Statuses of international postal items. Arrived at the sorting center

After sending the goods to Aliexpress, the seller gives the buyer a tracking number by which the movement of the parcel can be tracked. And from this moment on, inexperienced buyers begin the most nervous period of waiting for their purchase. During which many regularly panic. One of the most common causes of concern is when the tracking status of a package is not updated for a long time. And with any minor delays in updating parcel tracking statuses, many panic. They are afraid of losing money, worried that the package will not arrive, and that they may need to do something urgently.

Let's take a closer look at why there are delays in updating tracking statuses, and what delay periods are considered normal. And what to do if the parcel status is not updated for a long time.

Why is my parcel tracking status not updated for a long time?

1. Information about the parcel has not yet entered the database of postal services and track number tracking systems.

If you have received a tracking number, this does not mean that your parcel has already arrived at the post office. On average, it is believed that before it begins to be read. Because first the seller will reserve a tracking number, then the parcel will be picked up by the courier, and it will be sent by courier service to the post office. Next, it takes time until the parcel data is entered into the tracking system. In this case, you don’t need to do anything, just wait two weeks until the parcel information starts to be read.

2. The parcel has started to be tracked, but has not been sent.

It happens that the first tracking status appears in the tracking systems and on the Aliexpress website, indicating that the post office has received information about the parcel. This means that the seller reserved a tracking number, but did not physically send the parcel. It even happens that at this stage everything stops.

3. Your track number is tracked only in China.

When ordering cheap goods, parcels may be sent to you by courier companies or whose Track numbers are, in fact, internal invoice numbers. And they are only tracked within China. After passing the border, your parcel will be assigned a new track number with which it will travel further. You, like tracking systems, will not be able to recognize it. And the latest tracking status will show that the parcel has been sent to the destination country. There will be no further updates to the tracking system. Therefore, all that remains is to patiently wait for the notification that the parcel has arrived at your post office.

4. The parcel is at the import stage.

Basically, the process of importing a parcel is the longest stage. On average it can last two weeks. But there are particularly slow sorting points with old equipment or high loads, where parcels are stuck for a month or even more.

You cannot influence the speed of crossing the border in any way. Since it is not known in which country it may be located. It may be marked as “Shipped”, but in fact it was placed in a container that is awaiting shipment, and then it may lie in a temporary storage warehouse, awaiting its turn for further processing. Therefore, you need to be patient and monitor the terms of buyer protection.

5. The parcel is stuck at customs.

There are situations when the latest status in tracking a parcel means that it has arrived at customs. And the movement does not go further. There may be several reasons for this. Firstly, there may be a large workload at customs and employees physically do not have time to process incoming parcels quickly. Secondly, the parcel may get lost at customs. If more than 2-3 weeks have passed since the parcel arrived at customs, then you can call the desired department yourself and ask the employees to find out what’s wrong with it.

Please note that the speed of parcel delivery is a seasonal phenomenon. If you made an order during the holidays (especially during), during or after a sale, then due to workload or a large number of weekends, parcels will be sent slowly. Not only may the mail physically not work for some time, but also huge traffic jams will form.

We also cannot influence this fact in any way. You just need to take this into account and calmly wait for the parcel to wait its turn and move.

7. Delays in updating tracking databases of some postal services.

Some mails are famous for the fact that information in databases is updated with huge delays. And the parcel can go far ahead, and the data about it has not yet appeared in the database. Or the buyer has already received the parcel, but in tracking it has not even reached the point of export. For example, this is very typical for Estonian post. And the standard problem with China Post is that their server may be unavailable for a long period of time. Accordingly, status updates will not occur because of this.

8. Physical movements of the parcel.

At the very beginning of the parcel's journey, tracking statuses can be updated frequently. And it seems that your product moves from city to city, quickly passing through various stages. And then, at the next stage, it freezes for a week. And all because she is physically now sailing on a ship. And, sometimes, she needs to cover long distances by shipping. Naturally, this stage takes time and the next status will appear when it arrives at the next intermediate point.

