Tracking information
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
Shipping statistics pre July 2020
Tracking information
TNT (FedEx Express): If your shipment is via TNT (FedEx Express) then enter the tracking code at http://tnt.com
Post office (No tracking/insurance, your risk): You chose a shipping method without tracking. There is no way to track your package. Please do not contact us about tracking or where your package is, etc. See FAQ below.
Post Office Registered: If your shipment is via the Post Office, and you chose the tracked option, you can use a number of websites for tracking purposes
PTT is the post office system in Turkey. Most packages are shipped from Turkey. In this case you can use https://track.ptt.gov.tr/ for tracking, it will give you the posting details and the most accurate tracking information from the origin post office until when the packages leaves Turkey.
Your country post: Once the package has arrived in your country, you can use the website of your own national post office for tracking it accurately. For example, USPS in United States.
17track is a good overall way of tracking packages, it has links to both origin and destination countries so can show you the tracking on both sides. See https://www.17track.net/en - it is also good for tracking the Ultimate3S/VFO/Clock enclousres which are shipped from China.
If you have any questions about your package please give your tracking code when you ask at your local post office.
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
Where is my order shipped from?
How soon will you ship my order?
How will my order be packed?
I don't know what my tracking number is?
I didn't receive a shipment notification email...
What is the difference between FedEx Express and TNT?
Why hasn't my order shipped yet?
Where Where is my shipment?
There hasn't been any update on the tracking for a while, can you tell me where my package is?
When will my shipment arrive?
My package seems lost!
My FedEx Express (TNT) package still says "retrieving from address"...
My tracking number doesn't work...
My tracking number still doesn't work...
About public holidays...
My shipment is stuck in Turkey...
Tracking doesn't work in my country...
Why are you no longer collecting shipping statistics?
Where is my order shipped from?
Since 10th April 2018, QRP Labs shipments stopped being sent from Japan. Shipments are now taking place from Turkey. You have a choice of FedEx Express (TNT), or post office airmail. In the latter case you can choose post office airmail with tracking and insurance, or without (at your own risk). The price of the shipping is charged at cost and is usually (but not always!) highest for FedEx Express (TNT) and lowest for untracked uninsured post office airmail.
Certain orders to US customers only, are shipped from US stock in MO. This is at our discretion only, and occurs only for a limited range of QRP Labs kits, depending on availability. US shipments are shipped by USPS domestically and generally take around 2-3 days to arrive. The shipment notification email will inform you if your order was shipped from US. We do not normally provide a tracking number since it only takes 2-3 days anyway, but there IS a tracking number recorded in case we need it, for example if a USPS post was lost (which has never happened, yet).
If you ordered an Ultimate3S enclosure, VFO enclosure, or Clock enclosure, these enclosures are shipped directly from China where they are custom-made for QRP Labs. All other enclosures (for example, QCX+ kit, 50W PA kit) are shipped from Turkey or in some cases, US.
How soon will you ship my order?
If your order is in stock, then we aim to ship within 1 business day of your order placement. You will receive a notification email when your order has been shipped.
If we have very high order volume or a backlog of pending orders, or if we are waiting for a component to arrive, then it may take longer to be able to ship your item; please bear with us as we are only a small business with limited manpower.
In most cases your shipment will be packed with generous quantities of bubble-wrap, in a cardboard box. Be aware that if this will not fit through your letterbox and you are not at home, you may need to collect the package from your neighbour or from your local mail sorting office (varies, from country to country).
In cases where the shipment is small and does not contain any delicate components (e.g. LCD), the shipment may alternatively be packaged in a padded envelope.
I don't know what my tracking number is?
When your order is shipped, the QRP Labs shop will send you an notification email and the order status will be "Shipped". Sometimes these emails are routed to your spam folder. Please check your spam folder. You can also get this information by logging in to your account on the QRP Labs shop (unless you used guest checkout).
If you chose the post office airmail tracked/registered/insured option, or if you chose FedEx Express (TNT) option, then the notification email will also contain your tracking number (Except for shipments of some items from domestic US stock to US customers, which are so quick anyway that that we don't bother normally with the tracking number).
