! As of half an hour ago, it has made it to New Orleans. Texas to Louisiana in ten days. I've driven from Houston to New Orleans, and if I remember correctly, it took about six hours.

Ah well, I'm relieved to see that it exists, and has moved. Not much I can do about the time it takes I suppose.

[keeponehandloose]

last thing I got via Usps took four weeks to arrive at my door, no status updates , just arrived out the blue

[woodster]

Definitely track it coz when it arrives at your local Parcel Force depot, they will send you a letter telling you it has arrived which will take another few days. Once the tracking says "at local depot" you can go and collect it.

I have a parcel which was sent from California via USPS Priority Express on the 24th Oct. It cleared UK customs today so should be at my local depot tomorrow or friday.

[Evil Undead]

I had a bass shipped to me from the USA once, and it took 10 days to get from the sender to the USPS depot half an hour down the road from him. That was on a Global Priority service...

I think you don't need to worry yet

[Roland Rock]

It arrived today, just in case anyone was losing sleep over this :-D it took just under a month.

Thanks for the advice all

[Dingus]

I have just had a package delivered that took the longest of any USPS express parcel I have ever received . Now that it has arrived , there is void in my life where I used tio check the tracking updates on the internet.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Dingus

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1384445258' post='2276814']
I have just had a package delivered that took the longest of any express parcel y
[/quote]

Do you assign a letter to all your parcels ;-)

[Dingus]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1384445401' post='2276819']
Do you assign a letter to all your parcels ;-)
[/quote]

No , only my chromosomes.

[Jonathan Brown]

Bring back carrier pigeons. Those and the good old Roman messengers that ran for miles and miles and.....

[Hellzero]

Apparently 8 years...

[Guest]

I'm glad this thread had been bumped. To answer the OP's prehistoric question: 

14 weeks, 4 days and counting 🥴 

Edited June 27, 2021 by Ricky Rioli
Sun 27 Jun update 😬