Comment · Mon, April 3, 2023 · ND Owner
Package stuck in customs for a long time
Original post in this thread
waytooindecisive7 · 5 points
I ordered some stuff from nootropics depot to Canada and it has been stuck in customs for 17 days so far. I've never had anything stuck in customs for this long and I'm worried that it isn't going to come.
Has this happened to anybody else? Should I just wait longer?
What they were answering
Hormesis · 3 points
I find that with Ascendia shipments, they either arrive in 10 days or like a month. I plan ahead for it, but it's a little strange.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · ND Owner
The issue is that customers wants shipping cheap, fast, and without customs duties. We know cheap and fast are mutually exclusive. However, we can actually get somewhat reasonable on price for a faster shipping option if the shipment weighs more than 2 pounds. The issue is that it goes through private clearance, which is assessed duties every time. This upsets customers. You can see the guy above complaining that one of his shipments was assessed duties. Well, that shipment my team sent a different method that is much quicker than Asendia. However, FedEx clears the package through private clearance, which means taxes/duties. So we are left with options that use USPS to go through public clearance, like Asendia. This means the luck of the draw each time. I think they have some sort of batching system in California to keep costs down. Sometimes that goes quick. Other times it takes them a while. We are going to be switching over to DDP in the EU soon. I'll see how that goes. If it goes well, I am considering doing the same for Canada. Then we will enable this other shipping option, which is a 3-5 day service, but much cheaper than express. I know taxes suck, and many people want to roll the dice and see if customs assesses them, but DDP with private clearance will speed things up and remove all the hassle.