9. The parcel was lost.

And the last, rather rare case, is when your package is lost in transit or stolen. Many buyers are afraid of this very reason, because they believe that the loss of a parcel means the loss of their money. And what do they need somehow. Actually this is not true.

What to do if the parcel status is not tracked for a long time?

N but in reality everything is simple! There are two options.

First- if there is no information about the track number, then in the first 10 days you just need to wait. And only then or.

Second - if information appears in the tracking statuses, then the parcel is considered to have been sent to you. And no matter what happens to it in the future, you will not be able to open a dispute until the delivery guarantee period has passed (blue alarm clock). Therefore, seeing that your track is being read, just watch that your package does not go to another recipient and wait patiently for it. Experienced buyers on Aliexpress advise extending the timer 5 days before the end of the buyer protection period if the parcel is delayed somewhere in your country. Or, a couple of days before the end of the protection period, open a dispute stating that a lot of time has passed, but the parcel is still on the way. This will allow you to get your money back for items not received. And it no longer matters where and for what reason the package got stuck.

Very often people on the site ask what this or that parcel status means. And since they ask, then we need to figure it out.

Postal status and order status on Aliexpress are two different things!

This article will discuss about postal statuses , we also have an article. These are different things. The order status is tracked in your . And reflects information about the parcel within the Aliexpress trading platform. And the status of the parcel is tracked in postal services (Russian Post, China Post, etc.). Don't be confused.

Not all orders can be tracked

Please note that not every parcel can be tracked while moving from the seller to you. This is only possible if it has a trackable track. But how can you find out about this BEFORE ordering?

In the case of Aliexpress - open , then click on Delivery

And after clicking, you will see a menu with information about delivery methods. The last column will display information about the availability of the track (Delivery Information).

If this field says Not available, then your order will not have a track when you select this delivery, the parcel will not be tracked and you will not be able to find out the current postal status of the parcel.

How to track a parcel from Aliexpress

If this is your first time tracking a parcel and your package is from Aliexpress, then read our article. If your parcel is not tracked at all, then read.

Please note that the article describes the most common statuses. In fact, there are many more of them, but other parcel statuses are much less common. And yet, for some private courier companies, especially in China, the same statuses can be designated by different words. If you have a status that is not described in this article, ask in the comments, we’ll try to figure it out. Be sure to indicate where you saw this status!

Parcel statuses in the country of departure (for example in China)

While the parcel is in the country of departure, it may have the following statuses:

• Collection, Acceptance – the parcel was delivered to the post office. It is worth keeping in mind that the parcel does not immediately begin to be tracked using the tracking number given to you by the seller. It takes some time to process the parcel and enter it into the database. Usually the track begins to be tracked within 10 days.
• Opening (The parcel has arrived at the transit point) . Usually the postal code of the transit point is written next to this status. There can be many such statuses. Moreover, their order is not always correct. Probably transit point operators do not fill in the data right away. Therefore, one should not be surprised at the Opening status after Export.
• Arrival at MMPO (Dispatching, Processing) . In this status, the parcel is being prepared for export and shipment to the destination country. For some transport companies in China, this is the last status that is tracked.
• Export (Departure from outward office of exchange, Total Export) – means that the parcel has passed all the necessary procedures and has been sent to the destination country.

After the last status, it may take quite a long time until the parcel begins to be tracked in the destination country. If the parcel was sent without an international track, it may no longer be tracked at all.

Parcel statuses in the destination country (for example, Russia)

• Import (Import) – the parcel has arrived in the destination country. It is processed for transfer to customs.
• Reception at customs – transfer to customs for clearance.
• Customs clearance. Customs release – the parcel has passed all the necessary customs clearance and is being prepared for release from MMPO
• Left the place of international exchange of MMPO – the parcel left customs and was handed over to the post office for further dispatch.
• Left the sorting center – the parcel is sorted and sent to its destination.
• Arrived at the delivery location – the parcel has arrived at the post office. In principle, you can already receive it. Or wait for a notification.
• Product Delivered – the parcel has ALREADY been delivered to the recipient.

Please note that in the parcel tracking interface at Russian Post, for import, the addressee's index is indicated. Sometimes, in case of an error or a fake track, it may be clear that the parcel is not going to your post office. If the package has changed several statuses, but the index is still incorrect, then you should start worrying.