If you chose the cheapest shipment option "No tracking/insurance, your risk" then as it says, you have no tracking number. All bets are off. Please don't ask us where it is: we have no idea, either. You chose the option with no tracking, and it has no tracking.
If your order was shipped from US stock domestically from US, which happens in certain cases for some US customers at our discretion, then USPS was used for your order. We don't generally provide the tracking number since shipment only takes 2-3 days anyway. But we do have a tracking number that we can use if needed, for example if a package as lost (which has never yet happened, with USPS).
I didn't receive a shipment notification email...
Sometimes these emails are routed to your spam folder. Please check your spam folders. Some spam filters are a MENACE.
Sometimes if an item is unexpectedly out of stock or there is some other problem then we may not have shipped it yet.
What is the difference between FedEx Express and TNT?
None. FedEx and TNT are the same company, they are undergoing a corporate integration since 2016. In some countries, the service is operated by the legacy FedEx network, in others, by the legacy TNT network. For example, in US FedEx is used. In Turkey (where our packages are sent from), the legacy TNT operations are used. So your package will arrive in a TNT envelope, But it could be delivered by FedEx in your country, or TNT, depending on which operations are used by FedEx/TNT in your country.
Why hasn't my order shipped yet?
We try to always ship orders within 1 business day. However, we only ship orders on business days. There may be public holidays in Turkey, that could be on different days to your country.
In some cases, your order could contain an item which we have unexpectedly run out of stock of, and are waiting for new supplies to arrive. We will try to make this known on the ordering page so that you are aware of it at the time of ordering.
1) If you chose the fastest shipment option FedEx Express (TNT) then you can use the provided tracking number at http://tnt.com and will get a very good idea of where it is.
2) If you chose the post office airmail option with tracking, then you can use the provided tracking number in the tracking box in the "Tracking Information" above, or at the website of PTT (Turkish post) or the postal service in your country, see above. There will not be any information on its movements after leaving Turkey, and when it is in your country; delays can vary, some countries don't register updates until after customs clearance and that can take some time. Some countries don't reliably enter tracking updates at all. Your mileage may vary.
3) If you chose the post office airmail option "No tracking/insurance, your risk"... then all bets are off, we have no idea where it is, nobody does, since it has no bar-code on it for tracking. Just wait patiently, please don't ask us where it is.
There hasn't been any update on the tracking for a while, can you tell me where my package is?
If you chose FedEx Express (TNT) then updates are likely to be frequent. If you chose post office airmail with tracking/insurance then there can be a long delay from when it leaves Turkey, to when it arrives in your country and tracking resumes (sometimes, depending on the country).
We only have access to the same information you do with the provided tracking number, we cannot tell you anything extra.
1) FedEx Express (TNT) shipments: they are advertised to take 3-4 business days and generally we have found this to be true for most destinations. Sometimes even faster.
2) Post office airmail - the delivery time is highly variable. We collected some statistics (see below) which may help get an idea. But remember that during holiday seasons or public holidays, or other issues in your country or ours, or global situations such as the Covid19 pandemic in 2020, shipment times could be a lot longer.
Probably not. Probably you just need to be more patient waiting for it (see above, "When will my shipment arrive"). If you wanted it quickly then FedEx Express (TNT) would have been the best option to choose, it takes 3-4 business days and costs only a few $ more.
If a really REALLY long time elapses then yes, there is a possibility that your package really is lost. In this case we can open an investigation case for you, as long as you chose either FedEx Express (TNT) or post office airmail with tracking and insurance.
My FedEx Express (TNT) package still says "retrieving from address"...
Yes, it will say this while it is in transit from QRP Labs to Izmir (Turkey). This is a 250km land journey and Izmir is the nearest proper TNT/FedEx depot. Until it reaches Izmir, the status will say "retrieving from address" because the local domestic courier has it, and their systems don't interface with TNT/FedEx. This normally takes 1-3 business days from collection. After Izmir it will fly fast to Belgium, the FedEx Express (TNT) European hub, or the FedEx hub in France, and from there to your country. Order sequence:
- You place your order
- Each morning, we load all orders placed in the last 24 hours, and pack and prepare them, prepare customs documentation, book the TNT/FedEx shipment, and send the shipment notification from the QRP Labs website. QRP Labs' office works Monday-Friday.
