Life is full of surprises, and they’re not always pleasant. Eagerly looking forward to receiving a package that never arrives can be very frustrating, to say the least. But don’t despair just yet, it would be better to know why it’s on hold, you may feel not so bad, especially if you are waiting for a package from an international express (DHL, UPS, or FedEx) sent from Hong Kong.
Have you ever had such troubles？
Generally speaking, as long as the package enters the courier transportation system, most packages are delivered on time, and we all understand the weather, holidays, lost packages, insufficient address information, customs inspections, and package delays due to COVID-19.
However, in addition to the above, many buyers have doubts, as to why my supplier gave me the express tracking number, but the website keeps showing “shipment information received” without any updated logistics status for a long time (same as the below picture)? Did the seller actually ship it? How can there be a courier number if it is not shipped? But if it is really shipped, why is there no logistics update?
I believe that many buyers have been troubled by this, and some people even think that the parcel has not been shipped and blame the supplier. But this is normal from the supplier’s point of view, the goods were already shipped the tracking number is updated, it’s out of my control now.
At this moment, most sellers will tell buyers that express companies’ warehouse is overbooked, and they need time to handle the goods. Then the buyers begin to wait, one day, two days, three days, no movement still, still waiting, not knowing how many days to wait again. From initial disappointment to helplessness to anger, buyers’ emotions are no longer under control, but the logistics still have no movement!The buyer is completely outraged: I’ve been disappointed with this supplier, and it’s really delaying my time. I want to change this supplier!
Slow! Slow! Slow! Before we start complaining or getting angry, it’s good to understand the whole background and process of shipping. I am sure that your irritated mind will have some peace after reading this article.
Why are so many goods sent from Hong Kong?
Some buyers may already be aware that sensitive goods like batteries, powders, liquids, etc. cannot be sent directly from mainland China unless you can provide a test report from designated laboratories (the cost is high and also need to be updated annually). However, these products can be sent directly from Hong Kong by courier through an agent or a forwarder, without many test reports needed.
In the beauty personal care tool industry, with the development of technology and the needs of environmental protection, more and more products use built-in rechargeable batteries as power. This results in a large number of products can be sent from Hong Kong only.
It should be noted that international express delivery from Hong Kong is divided into two situations:
One is that the buyer has local suppliers or agents in Hong Kong, and they send the parcel directly through the official channel of international express, so that the parcel can enter the system of the express company when it is picked up by the courier. In such circumstances, there will be no delay in Hong Kong at all, and no situation as told in the beginning of this article.
The other is what we will talk about in detail below. If your package is sent from a supplier in mainland China to Hong Kong, then you may find the status of on hold in Hong Kong. What is the reason??
Why such a long delay for shipments sent from Hong Kong?
To understand the reasons for delays in Hong Kong, we first need to understand the detailed shipment process. Usually your supplier won’t tell you so clearly, and most customers don’t care about this process. After all, customers just want to know if they can receive their goods on time. They may think, “I don’t have time to take care of the shipping process! That’s the supplier’s business!” You’re right. But if you’re really worried, take a look.
Here we’ve charted it for you to see and walk through each step of the process in detail:
Let us explain the whole process for you step by step:
Step 1: Your supplier send out the parcel
After your supplier finishes the production, he will inform you that the goods will be sent to the freight forwarder. At this time, he will have a domestic express tracking number. Usually, the forwarder will receive the goods within 1 to 3 days after the delivery (weather and holidays may cause delay).
Step 2: The forwarder gets the parcel
The forwarder will complete two actions upon receipt of the goods：
- First, they will measure the volume and weight of the goods to calculate the shipping costs, at which point your supplier needs to pay the express cost to the forwarder.
- Secondly, your supplier will get the tracking number from the forwarder and advise to you. In most cases, in this step, the result you track on the official webiste will be shown in the figure above, only the "shipment information received", just like below:
If you think that you can receive the package soon after you get the courier number at this time, you are totally wrong. You need to know that your package has not entered the express company’s transportation system, they are still in the forwarder’s warehouse.
Step 3: The parcel was sent to HK
After receiving the goods, the forwarder will arrange delivery to Hong Kong, usually on a daily basis. Don’t underestimate this step, there are many details you may not be aware of:
- If your supplier requires a formal customs declaration, then it will be finished in this step. If no formal customs declaration is required, then the forwarder will arrange a consolidated customs declaration. This step usually only takes a few hours or a day to complete.
- Secondly, when a vehicle leaves the Chinese border (most of the ports are in Shenzhen, which is the closest to Hong Kong) to Hong Kong, the Chinese customs may randomly inspect the goods in the vehicle. Imagine a container with goods from many different suppliers, if there is a problem with one supplier's goods, it may affect the whole container. Usually the inspection is very smooth and there is not much to worry about.
