What a tracking number actually tells you

International parcels move through more hands than domestic ones, and the tracking you see reflects when someone scanned a label, not where the parcel is right now.

The first scan can take days

A tracking number is generated when we print the label. The parcel is not collected until the carrier comes, and it is not scanned until it reaches their depot. Between printing and the first scan there is usually 24 to 72 hours where tracking shows nothing at all.

Customs is a black hole

Once a parcel enters the destination country it waits for customs clearance. During that wait, nothing scans. Five or six days of silence here is ordinary. It is not lost.

The handover gap

Many international services hand the parcel to the local postal service for the last leg. There is often a gap of a day or two where the first carrier has stopped tracking it and the second has not started.

When to actually worry

If tracking has not moved for more than seven days, email us. We will open an investigation with the carrier, and you do not have to do any of that yourself.

If it has been thirty days since shipping and the parcel has not arrived, we refund or replace it. You do not need to wait for the investigation to finish first.