Private purchase overseas at this time

[YoKev]

I had a package from Poland arrive really fast. I ordered on a Monday and it was here Friday or Saturday two weeks ago...can't remember.

Faster than Amazon Prime these days.

[Polyglot]

Originally Posted by NoMoreParagon

There is no problem at all. Italian postal system is one of the world best.

Lets not get carried away here. The post office in the north of the country is indeed very good (although I would be hard pressed to declare it one of the world's best), but if the mail transits through the southern part of the country, it is exceptionally common for items to disappear or get waylaid. We are talking about a very high percentage of items not making it to destination in a timely manner. When I worked in Italy, our production plant in Avezzano (at the latitude of Rome) would use our intracompany courier to send all outgoing mail items to our production site in Vicenza for final mailing, as otherwise a good portion would not make it destination or be exceptionally slow. The situation has indeed improved quite substantially in the last 20 years, but it is still not dependable from the south.

[NoMoreParagon]

Originally Posted by Polyglot

Lets not get carried away here. The post office in the north of the country is indeed very good (although I would be hard pressed to declare it one of the world's best), but if the mail transits through the southern part of the country, it is exceptionally common for items to disappear or get waylaid. We are talking about a very high percentage of items not making it to destination in a timely manner. When I worked in Italy, our production plant in Avezzano (at the latitude of Rome) would use our intracompany courier to send all outgoing mail items to our production site in Vicenza for final mailing, as otherwise a good portion would not make it destination or be exceptionally slow. The situation has indeed improved quite substantially in the last 20 years, but it is still not dependable from the south.

I would respectfully disagree. A lot has changed since it went through a privatization round.


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[Polyglot]

Originally Posted by NoMoreParagon

I would respectfully disagree. A lot has changed since it went through a privatization round.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I lived in Italy for over a decade, I continue to work on a daily basis with people in Italy who deal with shipping issues. I agree that the Italian post office has improved tremendously since the first stages of privatization were launched (it couldn't get much worse) but that is a far cry from being dependable. In a survey carried out in Italy by the Italian equivalent of Consumer Reports less than a year ago, the Italian post office was rated at the absolute bottom of all delivery services in Italy:

https://www.altroconsumo.it/organizz...a-altroconsumo

It was determined that 7% of all deliveries never arrived. It also had poor rankings for percentage of packages damaged during delivery. USPS has delivery statistics of 97% of all packages delivered on time, with the remaining 3% being mostly delayed, not lost.

I am generally reasonably confident about the delivery service offered by the Italian post, but only if you take into consideration where in Italy it is shipped from.

[cinema]

something NOS and minty came in the mail today from italia... it was shipped with an EMS/SDA tracking # on june 23rd and arrived today via usps. arrived in NY on tuesday and then on my doorstep in socal two days later.

[reuben]

Originally Posted by cinema

something NOS and minty came in the mail today from italia... it was shipped with an EMS/SDA tracking # on june 23rd and arrived today via usps. arrived in NY on tuesday and then on my doorstep in socal two days later.

A Columbus sticker?

[paredown]

I've got a stem coming from Poland--purchased on eBay. Apparently they cannot get tracked shipping at present from Poland to USA, so it is coming economy post, not tracked.

It's ticking over 6 weeks now, and I'm starting to get a little concerned that it is lost, not just slow...

[cinema]

Originally Posted by paredown

I've got a stem coming from Poland--purchased on eBay. Apparently they cannot get tracked shipping at present from Poland to USA, so it is coming economy post, not tracked.

It's ticking over 6 weeks now, and I'm starting to get a little concerned that it is lost, not just slow...

it took 9 weeks for us to get a poster from ukraine. ordered in march

[cinema]

Originally Posted by reuben

A Columbus sticker?

[paredown]

Originally Posted by cinema

That's sweet--is that an Elegant?

[cinema]

wow very quick identification; yes it is. it took me a while doing some research before pulling the trigger to find out exactly what model it is. by all appearances and from what i can find in catalogs, it is a '94ish elegant. the sticker does say oversize and i know these were first made with tange, then EL, then ELOS, so '94 or later seems likely. not sure if they were made after 95 because i can't find any more catalogs around then.

[reuben]

I have to say that I've always had a soft spot for chrome forks and chrome stays. The chrome lugs are another plus.

Sweet bike!!!

[gbcoupe]

That looks great. Good score! Seller couldn't have braced the drops any better either. Always good to see someone looking out for the new owner.

[cinema]

Originally Posted by gbcoupe

That looks great. Good score! Seller couldn't have braced the drops any better either. Always good to see someone looking out for the new owner.

the packaging was incredible miles above what i'm used to when sending frames domestically. italia

[Polyglot]

Originally Posted by gbcoupe

That looks great. Good score! Seller couldn't have braced the drops any better either. Always good to see someone looking out for the new owner.

When shipping a frame, it is always best to have BB cups and a headset installed to prevent the head tube or BB shell ovalized.