USPS First Class Mail International

melancholly

just wondered if anyone knew how long to expect to wait for a delivery on something posted as 'First Class International' by the US postal service. I know their postal system isn't all that efficient at times, but the buyer posted it on saturday and i was hoping to give the item to someone on friday..... i.e. do i need a back up plan!!

Alfie_E

It could reach you by Friday, but you need a back-up plan. As a sensible range, I’d say four days to four weeks. Four working days, if the timing goes perfectly. Four weeks, if it languishes in some customs holding area.

digerati

Any delay is usually caused by Customs clearance in the UK, however mail from the USA is often slower than from other countries due to increased security post 9/11.

If the item wasn't sent as a parcel or was declared at less than £18 then there's a good likelihood you'll get it before Friday.

melancholly

i'll keep my fingers crossed and have something in mind to get in my lunch hour on friday if it all goes wrong! thanks!

mrtg0525

I do get the odd parcel and/or letter from the US as my wife lives over there and I didn't find them too slow. Most of the stuff arrived within a week as long as it had been sent by Airmail but as mentioned, you're cutting it a bit fine.

But don't get me started on sending stuff the other way...

melancholly

mrtg0525 wrote: »

But as mentioned, you're cutting it a bit fine.

annoyingly i won the auction last wednesday, so it took three days to post (and I know that sellers are entirely allowed to take up to a week, i've just been very lucky with very fast deliveries of late!). if only they'd had a BIN rather than an auction! lol

my only experience is posting postcards that take a month or so to get back... i have my fingers well and truely crossed!!

Alfie_E

mrtg0525 wrote: »

But don't get me started on sending stuff the other way...

Thirty minutes spent wading through the American Food and Drug Administration website to get one pot of Marmite pre-cleared through US customs. Trying to convince them that, although at first sight it may appear to be, Marmite is in fact not a bio-hazard.

melancholly

just thought i'd update this as it arrived yesterday.......... 2 and a half weeks is apparently the time it takes!!