- Later that day, the packages are collected in large sacks, from QRP Labs' office. However, we don't have a collection by the FedEx agent EVERY day, they come 3-4 times per week. The collection truck takes them to the office of the domestic courier in town.
- The following day, the sacks are sent by the domestic courier to TNT/FedEx Izmir, with a 24-hour service.
- The following day, the sacks reach TNT/FedEx and then you will start seeing tracking updates on the TNT/FedEx systems.
As you can see: it is normal for the status to be "Collecting" or "Retrieving from address" for 1-3 business days from when you receive the notification email. (Business days doesn't include weekends and public holidays: please note that the domestic courier and TNT/FedEx operate 6-days per week, Monday-Saturday. The QRP Labs office operates Monday-Friday).
My tracking number doesn't work...
If your post was shipped by post office airmail with tracking, it will have a number consisting of 2-letters + 9-numbers + 2-letters. You can enter this in the "Tracking information" above and click the "TRACK" button to get the tracking information. This is an external service and may suffer outages. Sometimes you may have to click it several times to get a result.
If your tracking number was shipped by FedEx Express (TNT) then you will need to use http://tnt.com for tracking. TNT and FedEx are the same company since their 2016 merger though integration is still not complete. In US for example, your package will be delivered by FedEx. In some countries where TNT was traditionally dominant the courier will be TNT.
My tracking number still doesn't work...
We take packages to the post office for shipment. We have a reel of tracking number stickers that we prepare in the QRP Labs office. Sometimes there are a large number of packages and they do not process them all that same day, depending how busy they are, any staff shortages they may have from time to time, how many packages there are, and what time it is when we take them. Just check again in another day or two.
Public holidays are not the same in every country. Keep in mind that public holidays here aren't necessarily the same as in your country. So this can add a day or two more. If you think there is an unreasonable delay please check to see if there have been any public holidays that could account for it (Google "Public holidays Turkey" for example).
My shipment is stuck in Turkey...
No, it is not. Typically we see packages travel from our South West corner of Turkey to Istanbul and leave the country, within 3 business days. After that, there may be a considerable delay between the tracking entry that it has been sent abroad, and when you see it having arrived in your own country. It's not flying around and around the world, but most likely waiting for customs clearance, or waiting for onward routing from some intermediate destination. Usually these events are not recorded in the tracking information. See http://qrp-labs.com/faq#stuck for more on this topic.
Tracking doesn't work in my country...
Some countries do not appear to participate in the standard 2-letters + 9-numbers + 2-letters tracking scheme and in these cases, you won't be able to see tracking information in your country. It seems that Australia and Canada are two notable examples of this.
Why are you no longer collecting shipping statistics?
Because it consumes a lot of time. The relevance of these statistics is reduced since the Covid19 pandemic in 2020 which slowed down international postal services, and since we started to offer the FedEx Express (TNT) shipment option which reliably takes only 3-4 days. Therefore in order to free up more time for important R&D for new products, we decided to stop collecting the statistics.
Shipping statistics from Turkey post office shipment, May 2018 to June 2020
NOTE: We are no longer collecting statistics on post office delivery times. During the Covid19 pandemic in 2020, the post office shipment times became very much slower than usual. We now offer a FedEx Express (TNT) shipment option, which normally takes 3-4 business days. Most people choose this option. The data below is for historical purposes only.
This table is based on customer feedback and we are very grateful to everyone who emailed to say their package arrived. It helped to create this table of statistics which is very useful for other customers to get an idea of how long their order will take.
Sent: the number of orders which have been shipped - from time to time as advised on ordering pages, there may be a delay in shipping while components/kits are being re-stocked, this causes a lag between "Orders" and "Sent".
Fdbck (feedback): the number of the "Sent" orders, whose recipients have emailed me to tell me what date their shipment arrived.
