What is ePacket ?

Probably you heard the word ePacket lately… especially that it is getting famous more in the shipping world. This is a major subject to talk about.

ePacket is a program signed between USPS – US Post Service enabling shipments from the shipment’s origin country ( China & Hong Kong as a start ) to receive USPS Express service at no additional cost; that includes :

– Express delivery ( by Air or expedited land transport )

– Tracking code for the parcel ( from minute 1 to the end destination ) .

– Ability to return to sender freely.

How ePacket program works ?

Shipments, from China & Hong King as starting points, were shipped to the USA by sea and then by land transport – in the US lands – without ability to track the shipment or know its status.

This would take 1-2 months for a parcel to be delivered, if being delivered originally !! And to use the air shipping , that would be a high cost option – especially for small shipments. So came the ePacket program.

In April 2011 – USPS & China Post co-operated to solve this issue; in China’s mainland; China EMS would handle the shipment sending to USA – by air for less than 40 Lbs shipments . In USA, USPS handles the shipment through its own ( or hires a local courier ) , and delivers the parcel to its final location – quick & express delivery.

This agreement meant to increase traffic and shipments , and reduce timings, for the US customers . And China managed it very well and expanded it too.

This is a great video to review about ePacket program , and then proceed for more details..ePacket shipments – Cost Of Shipments

Normally, a shipment from China to a US-address, would cost – in Express shipping method – would reach 50 USD .

But after ePacket agreement, the shipping cost of 1 lb package from China to any address in the US is around $5.00 , that because of high volumes and easier regulations on Chinese-based shipments, and yes some shipments are a loss on USPS ( USPS handled 29 Million USD as losses from ePacket )

ePacket shipments – Sizes & Weights

China EMS ( the official post service ) ships any shipment to anywhere, but ePacket has certain regulations in its shipments and locations ( source and destination countries ) . They are :

• Weight : Package’s weight should be no more than 2 kgs (4.4 lbs)
• Value : Package’s value should be no more than 400 USD .
• Size restrictions: Length cannot less than 14 CM, width cannot less than 11 CM. Roll diameter. Length cannot less 17 CM.
• Destination is from the contracted countries only. And source country is China .

– As of April 2020, 44 countries support ePacket deliveries:

Australia	France	Italy	New Zealand	Sweden
Austria	Germany	Japan	Norway	Switzerland
Belgium	Gibraltar	Latvia	Poland	Thailand
Brazil	Great Britain	Lithuania	Portugal	Turkey
Canada	Greece	Luxembourg	Russia	Ukraine
Croatia	Hong Kong	Malaysia	Saudi Arabia	United Kingdom
Denmark	Hungary	Malta	Singapore	United States
Estonia	Ireland	Mexico	South Korea	Vietnam
Finland	Israel	Netherlands	Spain

– Beware that any parcel coming through ePacket program, from any country, would pass through normal customs procedures . so others costs could occur.

I think I spoke enough, let go for another subject 🙂

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