Hello everyone,
Just to clarify things here so the conversation can be headed in the right direction. This package was sent by me to UnlistedLeaf.
We met at worlds and has some great conversations. He was interested in more mystery boxes and I told him I would be happy to put one together for him. We came to the agreement to do a $5000 mystery box as it would provide him content and hopefully some good exposure for my instagram page. I asked if he would like to know all the contents prior to purchasing a mystery box from me as we haven’t done business with one another in the past and I figured it would make sense. He politely declined and said he trust me to provide him with honest value and enough items to potentially make 2 videos from the one box.
Up front, the discussion of VAT fees came up and we both agreed from the beginning that we were willing to take the risk and would accept the loss together if anything happened. From an outsiders perspective and the current situation this obviously looks dumb on my part, but I was more than happy to begin building a relationship with Ando and create a new avenue to help me with sales.
As it has been mentioned in a comment above, you cannot insure a package fore more than its declared value. That would fall into Mail Fraud and cause more issues than losing $5000 ($7200 AUS). We fully understood this and were willing to assume the risk.
I used USPS International Priority Express Mail, which was guaranteed 3-5 day shipping. I shipped from Michigan on 8/26. The package arrived to ISC Chicago 8/27 and began the customs clearing process. At this time, guaranteed delivery was 9/5, more than 5 days, but this was over Labor Day and a delay is understandable. After about 8-10 days with no updates and the delivery date past, we both got a little antsy and that is when I first contacted USPS and customs. It is not out of the norm that packages get held up in customs for potentially up to 30 days. However, as I continued to make contact with both USPS and Customs, stories began to not line up. I spoke to multiple customs agents, and all definitively told me the package was no longer in customs, when the tracking clearly states “being processed through customs facility” … no clearance approval has been made. I spoke with multiple USPS agents and most say it is out of their hands and there is nothing they can do about it, until one USPS rep directly told me it has more than likely been stolen.
Yes, there is a chance that the label was damaged, or the box got mixed in somewhere else. We are closing in on the 30 days and I have not heard anything from customs or USPS in efforts to help find my package. Only customs agents stating its not at their facility. I am hoping this is just a statement made by minimum wage worker that does not care about looking for a package declared at $200 and the box is just going through an extensive search.
UnlistedLeaf and I discussed before him posting the video to leave me anonymous as I figured a trail of hate would potentially flood my instagram. This video is a way for him to recuperate the losses from this purchase, and more power to him to have that ability to do so. I sent him a small care package just to apologize on behalf of US customs or USPS for ruining our first experience working with one another. Also, in efforts to get some exposure and make some more sales to recuperate my losses from this unfortunate event.
Ando is a great guy and does wonders for the Pokemon community. Absolutely, his videos are cringe, but you have to remember he is an entertainer for an audience of a children’s game. You are entitled to your own opinion, but I hate seeing comments made towards UnlistedLeaf, Leonhart, and others that are true fans of Pokemon and were able to make a great career out of what they love.
My takes from this are that I need to take Pokemon more seriously as a business than a hobby, since I am in the process of moving away from the collecting side of this wonderful hobby. Collecting and reliving my childhood helped me through a terrible time in my life, as it has for many of us. To some extent I have come to terms with my new life/lifestyle, so for me it is time to move on and look forward to bigger and better things. I am and will always be looking for great deals with Pokemon and a few items I still need for my personal collection, but those will only come with me taking these next steps in other business ventures. I spoke with one of my “mentors” about this and we discussed his take on it. He is a good friend of my pops and they have collected coins, sports memorabilia and done investments to together. Whenever he would ship coins to customers or even to be graded, he would insure a $20k coin for $25k. This is a normal practice for high end collectibles. Shown even on Antiques Roadshow, the experts would discuss the value of a painting at $150k, but recommend to insure for $200k. This is a maturity level that I hope to see Pokemon reach one day and will definitely be thinking about more down the road.
With this topic somewhat going viral, I hope to see the package turn up and all this be meaningless, but if not, it was a learning experience.