Unpleasant parcel statuses

The parcel statuses described above are quite standard. They mean the package is on its way. Sometimes the package may get stuck on statuses, sometimes miss some, but, in most cases, everything is fine. However, there are statuses that clearly mean problems:

• Return. Other circumstances - means that there is something wrong with your package. And it is returned to the sender. What is wrong needs to be clarified. It's best to start with the Russian Post hotline 8-800-2005-888. After finding out the reasons and finding the culprits, you can think about what to do next.
• Return. Return to customs - similar to the previous paragraph. Usually means that the address is not written legibly.
• Unsuccessful delivery attempt - usually accompanied by clarification about the reasons for failure. Inaccurate address, Incomplete address, Addressee dropped out, etc. In this situation, the main thing is to get to the post office before the parcel storage time expires - that’s 30 days. Also check whether the parcel arrived at the post office at all. Well, sometimes at the post office such statuses are given from a flashlight. But it's worth monitoring.
• Return. Expiration date – obviously, you forgot to receive the parcel on time and it was returned.
• Dosyl. Submission – the parcel arrived at the wrong post office and was redirected. That is, the parcel travels further. That is, this is not a problem, but you need to control the situation.

What do the letters at the end of the status mean (PEK, CAN, etc.)

These letters are often visible when tracking the status of a package at China Air Post. They indicate the IATA airport designations where the parcel was registered. Their designations can be seen on any air ticket purchasing service (SkyScanner for example;)).

What does NULL status mean (NULL, PEK)

This status is visible when tracking the status of the parcel at China Post. These are just internal China Post statuses that they haven't translated into English. Therefore, where there should be a translation, it is not there, but instead NULL. If you can’t bear to find out what this status is, switch to the Chinese version of the service, copy the status in hieroglyphs and translate it with Google Translator. True, this method does not always work. Sometimes in the Chinese version some statuses simply do not exist.

NULL, PEK means that the parcel was at Beijing airport. What she did there can be found in the Chinese version of China Air Post.

What does item arrived at OE in tne destination country mean?

OE - office of exchange - MMPO, Place of International Postal Exchange. This is a normal status, which means the parcel has arrived at customs and is undergoing customs clearance.

The track (package status) has stopped changing, the parcel is not tracked

Very often, restless buyers begin to worry when the status of the parcel suddenly stops changing. This often happens after export. It seems that just recently the parcel was briskly moving around China, changing statuses almost every day, and suddenly, after some Export of international mail, Arrived to destination country and the like track, the parcel stops moving..

If you recognize your situation, we have discussed this situation in detail in the article. In short, there are two options:

• If your track is international and is successfully tracked on the official website of your state mail (Russian Post, UkrPochta, Belposhta) and more than 2-3 weeks have passed since the last status update, then well, your fears are not without reason.
• If your track has never been tracked on the mail website. You checked the status of the parcel in your Aliexpress personal account or some specialized track checking site, or the track format is generally clearly different from the international one (the correct international one is something like this RR123456789CN). This track often changes during export if the parcel is transferred to your state post office. That is, in your country such a parcel travels under a different track (which you do not know, and, as a rule, cannot find out). Well, the old track remains in the latest status. That is, there is nothing to worry about here at all. This situation is normal.

But be that as it may. Whether your parcel from Aliexpress is tracked or not, the main thing you should do is control the protection period and extend it if necessary or open a dispute.

Checking the seller on Aliexpress

Most problems with orders on Aliexpress can be avoided if you carefully choose a seller on Aliexpress BEFORE purchasing. There is nothing complicated about this and you can figure it out. But if time is precious and you don’t have time to figure it out, then use our service.

In conclusion

I have repeatedly written my personal opinion that when ordering goods from China you need to be patient. There is no need to worry if the parcel does not change its status for three days, a week, or two. This is a common occurrence. And on holidays, of which there are quite a few in China, everything stops. When ordering goods on Aliexpress, your parcels are protected. It is much more important for a successful purchase to spend more time choosing a lot and then control only the expiration date of the protection. Than monitoring the movement of a parcel 20 times a day.

