Tracking from USA to Japan

I was contacted by someone in Japan looking to buy an item I had for sale. They specified that they wanted tracking. Does anybody know if it's possible for USPS or UPS to provide tracking once it leaves the States? Every time I've been given an international tracking number, it goes as far as leaving the country then stops cold. I'm curious if anybody knows a way to track it fully from origin to destination if in another country. Thanks!

 

There was a change in US postal tracking numbers a couple of years ago to address this. For international shipments, they were changed to follow a worldwide standard. I don't know about Japan but since that time I have been able to track packages all the way to delivery in the UK.

Alternatively, you might want to consider a private carrier that operates in Japan. Again, I don't know about the Far East but FedEx will take packages to Europe. In some countries, they have an agreement with a local carrier to complete the delivery. In others, FedEx makes the delivery.

In Italy, a package started its journey to me with a local carrier, who had a US based website that allowed me to use their tracking number to follow my package, even though it was now in the hands of others.

I guess what I'm saying is the rules have changed.

 

Thanks. I'll look into all this.

 

The customs numbers go dead after being put on the plane in the U.S.. Jamaica New York is usually the last scan. Jamaica New York is JFK Airport. 50% of the time Japan/Canada/U.K. get scanned. You'll get blown out on Paypal reversals from many people who know if it doesn't say delivered they can get a free eBay item. Anybody who says "I want a tracking number" I give them back their money. It costs $15 for one, registered mail. They go crickets when I say "so, $15?"

 

I just had a package shipped from Hong Kong to the US and it had tracking the whole way. It was sent through DHL though.

 

I'll have to ask when I ship it tomorrow how the process is going to work. Thanks for the heads up, though!

 

Well, that went horribly! Note to anyone considering this, don't ever send anything internationally via USPS. I would have had a better experience if the postman just pissed in my mailbox. Got massively over-charged on shipping and they didn't even provide tracking until it left the US (which I specifically requested and was told I would get). The staff was full of the joys of spring, too. I'm considering pulling my remaining Discogs listings so I don't have to deal with them again. Shockingly bad customer service.

 

USPS for international shipping is always a fiasco. The staff is almost always wholly unprepared or untrained to deal with it and the amount of misinformation I've heard them relay to customers is wild.

 

I had no issue with it a few years back when I sent something to a forum member in the UK. I wasn't bothered with tracking then, though (though I think I got it for within the US).

 

I generally have good experiences with USPS. I've sent a number of things internationally and have never had any problems. That said, tracking doesn't always work properly when dealing with international shipments. The record I ordered from the Netherlands that just resurfaced in New York almost 2 months later is trackable until it arrives on my doorstep. The one from Spain I'm currently waiting on was only trackable with Correos España until it left Spain. The USPS website says that tracking isn't eligible for that product, for whatever reason. I would be cautious sending things via USPS internationally (besides maybe Canada) during this pandemic, as there could be long delays.