UK Tom Bihn customers - how long did USPS take?

[TorontoSS]

I know this has been discussed, but oddly when looking this up, many of the answers here came from 2014! I also bought a bag in 2014 but got it sent to a friend in the US!

anyway here's my question: How long generally does it take for an order to reach the UK (London) using USPS. I paid the $30 fee and it's for a daylight backpack. I was just keeping it down so I don't have to spend a lot in taxes. Given the order was 115$ i'm not anticipating paying more than £10-15.

I noted some people on the forum saying it takes about 3 weeks but that was over 4 years ago - is it still the same?

I ordered by bag yesterday and it left the Seattle facility but that's about it. I'm assuming I won't see the bag till at least late next week?

Thanks!

[Cristina]

I don't have any experience with the USPS shipping but in April I made an order sent via UPS, ordered April 6 and delivered on April 12.


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[KAB]

I know this has been discussed, but oddly when looking this up, many of the answers here came from 2014! I also bought a bag in 2014 but got it sent to a friend in the US!

anyway here's my question: How long generally does it take for an order to reach the UK (London) using USPS. I paid the $30 fee and it's for a daylight backpack. I was just keeping it down so I don't have to spend a lot in taxes. Given the order was 115$ i'm not anticipating paying more than £10-15.

I noted some people on the forum saying it takes about 3 weeks but that was over 4 years ago - is it still the same?

I ordered by bag yesterday and it left the Seattle facility but that's about it. I'm assuming I won't see the bag till at least late next week?

Thanks!

I have only ever used UPS which costs a bit more but generally takes 4-5 working days. UPS collect fees payable in advance of or at time of delivery, on behalf of Customs, Vat etc and it always seems to be in excess of £35 and can be as high as £50 or £60 dependent on the total value of the shipment. Don't forget that the Credit Card companies also charge a fee for converting $ to £, and that is quite significant.
I have used USPS for other purchases from USA and that generally takes many weeks and then if being delivered by Parcelforce, which often seems to be the case, they in turn charge a handling fee together with the relevant duty, tax etc. It is a costly business whatever you do!

It will be interesting to know how long your bag takes to arrive, so do keep us informed.....

[TorontoSS]

Thank you for your response. That doesn't seem very promising for USPS! but I will keep you informed of my parcel progress and the money paid in the end! If anyone else has experiences, please let us know!

[Cristina]

FWIW, the order was for $299 of goods, $45 in shipping, and I paid £49.27 to UPS, which at today's exchange rate is about $65. So the shipping and duties amounted to around 36% of the price of the goods.

[KAB]

FWIW, the order was for $299 of goods, $45 in shipping, and I paid £49.27 to UPS, which at today's exchange rate is about $65. So the shipping and duties amounted to around 36% of the price of the goods.

Ouch!
A bit more FWIW - My last order was for goods $190, $45 shipping, about $47 to UPS, so that is even worse, something like 48%+ of price of goods. So, it seems that if you want/need the items you just have to go with it but there probably is a calculation that will provide the optimum order value to get the most benefit of the shipping (the higher the value of goods the better) and the other fees but the latter seem harder to calculate/assess.
Personally I prefer to use UPS because of their speed and tracking information. I try to wait until I can put a decent order together, sometimes including friend/family but sometimes, as the things you really want might disappear, you just have to bite the bullet & buy! I would rather have the TB that I want than some lesser substitute.

[TorontoSS]

I thought 48 (which is still high) would have been closer to 25% of the goods? My math isn’t my strong point though.

That being said 36% and 25 (or 48) is very high I think. I’m thinking that with a lower value $85 plus $30 shipping it shouldn’t be too bad but I’ll keep you posted of course.

I think in the UK eBay isn’t a bad option but you can’t choose the colours.

[Cristina]

I thought 48 (which is still high) would have been closer to 25% of the goods? My math isn’t my strong point though.

That being said 36% and 25 (or 48) is very high I think. I’m thinking that with a lower value $85 plus $30 shipping it shouldn’t be too bad but I’ll keep you posted of course.

I think in the UK eBay isn’t a bad option but you can’t choose the colours.

It's $45 shipping + $47 duties = $92, and 92/190 is about 48%.

Edited to add: comparing that to US purchases, $10 shipping + $0 duties, 10/190 = 5%

[G42]

Jeez... you guys need to vacation in Seattle more often... (kidding! I know it's a long haul)

[TorontoSS]

Sorry I didn’t count the postage. See I said I’m bad at math. That’s a huge huge difference.

[BigBadD]

Typically my experience in France is that UPS delivery takes 4 working days. The 45$ shipping is not cheap so puts aside any ideas of ad-hoc small orders. My wishlist builds up until the flat-rate shipping makes some optimal/acceptable sense. But the UPS service seems very efficient and well-tracked with a good selection of pick-up points that can be changed depending on my plans, so I don’t really have a problem paying 45$ for my experience of an efficient service.

The import duties, which seems most efficient to pay through UPS on-line so that it doesn’t restrict final delivery/pick-up options, do seem a bit variable and are of course based on your own country’s tax rate. It is a huge difference compared to US customers, but this is where I have to accept it’s part of the total price and value to me of the Tom Bihn products that I want to use.

Perhaps for my next big order I’ll try to manage a trip to Seattle - a lovely city, only previously visited before I knew about Tom Bihn. But, although I’m sure we all have our own ways to do it, strictly even if then hand-carried back you could still potentially be subject to same import tax as for shipping!

[Jtordoff]

Hi
I ordered a Cadet plus the obligatory other bits (which doubled the price!) on 15 Nov 2017, it was delivered on 20 Nov 2017.
Hope that helps
John

[gqb]

Four or five working days for UPS international Expedited. Tracking excellent via the app, text or email. Totally reliable in my experience.
My pre order for the new zip top shop bag will be the first time I have tried USPS (assuming nothing else jumps into my cart between now and September )

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[TorontoSS]

Hi
I ordered a Cadet plus the obligatory other bits (which doubled the price!) on 15 Nov 2017, it was delivered on 20 Nov 2017.
Hope that helps
John

Thank you John - was that with UPS or USPS?

[TorontoSS]

Typically my experience in France is that UPS delivery takes 4 working days. The 45$ shipping is not cheap so puts aside any ideas of ad-hoc small orders. My wishlist builds up until the flat-rate shipping makes some optimal/acceptable sense. But the UPS service seems very efficient and well-tracked with a good selection of pick-up points that can be changed depending on my plans, so I don’t really have a problem paying 45$ for my experience of an efficient service.

The import duties, which seems most efficient to pay through UPS on-line so that it doesn’t restrict final delivery/pick-up options, do seem a bit variable and are of course based on your own country’s tax rate. It is a huge difference compared to US customers, but this is where I have to accept it’s part of the total price and value to me of the Tom Bihn products that I want to use.

Perhaps for my next big order I’ll try to manage a trip to Seattle - a lovely city, only previously visited before I knew about Tom Bihn. But, although I’m sure we all have our own ways to do it, strictly even if then hand-carried back you could still potentially be subject to same import tax as for shipping!

Thank you for your input - did you ever try USPS? I considered the 45 but that alone would have been 50% of the order so it wasn’t feasible.

Four or five working days for UPS international Expedited. Tracking excellent via the app, text or email. Totally reliable in my experience.
My pre order for the new zip top shop bag will be the first time I have tried USPS (assuming nothing else jumps into my cart between now and September )

Sent from my SM-T713 using Tapatalk

Let us know how that goes! I’ll tell you how my order goes!