Must Know Things About ePacket Shipping: Tracking, Delivery & More!

If traditional delivery processes are meddling with the growth of your newly launched dropshipping store and you’re in search of a solution then you’ve come to the right place. From late deliveries to the failure of tracking orders, the traditional processes are unable to deliver a good customer experience. Your customers will keep fretting and asking for refunds. In such a circumstance, what can you do to speed up your shipping process and scale your business effectively?

The answer is ePacket Shipping

What is ePacket?

ePacket is one of the most common shipping options offered by merchants throughout China and Hong Kong. It allows merchants to ship goods relatively quickly to different countries.

What is ePacket Delivery?

ePacket delivery originally started off as a simple shipping solution. It was an agreement between the USPS and the China Post, but it has quickly risen in popularity. Today, more than 40 countries offer ePacket shipping.

The delivery to the final destination is generally handled by a local carrier – each carrier also charges their own fee and have specific requirements.

What is ePacket Shipping?

ePacket is a quick shipping method that allows products to travel from countries like China and Hong Kong to any another part of the world. The “e” in ePacket represents the ecommerce industry.

ePacket dropshipping ensures higher sales alongside precious smiles of happy customers. With the assistance of ePacket, the process of shipping becomes quicker for dropshippers and more affordable for the customers.

Sourcing consumer products from China can be expensive. It may as well take at least a month to reach the destination. In order to provide a more affordable shipping solution, the United States Postal Service (USPS) signed an agreement with eBay China and Hong Kong Post.

It allows packages originating from China and Hong Kong to get USPS First Class Service in order to reduce the delivery time as much as possible. The deal also offers better rates and tracking features. Today, ePacket is one of the best shipping methods available for USA, Australia, UK, and Canada from China or Hong Kong.

Ecommerce Shipping Tips, Costs, Carriers & Best Practices (2021)

The Pros and Cons of ePacket Shipping

ePacket delivery came into limelight when AliExpress introduced it as one of their shipping methods. It is ideal for businesses who dropship products from China to the US and other countries across the globe. Let’s take a look its pros and cons.

ePacket Pros

On average, standard shipping solutions require 30 to 40 days to deliver any product from China to another country. But when it comes to ePacket delivery, you can safely rely on:

• Quicker Timely Deliveries: As mentioned earlier, standard shipping methods from China usually take months. However, ePacket delivery makes the delivery relatively quick when compared to other standard shipping mediums. While you may not be as fast or as large as Amazon, but as a growing online enterprise, you can still anticipate your orders to reach your customers in the period of 15 to 18 days with the assistance of ePacket shipping.
• Cost-Effective: Customers will never pay $30 as shipping fees for an order that is worth $10. It makes no sense. That is usually the shipping fee for smaller and cheaper products without ePacket. ePacket not only reduces the delivery time but it also ensures pocket-friendly arrangements for your customers.
• Package Delivery and ePacket Shipping Tracking: There is a great chance of customers becoming uncertain or anxious when their package does not arrive within a week or so. ePacket is a speedy shipping solution similar to Amazon Prime that allows customers to track their orders in real-time. Also, with delivery confirmations, both the parties become aware of the fact that the shipment is complete.
• Positive Impact on Conversion Rates: ePacket dropshipping leaves a positive impact on your customers simply because it allows them to get their orders on time at a minimal cost. This proves to be a great advantage as the customer conversion rate for ecommerce stores boosts sharply due to faster shipping. Just in case, if you are not familiar with the term dropshipping, simply head over to our blog ‘What is dropshipping and how to get it started?

ePacket Cons

• Worldwide Unavailability: ePacket delivery is only available in 38 countries around the world. It is a small pool in a global context.
• Product & Geographic Limitations: In certain cases, the type of product itself can create an issue with the availability of ePacket shipping. Many at times, the products that support ePacket will only ship to the US and not to any other country. It doesn’t quite meet the shipping requirements which means that customers would have to use traditional shipping methods and experience longer shipping time.

How ePacket Shipping Helps Dropshippers?

As a dropshipper, timely deliveries are a priority. Your brand will evolve only as long as your customers remain happy. With ePacket, your customers will get their products within a period of 12-18 days. Quick timely deliveries can help you build a long-term relationship with your customer.

When customers do not get their orders within the given time period, they get frustrated and ask for refunds. Now, dropshippers are aware of the fact that refunds lead up to bad ratings. Especially among online payment processors like PayPal or Stripe. PayPal might even block your account if your rating drops significantly. Yes, it has happened before with a few dropshippers and you should certainly not put yourself at risk.

ePacket dropshipping makes sure this doesn’t happen to you. It helps you by delivering your orders on time. You can also share the tracking ID of any order with your customers so that they can also track their orders directly.

ePacket is a great asset for dropshippers. It allows them to enhance their business processes effectively. In certain cases, PayPal refund requests have dropped nearly 50% when dropshippers chose ePacket as their shipping solution. Timely delivery in minimum time also allowed them to gain significant brand recognition within the industry.

Pro Tip: Leverage the power of ePacket dropshipping. Confidently mention the approximate time of an ePacket shipment on your product’s page.

Take BlueCrate.com for example. It offers a separate page just for shipping and tracking details.
Customers can access the details that allow them to find out how long it will for take their orders to reach their doorstep. ePacket shipping tracking provides customer satisfaction and helps them place more orders in the future.

Key Benefits for Dropshippers

• Dropshippers can use ePacket to increase their retention and decrease their refund requests.
• Dropshippers can specifically mention the delivery time on their stores against each product without any trouble.
• Dropshippers can add an ‘order tracking’ page on their online store to facilitate customers and avoid emails inquiring the amount of time left in delivery.

