why does international shipping take so long?

International shipping takes 2 to 4 weeks on the standard option because your order travels through several real, physical steps before it even reaches your country — not because something's wrong or your order got lost. Here's the actual chain, and why the wait doesn't mean anything's gone sideways.

The actual shipping chain, step by step

An order doesn't move in one hop — here's the chain:

1. Packed and labeled at origin
2. Handed to a domestic courier
3. Consolidated with other outbound parcels
4. Put on an international flight or ship
5. Cleared through customs on arrival
6. Handed to a local carrier for the last leg to your door

Every handoff above takes time on its own. Every one of those handoffs takes time on its own, which is why the total adds up to weeks even though no single step is actually slow. Standard international shipping typically runs 15 to 45 days; faster options exist and cost more, cutting that down to roughly 3 to 7 days when available.

Why the wait is worth it

A longer shipping window is part of how a small, independent-vendor marketplace like this one keeps prices honest — you're paying for the piece, not for the overhead of a local warehouse holding inventory just to ship it to you a few days faster. The tradeoff is real and worth naming plainly: a lower price in exchange for a longer wait, not a worse deal because it's slower.

When to expect it to take even longer

Chinese New Year (typically late January to mid-February) pauses manufacturing and logistics across a huge share of the world's supply chain for two to four weeks — an order placed right before or during this window will run past the usual estimate, and that's the calendar, not a problem with your specific order. Outside of that window, weather delays, customs holds, and regional carrier backups can each add a few days on top of the standard range.

What this means for your order

Every piece in jewelry ships on this same general timeline — check the estimated window on the product page before ordering, especially if a piece is time-sensitive, like a gift date.