My recent experience was exactly the opposite: the parcel took a week to get from Santa Clara to San Francisco, and then three days to get from San Francisco to Tokyo, through customs, and to my home. USPS tracking thinks it's still en route to Tokyo.

Japan's postal services are pretty good, though about 40% more expensive than the U.S. for a first class letter.

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Curt J. Sampson - github.com/0cjs

Just had to return a broken item to China. Cheapest tracked option available at USPS site for a 12-oz tiny box - US$34.00 I sure hope AliExpress was right about seller paying for postage (the dispute resolution containing the terms disappeared as soon as I clicked on it - and the seller has not agreed to anything and is not responding). We shall see what happens.

I get things from China, tracked, sometimes for $0.50 items, free delivery. I imagine shipping is somehow free or close to it.

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In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is. ...Jan van de Snepscheut

It's excellent, in my experience at least. They'll deliver on Sundays, always ringing the bell, and if I wasn't home they would leave a note for picking it up at the mail office. *However*, the mailman would usually make another try later the same day, or evening even, so I only actually went to the mail office once or maybe twice back when I ordered a lot of stuff from everywhere.

Yes, in Japan the concept of a "service profession" still seems to mean something. In the West, corners are cut for the sake of cost savings, even when that negatively affects the customer.