I thought maybe I can ask this here as Bar Sport is a place for anything. Serious question but nothing to do with Arduino or electronics.
I've just had some boards made by OSH Park in the US. I've just had the notification that they are being shipped. I chose USPS as the cheap option and I know it will take 3 to 4 weeks to get to the UK. What seems odd is the tracking link they gave me is to UPS, which, as far as I know is United Parcel Service or something like that. I use UPS in the UK and they are good. I didn't think UPS was the USPS, or maybe it is? Are they related? Are they the same? Or have OSH Park sent my boards by UPS when I only ordered USPS? Or something else?
UPS and USPS are completely separate entities. USPS is run by the US government, whereas UPS is a private company.
The cheap First Class International service provided by USPS doesn't offer tracking, which can be quite a problem for international orders that may sometimes end up stuck in customs for an interminable period of time, but the options with tracking are quite a bit more expensive. So if they sent it UPS with tracking, that's a significant upgrade!
A UPS tracking number always begins with the letter "Z". All the shipping services share package movement with each other. Because of Amazon pressure, the services attempt to provide the fasted route and the quickest time they can. I have even had Fedex packages left with the local PO for final delivery, even though the Fedex trucks go right by the house. The PO did not deliver and we had to have the shipper track the package. The PO had the box at their building and had never tried to deliver it. We had to discover it by chance.
Hi,
If it takes 3 to 4 weeks from OSH, why haven't you tried JLCPCB.
I'm in Australia and they ship from China to here in less than 5 days.
I gather from various YouTube channels it basically the same time to major parts of the world.
Thanks, I'll give them a try next time. I don't expect stuff from China in 3 days but certainly faster than 4 to 5 weeks. It's a shame USPS lets US companies down so badly.
Just had a look at their web site, I see they do assembly too. My next board will include an AT4809, which I was going to use to teach myself to hand solder 0.5mm spaced SMD parts. Of course I might have ended up teaching myself that soldering those is too difficult for me! Now I don't need to...
Thanks, I'll give them a try next time. I don't expect stuff from China in 3 days but certainly faster than 4 to 5 weeks. It's a shame USPS lets US companies down so badly.
Still waiting for my boards...
Please do not put the blame on the USPO. The problem is all external mail MUST go through the US Customs warehouses and that is where the holdup is located.
Paul
Paul_KD7HB:
Please do not put the blame on the USPO. The problem is all external mail MUST go through the US Customs warehouses and that is where the holdup is located.
Paul
Ah! OK.
Welll....
USPS is one government department, US Customs is another so I guess I can blame the US Government :o
PerryBebbington:
Does that mean I have to wait until Biden is president before I get my boards?
I am working on a project for a friend and most of the stuff was bought on Ebay from China. I have to go to the PO today and pay them $1.20 to pay customs to get one of the components. Don't know which one.
So you may also get a bill for your boards.
Paul
When I've bought Nextion displays directly from China I've had to pay import duty. Actually got the displays then some time afterwards got a bill from the delivery company. Makes them expensive. I don't know if that's a problem for boards as they are low value.
