International shipping seems to have suffered terribly during November-December (holiday season superimposed on COVID-related lockdowns), but seems to have recovered since to the point of being completely normal now.

For example, I've had two packages ordered from the UK - same size/weight, same shipment type, ordered a month apart, arrived a day apart. I've had stuff ordered in January arriving before stuff ordered late November. The worst case took just over 3 months to arrive (normally takes 2-3 weeks for that route), but also arrived in the end.

I seen some interesting cards and motherboards from Russia but I never bothered to order any since shipping would seem to take forever and I worry about international scammers.

Unknown_K wrote on 2021-03-10, 23:17:

I seen some interesting cards and motherboards from Russia but I never bothered to order any since shipping would seem to take forever and I worry about international scammers.

I've ordered from Russia once, Am486DX4 CPU with heatsink/fan, still using it six years later. Came in in 2 weeks IIRC.

I've never had problems buying from Russia. I mostly buy from or via collectors though.

debs3759 wrote on 2021-03-11, 05:26:

I've never had problems buying from Russia. I mostly buy from or via collectors though.

I have had very good experiences with sellers in Eastern Europe (Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary) . I practically only buy from sellers who deal with retro hardware on a regular basis and have good feedback. IMHO, that helps avoid problems, regardless of seller location .

- Prices are usually reasonable
- Sellers usually seem like they know what they are selling and I have greater confidence that they have actually tested it when they say that they have
- I have never had a DOA
- Since I choose sellers who deal in retro PC parts and overseas buyers regularly, they usually know how to properly pack for long-distance (either that or I have been very lucky) .

Another good reason to consider Eastern European sellers is product availability . As I have said before on Vogons (LOL, quoting myself) : " . For some reason, when I need something retro and don't mind waiting, there often seems to be nice product in that part of the world and often much cheaper than in North America . I wonder if there are some large-scale recycling operations going in those places or if there is some other reason ."

+1 to good experiences buying from Eastern European sellers, no DOAs in my experience either. Most importantly, they usually know what they're selling, so they can test it properly and things are priced fairly, meaning no "50USD for an untested generic ISA controller card" bullshit that you see in many America/Europe listings.

Packaging can be hit or miss, but I've never had anything from those sellers arrive broken.

In fact, years ago when the prices for 3DFX gear were still low, I was looking for a matching card to put my old Diamond Monster 3D II in SLI. However, I ended up getting two mint "Black Magic" V2s from Russia for about $40 (and I was hesitant to pay that much, how things have changed). That seller had a seemingly unending stock!

darry wrote on 2021-03-11, 05:40:

. I wonder if there are some large-scale recycling operations going in those places or if there is some other reason ."

Most of the big IT players have bases in Eastern Europe due to cheaper land prices, so I imagine that pulls alot of the other parts towards them for various reasons.

It may also be that hardware that had become obsolete in the West continued to be used in the East later, putting them half a step back on the price curve from a Western buyer's perspective (expensive > landfill-bound junk > expensive)

I suspect it's the common dynamic whereby the world's rubbish/refuse gets bumped down to the financially-poorer regions of the world, where wages are sufficiently low to make processing it worthwhile, and the motivation to turn the leftovers of others into a viable income exists.