Coronavirus concerns mega-thread

So far, I've had two packages from South Korea sent by EMS since March with no issues. I wouldn't hesitate to order from a Korean company. My packages from Japan and China haven't moved in weeks, though. I'm not expecting them anytime soon, sadly - which is a shame, because Dollyteria and Mandarake are tempting!

I'm worried about some of the smaller companies and accessories makers, so I'm trying to put in small orders here and there when I can (plus, small bits of retail therapy never hurt).

ETA: I'm in the US, if it helps!

 

I got one parcel from Noppin (Japan) via EMS, which only took slightly longer than usual (think two weeks instead of one or so) and two parcels sent via DHL. DHL definitely is faster. Smart Doll have switched to sending stuff out with DHL because DHL obviously got their own fleet of airplanes. From previous experience, it's totally possible that a parcel sent via DHL Express, shipped from Japan, will arrive on my doorstep in Germany as soon as two days after shipping. Yes, I love DHL. *lol*

 

...You might like it a little less when you get notified of their "Bereitstellungsgebühr" (a sort of insane handling fee) since they refuse to grant you your right to make your own customs declaration for your package, as other shipping services do
I was just offered to have my small TTYA order sent via DHL express but refused because for such a small order it would not make sense to pay these fees. TTYA said that no shipping service but DHL is currently shipping from Korea to Germany. The alternative would have been them holding the package until that changes.

 

Then I wonder why both Iple House and SartoriaJ shipped my stuff with EMS just a week ago - certainly they would know about only DHL being able to ship? I guess I better get ready for a real long wait time then :/

 

has anyone seen any respirators for sale anywhere? I've been looking for a new one since January and can't seem to find anything

 

Oh, I know about that. I've had stuff shipped to me from Japan by DHL Express for years. I recently asked about it and was told it was 6 Euros. I pay 8.50 Euros for my public transportation ticket to go to customs and back in my hometown, plus it takes me at least two hours (more when there's lots of people) to get there and back again. The only advantage going to customs myself has is that I can pay the fees with my debit card instead of cash. On the other hand, once the DHL parcel's been cleared by customs, you can call them and ask them how much you have to pay in fees so you can get the cash and have it on hand when the parcel arrives.

Actually, I just checked the paperwork DHL attached to my last few parcels I received via them from Japan and there's no handling fees listed there, only customs fees and tax. You do have to pay quite a chunk in handling fees when a parcel (EMS, most likely) gets delivered to your local customs office and you want to handle the declaration via e-mail or in writing rather than going to pick it up yourself. You also can tell your post office - at least here in Germany - that you do not want DHL to handle customs for you and you prefer to do it yourself. The info gets attached to your name or address or so and they'll stop doing it.

To get back on topic - just ordered some stuff from Mandarake Nakano, once more shipped with DHL Express, so we'll see how long it takes to get here. Not shipped, yet, and since it's Golden Week in Japan, I don't expect them to ship my stuff before next week.

 

By law in Canada a temporary layoff is 60 days at which point, employers either bring you back or terminate employment. Due to the virus, temporary layoffs have been extended to 120 days, which means more people will hopefully have a job to go back to. Very much a glass half full scenario.

On a bright note, I received my 2D Yuanxiao this week; my only yosd size. She's very sweet.

Figured the really littles needed a babysitter.

 

The mask-and-respirator aisle at the home improvement store down the street has been empty since well before stay at home orders started here. I've been using the cloth masks I made for myself as dust masks while blushing, and luckily bought some cartridges a while back for my respirator... it's sealant I'm starting to worry about. I'm hoping Games Workshop will open back up to shipping in the US at least before I use up what I have on hand.

 

Ironically the order I got coming from China right now is moving a lot faster than similar orders I had at the start of December. Those didn't even budge in customs until after the holidays. It's even moving faster than an Amazon order (with all instock Amazon/warehouse items) I made at the time... The dealer seems to have sent this one via Fedex.


@Flittermice
How long did your 2D Doll end up taking? I just ordered 2 of their little dolls myself and am wondering how the wait compares with everything that is going on.

 

@Khell , oh I see. Thanks for the update. Just to explain: My info is a few years old, now that I come to think about it, and concerned DHL express packages from China. At that time DHL denied recipients the option to make their custom declarations themselves and they charged a fee of about 30-40€ to do it for you which was practically extortion. The practice was disputed as illegal though. Another import service (GdSK) had shortly before been in court because of that and had been forced to change their policies.

@Ashemanu , Right now my main shipping concern during Corona is that you get such conflicting information from companies when it comes to shipping to Europe, in the end you never really know what to expect. Maybe the situation does change daily. But that's what TTYA told me...

 

I just recently made a Mandarake order last Saturday. It shipped Sunday DHL and was on my doorstep in Michigan on Tuesday. Insanely fast! I purchased the insurance but I honestly feel I shouldn't have now, it got here too fast to get damaged!

I wish I could have switched some of my China packages over to DHL. I feel I'm not going to see those until summer at the earliest.

 

It seems my SartoriaJ-package has left Seoul now via EMS. So it´s not totally dead - wish they had taken the Iple package too ^^

 

I've had an EMS package from Japan sitting in the original accepting post office since April 15. I assume this is to be expected at this point, sadly, since EMS packages travel in commercial planes, which are not seeing much use right now.

 

My Supia and Crobi packages left Seoul today too.

 

Have a Denver Doll package slowly moving within US around 1 week. But USPS are tracking at least. EMS just deadly stucked seems everywhere through.

 

All our dolls must have been on the same plane because my Corni left Seoul yesterday too! I like to think they flew first class lol

It’s pretty cool that the doll I ordered for my birthday will get here when my sophomore year of college is ending. Back-to-back these two semesters have been horrendous for very different reasons - this second primarily because of the pandemic and transitioning to online school which I have a hard time with for reasons. I deserve a new doll after surviving with good grades. Ugh.

 

@Mandagore To be fair, I've never EVER had something shipped to me from China via DHL. Always EMS, and most of the time, GdSK caught it. Which is why I now kinda-sorta know how to do that customs stuff myself. *lol* As far as DHL shipping from Japan goes, though, I've had only positive experiences.

As for my Mandarake order - it shipped yesterday, DHL sent me a notification mail to expect the parcel on May 7th. Sounds reasonable, taking Golden Week into account and all.

 

I placed my order on December 16, 2019, received April 27, 2020. Really didn't take longer than I would expect for a doll, despite current circumstances.