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View Full Version : have you had success from having things shipped from Italy?



I like mango pudding
May 7th, 2013, 05:35 PM
I've heard stories of lost packages, stolen items replaced with junk, the list goes on.

I am eyeing a pen but, it is being shipped from Italy. This gives me second thoughts on whether or not it'll arrive successfully to North America.

Any stories you have?

AltecGreen
May 7th, 2013, 05:44 PM
I've heard stories of lost packages, stolen items replaced with junk, the list goes on.

I am eyeing a pen but, it is being shipped from Italy. This gives me second thoughts on whether or not it'll arrive successfully to North America.

Any stories you have?


A large fraction of my vintage Italians pens came from Italy. All of them were shipped via registered mail and made it here successfully. This includes pens in the over $1K category. Bear in mind the shipping via registered mail can be slow. I had to wait as much as six weeks for one pen but most arrived in the three-four week time range. Of course, I was dealing with very well known pen collectors.


However, I am hesitant to ship to Italy.

I like mango pudding
May 7th, 2013, 07:30 PM
okay, that's re-assuring.

but, would you buy a pen without papers but just the box? We're talking a several hundred dollar pen.

carlc
May 8th, 2013, 01:43 AM
Personally it's not shipping from Italy (no problems there in the three (or four I can't remember) transactions where I have bought from Italian sellers), it's posting to Italy that's the issue. I had an Italian penpal who told me about sacks of mail being dumped down drains and other horror stories.

carl

jar
May 8th, 2013, 07:12 AM
So far I've had good luck both shipping to and from Italy. However I insist on either registered mail or using FedEx, DHL or UPS.

Robert
May 8th, 2013, 07:17 AM
Earlier this year I ordered a Netunno Docet LE from Giardino Italiano. The pen was shipped to me in Texas via FedEx, and I had it in hand within 48 hours after paying through Paypal. I could not believe how quickly it arrived, and packing quality and communication from the seller could not have been better. True, the shipping charges were a bit hefty but, given the price of the pen, not unreasonable. One small postscript: a couple of weeks after the pen arrived I received a bill from FedEx for U.S. Customs charges that FedEx had advanced. The bill was for $18.65 and appeared legitimate, so I paid it. Over the years I have ordered quite a few items from the UK and the EU, and this was first and only time I ever had to pay customs duty. I chalked it up to Uncle Sam's getting more serious about enhancing revenue.

Freddie
May 8th, 2013, 02:37 PM
In the last six weeks from Italy via registered air mail received several fountain pens..
without any problems.... .

Fred
snacking on corn on the cob..with black truffle salt...
...

piscov
May 9th, 2013, 01:19 AM
if you are on the receiving end it depends more on the honesty of the seller than on the mail service it self. I have received and send pens to Italy with no trouble at all except in one occasion. One time I bought in ebay a Montblanc 144 striated green at a ridiculous low price as it was mislabeled and then that same pen "got lost in the mail"..... I got my refund but what I really wanted was the pen. Send and ask to be sent to you always as registered mail signed for, or use DHL...

tiffanyhenschel
May 9th, 2013, 09:12 PM
I have purchased two pens from a seller in Italy in the last year. Both arrived in about two or three weeks with no problems.