Shipping from Europe

[clavio]

I bought some cards from Italy a couple weeks ago (Im in the US). About how long does it usually take something to get here from Europe?

[Dilettante]

Last time I ordered something from Italy... a full four weeks.

[Adan]

For some reasons Italy takes longer, but I don't have any clue why. Runor says that Italy doesn't take other European postal services too seriously, that's why on magiccardmarket many people refuse to send their cards to Italy (at least not without insured shipping).

But I'd also like to know what is true about these rumors since I didn't have any problems with Italian guys so far.

[Di]

I've traded with Italians numerous times, and from what I've gotten from them is that their customs department is rather strict when dealing with foreign items. Often times things will take a very long time to go through their mail, or quite possibly not go through at all and you'll be out of luck. But generally if a transaction does go through, you can expect it to take 3-4 weeks minimum.

[socialite]

I have been using Ebay to buy MTG Cards since 2001. I will never send anything to Italy nor will I ever buy anything from Italy, unless it is someone I know personally that uses a third party shipping service.

The Italians are renowned for having one of the most horrible postal services in regards to international mail. Corruption and laziness is my only guess, shit just straight up gets stolen.

[santeria]

I bought some cards from Italy.....

[Nihil Credo]

I believe that it's less the fault of the customs police (they can't be THAT strict with all the stuff you can eBay from China without being charged the proper tariffs) than of the two big airports' staff in general - notoriously inefficient through a mixture of state-sanctioned lack of oversight and union-fuelled overprotected laziness. Both Roma and Milano are logistical nightmares even for private travellers with baggage, I guess that commercial mail is no better.

If you are in need of speed, it can be a big help to use one of the main courier companies (ex. TNT, DHL, FedEx) which have agreements to perform many airport and bureaucratic procedures internally, and in some cases choose to go through smaller, more efficient airports. 'Course, they don't work for free.

[clavio]

I went on ebay and it says This user is no longer registered on eBay. Am I screwed at this point?

[Nihil Credo]

File a PayPal claim. I've never done it, but I'm told they almost alway side with the buyer. In this case you should have it especially easy.

[socialite]

You might be fucked. They only give you 30 days from payment to file a claim as far as I remember.