So. Today marks the second Saturday from my first Masterpiece level toy purchase (one half priced Mastermind Creation's Terminus Hexatron), and first time shipping a toy over (finally got my own cash reserves, so I felt like buying something nice to commemorate it). Now I live in Israel, so the toy has quite a ways to make and I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't get here for another month, but I'm still pretty anxious about it not arriving yet and this made me think "hey, won't it be fun to hear other people's experience with shipping a toy abroad?" so for the sake of hearing fun stories and making me feel less bad about spending 100$ on a big hunk of plastic, let's hear your experience with overseas shipping!

 

If you want fun stories I won't tell you about my experience with TFSource or the one with Robotoybase at the start of the summer  
I did have a nice box of ko Waruders come in from ShowZ a week ago when I only ordered them less than two weeks before.
That was really fast shipping and was a nice surprise.
Buying from ShowZ, TF Direct, TF Safari and Sirtoys has saved me quite a buck and I almost always have great service from them.
I don't mind waiting a month at all when I can save up to fifty euro's.

 

I'm in Spain and overseas coming from china are great, usually arrives here in 2/4 weeks.

Overseas from the US not so good, they usually take a bit more time to arrive and what is worst, they are always hold in customs which means 2 more waiting weeks plus paying a tax of the 21% over the declared price of the item..

My 2 cents  

 

What happened with TFSource and Robotoybase?

 

Customs did  
The risks of buying overseas. TF Source was due to not having any other place to buy the figure from.
Robotoybase was due to sloppy business.
Most of the other times I bought overseas have been a dream. So that compensates.

 

For me (in Canada) it always depends on customs. Ironically it usually takes longer to get through customs when coming from the US vs Asia.

 

I'm in the US, and I sometimes buy from China. As long as the seller is reliable it usually ships out quick, clears Chinese customs within a day or two, then takes a few days to arrive in the States (usually New York, sometimes San Francisco). That's usually were the biggest hold up is. On average it takes US Customs 5-7 days to clear it, sometimes more. All told, the fastest I've received anything from China is 9 days from when the seller shipped it, longest was around six weeks and the average is usually between two and three weeks.

 

It finally arrived, it feels like I'm having five birthdays at once!
And thank you all for sharing your experience with overseas shipping!

 

Shipping from China to Aus is usually pretty quick.
Shipping from US isn’t too bad.
Shipping from Canada is slow and insanely expensive.
And then there’s the random postal redirects. My favourite was a product coming from a UK seller to me in Australia went via Mexico... twice. London to Mexico to LA, back to Mexico then eventually to Sydney. That was loads of fun.

 

Don’t even check for at least two weeks, save yourself the frustration. I don’t really even plan for anything less than a month for overseas shipping, otherwise you’re just annoying the shipper for nothing, unless you’re not seeing it mailed or updated.

 

So far in all my years of buying things overseas, I've always gotten lucky and never had to pay shipping.

I know it's crazy right? but it's true.

When I order from TF-Direct my stuff get's here in like 7-10 days most the time.

When I order from Amazon or ebay my stuff gets here usually within 2 days. no joke.

But shipping was always free.

 

Amazon.jp sends things extremely fast. When I order from say planetsteelexpress, tf-direct or showz, it takes about 2-4 weeks to receive.

 

I got sick a lot, so ZipLoc bags for the vom are a must-take. And don't forget the airholes!

 

Usualy TF-Direct is really good, I've ordered from them and it's turned up within about 10 days. Currently waiting for any sign of the Yes Model Starscream I went for, order that at the end of August, but nothing yet. I think it's all a bit hit or miss sometimes

 

Pretty sure the Trade war is effecting things atm. But don't quote me on it.

 

You know what, I hadn't even considered that. Good shout that.

 

I'm in Canada and have ordered a bunch of stuff from Robotkingdom, Ohmyprimus and robotoybase. Never had issues and usually get things in about a business week's time, 2 weeks tops. I don't get the benefits of free shipping the US shops offer and usually pay customs fees on bigger stuff from them so I've pretty much switched over to importing from Asia.

 

Try reaching out to TF-Direct as well. it takes about 24 hours, but they do reply. And they have some very kind and compassionate Customer service girls that will help usually. Just be kind and respectful and they'll lay out the red carpet for you. Trust me.

also keep checking the link they have on your account there. or whatever mail service you go through in my case I end up checking the USPS site and typing in the tracking number there.

 

Yeah I messaged them at the end of last week and just asked if they had any more information. I don't blame them, they offer great service and have always been good to me. Only consideration I have right now, which I just thought about before I saw your reply, I'm UK based, so not sure if the same trade issues will affect me