And use services and programs to control the movement of parcels. There are quite a few different ones now.

P.S. from February 2018:

In the comments you often ask what this or that parcel status means. Most often, the unclear meaning of the status is associated with a crooked translation of the status issued by the Chinese carrier. Often the current status depends on the previous movement of the parcel, and it is now possible to understand what your non-standard status means now only by understanding how the parcel moved previously. Therefore, if you want to ask something about your parcel:

Write the tracking number of your parcel.

And we will ignore or delete comments like “What does XXX status mean?” Sorry, but I’m tired of copy-pasting “Write a track, we’ll see” into the void.

Many people who are faced with the purchase of goods in foreign online malls are interested in the course of such a process as the export of international mail, which means the receipt of a certain postal item, which is transferred to the mail of the destination country (in the cases considered here - Russia). The parcel is delivered to the specified place, where international postal exchange and all subsequent export and import operations are carried out. The entire postal route is the export of international mail, which means a step-by-step passage through all authorities in compliance with many rules, which will be discussed below.

Stages

From receiving a parcel at a post office abroad to receiving it in Russia by a person whose address, first and last name are indicated in the notice, there are many stages, about each of which the recipient and sender receive information upon request. The long journey of the parcel and all manipulations with it must be transparent, this is exactly what the export of international mail provides, which means free tracking of the item until it is received at the Russian post office.

The first stage of sending a shipment to the Russian Federation from abroad is the acceptance of the parcel at a post office, for example, in China or Malaysia. At a foreign post office, the parcel is accepted and the appropriate documentation is drawn up for it to go all the way to the final address. At the same time, a declaration for customs in form CN23 or CN22 must be drawn up.

Documents

After drawing up the documents, this postal item is given a unique identifier, with the help of which this export of international mail is tracked. What does ID mean? This is the bar code printed on the receipt. The sender receives it so that after some time, when the parcel appears in the tracking system, he can monitor its movement. If desired and possible, the sender can communicate the index to the recipient.

First, the parcel arrives at the location where it is carefully prepared to undergo certain procedures, and this is only the very beginning of knowing what it means to export international mail. China, for example, trades very intensively with Russian consumers online, as it has an extensive network of shopping malls. These are Item.taobao, Detail.tmall, Auction1.paipai, as well as many others, including the world famous Amazon and Aliexpress. And it is from there that parcels need to be carefully tracked. The local MMPO also houses customs authorities, which process the parcel on their part and generate a dispatch to the country of departure.

Parcel export

If, when tracking, the future recipient sees the status "export", he needs to be patient. This is one of the most time-consuming processes when a postal item is transported from one country to another - from the sender to the recipient. Air transportation may be involved, but most often delivery is carried out by land.

The speed will depend on the distance of countries from each other purely geographically. And at this stage, when tracking the parcel, the status “export of international mail” will already be known, which means that the parcel is going through the longest stage of the postal journey. The “export” status means that the shipment has been handed over to the carrier, and the parcel is heading to the MMPO of the recipient country, that is, to Russia, but it follows very gradually.

Deadlines

No one can ever know about the delivery time of exports of any international shipments. This depends entirely on the carrier. The following status speaks of electronic registration of the parcel - in these or slightly different words, and this means that the seller registered the track code of the postal item on the courier service website.

However, the parcel has not yet been transferred, and a whole week may still pass before the actual moment of transfer. Most likely, she has not left China yet. Exporting international mail should change the status to "reception" or similar word. But this will only mean that the parcel was actually sent from China to Russia. When it is in the "export" status, it is impossible to track the path. When the status changes to “import”, you can monitor the movements.

Reasons

Since transportation is most often carried out in transit and undergoes various restrictions, postal items are often delayed for a long time. If a parcel does not receive “import” status for more than three months, the sender must submit a search request to the post office. The actual dispatch to the destination country does not mean at all that the shipment will soon complete its journey, that is, the export of international mail itself does not indicate this. No one knows how long the departure journey lasts at this stage.