How Can Dropshippers Offer ePacket shipping?

Many major China-based ecommerce platforms such as AliExpress and DHGate support ePacket shipping on their platforms. Dropshippers can act as intermediaries between the merchants and the customers.

Customers can select ePacket delivery while placing orders from the merchant’s website. They will get an ePacket shipping tracking code as well. The customer will then be able to know the details about their order like remaining delivery time, current status etc. They can also verify the time duration through the dropshipper’s order tracking page.

If your store doesn’t provide a tracking page to its customers, they can still head over to China Mail’s tracking page and get updates from there.

i. Using ePacket Shipping with AliExpress

For AliExpress, you can select ePacket shipping from the product page. Select ‘ePacket’ in ‘Choose my shipping method.’

On an average, the charges of ePacket dropshipping on AliExpress ranges from $3 to $5. It usually takes 16 to 18 days for the product to reach its destination. However, the duration of delivery may vary from country to country.

ii. Using ePacket Shipping with DHGate

In comparison with AliExpress, DHGate offers free shipping with ePacket. Moreover, the shipping time for DHGate is a few days less. DHGate offers products in bulk as well as single pieces along with the choice of ePacket shipping. The products will directly ship from China to the country of the customer.

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Requirements for ePacket Shipping

ePacket dropshipping has a standard requirement criterion for all the parcels. We have summarized them for your better understanding.

1. The length of each package cannot be more than 60 cm (24 inches).
2. Total length, height, and thickness shouldn’t be more than 90 cm (36 inches).
3. The package shouldn’t weigh more than 2 kg (4.4lbs).
4. ePacket will not entertain packages priced higher than $400.
5. Tracking service is available for 34 countries at the moment.
6. The package is insured for $55.

Source: ePacket page, Japan Post

ePacket Tracking and Timing

Tracking an ePacket delivery is a quite an easy process. In fact, there is more than one way to do so. To begin with, anybody can check the shipment status with the official website. It is by far the best and most effective method to track ePacket orders.

After placing the order, a unique tracking code is generated against the product. You can enter it on the China EMS website (while the shipment is still present in China) or the official USPS website once the shipment is inside USA.

Due to tracking being dependent on where your package may be in the transit period, you may face trouble with the official websites. However, the ePacket tracking codes are country-specific.

For example, in China, China Post provides ePacket tracking. However, when the package reaches US, its tracking code will change to the US postal service.

Their team notifies customers with the product’s tracking codes via email. The average time of ePacket delivery to the US is around 15 days, but it can change due to certain factors including weather, traffic, or mode of transport that is used.

ePacket Eligibility Criteria

Before ordering a product, check if ePacket is available in your country. If ePacket is not available in your country, you can choose China Post as it is also a cost-friendly alternative.

However, using China Post can increase the delivery time up to 10 additional days. ePacket doesn’t require any other eligibility criteria from the customer. Simply, choosing the ePacket delivery option is all that’s needed to start the shipping process.

List of Countries That Support ePacket Shipping in 2021

46 countries support ePacket deliveries as of 2021, including:

1. Australia
2. Austria
3. Belgium
4. Brazil
5. Canada
6. Croatia
7. Denmark
8. Estonia
9. Finland
10. France
11. Germany
12. Gibraltar
13. Great Britain
14. Greece
15. Hong Kong
16. Indonesia
17. Hungary
18. Ireland
19. Israel
20. Italy
21. Japan
22. Kazakhstan
23. Latvia
24. Lithuania
25. Luxembourg
26. Malaysia
27. Malta
28. Mexico
29. Netherlands
30. New Zealand
31. Norway
32. Poland
33. Portugal
34. Russia
35. Saudi Arabia
36. Singapore
37. Spain
38. South Korea
39. Sweden
40. Switzerland
41. Thailand
42. Turkey
43. Ukraine
44. United Kingdom
45. United States
46. Vietnam

*France only allows shipping to a few territories on the mainland with codes from 01 to 95. It doesn’t allow shipping to overseas territories, including Corsica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Reunion, St. Pierre and Miquelon, and Mayotte.

**Spain is currently testing ePacket delivery, so the facility isn’t available in all cities yet.

*** UK allows to ship packages to all cities and even crown dependency Isle of Man.

**** United States allows to ship packages to all states.

ePacket Tracking: How to Track ePacket from China

If you have ordered ePacket shipping and want to track your package, you can use the tracking facility from China Post or from your local courier company.

Tracking makes it easy for you to figure out where your package has reached, and how long it will take to arrive. For instance, if you ordered via China Post, you can just visit their website to track your packages. Just enter the tracking number to find your package.

Similarly, if you are using USPS, you can track your package by adding the USPS tracking number too.

Other options like 17track also allow you to track your ePacket.

Taxes on ePackets Delivery

Usually, ePacket deliveries don’t incur any taxes. However, if you live in the US, simply inquire with your merchants about which duties are applicable. You can also check the taxes on US Customs and Border Protection page.

Final Words!

The ePacket shipping offers more control to the customers. It helps them track their orders and find out the exact delivery time of their packages. This is not just beneficial for the customers. It is also valuable for the dropshippers who are thriving to solve their customers’ concerns in order to achieve long-term profitability and growth.

ePacket shipping has been resolving customer concerns with ease and it’s about time you ditch those traditional shipping means and opt for ePacket.

Sajjad Shahid

Sajjad is an Ecommerce Community Manager at Cloudways. He loves helping out Ecommerce store owners, merchants and marketers in establishing their businesses and startups. Sajjad enjoys playing table tennis and cricket over the weekend.

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