How to Mail a Ring back to Tianyu gems?? Help

[llc328]

Hi all

I thought I’d write a new post on this rather than ask on the Tianyu thread hoping it would be seen better this way ....

Unfortunately I have to send a ring back to be fixed ... came to be set crooked .. the basket is literally on a slant...... Ella has been helping me and told me to send it back .....how shall I mail it?!? ..... I am SO nervous as I never sent anything to China before ...Please anyone who has done this , let me know how you sent it ... etc!

Thank you So much in advance

 

[FutureChocolateMLK]

USPS with tracking outside the US. Should be about $35 and gets there in a week or so I believe? I sent mine the cheaper way because it was a loose stone and fairly inexpensive (under $100) and regretted it. It took a couple weeks and I had no idea where it was.

 

[Taurus2313]

Hi all

I thought I’d write a new post on this rather than ask on the Tianyu thread hoping it would be seen better this way ....

Unfortunately I have to send a ring back to be fixed ... came to be set crooked .. the basket is literally on a slant...... Ella has been helping me and told me to send it back .....how shall I mail it?!? ..... I am SO nervous as I never sent anything to China before ...Please anyone who has done this , let me know how you sent it ... etc!

Thank you So much in advance

Yes, as @michellelynn9175 has stated be sure to use USPS Priority Mail International. It will cost about $35.00 and for reference I would add the return shipping address in Chinese also on the outside of the package so that they can read it in their own language when it arrives over there. This will also help to ensure that it makes it to it's proper destination (hopefully) without issue. This is what I did and I had no issue with the package arriving and being scanned as delivered. Hope this helps!

 

[llc328]

USPS with tracking outside the US. Should be about $35 and gets there in a week or so I believe? I sent mine the cheaper way because it was a loose stone and fairly inexpensive (under $100) and regretted it. It took a couple weeks and I had no idea where it was.

Thank you!

 

[llc328]

Yes, as @michellelynn9175 has stated be sure to use USPS Priority Mail International. It will cost about $35.00 and for reference I would add the return shipping address in Chinese also on the outside of the package so that they can read it in their own language when it arrives over there. This will also help to ensure that it makes it to it's proper destination (hopefully) without issue. This is what I did and I had no issue with the package arriving and being scanned as delivered. Hope this helps!

@Taurus2313

So you did not write the address on English? On the shipping label? I appreciate all the help...

 

[Taurus2313]

@Taurus2313

So you did not write the address on English? On the shipping label? I appreciate all the help...

Oh yes of course you do write it in English but also add it in Chinese underneath the main shipping label that will be in English.. Sorry for any confusion there.
Like this:

 

[llc328]

Oh yes of course you do write it in English but also add it in Chinese underneath the main shipping label that will be in English.. Sorry for any confusion there.
Like this:

Thank you! @Taurus2313
I’ll ask Ella to write it in Chinese for me then I guess ... I have NO idea how to write the address myself in Chinese

 

[Taurus2313]

Thank you! @Taurus2313
I’ll ask Ella to write it in Chinese for me then I guess ... I have NO idea how to write the address myself in Chinese

What I did was take the return address they provide in the English version (This was a different company than Tianyu) and then enter it into the Google Translate page. Convert that to Chinese Traditional and then copy it and print it out.. I can't write Chinese either, lol..

 

[llc328]

What I did was take the return address they provide in the English version (This was a different company than Tianyu) and then enter it into the Google Translate page. Convert that to Chinese Traditional and then copy it and print it out.. I can't write Chinese either, lol..

I was thinking of that way as well ...lol!.. I did email Ella anyhow though asking her to write it out for me

I appreciate the help
Thank you again
@Taurus2313

 

[Taurus2313]

I was thinking of that way as well ...lol!.. I did email Ella anyhow though asking her to write it out for me

I appreciate the help
Thank you again
@Taurus2313

You are so welcome. Happy that I could be of some help.

 

[peacechick]

I should point out that China does not use Chinese Traditional anymore, they switched to Chinese Simplified in the 60s. Only Hong Kong and Taiwan use the Traditional script now. My guess is the post office can still probably read the address fine since they process mail from Hong Kong, but a young person who never learnt the traditional script may not be able to.

 

[Taurus2313]

I should point out that China does not use Chinese Traditional anymore, they switched to Chinese Simplified in the 60s. Only Hong Kong and Taiwan use the Traditional script now. My guess is the post office can still probably read the address fine since they process mail from Hong Kong, but a young person who never learnt the traditional script may not be able to.

I did research this before shipping my package over there and I chose to use the traditional vs the simplified and my package had no problems getting delivered.

"Although the majority of the population uses Simplified Chinese there is a trend towards returning to Traditional Chinese."
Source: http://www.iwtservices.com/resources/chinese_sort.htm

Either one will be fine..

 

[mochiko42]

I should point out that China does not use Chinese Traditional anymore, they switched to Chinese Simplified in the 60s. Only Hong Kong and Taiwan use the Traditional script now. My guess is the post office can still probably read the address fine since they process mail from Hong Kong, but a young person who never learnt the traditional script may not be able to.

I agree with you @peacechick

As someone who's lived and worked in both China and Hong Kong for the past 15 years, I would recommend using simplified Chinese for mainland China if you want to be on the safe side. Traditional Chinese is taught in HK, Taiwan and Macau whereas simplified is used in mainland China and Singapore. It should be fine to use either but why risk it? My colleagues from mainland China all only knew simplified and once you cross the border to China everything is in simplified, I would say very few people in mainland China are confident reading traditional text (it's not taught in most public schools and for political reasons knowledge of it has been suppressed in the past) except those who travel to HK/Taiwan frequently or specialize in linguistics or ancient Chinese literature. Most postal workers especially in more rural provinces like Guangxi would be unlikely to fall into these categories.

