I guess the USPS small flat rate international boxes and flat rate envelopes don't come with DC or tracking anymore.  IS there any way to find a lost package using the customs ID#? I shipped this 5 weeks ago and it hasn't gotten to the buyer yet.

I don't know about tracking with customs ID#, however I will note I've seen international packages take 3 months to arrive to the buyer, as customs can delay packages and sometimes USPS is slow to get the package out of the US.

Yeah 5 weeks really isn't that long. I've bought stuff from someone in England and it took 2 damn months to get to Canada! I've had some stuff take a month to get from the US to Canada. I'd give it more time.

I guess the buyer bought several different things that week, and all them except for mine arrived 2 weeks ago. The buyer is getting worried about it, so now I'm getting worried about it.
(This was an eBay sale) I thought I was protected by ebay for flat rate priority but I guess that's not the case anymore. I don't believe the buyer is trying to scam me, but I trying to avoid a dispute because I can't win it without proof of delivery.

5 weeks is nothing, especially if they missed the notification that it arrived.  Here's an example, where the PayPal dispute was made and I lost before the package was located:

International shipping can sometime take while. I say give it couple more weeks.

What is the destination? First class across the ocean will take 8 weeks. Canada will take 4-6 weeks sometimes.

It's going down south to Chile.  A quick google search informed me that mail going into Chile can be hit or miss. Not really looking all that promising.

5 weeks is within time. From the US to Mexico by ground, it takes 6 weeks average. Sometimes less, sometimes (but not usually) more.

I've had items from across the sea take as little as 3 weeks to get to me, and some take over 2 months. It really depends.

Hah, that's funny, every person that I've herd complain about a late package has said that same exact thing. My old job we would ship at least 5 packages internationally daily through USPS priority, it wasn't uncommon for shipments to take 3 months+.

If you are selling on eBay and doing international shipping, I would recommend on offering ONLY express service with tracking. It is way to easy for international people to scam you otherwise. Unfortunately your situation happens to be one of the ways they can do it Hope it works out.

Yeah, I was under the impression that priority international came with the tracking. That's why I used priority over first class. (Until I actually had to track the package and got nothing.) I asked the buyer to be patient and wait longer, but still, I wish I had a way to prove that I mailed the package.

Based on my experience, first class stuff will arrive roughly around 10 days to 1 month max. If the customs hold the item it'll probably take up to 3 months. Customs will only hold large packages such as consoles and stuff. If its only a single game, i doubt itll take more than 1 month to arrive.

Anything to South America is risky for whatever reason. I know some companies that now refuse to ship to Brazil due to "lost" packages.

Got a + feedback today. Looks like it showed up finally. PHEW! Crisis avoided.

I have family in the UK. When they ship gifts for Christmas we usually received everything in summer.

I have a friend that is an exchange student in Minnesota now. She told me that when we send her stuff from Norway, it can take up to six weeks. After six weeks is when we should have to worry if it is lost or not.

My experience with recieving packages from the US is that it usually takes 10 days. Most of the time it actually is inside Norway, slowed down by our super effective post system. 2-3 days it takes to reach Norway, then around a week for it to travel to my house from the foreign post facility. The longest I've had to wait is three weeks for a US package.