Typical Shipping Time from Europe to Australia?

[Former_Member]

Hi -
I recently sent a small parcel/medium letter sized order from Prague, Czech Republic to Victoria, Australia. I always send my packages via registered mail, but since it is no longer in the Czech Republic and not in Australia yet, I can't figure out if there is a way to track it without knowing which route (through which countries) it might have taken.

I was wondering if anyone else might have some experience shipping from Europe to Australia with a general shipping time frame? I looked it up and read some people said 10 days and others said 3 weeks. It's a pretty big window of time so I was hoping someone might have previously done this.

Thanks!
Nico

[sockysocks]

I posted a parcel from the UK to Adelaide, Australia on 29th December and it arrived on 10th January.

[Former_Member]

I like to allow most international package at least 4 weeks to arrive.

I've had some arrive in as little as 4 days but I've had others take 5 weeks to arrive.

I really don't know how you can track which countries the package travels through at all.

[TigersandDragons]

Depends if it was Ground or Air, Ground parcels generally take longer because they are not a priority.
Also packages can be held up in customs and that's something that you have no control over (and usually no information about). That's why you estimate for the worse amount of time, and hope for the best.

[Former_Member]

Generally people advise 4-6 weeks for international delivery but thankfully it often arrives sooner than that.

As others have said, there is the possibility that it could be held up in customs, and if it wasn't sent via airmail that would also slow it down.

[Former_Member]

A package I sent from Germany (near Hamburg) to Australia needed 10 days via Deutsche Post.

Nico, could you please greet the Wenzelsplatz (Google says: Václavské náměstí)? Tell him I miss him :-(
;-))

[Former_Member]

Thanks everyone for your responses!

I actually mailed the package on January 23rd via registered priority mail - which I believe is air. Today is the 8th, and on the Australia post website the tracking number is not in the system yet.

So it might be normal for it to show up in a week or two then?

I guess I'm a little nervous because it is the first order I've sent to Australia, and a few days later I received an even bigger order which I also sent to Australia. All of my other orders have been to the US, and have been traceable with the tracking number pretty much the whole time.

I was thinking if it was delayed at customs the tracking number would still be traceable in Australia - although I don't really know how it works so maybe not.

Anyway, I hope it shows up soon! Thanks again!

And Claudia - I will gladly visit Václavské náměstí for you!

[Former_Member]

Shipping from Spain to Australia via ordinary mail usually takes 7-10 business days. In busier times like holidays it takes a bit more, but the longest for me has been 15-20 business days.

[Former_Member]

I've just heard that a meerkat arrived in Australia on Feb 2nd that I shipped airmail (not priority) from the UK on Jan 27th - not bad!

[Former_Member]

I have shipped a lot of packs to Australia, they were not possible to track. I've fill out that form of Auspost lalst month and had response as below:

"Thank you for contacting us regarding a Registered Post International article that you posted to Australia. I have checked our systems and this article was delivered on 23 January. As the Registered Post International service is not a fully traceable service you are unable to retrieve information from our website. If you require an article to be fully traceable it needs to be sent using the Express Courier International (ECI or EMS) service, which is the only service we offer with this facility"

Aplication/contact link:
https://contactus.auspost.com.au/app/ask#email

I cannot understand that how it is not trackable in spite of we pay extra money to track. It is interesting.

Good Luck!

[Former_Member]

PRP's Treasure Lighthouse - That is really useful information! I would have never thought that it might not be trackable yet because in other countries when it hasn't arrived yet I receive the same message. That really explains a lot - the second package is also not trackable and I was confused as to why I would be the only one losing two registered packages in a row to Australia.

I did not send it via EMS so that explains a lot, and I even wrote a message to the buyer apologizing because it may have been delayed at customs. However, she did not respond, so I guess there's the possibility I confused her.

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate all the input and advice!

[Former_Member]

You're welcome Nico. Filling out the contact form and send will be the rightest check out with your packs. Auspost will inform you about delivery situation.
Good Luck!

[Former_Member]

Thanks for all your help. Unfortunately I filled the form out and the result is quite confusing and sad:

it was received at our Deepdene Delivery Centre on 6/2/2012, although there are no further scans for delivery. This often means that the address on the item was either incomplete or invalid.

It's weird because I am 100% sure the address was the address the buyer gave me - and I put packing tape over it to ensure it couldn't get damaged by water.

So now I'm not really sure what to do! I guess maybe it's coming back to me? I'm not really sure what to do/say to the buyer. I feel really bad about it but I have no idea what I could have done differently.

[Former_Member]

Nico,
1- you may convo your customer and check the address out; explain this situation.

2- You may also write your customer that she /he must ask her/him local post office with tracking number. Because of undelivered packs is hold at post offices 3-4 weeks. Your customer can receive the pack.

3-As you know, you must check the addresses from Etsy and PayPal. Sometimes, they are different addresses. If so, you must ask your customer.

[Former_Member]

Thanks for your help. I ended up writing and explaining the situation and included the address I used for mailing. I also asked if she had already received it, because the Australian post advised I check with her. So she has not responded to me. Actually I also wrote to her before I contacted the Australian post saying I thought there was a good possibility it was delayed at customs. I also received no response to that.

It's kind of weird she isn't responding, which made me think maybe somehow she received it already and just didn't feel the need to respond.

Either way if she doesn't contact me, I will just offer a refund or to try to re-send it if it is returned to me.

But thanks so much for all your help! I really appreciate it!

[TigersandDragons]

-Is there a phone number on the Paypal receipt?

-I also find that some people use two email addresses, and the one on the Paypal receipt may not be the same as the one on the Etsy receipt. So I send emails as well as Etsy convos.

- Until she contacts you, I would not provide a refund or resend it, because she may have already received it. Some people also do not go on the internet very often, or she could be on a vacation.

-"This often means that the address on the item was either incomplete or invalid. " - Often doesn't mean always, and sometimes mail doesn't get scanned when it should.

[Former_Member]

Nico, if your customer does not contact with you, never offer refund. You did everything that should be done.