This happens because the routes are laid out differently each time; a lot depends on the flights, as well as on the formation of the optimal weight. That is, parcels are accumulated to the required quantity so that the flight becomes profitable. For example, Chinese planes carry from fifty to one hundred tons. And no one knows when this flight will gain the required weight. This stage can take from seven to fourteen days on average. But often more, there are cases when parcels were expected for all of sixty days.

Package

With the status "export (checking contents)" you can be sure that the parcel is not moving anywhere yet. She was handed over to the customs office of the country of departure to carry out inspection and other procedures. Once customs clearance has been completed, the parcel will move towards the destination country. The status "export (packaging)" will mean that the parcel has passed inspection successfully, it is packed, labeled and ready to be sent to Russia.

With the “transportation” status, everything seems to be clear: the mail item is moving from the sorting center. Most likely - to another sorting center, but in the direction of the recipient. The same thing means “transit” status. Sometimes, as the shipment is being tracked, a notification will appear that customs has completed clearance, which will indicate that postal services are now continuing to export international mail. Malaysia (MYKULB - international code), for example, allows you to track your parcels using its own help center, but this does not add speed to the parcels.

Customs is there

Customs in most MMPOs works around the clock, since this is the only way to check this colossal volume of mail incoming and outgoing from abroad. In addition to customs officers, postal operators also work there - two people per customs employee.

This is what awaits a parcel with the status “customs clearance”. The parcel is still in the sending country and undergoing customs procedures. This thing is not too fast. If the status says “customs clearance in the recipient’s country,” you can begin to rejoice and rub your hands in anticipation.

Customs is here

The parcel is transferred to and processed there, simultaneously going through a rather long cycle of functions: processing, customs control, clearance. All postal containers receive customs transit procedures and are then sorted into areas and types of shipments.

Commodity investments must undergo X-ray control, and customs decides whether to open the shipment or not. The reason to take personal control of the parcel may be a commercial shipment or a reference to it, where the presence of substances prohibited for shipment is suspected, or it may simply be a violation of property rights. The operator opens the parcels in front of the customs officer, after which they draw up an inspection report and attach them to the shipment.

Other statuses

The status “international mail export, sorting” means that the parcel is already in one of the many sorting centers and is being processed there. In any case, this is already very close to receiving. It is unknown how long it will take for processing, but sooner or later the parcel will leave this sorting center. The status “accepted by the carrier” moves the moment of receipt even closer - the order is transferred to the local carrier.

Then different statuses may appear in turn, which speak for themselves: “arrived at the terminal” (probably an intermediate one, where the parcel will once again be unloaded, loaded, processed, marked and sent further), “arrived at the warehouse” (where it will again be unloaded, loaded and so on - see above), “located in the center for processing small packages” (again, everything is according to the previous list, but at the end the further route is selected here). One of these intermediate statuses that makes you sad is “arrival in a transit country.” It is a very troublesome task to track the export of international mail. China (CNSZXA - international code), for example, apologizes to customers exceptionally often for long delays.

Post office

The long-awaited status “arrival at the post office” means that the recipient can, without even waiting for the postman with a notification, contact directly the post office indicated in the status and receive his parcel. Other phrases may also be used in this message. For example: "Export of international mail from Russia. Arrival at the place of delivery." Ideally, the notice should be delivered by the postman on the same day, but more often it happens differently.

By the way, if you have received the status “abandoned place of international exchange” from the Russian Post, then you do not need to wait more than ten days, since this is already a clear violation of the delivery time. Feel free to call and complain. Postal workers are required to respond to such a call. The parcel is searched for and a notice of its arrival at the department is immediately issued. And they give the notice to the postman. It's good if all the worries are over. Because there are also unsuccessful delivery attempts if the postal operator has to report this in the next status. Moreover, the specific reason for non-delivery is never displayed.

Next steps

After one more attempt at delivery, the parcel is transferred to storage until all the circumstances are clarified. It is marked "on demand". After a certain time, the failed recipient sees the status of the parcel being returned to the sender. And if he does not immediately contact the post office, which was obliged to deliver the item, and does not find out the reasons for non-delivery, then the recipient can already say goodbye to the dream that arrived from Malaysia or China.

