Jicafold

So I ordered some brake calipers off Ebay from China on Feb 22, 2020. They arrived yesterday, Sep 23, 2020. I know there is a Coronavirus causing shipping delays, but that's 7 months. Is it safe to expect any more prompt shipping from China at this time or does it still suck?

2_i 

It is getting better on the average and as far as the worst and best cases are concerned. One of my recent orders arrived within 2 weeks by regular mail.

Reflector Guy

Did they ship it via rowboat?

On a more serious note: It probably only took a couple of weeks but there was probably some manufacturing or sales backlog beforehand they had to get through. Did they provide a tracking number? Although even that is not always a sure thing because they could print a shipping label today but not actually "ship" it for a long time.

Jicafold

No there was no tracking number. I was going to file a claim a few months ago then actually forgot all about it until they showed up.

Rhondito

I ordered a couple of things in April and May and it took about 2 months for them to arrive. (One item I didn't know was shipping from China until I got my shipping notice.)
I've decided since that I'd rather pay a little more and buy from somewhere in the States than play the waiting game from overseas.

indyfabz

Just wait until he finds out they are counterfeit.

Jicafold

The brand name on them was "Radius". Look like decent quality. Certainly worth the $17.80 I paid for a set of new dual pivot front and rear calipers.

veganbikes

Radius is not counterfeit just cheap stuff. I have seen it on various lower end bikes, probably functional and with some decent pads and cables and housing probably will be OK braking.

I wouldn't expect prompt shipping from overseas at this point. There is a global pandemic and the U.S. is now the hotbed of it.

Pop N Wood

I ordered an ebike kit and the battery took over 3 months to arrive. The CA company I bought the kit from said the battery was shipped within a few days of my order, but got stuck on the pier waiting for a plane to LA. Said there was nothing he or the battery company could do about it, FEDEX tracking number didn't come active until the package got to the US.

They said many Chinese items get put in the belly of passenger planes on a space available basis. Since no passengers were traveling things got stuck on the dock.

This was in the spring when the rona was at its worst

Trocadile

I just bought a crankset and some tires on AliExpress and handlebars on eBay (all from China) and they all came within 2-3 weeks.

VegasTriker

I track all of my online purchases in a spreadsheet so I know when they were ordered and when they arrived at my door or in my mailbox. Just two orders in the past 6 months took more than 21 days. A package of 10 diamond cutting wheels for a Dremel tool took 51 days but that was an outlier, the only thing that took more than 30 days. About half of my orders arrived within two weeks and 3/4 of them by 21 days. I recently purchased a #45 derailleur hangar for $7 and it arrived after 16 days. Apparently it is an odd one because if I ordered it domestically on eBay the cheapest US seller wants $32 for it and I would receive it within 7 days. What is much more apparent is prices have risen a lot since the USPS adjusted the shipping rates last July. A lot fewer items come from China with free shipping and when there is a shipping charge it is much higher than in the past. Not all of the problem can be aimed at the Chinese shippers. We all know that mail here in the US has been screwed up royally recently.

2_i 

I have large statistics and opposite experiences maybe because of many lower-priced orders. 3 months delivery was quite typical, One order took 5 months and one got lost. Some more expensive products arrived within 6 weeks, maybe due to a more expensive service chosen by the seller. Turmoil seemed to be there on both sides of the ocean, long time spent in the warehouse before loading on the plane and long time afterwards. Looking into more details more chaos seemed to rage on the US side, with some items pointlessly traveling around the country in directions opposite to mine. Closer to now, many vendors increased shipping prices, sometimes from $5 to $45, but others kept them low. Delivery times started getting closer to normal only over the last month+.

Atlas Shrugged

I probably could be better with my money that's for sure but purchasing a cheap brakeset from China I just don't see the value proposition. I would not risk it on such critical components to safety.

PGHNeil

A little bird told me we’re in a trade war with China. I wouldn’t put much stock in it though. I ordered a sports mask in April On Amazon and I was told it wouldn’t be delivered until July. I looked and sure enough: the seller was in China It came in May. Still slow, but not nearly as bad as originally estimated. Thank you Jeff Bezos.

rydabent

That would be your slow boat FROM China.

Doc_Wui

Ordered an Altus derailleur off ebay. Decided to pay a few dollars more for a local seller and another 3 bucks for shipping. Turned out my payment still went to a paypal address in China, but the parts were in the USA. Came in four days.