Hi Everyone! Sorry for falling off the map for a while. I was fighting a nasty and rather persistent flu. Have no fear, the project is still on track. Shipping is just taking a rather long time. Some information on how things are done for those who have never done bulk production orders with overseas companies before. The process goes something like this, although I've simplified things and left out all the lingo cause it can be a bit confusing!
Once you have determined the details of your agreement such as the quantity, price per unit, and so on, you go to your bank and have them draft a letter of credit, which basically says that the funds are there and will be transferred to the seller upon delivery of the goods. This letter is sent to the bank in the foreign country. The seller transfers the goods to the shipping agent and receives whats called a "bill of lading" from the shipping agent. This "bill of lading" serves two purposes, it serves as a receipt that the goods have been received by the agent and that they take responsibility for them, and it also serves as a title to the goods, whoever holds the bill of lading is the legal owner of the goods. The bill of lading is then transferred by the seller to the overseas bank. The seller's bank then transfers it to my bank here. When the goods arrive here, I will inspect them, determine that they are of the required condition and quality, and then I inform my bank, who will inform the seller's bank to release the funds and will release the bill of lading to me. I then take the bill of lading and claim the goods. Currently, the stage we are at is that the goods are currently en-route to Canada on the boat as of a short while ago after being held at port for a short time. The banks are in possession of the funds and the bill of lading. As soon as things arrive in Vancouver I will go inspect the goods and take photos for everyone, and soon after that I will take possession, at which point they will be passed on to everyone. Apparently this is the way most overseas transactions are conducted because it provides absolute security for both the buyer and seller. The buyer cannot deny funds and take the goods, and the seller cannot deny the goods (or provide an inferior quality product) and take the funds. My seller actually released the goods to be shipped before the letter of credit was with their bank, because they trust me, otherwise things would have probably been delayed an additional week or two. As it stands now, things should be falling within the initial shipping date I set which was the end of February +/- 2-3 weeks. If things really drag on it could possibly be a week later than that, but that is not likely, I would just rather provide a longer estimate and deliver early than to provide a short estimate and deliver late. Sorry for those who were worried, I didn't mean to make people concerned!
@Steven: I have not received anything from you in quite some time. Perhaps I'm losing it in spam or something. Please resend any messages and I will keep an eye out for them!