WarStages Update #34: Ready to ship?

Dear Warstager,

What a strange time!
I guess you are like most of us, probably confined at your home and waiting for the Virus to be gone.
But as Covid-19 is moving through the western world, China is now getting back to normal.

And since our last update, the manufacturing and packing of WarStages has been completed.

As you can see on the photos below everything is ready, stacked on pallets, waiting to be shipped. 

So what is happening now?

Well, as the situation is fluctuating everyday regarding how each country is responding to the virus crisis, we've had to slightly alter our plans regarding shipment. The most important thing right now is for us to ensure that your parcel is delivered to you in the best possible condition. This means that for the last 2 weeks, we've been speaking with shipping companies and people working with postal services to see how the shipment of goods is affected in various countries.

To debunk some rumours you might have read on the web and clarify the situation, here is all the first-hand info we gathered:

• Yes, many countries have closed their borders to people, but no country is closing their borders to fret and goods.
• Yes, postal services continue everywhere at the time we are writing this, but there are additional delays to be expected.
• In most cases the delays in postal service are minimal BUT your WarStages parcels are special because they are so big and heavy and that could cause a problem.
• There is a big price rise in shipping costs as the ports around the world are now saturated with goods waiting to be shipped as there are less people working.
• But the situation is to be very much improving in China.

Based on all this, we are currently assessing what is the best way to deal with the situation: should we try to rush the shipments now before the situation becomes harder in Europe and America or should we wait a bit for things to calm down.

Since the shipping by boat will take about one month to reach Europe from China, at this stage, it seems to make sense to wait about 2 weeks to see how things go and then put the shipping from China in motion. It would mean that once the containers arrive at their various destinations, it will take about another week for the shipment to be made, we will be not far from two months from now and things should be starting to go back to normal.

But this is still a guess and we will have more info on the various tactics we could choose from by early next week. So we will see if this option makes sense or if we should go for another strategy.

As soon as we know what route we choose, we will let you know and start collecting shipping fees to get things moving. Your Cathedral is patiently waiting in China, ready to fly your way, but it seems that, just like all of us, she will have to wait in confinement for just a bit longer.

We'll be back again shortly with more info. Meanwhile, please stay safe. We are whole-heartedly with you. We wish you and your loved ones to come out of this period unscathed and in good health! Take good care,

Benoit & Mireille

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