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
Should I choose FedEx, TNT or DHL Express?
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?
Should I choose FedEx, TNT or DHL Express?
For some destinations, if we have found problems with a particular courier, or if a courier does not service that area, then you do not have a choice of all these shipping types.
For US customers, FedEx is usually the best option.
TNT and FedEx are the same company since 2016. If you see both options available, choose TNT not FedEx: because FedEx is more expensive but the package will fly on the same planes and drive on the same trucks and take exactly the same time to arrive, there is no point choosing FedEx. The tracking numbers and websites differ only. We may substitute TNT service if you choose FedEx, depending on the destination.
DHL Express can be chosen if you have particular experience with the different couriers and find that DHL Express has previously in your experience, offered a better service. DHL Express is usually more expensive than TNT. We do find that generally DHL Express offers a better service (less issues) but this is not necessarily the case for every destination.
Note that in some cases DHL Express apply a 20-25 euro "Remote Area Service fee", we do not have a way to account for this in the pricing on the QRP Labs shop website. Where this happens we may at our discretion change the shipping method to TNT or FedEx if it appears to be more suitable.
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 (part of FedEx), or DHL Express. Certain countries (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Turkey) use Turkish post office only. The price of the shipping is charged at cost and is usually (but not always!) highest for DHL Express, then FedEx Express and TNT.
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). Orders pre-shipped to US by FedEx and onward shipped by USPS do not save us any money, but do provide a slightly faster delivery time to US customers; additionally there are other benefits to having assistance from a local US assistant.
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, QMX+, QDX, QCX+ kit, 50W PA kit etc) 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. The page http://qrp-labs.com/status will contain the latest information on any delays.
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).
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 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. Please see http://qrp-labs.com/status also.
1) For tracking orders sent by TNT, FedEx or DHL Express please see below and enter your provided tracking number:
- TNT: http://tnt.com
- FedEx: https://fedex.com
- DHL Express: https://www.dhl.com/tr-en/home.html
2) Certain countries (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Turkey) will be shipped by Turkish post office. 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.
There hasn't been any update on the tracking for a while, can you tell me where my package is?
For TNT, FedEx and DHL Express updates are likely to be frequent. In cases where post office airmail had to be used, 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.
DHL Express, TNT and 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.
Probably not. Probably you just need to be more patient waiting for it (see above, "When will my shipment arrive").
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
My FedEx Express (TNT) or DHL Express 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/DHL Express depots. Until it reaches Izmir, the status will say something like "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 tracking number was shipped by DHL Express, FedEx Express or TNT then you will need to use https://www.dhl.com/tr-en, https://fedex.com or http://tnt.com respectively 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.
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.
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.