Has anyone recently ordered from Parabox?

I'm a bit nervous to buy internationally during the pandemic. I had bought 4 packages from Japan and Russia in March/April/May and all were lost until just recently. And only one package has updated its tracking (should be here today) during this time, the rest just showed up unexpectedly.

I've been wanting to buy a doll for my birthday as it's been a while and I have my eye on a Parabox Otohime. But that is a much larger purchase than the previous packages and I'd hate for it to become lost in the mail as well during this unprecedented time.

I was wondering if anyone had some recent experience with purchasing from Parabox and how their shipping adventure played out.

I’m not sure if i can be of any help because i didn’t order anything from parabox during the pandemic but i did order from japan and got my parcels just slightly delayed! The latest one had free shipping but i believe it’s some express shipping, it also had tracking! 

On the other hand the DD i’m waiting for is probably going to be slightly delayed too! If i’m not receiving it next week then it surely will as it’s already been 3 weeks now! 😹

But honestly it also depends about the situation your country is in so if you don’t want to wait and face delays, maybe you can order it later? But we also don’t know if the situation will actually get worse again rather than better.. so if i were you i would still order it ^ ^ 

Oh! Yes that would help. I'm so used to my location being under my username. I'm from the US. I bought my earlier packages just before everything shut down, before there even was a hint that mail would stop (for some, I took a chance at a mother's day thing)... and that was an agonizing mess when everything went into limbo.

Things do seem to be doing better for international mail at the moment. But...I don't know. I'm wondering if I'd be better off buying domestically for a bit despite wanting this doll a bit more. 😅

I see! I’ve seen some shop on etsy saying there will be delays because of the covid coming back, it was shops from hong kong and one from japan i think!

i’m from France and things are slightly going downside again so i’d rather order my intl goods asap, just in case 😹

From my experience buying on parabox, they ship with EMS, if EMS is not available for the US they might switch it to DHL or something, it probably won’t get lost for weeks but it will be more expensive 🤔 

parabox is fast usually so maybe go for it! 

if things do get worse you’ll be able to order other things domestically for a while! But I’d understand if you’d rather wait too! I’m just kinda on the impulsive side ^ ^

I haven't done a Parabox order this year myself, either. If it helps, earlier in the year I was browsing their site, and they were not shipping internationally at all due to the lack of EMS. But now their page says they can do most countries. It also specifically says that if you are buying an Otohime there's an extra shipping fee in Europe, but not in the US.

Other packages from Japan,  like from Volks, that I've gotten recently have arrived pretty quickly, especially considering that our domestic packages have slowed to a crawl lately.

I'd say that it's a risk to buy now, but not that big of one. It's up to you, though. If you'd rather not risk it on a bigger purchase, that's totally understandable. 

I haven't ordered from Parabox, but I did place a few orders from Mandarake (one being a DD). It took less than a week for it to arrive (I am located in SoCal). The only packages that were lost, happen to be small purchases from Ebay (eyes and some molds). I hope that helps.

I've placed two orders from Parabox during the pandemic.  One was on 5/27.  I don't have my shipping information from that one anymore, but it took about a week to the west coast of the US.  My second order was placed on 7/16, and delivered on 7/20.  Shipping was via DHL International Express.  It's more expensive than EMS (and the prices were higher on more recent shipments for me), but it's been reliable.  I've had a few orders from Mandarake during the same time frame, also shipped via DHL International Express, and they've also taken around a week to west coast US.  The shipments from Parabox were parts, so they were smaller boxes and around $10-$20 shipping.  My orders from Mandarake were 50cm dolls, and were $65 and $100 for shipping.

I'm sorry for the late reply, I've been dealing with a sinus infection. But thank you all for your input! It certainly has helped!

 

I haven't quite decided which doll to go for yet so that's my only decision now! At least shipping isn't holding that back. X3

A quick update: I decided to be a bit impulsive (and with hubby's blessing) I ordered both dolls! So one from Parabox and the other is off topic (resin)! I'm not the best at getting pictures done, but I'll try! Now to keep my fingers crossed that they both get here safely! Thanks again everyone! 

Welcome to the dark side which is impulsive buying 😹

i also hope you will receive both your dolls safely and in time!! ^ ^

On 8/5/2020 at 1:30 AM, Azael said:

A quick update: I decided to be a bit impulsive (and with hubby's blessing) I ordered both dolls! So one from Parabox and the other is off topic (resin)! I'm not the best at getting pictures done, but I'll try! Now to keep my fingers crossed that they both get here safely! Thanks again everyone! 

Congratz! I hope they both arrive safely too. Looking forward to seeing the pictures! 

On 8/4/2020 at 10:30 PM, Azael said:

A quick update: I decided to be a bit impulsive (and with hubby's blessing) I ordered both dolls! So one from Parabox and the other is off topic (resin)! I'm not the best at getting pictures done, but I'll try! Now to keep my fingers crossed that they both get here safely! Thanks again everyone! 

Good thoughts for both dolls to arrive safely as well! Super interested in seeing your Otohime when she/he arrives! Unfortunately there aren't that many owner pics on the interwebs besides a few japanese twitter profiles. I love seeing their pics but wish I could read what they're tweeting lol.

 

I thought Parabox only ships through EMS; Postal services for USA through EMS has been on hold for months. I currently have 3 paid packages on hold at AmiAmi since June and one from  early February ( Shipped from Buyee) which took a whole 2 months to arrive (they are big boxes maybe that affects the delivery time?) . Did they give you an ETA? I do hope they arrive safely and looking forward to those photos

I ordered 2 obitsu 11 girls from them on Monday or Tuesday and got my dolls on Thursday! I hope you get your dolls soon!

I ordered a obitsu 40cm doll and it should be here this week. I think l ordered it last week. 

I'm happy to report that my Parabox Otohime (currently unnamed) arrived swiftly and safely! Yay! Ordered on August 5th and arrived on August 10th - so super fast! Silly me forgot to order her a wig, and my collection of eyes were stuck in the closet that's currently packed full of moving boxes (so not easily obtainable). But hopefully you won't mind the eyeless and wigless pictures! You can see pictures of her on my Instagram! Sorry I can't upload directly at the moment.

Unfortunately I'll probably wait a bit before ordering a wig. We're currently dealing with a large wildfire in our area. We had to evacuate but came back the next day when those orders were lifted. Emergency bag is still packed just in case! I'll be sure to post more about her in the Otohime thread!

I did order 2 Parabox items this year.

One was a Obitsu 27cm with a Petite Hime head, 12mm eyes, and a 5inch wig for her. That took maybe a week to arrive (but that was in April...)

The next which was in June was a 8inch wig for my DD. That took 4 days. 

Thanks, 

Benji