As some of you may have read, I recently sold a couple of vintage tobaccos here in the Tobacco Sell/Swap/Search section. I imagined that COVID-related delays would be a problem, but there was worse. USPS and US customs. It seems to be unpredictable what happens there.
I managed to sell tins to three people - one bought a single tin and two others two tins each. As extra I added a surprise to each of the parcels, a sample of maybe two bowls of Three Nuns from the UK production. All parcels had an accurate customs declaration with the contents and the price.
I did the shipping with German Hermes which has found a way to avoid the COVID-related delays at DHL by cooperating with the Belgian Bpost. So the package goes from Germany to a hub at BXL airport, where it gets a new Bpost label and travels overseas. They announce a delivery time of 12-14 weekdays compared to 6 weeks plus at DHL.
Here's my experience.
Package 1 - Single tin plus sample. Posted Feb 8th
No problemo at all. Package changed labels in Brussels on Feb 16th, arrived at Chicago airport Feb 23rd, cleared Customs on the 24th and was delivered on the 27th. Customer reported a satisfying smoke.
Package 2 - Two tins plus sample. Posted Feb 8th
Package changed labels in Brussels on Feb 16th, arrived at NYC airport Feb 19, tracking said "inbound into customs". Nothing happened. Then, on Apr 13th I got notified by Hermes that for a fee of EUR 14,90 I could have my parcel back. It arrived today, the word tobacco marked yellow on the customs declaration and a sticker saying "RETURN TO SENDER - CONTENTS PROHIBITED IN US MAIL - CIGARETTES/TOBACCO PRODUCT. They didn't even crack it open to have a look inside. Buyer gets refunded, I'll lose my return fee. But at least I got my tins back.
Package 3 - Two tins plus sample. Posted Feb 8th
If you found package 2 unpleasant, it really gets weird with package 3. Package changed labels in Brussels on Feb 16th, arrived at Chicago airport Feb 23rd (same as package 1!!) and was processed there. Then it travelled back and forth FOUR times between two regional USPS facilities. On March 12 it was finally delivered to the buyer. Happy end?
So we thought. The buyer reported that later that day the postmaster returned to his house and wanted the parcel back as it allegedly hadn't cleared customs (There is actually a difference in USPS tracking between 1 and 3 - for 1 it states "out of customs" which is missing at 3). Since then, its whereabouts are unknown.
I mean, WTF?
How are your experiences with receiving tobacco from overseas? Is it really just a gamble if you get your blends or not? And what are the reasons?
At the moment I must confess I don't know if I'm adventurous enough for further US tobacco deliveries...
I managed to sell tins to three people - one bought a single tin and two others two tins each. As extra I added a surprise to each of the parcels, a sample of maybe two bowls of Three Nuns from the UK production. All parcels had an accurate customs declaration with the contents and the price.
I did the shipping with German Hermes which has found a way to avoid the COVID-related delays at DHL by cooperating with the Belgian Bpost. So the package goes from Germany to a hub at BXL airport, where it gets a new Bpost label and travels overseas. They announce a delivery time of 12-14 weekdays compared to 6 weeks plus at DHL.
Here's my experience.
Package 1 - Single tin plus sample. Posted Feb 8th
No problemo at all. Package changed labels in Brussels on Feb 16th, arrived at Chicago airport Feb 23rd, cleared Customs on the 24th and was delivered on the 27th. Customer reported a satisfying smoke.
Package 2 - Two tins plus sample. Posted Feb 8th
Package changed labels in Brussels on Feb 16th, arrived at NYC airport Feb 19, tracking said "inbound into customs". Nothing happened. Then, on Apr 13th I got notified by Hermes that for a fee of EUR 14,90 I could have my parcel back. It arrived today, the word tobacco marked yellow on the customs declaration and a sticker saying "RETURN TO SENDER - CONTENTS PROHIBITED IN US MAIL - CIGARETTES/TOBACCO PRODUCT. They didn't even crack it open to have a look inside. Buyer gets refunded, I'll lose my return fee. But at least I got my tins back.
Package 3 - Two tins plus sample. Posted Feb 8th
If you found package 2 unpleasant, it really gets weird with package 3. Package changed labels in Brussels on Feb 16th, arrived at Chicago airport Feb 23rd (same as package 1!!) and was processed there. Then it travelled back and forth FOUR times between two regional USPS facilities. On March 12 it was finally delivered to the buyer. Happy end?
So we thought. The buyer reported that later that day the postmaster returned to his house and wanted the parcel back as it allegedly hadn't cleared customs (There is actually a difference in USPS tracking between 1 and 3 - for 1 it states "out of customs" which is missing at 3). Since then, its whereabouts are unknown.
I mean, WTF?
How are your experiences with receiving tobacco from overseas? Is it really just a gamble if you get your blends or not? And what are the reasons?
At the moment I must confess I don't know if I'm adventurous enough for further US tobacco deliveries...
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