3/22/20 Ebay Email From Seller Regarding Shipments During The Pandemic

Received two parcels out of Thailand yesterday.

Still have 3 expensive, hard to find items in a parcel still to come from Thailand to Australia.

Here's hoping!

And internal UK mail is working fine - today I received a 1st class letter mailed yesterday. Just returned from the local Post Office - limited hours, social distancing (6 feet between customers) and some lifting of delivery guarantees (ie Special Delivery) but accepted two mailings for the USA without any problems.
Steve Taylor
https://stephentaylor.co.uk

I am waiting for 5 orders from India. They have not left India yet.Restrictions on international flights I suppose.

Decided to add some text to my ebay boilerplate about the effects of the virus on the post (closure of my local office, need to use couriers for certain parcels, delays for overseas etc). Unfortunately, use of the word "coronavirus" triggered an allergic reaction from ebay, and a warning that I couldn't sell products that treat, or claim to treat, the virus. Doh.

Our post office in US has a list of coronavirus shipping exceptions by country tacked to the wall behind the teller, but I can't find it online.

I'm still waiting for an ebay item from the U.K., purchased on March 2nd. Today is the end of the "Estimated Delivery" window. I don't know whether this is due to delays caused by coronavirus or "business as usual," such as the black hole in New York that occasionally swallows mail from Europe, or even just a dodgy ebay seller.

In the meantime, I got another ebay item from the U.K., which only took a week to reach me in California (Mar. 9–16).

All my items out of Thailand have arrived safe and sound.

Very releaved indeed!

Update: The item just arrived a few minutes ago, 29 days after purchase. No delay at the seller's end, since it was postmarked March 3rd.

On the other hand, I just got another ebay item from the U.K. (registered mail, a.k.a. International Tracked & Signed), posted in Cambridgeshire on April 14th and delivered in California on April 20th. That's even faster than usual.