What is ePacket shipping and how does it work?

ePacket shipping is very popular in the world of eCommerce as online sellers look to keep shipping costs down whilst offering delivery to customers who live all around the world. The term ‘ePacket’ stems from eCommerce as the service was designed to meet the growing demand for affordable and quick delivery online retailers have to ship items purchased online easily and at a reasonable cost.

What is ePacket?

ePacket started out as a cheap eCommerce shipping service for shippers in China and Hong Kong to send out products to destinations all over the world including the US, Canada and Australia. It is essentially small packet shipping for low weight, low-value items at very cheap prices.

The days of long, unreliable and expensive shipping to international destinations are over with the arrival of ePacket services available at hugely discounted prices with Parcel Monkey. The goal of ePacket delivery is to boost global trade, equipping small businesses with affordable shipping rates, plus individuals can benefit from the better pricing too as an alternative to expensive rates at the Post Office or direct from a courier.

Book an ePacket delivery

It is really simple to book an ePacket delivery with Parcel Monkey. If your package is not urgent and small and fairly lightweight, ePacket rates are the best value for money.

1. Enter where you are shipping from and to

2. Enter the weight of your package

3. Choose which courier services suits you based on price and transit time

4. Book by following the rest of the process

5. We will supply all the Shipping Labels and Customs Documents required

6. We will also provide a tracking number for you and the recipient.

 

For those who have a higher value or urgent package, we do offer expedited courier services too.

What ePacket shipping can I book with Parcel Monkey?

Using the Parcel Monkey shipping calculator, you will be able to compare and book ePacket delivery services such as DHL eCommerce, TrakPak, USPS and Light Packet.

We offer some hybrid services to reduce the costs involved even further making our international shipping some of the most competitive around. Hybrid services often come with a label that only has a US delivery address on, so don't worry this will be shipped to our courier partners sort facility and the international label will be attached with the final delivery address on it. 

Some examples of this include;

DHL eCommerce - Drop Off at a local USPS Post Office - Shipped to a sorting facility in Jamaica, NY - shipped overseas using DHL - delivered by the local Postal operator in the destination.

TrakPak - Drop Off at FedEx store or book a FedEx Pickup - Shipped to Sorting Facility in the US, the new international label is attached and the package is shipped overseas by TrakPak, delivered in the country by the local postal operator.

How does ePacket tracking work?

ePackets are small and lightweight so they often get grouped together and sent in bulk. Tracking is not as detailed as more expensive express shipping options, the tracking is normally to show when the package has been collected, left the country, arrived in the new country and delivered. 

Parcel Monkey provides a tracking tool so you can follow all your ePackets from your Parcel Monkey account, plus you can take the shipment number from the shipping label and track a package direct with the courier.

eCommerce customers will want to know when the package is going to arrive and there may be some Customs Duty to pay, so we advise to always share the tracking number with the recipient.

ePacket delivery times

Most ePacket delivery times are between 7 and 20 working days depending on where the packages are being shipped to. Major destinations can be shipped to more quickly than more remote areas and in some locations, the local Post Office may not be as efficient as the USPS for example. 

For ePacket shipments, it is the responsibility of the recipient to pay any customs duty owed so it is essential to provide working contact details so they can be contacted, which can reduce the shipping times as ePackets can clear customs more quickly and be delivered.

You should make this known to your customers if you are running an online marketplace and also if you are using an ePacket service to ship items to a friend or family abroad.

United States Express ePacket Services for everyone.

Parcel Monkey has released some bulk shipping tools to help those with multiple packages to ship at once process and book them in quickly. You can connect eCommerce store such as Shopify and eBay directly or upload a CSV and choose from any of our ePacket rates.

We don’t just help small businesses and bulk shippers, so don’t worry if you don’t have large volumes of orders to ship. Individuals can save on the amount they pay at the Post Office or direct to a courier using our shipping calculator and enjoy the benefits of discounted prices with no minimum volumes or sign up fees, just pay for shipping as and when you need it.

As we operate a global marketplace, you can also import items to the US from locations around the globe including China, the UK and various other destinations and we are always adding new services to the shipping calculator, so just enter your package details to see what is on offer.