And he was not the recipient even then. Unfortunately, this happens very often, as people who use foreign online malls constantly write about in reviews and advise on forums. This is how customers warn each other about poor quality service. For example, Chinese warehouses of online stores receive a lot of criticism.

The most widespread and popular service was created by Russian Post, it is called “Russian Post. Tracking postal items.” There you need to enter the parcel identification number and confirm that you are not a robot. The system will show where the parcel is currently located. But, unfortunately, recently, on the same Aliexpress, parcel numbers have begun to be issued in such a way that it is impossible to track them through the Russian Post website. You can use others instead.

So, there are websites for tracking goods specifically from China, since a very large number of parcels are now coming from there. It’s called Track24 and is located on the website of the same name; there are also 17track and ALITRACK. The last 3 do not request verification of the robot, but immediately search for the location of the parcel using the entered postal item number. The 17track service also shows the approximate date of arrival at the recipient's post office.

If an item has disappeared from the tracking service or is stuck somewhere at one point for a long time, then it is possible that they forgot to add it to the program and you will no longer be able to track its movements until you receive a notification from the post office that the package has been delivered. In this case, you can write to the seller, attaching a screenshot from the Russian Post service. Tracking mail items or any other service where the problem is shown. After the delivery period has expired, the seller, with your consent, or you yourself can extend the delivery period or return the money for an obvious reason. Money is usually returned quickly (within 3-5 days) to the card or account from which the payment was made, although not the first time. Sometimes the seller has to write several times to get the money back, or even contact the support service, because the seller does not make contact. It also happens that the money is returned or the product is ordered again, but the one that was lost arrives.

Preparing for shipment

This means that a package consisting of one or more items is being assembled or already completed and prepared for shipment. The preparation process also includes paperwork and labeling of parcels. Also at this stage, the seller checks whether payment for the purchase has been made and passed.

"Export from country of origin"

This is the second status that the package acquires during transportation, unless otherwise provided by the seller or transport company. “Export from the country of origin” literally means export from that country. This means that the parcel has a long delivery journey ahead.

The time given to deliver the goods to the buyer usually begins to count from the “export from the country of departure” status. How long to wait for a parcel is often written when placing an order: some goods arrive within 30 days, and some within 90. Therefore, you should carefully read the delivery conditions when placing and subsequent payment for the order. If the parcel is sent by your friend from another country, then the wait is much less; these usually arrive in 10-20 days.

Arrival at destination country

When export from the country of departure is completed, i.e. the goods have left the seller’s country and crossed the border, the status of the parcel changes. There can be 2 options: either the goods immediately end up in the capital’s sorting center, or they will be located in a border, but already Russian city, next to the border that they crossed. One way or another, it will have the status “arrived in the territory of the Russian Federation” or “imported to the country of destination” in tracking services.

Arrival at the sorting center

Sorting centers are huge premises in a large city into which parcels and letters are received for further distribution and sending to smaller points or regional post offices. When a product is exported from the country of departure, it has already been determined where it will go next, to which city, sorting center and post office.

At the sorting center, parcels are processed automatically, since it is almost impossible to process a huge number of boxes and packages manually, so it is important that the index is written correctly (the address is not read here), otherwise the parcel will go to another place.

Arrival at the pick-up point

When the purchased product has gone through all stages of transportation, it arrives at the post office closest to the buyer. Within a few days, postal employees issue a receipt notice and deliver it to the recipient's mailbox. If the addressee does not arrive within a week, a second notice is issued. A parcel that has been lying unclaimed for a month is sent back.

If a person tracked the parcel through online services and saw that it was there, he may not wait for a notification, but come to the post office with the shipment number and, having named it and presenting his passport, receive a box with the purchased goods.

If he missed all the notifications and did not monitor the status for a long time, then when trying to understand where the parcel is, he may see the status “export from the country of departure” again, but now this country will be Russia, which means the purchase has been sent back. Only a dialogue with the seller will help here; he can stop the return shipment or send the goods again. But not all sellers agree to this, so if you are waiting for a parcel from abroad, do not rely on notifications from the post office, but check the location of the goods yourself.