I ordered an iPhone 5 case from Amazon. A separate business is the actual seller and shipper.
I got an email saying that my item has shipped! The estimated arrival date is 11 to 29 April. Wait, what?
What kind of shipping takes 22-40 days? By boat? From China? Fourth class mail?
Does Amazon allow shipping from foreign countries?
By boat, from China, fourth class mail might not be far off. I’ve bought various little bits of electronics and cell phone cases through third-party Amazon sellers, and some have been mailed from Taiwan.
It sounds like it’s going to be wandering in the desert…
I recently purchased some small metal tchotchke which was shipped from China via Amazon. I was told that it would take a month or more, but it was closer to a week.
Especially with an item like a case, which you probably selected by price point, your fulfillment will come in a slightly smelly* and battered padded mailer from China. Most do come much faster than the Amazon limit, sometimes amazingly so, but I did have one small widget take four weeks.
When it comes to Amazon third-party sellers, “shipped” doesn’t always means “shipped.” I’ve had multiple cases where I got the “Item has been shipped” notice from Amazon, then later the actual seller e-mails me and says “sorry, turns out that item is out of stock, your payment will be refunded.”
Yup. I’ve had to wait upwards of 8 weeks for some things that ship from China.
No, it was 40 years in the desert. The OP’s shipment is going by Noah’s Ark. 
See if there are other sellers (on Amazon) for the item. I had something similar happen with a very small American-made item. I found a different seller who got it to me in three days instead of six weeks, and for less money.
Ok. Wow, I would have thought Amazon would only allow things to be shipped within the states. Thanks.
Yep. Last two things I had projected to take up to six weeks came within three. I think they were both being sent from Hong Kong.
It’ll always list “shipped from ****” below the name of the seller and their rating.
Yeah, I guess I should have it was fasting instead of wandering. Doesn’t make much sense, though.
Well, luckily it isn’t in their pork buns …
Actually I don’t know offhand, but China does take in a lot of cardboard and paper for recycling, so perhaps it is just a higher recycled content?