Shipping times - What's realistic these days?
Yeah, honestly, those timeframes are pretty much what I've been seeing too. Domestic has been hitting that 7-14 day window pretty consistently for me. But it really depends on which courier the vendor uses and what class of service they ship with. If they go with a standard envelope via USPS First Class, it's usually on the faster end — like 5-8 days. But I've had a few land after two full weeks when the package got routed through a regional sorting center that was backed up. Priority Mail domestically is a safer bet if the vendor offers it, but you're paying a premium and it's not always worth it for a novelty ID order, tbh.
International from China has been a mixed bag, honestly. The 2-4 week estimate seems realistic if you're using a standard ePacket or China Post airmail, but I've noticed the transit hubs make a huge difference. Once it clears the origin facility in Shenzhen or Guangzhou, it'll usually hit a major hub like Hong Kong or Shanghai. Then it heads to the destination country. I've seen packages sit at that hub for 4-5 days just waiting for a flight. Then when it lands in the destination country, it goes through customs at the major entry point — that's usually LAX, JFK, O'Hare, or Miami depending on where you live. That's where things can get stuck for an extra 5-10 days sometimes, honestly.
Packaging durability is something people don't think about enough. For domestic, the envelope is usually a standard bubble mailer or a plain manila envelope with minimal padding. I've had a couple arrive with creased corners because they were stuffed into a mailbox. International packages tend to come in a thin poly mailer that offers zero protection if it gets crushed under heavy boxes. A few vendors use a cardboard sleeve, which helps a lot. As for customs, I've had international orders sit there for 2 weeks with no updates, then suddenly clear and get delivered in 2 days. Other times they breeze through in under 48 hours — it's completely random. Overall, if you're ordering domestic, I'd plan for 10-14 days to be safe, and for international, give it a solid month before you start worrying. Faster shipping methods like DHL or FedEx Priority exist but they're rare for this type of order and cost a lot more, tbh.
