Shipping delays from China

36 Replies
Rich select said

Ok, so I got one order but am still waiting on one placed on April 7. Not sure it is worth it to order tea from China anymore.

mrmopar said

I just ordered this morning. I will update when it arrives so we can have some insight on the current situation.

LuckyMe said

Did you use regular shipping or EMS? My non-tea orders from Aliexpress took several weeks but EMS was a week and a half.

But April 7 is a long time. I have a feeling the package might have gotten lost somewhere along the way. Are you able to track it?

Rich select said

I believe it was EMS. No tracking available after a certain number of months.

mrmopar said

I think I did airmail on mine. Seems like paypal has my transaction on hold though. Don’t know why.

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Ubacat said

I just got an order yesterday that I placed in April. Now all my teas are in but what a wait! Does anyone find their teas suffered in flavour due to the long shipping? A few I’ve tried from this one and another order don’t seem as fresh as what I’m used to so I’m thinking it could have degraded sitting in hot warehouses. Or it could just be me. A huge amount of teas I ordered were green teas.

LuckyMe said

That’s very possible. It’s why I bit the bullet and paid for EMS shipping on my YS order. Greens are all about freshness and unless they are vacuum sealed, it’s not worth having them sit on the slow boat from China for months.

I’m about to order from spring dragonwell that finally arrived at Verdant and am a little nervous about the quality. Can’t imagine they’ll be at peak freshness 4-5 months after harvest.

Well, apparently it is, as LuckyMe said, long time in transit. I can imagine it can be bit more bland if it was travelling that long. Maybe this year batch could be bit worse? I think you can’t say it is only one thing which caused the trouble.

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I’m still waiting on 2 orders, one from the end of March and one from mid-April. I’m to the point where I don’t even want the tea I ordered anymore. Having $200 worth of merchandise just lost in the void is pretty frustrating.

I get the frustration and disappointment. My last outstanding order has been stuck in Shanghai since May 19. That is the last update I have. Apparently most of the flights out of China were cancelled during the height of the pandemic, so the backlog has got to be immense. Sadly, the timing on our orders could not have been worse (mine was from early April). I think we all need to just sit tight and wait. Keep the faith!

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Posting this as a sort-of update.

Because I am a glutton for punishment (and also because it seems I’ve developed a Bitterleaf teaware addiction), I ordered a couple of teacups and a lid holder from Bitterleaf on September 12. Just got the package yesterday. So, a little bit of a delay, but not too horrible. Could be because of Golden Week – not THE Golden Week that happens around Chinese New Year, but some other kind that basically stops everything until the holiday is over.

In addition, my Yunnan Sourcing order remains in Shanghai, no change since May 19. I’d love to know how others who are still waiting are faring with deliveries, both out of curiosity and also to know I’m not alone in this perpetual wait.

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Rich select said

I’m still awaiting an order I placed in April from YS.

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I’m still waiting on an order placed in March from YS (it also has the May 19th transfer)
Bitterleaf ended up refunding me for the order I placed in April.

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Courtney said

I ordered Teavivre for Black Friday and it shipped on 26-November, which really isn’t bad. The tracking does say “item has left originating country and is en route to Canada” as of 30-November so hopefully that means it made it onto a flight!

I’ve been building a Yunnan Sourcing cart, but I’m a bit reluctant to place it out of China (the US site doesn’t have a bunch of the teas I want). Being patient is tough!

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