Bitcoin Forum

I've sent someone who lives in the UK a Casascius coin via USPS Priority Mail on 6/2/13, from Oregon, USA.  The tracking number shows that the most recent activity was the package departing from my city.

I had also recently sent a Casascius coin to someone in Spain, and they received it in just a few days.  This one has taken 18 days with no tracking updates (though I know USPS tends to not have many tracking points).

Has anyone else sent items to the UK from the US?  How long did it take to arrive?  Did you get any tracking updates between the time it shipped and the time it arrived?  Is there anything we can do to track down this package in particular?

the last time i shipped a package to the UK (from the US) it took about 2-3 weeks, and that was priority mail international if i recall. 

unfortunately there really is no way to track an international shipment once it is out of the country. 

I've seen this happen before. Sometimes the packages even get "stuck" at facilities for a few days. Not sure if they are forgotten or what, but I'd give it a few more days before you start to panic. Did you purchase insurance for the package?

No insurance was purchased (it was expensive, and the buyer declined).

The coin still has not arrived.  It's been 25 days now...

Is there any sort of customs office it could be stuck at?  How do you find out who to call in such a case?

No insurance, but at least you have tracking. I had something similar happen to me once. I researched the **** out of it and some people said they didn't get their stuff for 3 months (not acceptable in my opinion-but what can you do?). It is most likely being held in customs or something. If I were you I'd be a bit more positive (truly), but of course follow up on it as necessary.

I am the buyer in this instance.


Thank you for the help in trying to resolve this SgtSpike.
And thank you to the rest of you guys for offering advice.


Is there anywhere i can check within the UK to see if it is held up in Customs?
What is the normal entry point of USPS packages into the UK?

Thank you

This post worries me!  I just shipped something to Chile recently via USPS and I specifically asked for tracking information, and they said they could not do tracking- the best they could do was give me the customs number.  I was kinda floored by that, but the thing I was shipping is cheap, and I didn't want to pay $60 more to go DHL or FedEx or something.

I refuse to ship internationally for this very reason unless it can go letter class, or the buyer accepts 100% liability for lost shipments. The only other option is to pay an insane amount for priority global express which is 3x as much or more to ship. Also don't forget the fun forms, and driving to the post office. I wonder why USA's exports are so small....

I've been doing a bit of research... it sounds like, even if you can get a hold of the right person, they won't be able to give any answers, just tell you that they'll get to it when they can get to it.

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090817033425AASNoVD

I'd love to know if there was a way to confirm whether it was in customs or not though.

Have you tried the number on the Royal Mail site? Tracking updates usually only happen on the destination mail service until they are delivered.

It has arrived, thank you for all the help guys.

I'm extremely happy  ;D

Awesome, glad to see this worked out!

I was going to say, if you see where the last acceptance scan was, you could probably phone the postal hub that it was located at and ask them. Looks like they were just being slow  ::)

The last thing the tracking information said on USPS's website is that the package left my city.  Even now, that's all it says.

I tried looking at Royal Mail too as I presumed they would take it over once in the UK.

It accepts the tracking number but doesn't give a delivery confirmation.

i'm just glad it arrived  ;D

Wow, quite a postal fail then. At least it showed up!