Many years ago, we had a batch of goods that was LCL in one vehicle sent to Hong Kong DHL for delivery, there were also goods from other manufacturers in the container, which were checked by the Chinese customs. There is one bill was found that the declared goods did not match the actual goods, so that container was detained in customs. It took a long time waiting, we almost asked for the news from the forwarder every day, you can imagine it’s really troublesome.
In the end, the goods were released after almost one month, the customers actually received the goods nearly 40 days after our delivery. We were also very sorry and sad, but this situation is really out of control and really happened.
- Thirdly, Hong Kong Customs may inspect goods entering Hong Kong. Although the probability of inspection is very low, but after all, from time to time. If there are no unexpected circumstances, this step is usually very fast, it only takes a few hours or one night for the goods to arrive at the forwarder's warehouse in Hong Kong.
In 2020, we encountered one shipment with four cartons of goods to one European customer, one of which was inspected by Hong Kong Customs and was not released until 2-3 days later, while the other three cartons had already been delivered to Europe. Then the inspected one was delivered nearly one week later. We explained the situation to the customer, and luckily he understood. In fact, for suppliers, these situations are really unpredictable and uncontrollable.
Step 4: Shipment Picked Up
After the goods arrive at the forwarder’s warehouse in Hong Kong, the staff will arrange delivery to DHL’s warehouse. Let us say one more thing here. The forwarders with large warehouses in Hong Kong are generally the agents of HK DHL. Due to the huge daily volume of goods, the agents can get very low discounts from HK DHL, so their quotations are quite competitive. This is also one of the reasons why many mainland suppliers often cooperate with these international express agents.
Generally speaking, during off-peak season, the goods can be delivered to DHL’s warehouse in a few hours after arriving in HK. If you track and find the update to be “shipment picked up” on the official website, it means that your goods have entered the express company’s transportation system, and your goods are waiting for flight arrangments.
At this step, you would also have a rough idea when you may get the parcel, check the above picture.
However, you may need to wait a few days without any update on official website, still “shipment information received”, why does it take so long?
- First of all, the daily shipment of international express is limited, specifically to each express company, such as DHL, all their daily flights can only add up to a limited number of goods, so DHL's warehouse can only receive a fixed number of goods from the agents every day. When the daily volume of goods received by the agent far exceeds the daily volume of goods that DHL can handle, the extra goods will have to stay in the agent's warehouse, waiting for DHL's notice to enter the warehouse.
You must know that DHL has a lot of agents. Although DHL has a large daily shipment volume, the amount of goods that each agent can deliver is limited. Therefore, in peak seasons, most of the goods will have to be placed in the agents’ warehouse, waiting DHL’s notice. This phenomenon usually occurs at the end of the year or before Chinese holidays, according to our experience, it starts to appear around November every year and continues until the Chinese New Year. The screenshot below is what you often encounter when you track on DHL official website. Many buyers complain that the supplier has not delivered the goods. In fact, the supplier is also very helpless, because it is really far beyond their ability.
- Let's look further afield, these agents also have limited warehouse capacity in Hong Kong, so at peak times (say, the end of the year), many goods have to be in the forwarder's domestic warehouse, waiting to be delivered to Hong Kong. If there is such a situation, it is an indication that the shipping space tight situation is rather serious and not something that can be solved in a short time. We once experienced that at the end of previous year, the warehousing scheduling time would be 7 to 10 days, which means that there would be a waiting period of 7 to 10 days from the time your forwarder receives the goods to the time the goods enter DHL's transport system.
So, if there are import plans at the end of the year, experienced buyers will arrange to place orders for shipment earlier so that they can receive at the scheduled time. For example, if you need to receive a custom-produced shipment before Thanksgiving, it is best to place your order for production in October so that your supplier can send out in early November and you can receive it before Thanksgiving. If you only start placing your order in November and your supplier arranges production, with any luck you will be able to have it shipped by Thanksgiving, but you can only expect to have it by Christmas.
Step 5: Flight Arranged
DHL staff would arrange the flight after the shipment was picked up, and after the flight arranged you would usually wait a few days before receiving the parcel. Arranging a flight usually takes only a few hours or less time, as shown below：
I believe that when you read here, you will understand why you can’t receive the goods after getting the tracking number because there are so many steps in between, each of which may cause uncontrollable delays. And what’s more, these steps cannot be tracked on the official website, but are only displayed as “shipment information received”.
Ending
Generally speaking, the delivery speed of DHL, FEDEX or UPS is very fast. When not in peak season, customers can normally receive goods exported from China within a week. Please don’t worry too much about the abnormal situations mentioned above.
By the way, our express forwarder is a DHL first-level agent and has its own large warehouse in Hong Kong. During the off-peak period, your parcel can be picked up by Hong Kong DHL in 1-3 days, but it will take about 7 days during the peak period. Therefore, preparation in advance is the most important.
Have you ever had shipments sent from Hong Kong? And is it fast delivered? Welcome to share with us below.
