What’s the quickest you’ve received your int’l purchase?

Dusty Negative · Feb 19, 2022

I bought a Mamiya RB67 from a retailer in Japan on 15 February (late night EST). It arrived in Virginia on 17 February.

Supply chain problems - yes, sometimes?

It’s not good for compulsive buyers like me to get stuff this quickly. ;-)

shuddered · Feb 19, 2022

in midDecember I bought something from Lebanon off of Etsy and it arrived 2 days lader
little christmas is in January so maybe not holiday rush and supply chain.

Dusty Negative · Feb 19, 2022

shuddered said:
in midDecember I bought something from Lebanon off of Etsy and it arrived 2 days lader
little christmas is in January so maybe not holiday rush and supply chain.

It’s a small world after all.

logan2z · Feb 19, 2022

I ordered a photo book from a German publisher (Steidl) and had it in my hands in California in two days. Shockingly fast.

mshchem · Feb 19, 2022

I have incredible service from Japan. DHL has a hub in Cincinnati, then direct to Cedar Rapids Ioww. The international express service of DHL has been very good for me. Especially from Japan. 48 to 72 hours is normal.
I think that, at least in Japan, a lot of sellers have the items packaged and stored by a 3rd party in a climate controlled location. When an order comes through DHL has it to the airport in a manner of hours.
The express services also can clear customs very fast.

Dusty Negative · Feb 19, 2022

That makes sense. My last item was very well packed — suggesting to me that it had already been packed and was sitting, waiting for my adoption.

Viva Nippon!

warden · Feb 19, 2022

For me Japan to Philly is two days flat. It's remarkable, really.

petrk · Feb 19, 2022

I ordered an item from Finland one day morning, I got it at home on Czechia next day afternoon. Not much more than 30 hours.

ColdEye · Feb 19, 2022

Got it the next day, from Japan. No idea how that even works. Bought it at like 2 am pacific time, got here the next day at around 7pm. This is via DHL.

logan2z · Feb 19, 2022

ColdEye said:
Got it the next day, from Japan. No idea how that even works. Bought it at like 2 am pacific time, got here the next day at around 7pm. This is via DHL.

They must store the cameras in a plane idling on the tarmac.

Dusty Negative · Feb 19, 2022

logan2z said:
They must store the cameras in a plane idling on the tarmac.

For sure! Perhaps Amazon planes are next.

Andrew O'Neill · Feb 19, 2022

I bought quite a few items for my RB from a seller in Japan last summer. I was utterly shocked at how quickly they arrived. Three days at most... Domestic parcels always seem to take way longer

Tel · Feb 19, 2022

Dusty Negative said:
For sure! Perhaps Amazon planes are next.

Amazon has something like 100 airplanes in its Amazon Air fleet. Amazon was buying up airplanes from bankrupt passenger airlines (WestJet for instance) when COVID shut them down.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Air

Sirius Glass · Feb 19, 2022

Dusty Negative said:
I bought a Mamiya RB67 from a retailer in Japan on 15 February (late night EST). It arrived in Virginia on 17 February.

Supply chain problems - yes, sometimes?

It’s not good for compulsive buyers like me to get stuff this quickly. ;-)

You definitely need to check out the shipping situation. Buy several more lenses from that retailer, several others in Japan and one or two in Hong Kong. Then let us know how the shipment went. We will not buy anything else until you report back with the results.

Dusty Negative · Feb 19, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
You definitely need to check out the shipping situation. Buy several more lenses from that retailer, several others in Japan and one or two in Hong Kong. Then let us know how the shipment went. We will not buy anything else until you report back with the results.

"Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion."

- Calvin Coolidge

Dusty Negative · Feb 19, 2022

Tel said:
Amazon has something like 100 airplanes in its Amazon Air fleet. Amazon was buying up airplanes from bankrupt passenger airlines (WestJet for instance) when COVID shut them down.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Air

I'm rarely ahead of the game, and this clearly demonstrates it.

Dusty Negative · Feb 20, 2022

Andrew O'Neill said:
I bought quite a few items for my RB from a seller in Japan last summer. I was utterly shocked at how quickly they arrived. Three days at most... Domestic parcels always seem to take way longer

That’s what prompted me to start this thread. What a complex thing, the parcel delivery service.

abruzzi · Feb 22, 2022

near the beginning of COVID I bought a Technikardan 45 from Kenmore Camera in Oregon. I looked around and found on eBay a good price on a bag bellows from Japan for the camera and ordered it. This was when EMS shipping out of Japan was completely held up, so the Japanese sellers were all shipping FedEx. Anyway, the bag bellows arrived faster than the camera ordered several days before--literally the next day.

mrosenlof · Feb 23, 2022

My experience with DHL from Japan is similar, stuff gets to Colorado fast. Pre-covid, Japan Post was usually a week to 10 days, but some of that time was in US customs. I don't know how DHL gets stuff through customs so much faster, but they do. I think it's been about a year since my last purchase from Japan.

kinglang · Jun 21, 2022

I have 3 DHL Paket packages and waited 3 months for them....

GregY · Jun 21, 2022

Super quick shipping from Japan. I bought a lens thursday night and it arrived at my door Tuesday morning!

BCM · Jun 21, 2022

2 days for a Fuji 6x17 lens. Faster than some stuff from Amazon!

Dusty Negative · Jun 27, 2022

kinglang said:
I have 3 DHL Paket packages and waited 3 months for them....

Where are the packages coming from??

BobUK · Jun 27, 2022

In both cases I only paid for standard delivery but got next day delivery from Sweden to UK for a second hand telescope part.
Two days for a stove top coffee pot from Italy.

Excellent both times.

ymc226 · Jan 7, 2023

I bought from Alex at Rangefinder.HK. Bought 2 film silver MPs as well as a 35 Summicron within the last 1-2 months, all separate orders. All 3 shipments arrived to California within 2-3 days. Fed Ex is great. Tracking all the way. Alex and M&K photos also ship just as fast and well packed against damage from Hong Kong.

What’s the quickest you’ve received your int’l purchase?

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency