International Shipping from US / Global Warehouse - How it works, caveats, and things to know!
International Shipping from US / Global Warehouse - How it works, caveats, and things to know!
We always get a lot of questions about shipping internationally from our customers, so we figured it was best to share this knowledge of international shipping in a single, concise article!
The most important pieces of information we want to share with you is this:
We do not have any control over the shipping / delivery process after we ship an order.
Because of this, picking the correct shipping method at the time of ordering is so very important.
Let’s review the options we have.
1. DHL – This is the best quality and most reliable option! You should receive your package in about 1-3 days. They do have package tracking available. There is a Brokerage charge that DHL levies for expediting the importing goods. This is additional to and is different from Duties / Taxes levied by your country’s government.
2. Express – The United States Postal Service (USPS) will ship the package, and your local post office mail service will deliver it to you. It will be a minimum of 5+ business days for delivery (sometimes up to 10+). There usually tracking additional once the package leaves the US – but it is not guaranteed. It is up to the destination country to track the package when it is in that country. For guaranteed tracking – choose DHL (above.)
3. Priority – The United States Postal Service (USPS) will ship the package, and your local post office mail service will deliver it to you. It will be a minimum of 10+ business days for delivery (sometimes up to 20+). This is the option we use for “Out Of Stock” items ordered from an international Warehouse ( CA / EU / UK / AUS ). There is sometimes additional tracking once the package leaves the US – but it is not guaranteed. It is up to the destination country to track the package when it is in that country. For guaranteed tracking – choose DHL (above.)
4. 1st Class – This is the cheapest shipping method but slowest and perhaps least reliable. The USPS will ship the package, and your local post office mail service will deliver it to you. It will be a minimum of 4+ weeks for delivery – and can take up to 3-4 months for delivery (hence the low cost). There is very little to no tracking available once the package leaves the US – this is sorted the same as regular international letter mail. It is up to the destination country to track the package when it is in that country. If you can afford a higher level of service, we strongly recommend doing so. Generally, unless you’ve used 1st class mail before and achieved good results, we do not recommend the 1st Class mail option because it is the slowest and least reliable option available.
Again – We do not have any control over the shipping / delivery process after we ship an order.
Please choose your shipping methods wisely!
Common Situations and Scenarios we have experienced and have seen with International Shipping
Scenario 1 – Return / Rejected Package: Sometimes the Courier / shipping service will reject a package and send it back to our US / Global warehouse. This most commonly caused by a reading or scanning error of the paperwork with the couriers systems. The package is returned to us and we re-ship the package when the error is fixed. Please know that Courier or shipping service must re-update the tracking information. The information may be incorrect until it arrives in the destination country.
Scenario 2 – No Additional Cost Shipping: This occurs when items are out of stock in an international warehouse, but it is in stock in the US / Global Warehouse. We will ship the order or missing pieces from the US warehouse at “No Additional Cost.” The shipping method used is Priority (option #3 from above)
Scenario 3 – Tracking Information Missing/Outdated: If a shipping method is not DHL, there may not be any tracking information after the package leaves the US. It is up to the destination country to provide additional tracking information. Generally English speaking and English friendly countries do provide this information for packages. Please know most countries do not provide this information.
Scenario 4 – Package is Stuck in Customs: If a package is in your country’s customs, this means you will have to pay the taxes / duties required to import the package. It is important to know that your country will only hold a package for a few weeks. If the duties and taxes are not paid the package is returned to who ever shipped it. Here is what needs to be done.
– Please go to google.com and search “[Your Country Name] import customs office”
– Click on the link that applies to your country.
– Have your packaging number available. You may need to type this information into the website of your countries import office.
One final / additional reminder to remember:
We do not have any control over the shipping / delivery process after we ship an order.
Please keep in mind – VidaBox is happy to help, and we enjoy assisting our clients! However – there is unfortunately only so much we can help with after we ship an order. VidaBox (or anyone who ships a package) is extremely limited as to what they can do after the package has been shipped.