Min: the minimum number of days in shipping
Avg: the average number of days in shipping
Max: the maximum number of days in shipping
Note: Min/Avg/Max days are number of calendar days, not working days! Note also that this is the number of days actually spent in shipping, from despatch to receiving your package. You will receive one email shortly after placing your order, confirming it. You will receive another email when your order has been shipped. Please provide feedback on when you recevied your package, for calculating the statistics used for the table below.
| Country | Orders | Sent | Fdbck | Min | Avg | Max |
| Argentina | 7 | 7 | ||||
| Australia | 201 | 200 | 35 | 9 | 19 | 43 |
| Austria | 58 | 58 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 18 |
| Belarus | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 18 | 28 |
| Belgium | 62 | 62 | 15 | 7 | 12 | 22 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 5 | 5 | ||||
| Brazil | 22 | 22 | 2 | 24 | 33 | 42 |
| Bulgaria | 9 | 9 | ||||
| Canada | 253 | 252 | 56 | 10 | 24 | 112 |
| Chile | 1 | 1 | ||||
| China | 5 | 5 | ||||
| Colombia | 3 | 3 | 2 | 61 | 67 | 73 |
| Croatia | 8 | 8 | ||||
| Curacao | 1 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Cyprus | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Czech Republic | 83 | 83 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 13 |
| Denmark | 27 | 27 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 24 |
| Ecuador | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Finland | 26 | 25 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 24 |
| France | 152 | 150 | 26 | 6 | 13 | 38 |
| Germany | 646 | 643 | 113 | 4 | 23 | 53 |
| Greece | 14 | 13 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Guadeloupe | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Guernsey | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Hong Kong | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Hungary | 14 | 14 | 2 | 16 | 23 | 30 |
| Iceland | 8 | 8 | ||||
| India | 10 | 10 | 2 | 15 | 16 | 16 |
| Indonesia | 6 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 21 | 24 |
| Ireland | 22 | 22 | 2 | 9 | 17 | 24 |
| Israel | 4 | 4 | ||||
| Italy | 114 | 112 | 15 | 7 | 21 | 34 |
| Japan | 122 | 121 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 49 |
| Kazakhstan | 4 | 4 | 1 | 45 | 45 | 45 |
| Latvia | 8 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
| Lithuania | 7 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Luxembourg | 4 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Macedonia | 2 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| Malaysia | 4 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 18 | 23 |
| Malta | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Mexico | 4 | 4 | 1 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Montenegro | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Mozambique | 1 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Namibia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 223 | 223 | 223 |
| Netherlands | 139 | 138 | 24 | 6 | 15 | 36 |
| New Caledonia | 1 | 1 | ||||
| New Zealand | 34 | 34 | 9 | 20 | 40 | 64 |
| Norway | 36 | 35 | 1 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Peru | 7 | 7 | 1 | 36 | 36 | 36 |
| Poland | 38 | 37 | 10 | 14 | 26 | 42 |
| Portugal | 12 | 12 | 1 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Puerto Rico | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Romania | 17 | 17 | 7 | 9 | 20 | 48 |
| Russia | 62 | 62 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 22 |
| Serbia | 8 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 24 |
| Singapore | 5 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| Slovak Republic | 17 | 17 | 1 | 23 | 23 | 23 |
| Slovakia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| Slovenia | 8 | 8 | ||||
| South Africa | 6 | 6 | 1 | 155 | 155 | 155 |
| South Korea | 14 | 14 | ||||
| Spain | 86 | 86 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 20 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Sweden | 60 | 58 | 4 | 15 | 21 | 24 |
| Switzerland | 88 | 88 | 13 | 4 | 14 | 73 |
| Taiwan | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Thailand | 10 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 19 |
| Turkey | 6 | 6 | ||||
| UK | 759 | 751 | 115 | 6 | 10 | 32 |
| Ukraine | 16 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 32 |
| Uruguay | 1 | 1 | ||||
| USA | 2563 | 2547 | 274 | 6 | 19 | 53 |
Enclosure shipments from China by AIR
To save costs, enclosure kits such as the U3 case are manufactured in China and shipped directly from China, separately to the rest of the kits. The table below shows shipping statistics for cases shipped by air.