When my colleagues came to Hong Kong they had to guess a fair number of the written traditional Chinese words. It is easier for someone who knows traditional Chinese characters to read simplified text than vice versa. It's kind of like a driver who learned only automatic trying to use a manual car. It probably will work out ok but I wouldn't be 100% confident about it

 

[llc328]

Thank you everyone for your input and help...... I had Ella write it out in Chinese for me so no translation needed....also my Hubby seems to think having it just written in just English will be fine too?!?

 

[mochiko42]

Thank you everyone for your input and help...... I had Ella write it out in Chinese for me so no translation needed....also my Hubby seems to think having it just written in just English will be fine too?!?

Nooo... Definitely have it printed in Chinese too. Even having traditional Chinese is better than only English. Many people in China don't know English or pinyin very well..also when in pinyin it could mean different words which could result in delays or loss of mail. Just as an example, if you put the English letters "ma", it could mean mother, horse, hemp/linen, sesame or many other words in Chinese but when in Chinese characters they're completely different. 媽 ， 馬， 麻 = these are all "ma" in English /pinyin ...

 

[Taurus2313]

I agree with @mochiko42
I was told to do this and if someone had not even told me to also add the shipping address in Chinese, I would have never known or thought to have done so. I cannot recommend it enough that you do also add it in Chinese as well whether it be in Traditional or Simplified..

 

[FutureChocolateMLK]

I sent a loose stone back to StarsGem in English only and it made it there fine. Not saying you shouldn’t include the Chinese translation, but that was my experience.

 

[llc328]

I sent a loose stone back to StarsGem in English only and it made it there fine. Not saying you shouldn’t include the Chinese translation, but that was my experience.

Thank you ....@michellelynn9175

 

[llc328]

I am very nervous sending it back..... I think Priority International should be safe, Its just once it leaves and gets overseas I believe I cannot track it any longer?... buttttttt I know I cannot wear it with the basket set crooked..... drives me crazy just looking at it.........ughhhhhh

 

[Taurus2313]

I am very nervous sending it back..... I think Priority International should be safe, Its just once it leaves and gets overseas I believe I cannot track it any longer?... buttttttt I know I cannot wear it with the basket set crooked..... drives me crazy just looking at it.........ughhhhhh

No, you will be able to track it..It will just take about 6-10 business days to get there. I was able to track mine just fine.

 

[mochiko42]

I am very nervous sending it back..... I think Priority International should be safe, Its just once it leaves and gets overseas I believe I cannot track it any longer?... buttttttt I know I cannot wear it with the basket set crooked..... drives me crazy just looking at it.........ughhhhhh

You should be able to track it. Don't worry. I buy and ship to/from the US all the time and so far it's been OK. Tracking varies but priority/EMS/express mail tends to have more tracking updates than registered airmail. Sometimes it would be faster for a package to get from Hong Kong to the US than it would be for regular domestic mail in the US. (I once sent a package from HK to New York and it got there in 3 days and I've received packages from US vendors within 4-5 days before. Sometimes it will take much longer. But it should eventually get there.)

For sending items to China, I would ask the vendor how you should fill out the customs form in order to avoid delays/import fees...China customs can sometimes be a little idiosyncratic.

I understand how some imperfection can be annoying - a crooked basket would bother me too !! --- and I'm sorry the vendor did not catch it before sending it to you the first time. Hopefully they can fix it to your satisfaction soon

 

[llc328]

You should be able to track it. Don't worry. I buy and ship to/from the US all the time and so far it's been OK. Tracking varies but priority/EMS/express mail tends to have more tracking updates than registered airmail. Sometimes it would be faster for a package to get from Hong Kong to the US than it would be for regular domestic mail in the US. (I once sent a package from HK to New York and it got there in 3 days and I've received packages from US vendors within 4-5 days before. Sometimes it will take much longer. But it should eventually get there.)

For sending items to China, I would ask the vendor how you should fill out the customs form in order to avoid delays/import fees...China customs can sometimes be a little idiosyncratic.

I understand how some imperfection can be annoying - a crooked basket would bother me too !! --- and I'm sorry the vendor did not catch it before sending it to you the first time. Hopefully they can fix it to your satisfaction soon

Thank you...... Ella did say to declare it as 925 silver with a $25.00 value ...

 

[llc328]

No, you will be able to track it..It will just take about 6-10 business days to get there. I was able to track mine just fine.

@Taurus2313
Thank you!
So then Priority international is trackable... that’s great to know ... .. I will make sure that is what we use ... my hubby is taking it tomorrow for me the post office is right by his office ...

 

[Taurus2313]

@Taurus2313
Thank you!
So then Priority international is trackable... that’s great to know ... .. I will make sure that is what we use ... my hubby is taking it tomorrow for me the post office is right by his office ...

@llc328
You are so welcome! Yes, as it was my first time to ship overseas as well, I was so very nervous and didn't have a clue as to what to do. I was so intimidated by the customs form but once I did it I realized it isn't all that bad. It's easier than I thought. Hang in there! I hope that your ring gets fixed correctly and that you will be so happy with the end result.

 

[llc328]

@llc328
You are so welcome! Yes, as it was my first time to ship overseas as well, I was so very nervous and didn't have a clue as to what to do. I was so intimidated by the customs form but once I did it I realized it isn't all that bad. It's easier than I thought. Hang in there! I hope that your ring gets fixed correctly and that you will be so happy with the end result.

Thank you ALL again so much for the input and comments helping me .....
@Taurus2313
I’ll definitely post an update.....