The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

What's this all about ? eBay item posted 31st January still in customs 22nd March having been received and with Customs 9 times wtf ?

Tuesday 22 March 2022
11:44
Your item is currently with Customs in the destination country.
Netherlands
11:43
Item Received
Netherlands
Monday 14 March 2022
12:10
Your item is currently with Customs in the destination country.
Netherlands
12:09
Item Received
Netherlands
Monday 07 March 2022
19:41
Your item is currently with Customs in the destination country.
Netherlands
19:40
Item Received
Netherlands
Thursday 03 March 2022
09:04
Your item is currently with Customs in the destination country.
Netherlands
09:03
Item Received
Netherlands
Wednesday 23 February 2022
15:44
Your item is currently with Customs in the destination country.
Netherlands
15:43
Item Received
Netherlands
Thursday 17 February 2022
16:17
Your item is currently with Customs in the destination country.
Netherlands
16:16
Item Received
Netherlands
Friday 04 February 2022
19:26
Your item is currently with Customs in the destination country.
Netherlands
19:25
Item Received
Netherlands
Wednesday 02 February 2022
18:03
Your item is currently with Customs in the destination country.
17:51
Your item is currently with Customs in the destination country.
Netherlands
17:50
Item Received
Netherlands
Tuesday 01 February 2022
01:20
Item Leaving the UK
LANGLEY HWDC
01:19
Item Received by Royal Mail
LANGLEY HWDC
Monday 31 January 2022
20:33
Item Despatched to Heathrow Worldwide DC
South Midlands MC
18:09
Item received at
South Midlands MC
16:37
Sender preparing item
13:34
Accepted at Post Office
London Road Post Office [MK42 0PY]

They obviously want you to know it had been received in the Netherlands!

I had something similar when I posted to France but they lost the parcel for 9 months but no one wanted to admit they'd mislaid it, hence why I kept seeing "item received France" but no follow up for ages.

Hopefully you won't have that problem.

If it was a batch of needles... maybe they're dispatching them one by one!
One never knows... I've been receiving boxes of 78s from USA since 1998, from Nauck (my first Naucktion was number 9, the catalog displayed one of those giant pathé records in the full front cover...), also from Peter Leavitt, from All Jazz, Record Finders, etc, also from Canada (Jeff Healey and Alex Pangman) etc. Almost always the boxes arrived fast, but other times, the boxes took one or two months to arrive here, were stopped at our Custom Offices, and even I had to go there to the airport to pick them.... a real ordeal of papers and money!
Now it seems easier, but sometimes it delays a lot. I've just shipped a box of records to a colleague in Oregon, and he received them in nine days only! I believe the trick is the weight. If less than 2kg, the box can be shipped as a registered letter and it goes faster. Heavy boxes are much more expensive and go other way.
Usually packages sent here from UK take less time, but other times they also take more to arrive. I've also been receiving boxes and small packages from soundgen and others in the UK, Germany, Netherlands and France for 25 years, and it is the same; they may take one week to arrive, or one month! One never knows....!

I'm convinced that the erratic performance in shipping times is characteristic of government run mail services whose administrations are apparently accountable to no one, least of all the customer. (I've received two parcels from Soundgen, identical in weight, size and labeling, and one took five weeks, and the other, five days.) Over the years, everything I've sent to the UK via UPS International Expedited has arrived within five or fewer days, without fail. I pay more for the service, but I receive timely service. Nothing like the threat of going out of business to make sure you meet customer expectations.

It's true!
In my case (sending goods) I checked several options, and the best one was official postal service, and (this time) it resulted fast and cheap. Prices of private couriers were double or triple.... !
When importing goods is when I've noticed this enormous variability...
I'm starting to sell (I have near 1500 78s and dinner machines that I'm planning to sell in the near future....) and I have no experience with this. But at my PO they put enormous facilities, and the guy filled the customs papers in minutes.. Shipping record to USA was very easy to me, it took ten minutes!