How Long Does It Take Mail To Go From Europe To America?

Hi,
I recently won a couple of auctions from some folks in the UK. These are my first buys from overseas, and I am curious as to how long a medium envelope would typically take to travel from London to Texas.

Of course there will be a lot of variables, but what is the "norm"?

thanks,
Mobilman44

http://www.postcrossing.com/ averages travel time between countries.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Four days.

Peter

According to Royal Mail, 5 to 7 days. Which is also about the time bracket for letters I receive here from the USA.

Terry

I sent a small package from Oklahoma to London and it arrived in four days. A second small package took two and a half weeks. Your mileage may vary.

I am still waiting for a registered piece of mail sent from Berlin in October, 2012. It made it to New York, then was never heard from again!

Brian

NY Customs is notorious for holding mail for prolonged periods and I'd assume that all mail from Europe comes into NY. I just received a registered mail from a seller in Belgium and it took 6 weeks from sender to receiver and was held in customs for most of that time.

I have experienced anywhere for 1 to 3 weeks.
I think something may be wrong after 4 weeks, just to make sure.

Art

My experience has been 5 to 7 days unless it was sent registered mail. Foreign registered mail is now treated as certified mail in the US mail stream. It has a tendency to "get lost" in New York.

I've lost a couple of registered letters from Europe. Even after asking my congressman to check, they can't seem to figure out where they went.

The dealers that I trust will now send me material by regular mail. No problem.
Dan

A couple of years ago I had to wait at least 3 weeks for a package from England. It was posted through the regular mail. I think if it was a regular letter it would have gone faster.

I think it depends strongly on where you send it! I have been writing and receiving letters to my family in the Netherlands, and four days is the norm. Letters to and from Switzerland are also fast, mostly four, sometimes five days. I guess it also helps if you live close to an international airport? I do subscribe to an English magazine that is airlifted to New Jersey and then mailed to my address, which sometimes takes three to four weeks! Yes, packages and registered mail take forever but Mobilman was asking about regular mail!

Peter

Sometimes it can take a week or more. It all depends whether it's a letter or a parcel since parcels can take longer.

It usually takes less than a week. If it takes more than two there is likely a problem. I am currently waiting for a lot from Poland that has been 9 weeks now. The problem with Paypal and ebay is that you only have 6 weeks to report something and get your money back. I did notify my seller that I had to put in a claim prior to the 6 weeks. I checked with both ebay and Paypal to see if they could extend the time. They could not. I did get my money back. If it ever shows up I can make a manual Paypal payment to the seller. I did not leave negative feedback as it likely is completely out of his control. I have done several transactions with this seller and I believe he shipped the package.

Might these delays affecting mail into the USA be caused by anti-terrorist precautions? Mail from the USA to me in the UK always seems to arrive within 5 to 7 days.

Terry

Hi again,
Well, to give you all an update............. Both auctions were the size to fit into a regular business envelope, and both sellers were in the London area. The first auction was sent out 3 weeks ago, and has yet to arrive. It was relatively inexpensive and the seller has perfect feedback, so I do believe it was sent. The second auction arrived in 1 week. It was 5 times the value of the other auction, and it was very much as advertised.

If/when it arrives, I will let you all know.

Interesting. I find that items I purchase from Amazon.UK come in a little over a week! Items I purchase from sellers on ebay take 2 weeks average.Items from other countries, usually longer.