Thinking about buying a Camera from HK - New Shipping Rules!

ianh · 8 Oct 2013 at 23:13

Hi all, I didn't see anything posted here about this (or on any of the Hong Kong sites) but if you were thinking about buying any battery powered items (cameras/phones/laptops etc) then new Hong Kong shipping rules might be a problem.

I checked the latest user info from eBay and found this little bit from the 2nd Oct -

Recently the Hong Kong Post announced that all items posted by air are now subject to x-ray screening for regulated materials. This additional screening may cause delayed shipment due to no fault of the seller, so if you purchased an item from a seller in Hong Kong, please allow extra time for delivery - at least a week more than the seller’s stated delivery time.

Also note that items containing the regulated materials are being returned directly to sellers and not delivered to the buyer. These items may include:

· Items with lithium batteries such as video cameras, walkie talkies/2-way radios, GPS devices, radio-controlled toys, Bluetooth headsets, smartphones/mobiles, laptop computers, shavers, power drills, tablets and portable DVD players

· Liquid beauty products, including fragrances, colognes, lotions, and toner

· Items with “eliquids” such as electronic cigarettes and lighters

If you don’t receive your item after waiting the additional week, please contact your seller. If your item was returned to the seller, you should receive a refund.

Depending on how serious the checks are it might put a few Xmas deals I was looking at on the back burner

Nexus · 9 Oct 2013 at 01:43

I believe Hong Kong Post is like the equivalent of Royal Mail, they even had red post boxes when it was still a British colony.

As such, if you were buying any item of value from Hong Kong it likely be sent via a courier anyway, so its a non issue.

ElDude · 9 Oct 2013 at 09:48

This might be what's delaying my RC handset I bought from a Hong Kong seller last week. I'm reliving my childhood and just bought a Tamiya Novafox

novafox1 by Niall Allen, on Flickr

sicknote · 9 Oct 2013 at 10:41

I took delivery of a 6D last week. The paperwork was marked as containing lithium. No hold ups with order.

ElDude · 12 Oct 2013 at 15:45

I got the handset today. It was posted 30/9/13 so it took a fair while to get here using standard delivery from Hong Kong, but that's still 1 working day less than expected.