Anyone else currently in this situation?

[chrismayek]

A cel worth over 100,000 yen I ordered via EMS has been sitting in Tokyo for 11 days now after being shipped on 4/15. Japan Post announced two days ago that they are no longer accepting EMS or Airmail inbound for the USA, though items shipped via those methods prior to this announcement will still be dispatched sequentially.

I have never not received a cel/production art (or anything I have ordered in general) though after this announcement, it is making me anxious that this may be the first item lost.

Completely regretting not paying to have it shipped via FedEx instead..

[sensei]

Not in this precise situation but it did take about ten days for Rinkya to get my last consignment on the road, and they now have notified customers that services relying on US Mail will no longer be an option for the unforeseen duration. FedEx economy is also no longer accepting packages headed to the US. As I understand, SEA (2-3 Months) and Fedex priority ($$$) are the only remaining methods to get your cels.

All part of being part of the epicenter of a nasty and still growing pandemic. My deepest sympathies, Chris. I sincerely hope that your valuable cel is treated well as Japan Post (or whoever) looks for a remaining path to get it across the Pacific to you.

[teggacat]

well, yes, I actually have two cel parcels that are in limbo, one, I believe, is still with the seller in japan, someone I have dealt with several times in the past, the other, a rinkya parcel, is at the EMS dispatch. I questioned Rinkya about the safety of my cels at the shipping depot and they reassured me that it is safe. One can only have faith in the system, I guess...the pandemic looms reaching far out in unsuspecting ways.

[chrismayek]

Not in this precise situation but it did take about ten days for Rinkya to get my last consignment on the road, and they now have notified customers that services relying on US Mail will no longer be an option for the unforeseen duration. FedEx economy is also no longer accepting packages headed to the US. As I understand, SEA (2-3 Months) and Fedex priority ($$$) are the only remaining methods to get your cels.

All part of being part of the epicenter of a nasty and still growing pandemic. My deepest sympathies, Chris. I sincerely hope that your valuable cel is treated well as Japan Post (or whoever) looks for a remaining path to get it across the Pacific to you.

Thanks Bill, I'm not too worried about never receiving it, more so just how long it'd potentially take. Even though it would have cost 6000¥ plus to ship it Fedex priority, I should have done that instead

[chrismayek]

well, yes, I actually have two cel parcels that are in limbo, one, I believe, is still with the seller in japan, someone I have dealt with several times in the past, the other, a rinkya parcel, is at the EMS dispatch. I questioned Rinkya about the safety of my cels at the shipping depot and they reassured me that it is safe. One can only have faith in the system, I guess...the pandemic looms reaching far out in unsuspecting ways.

It should be fine for anything sent via EMS - Those will still go out by plane. I was told that it'll definitely arrive, but it may take up to a month or two. It'd be more of a gamble if it was mailed via Airmail or SAL, as apparently items shipped with those methods prior to this announcement are going by boat

[teggacat]

well, actually, my parcel has been sitting at the shipping depot since the 9th of april, I originally requested rinkya prime which is a method of fed ex but was switched [by them] to ems I assume because of the delays, but its still hung up and hasn't left the Japan depot yet

[chrismayek]

well, actually, my parcel has been sitting at the shipping depot since the 9th of april, I originally requested rinkya prime which is a method of fed ex but was switched [by them] to ems I assume because of the delays, but its still hung up and hasn't left the Japan depot yet

Oh that's odd, back when I used Rinkya (I've since switched to FromJapan) I always used Prime too and it was never switched to EMS. But I'm sure it's only because of this situation

[eternaltorture]

One of my packages was sent out on the 17th and it's still in Posting/Collection.
I heard that the current queue of EMS packages can take up to 4 months. SEA might be faster at this point

I'm definitely going to have my next package sent via DHL. Don't want to lose or damage my first cel!

[graymouser]

Although it was a long time ago, shortly after the September 11 attacks (and to a lesser extent --- the following Anthrax scare), international mail was also delayed quite a bit. I had a cel that was supposed to come to the US from a Canadian collector. It took about a month and a half to get to me. There was a lot of extra inspections going on at that time. Another package was delayed about a month later as it came from Rinkya in Japan. It set off some sort of chemical detector (at that time many dealers cleaned cels with benzene). I had to go in person and state all items contained in the package, state what they were made of, and open the package in front of the local postal workers to be sure. Eventually things calmed down. I am not sure if other collectors lost anything, but the delays were pretty significant.

[chrismayek]

Although it was a long time ago, shortly after the September 11 attacks (and to a lesser extent --- the following Anthrax scare), international mail was also delayed quite a bit. I had a cel that was supposed to come to the US from a Canadian collector. It took about a month and a half to get to me. There was a lot of extra inspections going on at that time. Another package was delayed about a month later as it came from Rinkya in Japan. It set off some sort of chemical detector (at that time many dealers cleaned cels with benzene). I had to go in person and state all items contained in the package, state what they were made of, and open the package in front of the local postal workers to be sure. Eventually things calmed down. I am not sure if other collectors lost anything, but the delays were pretty significant.

Wow, that is quite a story, thanks for sharing. I can imagine that was insane to deal with

[cutiebunny]

I believe that SAL and EMS were shutting down before the announcement. I had something sent via SAL towards the end of March that the seller notified me has just been returned. They’re giving me the option of having it sent via DHL which is fine, but it took about a month for them to return it to the original sender. I’ve had no word on whether a package has been returned to sender that was sent via EMS around April 8. It’s probably only a matter of time before that’s returned to the seller as well

[chrismayek]

I believe that SAL and EMS were shutting down before the announcement. I had something sent via SAL towards the end of March that the seller notified me has just been returned. They’re giving me the option of having it sent via DHL which is fine, but it took about a month for them to return it to the original sender. I’ve had no word on whether a package has been returned to sender that was sent via EMS around April 8. It’s probably only a matter of time before that’s returned to the seller as well

The person I bought it from told me that their local PO said that requesting the item back could potentially risk getting it lost. But yeah, I'm sort of expecting it to update and say "returned to sender" soon here

[ReiTheJelly]

I've had a parcel stuck in Japan since April 4th.

I also have another parcel in Japan which was "returned to sender" back in December due to customs issues. It just arrived back to her apartment this past week.


So yeah...it's going to take awhile before we start receiving stuff. But once I awhile I hear somebody get lucky - a friend of mine only had her parcel stuck for a week (before they announced no more shipping to USA).

[chrismayek]

I've had a parcel stuck in Japan since April 4th.

I also have another parcel in Japan which was "returned to sender" back in December due to customs issues. It just arrived back to her apartment this past week.


So yeah...it's going to take awhile before we start receiving stuff. But once I awhile I hear somebody get lucky - a friend of mine only had her parcel stuck for a week (before they announced no more shipping to USA).

Dang. Guess it depends. I actually requested the seller to have it returned a few days ago and then will have them ship via Fedex once it's back.

[cutiebunny]

I received my package that had been stuck in Japan since March on Friday after it was returned to Mandarake. Mandarake then sent it to me via DHL at no additional cost despite my offer to pay for it, and that was super fast. I recommend going the DHL route if you have that option.