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Air mail shipping dolls w/ magnets from China?

Jul 5, 2017

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    1. Dear fellow doll lovers,

      a doll friend of mine encountered a strange problem which might, if confirmed, affect a lot of us negatively:

      She (being in the Western world) wanted to buy a doll privately from an owner in mainland China. The owner said she was told by two local post offices that it is not allowed to send this doll per air mail if it contains magnets, which it does. Not per EMS, nor DHL nor per regular air mail. They said she would have to open the package when she delivered it to the post office for inspection anyway. The only shipping options open to dolls containing magnets would be per surface mail/ per ship - which means no tracking and shipping times from 3-6 months. It would also cost a lot more than shipping by EMS they said!:ablink:

      Now, what I don't get - I have gotten dolls containing magnets from different Chinese companies and dealers various times, per EMS and DHL and regular air mail. There never was a problem up until now. There are dealers in China, for instance on aliexpress, offering 500 pcs a package of the neodym magnets used in dolls and sending them by EMS to buyers worldwide. The Chinese EMS website does not mention magnets on their list of items prohibited to ship at all. And since when is shipping per surface mail more expensive than per air mail?

      Can anyone please tell me, is this a new regulation? Has anyone encountered this before?
      If this is a sign of things to come I anticipate a few problems, like Dollzone for example making a big proclamation that they will from now on only send out dolls without magnets...?! Or the return of the infamous head plate-to-neck-elastic hook that doesn't need magnets.

      Thanks for your time and I'd appreciate your advice.:daisy
       
      #1 Mandagore, Jul 5, 2017
      Last edited: Jul 5, 2017
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    2. I know with the UK postal services, there's a restriction on magnets above a certain strength (as it interferes with equipment etc). However small magnets like you get in dolls are too weak to be prohibited so usually not an issue. I'm not sure if they've gotten confused seeing magnets on the prohibited list and missed that it applies to magnets above the limit set. Or it could be entirely different rules in China for individuals posting things, China post can be a bit randomly strange with it's rules sometimes. I known some doll companies to send dolls without the magnets to avoid potential shipping issues so seems some companies are more concerned with it than others.
       
      #2 Epicari, Jul 5, 2017
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    3. Thank you, Epicari, for your input! I've known about restrictions for strong magnets like in motors, like electro magnets, too. But if doll magnets were a problem, no one in China would be able to ship out a purse or handbag anymore... but if this turns out to be more or less random, there's little one can do.
       
      #3 Mandagore, Jul 5, 2017
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    4. If I remember correctly Spiritdoll mentions on their website that when you send them a piece for color matching it has to be without magnets.
      I always asked myself why, but this might be the reason. Even though Spiritdoll has dolls with magnets (I mean, guess how the extra guy parts stick to the body) and will of course ship them with them.
      I do agree with Epicari though, they probably mean really strong magnets.

      The reason why for example Aliexpress ships them out just like that is that...well, they probably just don't tell.
      You are not allowed to ship a lot of stuff to certain countries, or only after filling out a few forms and/or letting it check beforehand, but it's still shipped and delivered just fine because noone tells the post.
      Not all packages are controlled the same too. If that person from China just packs up the doll and ships it nobody will probably ever see that it has four tiny magnets in its head and it would arrive just fine.
      I mean, some people ship MSC cans via air, and that's super forbidden too.
       
      #4 Ara, Jul 5, 2017
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    5. :lol: Ara, I already joked to my friend that the seller probably walked up to the post office counter saying, I want to send a doll per airmail, and please note it has a magnet in its head^^

      Still, as I said, Chinese EMS doesn't list magnets as being prohibited at all (the catch-all phrase at the end of the list usually means things that cannot be put into a parcel because of their nature, like ice cubes, grass cuttings or whatever. All mailing services have it.) So I'm still a bit mystified... but thank you!<3
       
      #5 Mandagore, Jul 5, 2017
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    6. This is....strange, because i'm pretty sure i've purchased just magnets (the same kind used in our dolls, probably the sort you saw on aliexpress) from China and had them shipped to me no problem.

      I'm also headscratching over @Ara 's info because in that scenario it sounds like Spirit can send doll-strength magnets, but not receive them...but in this problem, the seller can't send the magnets. Bizarre.
       
      #6 evilhamster13, Jul 5, 2017
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    7. I agree that the seller probably straight told the guys at the post office "yeah, doll has magnets" and they would say right away they are no good, even if they are small and not an issue.
      Better to be safe than sorry and to avoid customs troubles.
      Spiritdoll probably has the same approach. Don't want the part to get stuck somewhere because of it and then risk the customer losing it or something, but shipping it out worked fine so far because they know the rules and know their stuff is fine.

      I actually just did a quick Google search on shipping magnets, and a German magnet store wrote up a big "How to" and listed up some of the reasons why shipping magnets internationally/overall can be an issue and how things are tested.
      They can damage other goods in nearby packages, interact with sorting machines/any machines or even damage their outer package when they get ripped out by a strong force. There are certain ways to pack them to lower their magnetic field too.
      There are guidelines on how strong this magnetic field is allowed to be, and some tiny magnets inside a doll is far from falling into any of the problematic categories.

      In short: yes, shipping magnets that are too strong is not cool. But shipping magnets at all isn't forbidden.
      There are of course different guidelines depending on the country, but that seems to be the general view on it. As long as they are not dangerous it's all good.
       
      #7 Ara, Jul 5, 2017
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    8. @Ara, I also had found that 'shipping magnets per air mail online tutorial' meanwhile and concluded that tiny magnets in doll heads could not pose a problem, but who knows how Chinese regulations are phrased, or how old they possibly are.
      I did like that inexpensive test method where you put a paper clip on the side face of your package (containing a magnet) tilted at an 45° angle - if it slides all the way off on all sides, it's safe to be sent by air mail. But as long as some post officials in China do not know that, it's probably arbitrariness for buyers and sellers alike all the way. That must be frustrating for the aforementioned seller and her buyers...
       
      #8 Mandagore, Jul 5, 2017
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    9. Yeah, this seems a little weird to me? I recently got a Dollzone (Chinese company) doll through Alice's Collections (Chinese dealer) and he came with magnets, no problem. (And it had to be on a plane, 'cause the package got from China to the US in three days.) I think it probably just has to do with the mentioning of said magnets, like some other people said; if you just send a doll without mentioning the magnets, they're so small that it would probably go unnoticed. But if you mention the magnets, then the shipping company may think "Oh, if these magnets are worth mentioning, then they may become a problem." They aren't actually worth mentioning, really, so when they are mentioned it might just...blow things out of proportion?

      I'm really not sure to be honest! I've never heard of anything like this. :huh?:
       
      #9 KiyoshiSenshi, Jul 5, 2017
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    10. Yes I've ordered many things with magnets in the past, non-doll related items as well, and never had any issues. I would just discuss with the seller that those rules are only for strong magnets.. Maybe they'll agree if they look into it a little bit...
       
      #10 chroove, Jul 6, 2017
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    11. Thanks again for all your input!
      @chroove - as far as I know the story, the seller was not willing to make any further attempts. Instead she insisted she could only ship per surface mail, and since that means it would be without tracking, takes up to 6 months and is even more expensive than air mail express shipping (according to that seller!), my friend cancelled the deal. I think in that way it will be difficult for said seller to find any buyers out of China at all, but hey.
       
      #11 Mandagore, Jul 8, 2017
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    12. Yuck, that's annoying... And yeah too bad for the seller!
       
      #12 chroove, Jul 9, 2017
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