| Country | Orders | Sent | Fdbck | Min | Avg | Max |
| Argentina | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| Australia | 121 | 121 | 20 | 7 | 16 | 23 |
| Austria | 20 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 23 | 43 |
| Belgium | 24 | 24 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 27 |
| Brazil | 6 | 6 | 1 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Bulgaria | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Canada | 77 | 77 | 27 | 9 | 42 | 148 |
| Chile | 2 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 26 | 26 |
| Czech Republic | 4 | 4 | ||||
| Denmark | 13 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 18 | 26 |
| Finland | 9 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 20 | 40 |
| France | 33 | 33 | 9 | 4 | 16 | 43 |
| Germany | 277 | 277 | 93 | 9 | 29 | 107 |
| Greece | 6 | 6 | 1 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
| Hong Kong | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Hungary | 1 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| Iceland | 3 | 3 | ||||
| India | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Indonesia | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Ireland | 8 | 8 | 4 | 19 | 33 | 58 |
| Israel | 3 | 3 | 1 | 42 | 42 | 42 |
| Italy | 40 | 40 | 13 | 9 | 27 | 58 |
| Japan | 21 | 21 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 22 |
| Jersey | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Kazakhstan | 2 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
| Liechtenstein | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Lithuania | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Luxembourg | 3 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 17 | 20 |
| Malaysia | 4 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 13 | 15 |
| Malta | 6 | 6 | 4 | 19 | 24 | 34 |
| Mexico | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Mozambique | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Namibia | 2 | 2 | 1 | 95 | 95 | 95 |
| Netherlands | 114 | 114 | 37 | 4 | 13 | 21 |
| New Zealand | 17 | 17 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 17 |
| Norway | 34 | 34 | 10 | 8 | 17 | 41 |
| Poland | 9 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 14 |
| Portugal | 5 | 5 | 2 | 23 | 26 | 29 |
| Romania | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Russia | 17 | 17 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 24 |
| Singapore | 4 | 4 | ||||
| Slovak Republic | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Slovakia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Slovenia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 55 | 55 | 55 |
| South Africa | 12 | 12 | 1 | 130 | 130 | 130 |
| South Korea | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Spain | 27 | 27 | 8 | 10 | 21 | 40 |
| Sweden | 25 | 25 | 8 | 9 | 19 | 47 |
| Switzerland | 24 | 24 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 18 |
| Taiwan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| Thailand | 4 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 23 | 23 |
| UK | 285 | 285 | 71 | 4 | 29 | 361 |
| USA | 1011 | 1011 | 212 | 4 | 26 | 381 |
Enclosure shipments from China by SEA
To save costs, enclosure kits such as the U3 case are manufactured in China and shipped directly from China, separately to the rest of the kits. The table below shows shipping statistics for cases sent using the cheaper surface shipment option.
Note: many of the shipments are actually sent by air. But this is a lower priority option so at their discretion the origin post office can decide to send by air (if spare capacity is available) or by sea.
| Country | Orders | Sent | Fdbck | Min | Avg | Max |
| Australia | 36 | 36 | 7 | 20 | 41 | 51 |
| Austria | 4 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 19 | 19 |
| Belgium | 9 | 9 | 4 | 59 | 64 | 69 |
| Brazil | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Canada | 22 | 22 | 6 | 62 | 77 | 121 |
| Chile | 1 | 1 | ||||
| China | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Denmark | 5 | 5 | ||||
| Finland | 8 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 39 | 65 |
| France | 10 | 10 | ||||
| Germany | 7 | 7 | 1 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
| Greece | 3 | 3 | ||||
| India | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Israel | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Italy | 9 | 9 | 3 | 77 | 196 | 428 |
| Japan | 10 | 10 | 2 | 42 | 43 | 44 |
| Netherlands | 63 | 63 | 19 | 20 | 56 | 75 |
| New Zealand | 7 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 23 | 35 |
| Norway | 15 | 15 | 2 | 14 | 43 | 71 |
| Poland | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Portugal | 2 | 2 | 2 | 80 | 83 | 85 |
| Reunion Island | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Russia | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Saudi Arabia | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Slovakia | 2 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 38 | 38 |
| South Africa | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Spain | 17 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 58 | 72 |
| Sweden | 18 | 18 | 8 | 17 | 47 | 72 |
| Switzerland | 11 | 11 | 1 | 58 | 58 | 58 |
| Taiwan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Thailand | 2 | 2 | 1 | 44 | 44 | 44 |
| Turkey | 1 | 1 | ||||
| UK | 120 | 120 | 44 | 7 | 68 | 88 |
| USA | 301 | 301 | 55 | 7 | 51 | 84 |