Did not receive tracking number - what to do

10 days without tracking is fine if you have payment confirmation. Follow up politely if it hits 14 days.

Check your spam folder. Tracking info often ends up there from automated messages.

Honestly, yeah, that's a super common frustration when you're waiting on an order. Most vendors I've dealt with only generate the tracking number once the pack's physically scanned by the carrier, not the moment they print a label. So that delay between payment and that first scan? Can be anywhere from a week to two weeks, like you said. Some of them batch their shipments or wait for a specific pickup day, so there's that awkward silence period.

Courier choice makes a big difference too. If they're using something like DHL or FedEx, tracking tends to update faster once it's in their hands because of automated scanning at regional hubs. But if it's going through a national postal service or a consolidator, you might see a lag of a day or two before the number even hits the system. Transit hubs are the weak spots—packages can sit in a distribution center or customs for a while without any scan, especially around holidays or during high-volume periods.

On the packaging side, most decent vendors overpack to avoid that "hey this is a card" look. I've seen bubble mailers inside bubble mailers, or boxes stuffed with craft paper so nothing rattles. That extra padding adds a bit of weight, but it's worth it for stealth and durability. Customs is always a gamble, tbh—some shipments clear in hours, others sit for a week. If it's flagged for inspection, the tracking will show "inbound into customs" and then go silent until it clears.

Overall shipping speed depends heavily on origin and destination. From China to the US using standard air mail, I'd budget 2-4 weeks after it actually leaves the vendor's hands. Express options cut that to about 7-10 days but cost more. The main thing: don't panic if you haven't seen a tracking number by day 10. Reach out to the vendor around day 14 if you're still in the dark, but keep it polite—they're usually just being cautious and waiting for the package to be fully in transit before giving you the number.