It is common practice to buy an item on a website from another town, state, or even country. Without seeing the item, or ever leaving your home. From clothes to phones to exercise equipment, ordering parcels and waiting for them to be shipped is the new normal through e-commerce. How can you be assured of the safety of your parcel while it is on its way to you? Parcel tracking is the service you need.
See How Tracking Is Made Available To You
When you order an item online, you almost always get a tracking number. With that number, you can monitor the progress of your parcel while it is on the way. Like china post tracking the majority of shipping companies provide a unique tracking number when they ship your item just.
Additionally, they do this to enable customers—that means you—to follow the progress of their packages. With some services, you can even track your package to its exact location in real-time.Despite this, sometimes packages may go missing or get lost in transit.
The Best Way To Find A Lost Package
Shipping companies usually provide a lookup mechanism for tracking international packages. You can find tracking information on the carrier’s website by using the tracking number. From FedEx to UPS to China Post tracking, your tracking number is the tool you use to find your parcel.
Determine Your Tracking Number
Most companies use alphanumeric codes as tracking numbers. They can be all numbers or a mix of numbers and letters. They can be as short as 8 characters or as long as 30. If your order goes through, then you will be sent a text or email confirming your order and payment. You might be sent your parcel tracking number in that email. If it does not appear there, then it will be in the following message confirming that your package has shipped. If you still have not received a parcel tracking number, then you will have to contact the online vendor or store and request tracking data.
How A Package Can Get Lost
It is quite rare for accidents to cause shipments to go missing. More often than not, packages get lost at checkpoints, not in transit. This includes customs, loading, unloading, or switching between transport vehicles.
International packages coming from places like Europe or China have a higher chance of delays when passing through customs. There is personnel checking every parcel, as well as the necessary documentation. Officials do this for security reasons and may even open some packages.If a parcel does not have its accompanying documents in order, they may withhold it. The rapidly growing rate at which people purchase things online, plus other issues affecting international travel, increase the chances of delays at customs.
How To Protect Your Packages From Customs Delays
It is important to note that not everything for sale on a website abroad is legal in your home country. Make an effort to find out what items are prohibited from being shipped to your country. It is important that the vendor you use ships any parcel with the appropriate paperwork, such as packing slips, invoices, declarations, etc. If you do what you can to protect your parcel, you increase the likelihood that your products will pass customs without a hitch.
If it is viable, you can try paying extra for real-time tracking, especially on a highly sensitive package. Being able to access the exact location of your parcel at any checkpoint with GPS means your package getting lost should ideally not occur. In any case, if you are using package tracking, the best chance of finding a missing shipment is to contact the location where it was last handled.
Why Real-Time Tracking Is Worth It
There are typically two ways to trace packages. One is real-time package tracking, in which the courier uses a portable scanner to scan the box after delivering it to each destination. This data is updated every day, and you may opt to get a notification every time your package gets to a checkpoint.
A less preferred tracking system only updates once the package is at its final destination. That may be a post office or a local drop-shipping point. Once all packages are at their destinations, the tracking data is entered into the system.
Your parcel tracking number is the key to guaranteeing the safety of your parcel. There are very few carriers who offer an alternative to tracing goods using different data. These alternatives may be the destination address, the shipper’s reference number, or the shipper’s order number.
Sometimes, you may have additional waybill charges to pay to the package tracker. Especially on large or bulky packages from a foreign country, excise duties and other tariffs may apply. You will be responsible for covering these fees if the seller doesn’t cover them. If you are an e-commerce merchant ordering goods from abroad, you need to inquire if your supplier will cover the cost of customs.
