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How good/bad is Amazon.com's shipping to Colombia?

A bit of a dumb question but...I've been thinking about ordering a couple of Colombia books and/or CDs from Amazon lately and I'd like to hear about people with previous experiences.

The thing is, I've never had Amazon ship me things directly to Colombia before (any previous orders have been shipped to third parties, people usually not in Colombia itself)

Any stories about orders getting caught up in the webs of the postal service, or requiring payment of additional taxes here?

By juancegomez on Jun 28, 2006, 22:31 in Friendly Talkzone. AddThis Social Bookmark Button


miamimike says on Jun 28, 2006, 23:04:

I'll be interested to see how long your delivery is, of course it depends on the Carrier like servientraga or another private delivery service. Forget regular mail. I will be using Mercado Libre.com soon and delivery is something to contend with in that venue also. I bought 2 books recently on Amazon and the first one arrived after 2 weeks. This is excessive in my opinion since its a US to US address the books were shipped to!

Avatar Legend: Bush "If any of you Reporters are wondering, it was a Size 10"

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robi666 (Trustee board) says on Jun 29, 2006, 03:48:

Ordered three times from Amazon while in Colombia. Two from Cartagena, one from Medellin. Everything was delivered within the estimated date.

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

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platano says on Jun 29, 2006, 07:02:

Book orders I made (about 150 titles in all) from a university bookstore shipped to Cali and Medellin. About 50 different orders over a twelve year period with zero problems. Minimum to maximum ship times from USA to Colombia: 9 to 27 days.

I chose the bookstore account rather than Amazon.com because at the time Amazon.com was not paying international postage. The bookstore was shipping to Medellin and Cali postage-free and I was in heaven. It's best to order in small amounts: one, two or three books per order. It may be because I was shipping to an "apartado aereo" where I knew everybody that nothing ever got stolen or lost.

Of course, current shipping policies for both sources regarding postage may have changed and your mileage may vary depending on the final destination address.

plátano

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miamimike says on Jun 29, 2006, 11:23:

What was the name of the Delivery Service? and were these books shipped from within Colombia to another Colombia Address or were they shipped from a US Address to a Colombia Address? I ask this because I have seen colombian Book sellers selling within colombia so this would greatly change deivery time and price.

Avatar Legend: Bush "If any of you Reporters are wondering, it was a Size 10"

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juancegomez says on Jun 29, 2006, 22:16:

Thanks for the input guys So it seems that it's a bit of mixed bag, though apparently slightly more positive than negative?

I'll try to order something relatively expendable then, as a test case.

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miamimike says on Jun 29, 2006, 22:26:

Still the question... and were these books shipped from within Colombia to another Colombia Address or were they shipped from a US Address to a Colombia Address? I ask this because I have seen colombian Book sellers selling within colombia so this would greatly change deivery time and price

Avatar Legend: Bush "If any of you Reporters are wondering, it was a Size 10"

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maraca says on Jun 30, 2006, 04:34:

The same happened to me THe only time i ordered i got the books almost 7 months after i ordered them. I never ordered anything else again.

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maraca says on Jun 30, 2006, 04:34:

The same happened to me THe only time i ordered i got the books almost 7 months after i ordered them. I never ordered anything else again.

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gorgonabob says on Jul 2, 2006, 15:30:

books i have ordered books several times on amazon.com/
it may take a long time (two months) on average to get here but they have all arrived... twice i wrote them to tell them the stuff had not arrived after eight weeks which was there maximim time.. they sent the stuff again and i ended up getting two of everything eventually... very good value

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gorgonabob says on Jul 2, 2006, 15:31:

books i have ordered books several times on amazon.com/
it may take a long time (two months) on average to get here but they have all arrived... twice i wrote them to tell them the stuff had not arrived after eight weeks which was there maximim time.. they sent the stuff again and i ended up getting two of everything eventually... very good value

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platano says on Jul 2, 2006, 18:06:

The reason I used a university bookstore is I could request the orders be sent via airmail. Anything that comes by boat is going to take months instead of days to arrive. As I said, when I placed my orders, the bookstore would send the books airmail in very thick corrugated cardboard stapled with giant staples that nobody could mess with in transit and because they came to the post office (correo aereo) and I knew the employees no one stole my stuff. I am just blessed... and I was in bibliographic heaven!

plátano

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