Goods bought online often delayed by Customs processing

EDITORIAL

Living in Bermuda, or any given island, one becomes used to waiting for a considerable amount of time to receive something ordered online. In most cases, it is not unusual to wait for up to three weeks to a month to receive the desired goods.

More often than not, one can look on Facebook and see any number of islanders raising concerns about waiting for items. 

Obviously, there are some challenging logistics of Collecting goods from a central delivery area in America, moving those goods from the USA to the Caribbean, inspecting and processing them through customs then finally sending them out for customer pick up or delivery.

Tick-Tock

All of the above adds up to the time periods in between ordering goods and actually getting them in your hands.

In asking around friends and family in various islands, it seems to be an average waiting time of 10-14 days.

Persons in the BVI tend to send items to an address in Miami, where it is then sent to Tortola via Aeropost.

In the Cayman Islands, many persons ordering items also send it to a Miami address and then on to Cayman Islands via courier.

One thing we all seem to have in common is delays with our items being processed through customs.

Licketey Split

All of this is in stark contrast to those who live in America and order goods online.  While in New York, a few weeks back, I had reason to order a few hard-to-find goods from amazon. Items such as lapel pins, organic cashew nuts, face masks, and some hard-to-find vintage comic books.

Still, on island time, I had prepared myself that I may or may not get the goods before I left. Clearly, I was wrong. Within a few hours, I was notified via email that my goods were on the way when they were on the truck and how many stops before final delivery. 

More often than not, within 24 hours, I would get email notifications with accompanying pictures showing that the items were left at my door. 

Quite impressive, to be honest.

Big Blue Trucks

There is clearly some well-thought-out system in place for persons residing in America to receive goods within 24 hours of ordering.

While the typical person may never know all of those inner workings, it is impossible not to see some of them in action. Driving in America, no matter which state, one is bound to see an Amazon truck. Whether the big container trucks on the highways or the smaller delivery trucks on local roads.

What is interesting is the frequency in which you see them.

On any given day, one could count at least 20-30 of these vehicles.

Without a doubt, the seamless deliveries, coupled with the world’s insatiable appetite for online shopping, are the prime reasons, pun intended, why Amazon’s profits tripled over the last 18 months. 

Especially during the ongoing pandemic when buying online was the de facto way of shopping.

“Amazon delivered a record performance in 2020 with annual revenue up 38% to $386 billion, a yearly increase of over $100 billion. Net profit for Amazon was up 84% for the year as compared to last year,” Forbes.com reported.

Apps, Apps, Apps

Whether it be rare comic books, a needed electronic item, the latest clothing, or food from around the corner, Amazon and other entities have found a way to evolve, improve and grow their business models constantly. 

The next time that you see someone delivering your Amazon goodies, please make sure to give them a big “Thank you.”

After all, it is not their fault that it took so long.

Christopher Famous is the government MP for Devonshire East (Constituency 11) in Bermuda. You can reach him on WhatsApp at 441-599-0901 or e-mail at [email protected]