Last Updated on October 6, 2022
Aliexpress Standard Shipping is part of the Alibaba Group, which manages Aliexpress. This is one of the most classic delivery methods, which you can encounter almost with each of your orders.
It is not strictly speaking one of logistics company, but a shipping company that is in contact with many courier carriers around the world (Singapore Post, Correos, Posti-Finland, SPSR, DHL…), and therefore it takes care of the smooth way of the shipments it makes: the products are first delivered to their dispatch center, then they are sent to customers through them.
This is one of the cheapest shipping options available, most of the time it’s completely free, and sometimes it costs you just a few dollars for delivery.
In this article, we will cover the whole information and answer all questions about Standard Shipping options and other possible delivery methods that customers might use on AliExpress. We also will mention some apps that can help a customer track their product right from the stock through the whole way home. Let’s start!
Is AliExpress Standard Shipping Reliable
It would be honest to say that the more popular the platform becomes, the more scammers the platform has to deal with. AliExpress Team does its best to track and punish unreliable sellers and solve problems with postal services. And it works.
The reliability of the Standard Shipping service nowadays is quite good, and it is one of the safest shipping methods offered by the platform. In Standard delivery, there are about 15 to 45 days to receive your package, which is quite reasonable. And of course, you can always follow the progress of the order with your tracking number.
Where Does AliExpress Ship From
Of course, since AliExpress started its business in China, most of the products are still coming from China, because they are produced there and way cheaper.
However, recently there have appeared retailers on AliExpress who already offer to ship from other countries, so it could be easier and faster for the local people to get what they want from AliExpress. Not only is the usual short shipping time (2-3 days) offered, but according to customer protection rules, a 1-year AliExpress guarantees/warranty is also guaranteed free of charge on some devices.
Especially when buying technology, you no longer have to fear any problems when shipping from European countries or the US. Since the service from AliExpress is usually accommodating, there shouldn’t be any major problems with warranty claims either.
If you need to get the chosen product from your country, you need to pick your country in the field “Ship from…”
How Long Does AliExpress Take to Deliver
Let’s take a deeper look at the kinds of shipping that might be used in the process of delivery.
1. AliExpress Standard Shipping
This type of shipment is very cheap for Asian suppliers. Aliexpress standard shipping packages often cost under $10.
Ordinary shipments do not have package tracking once they have left China, this is a major drawback of not having a visual on when and where the package was delivered by the postman.
In addition, it is not necessary to sign for an ordinary shipment to be delivered, it is also common for the courier to deposit it directly in the mailbox, even if the person is present at home. Of course, this assumes the product can fit in a letterbox, if not they will call or leave a delivery notice for the customer to collect it from their local post office.
It should also be noted that the international tracking number for an ordinary shipment consists of a series of numbers and letters.
2. Cainiao Super Economy Global logistic company
If you analyze the popular products on Aliexpress, then you have most certainly seen the “delivered in 10 days” term.
One of the latest developments from AliExpress is an agreement with courier Cainiao that will allow your customers to receive your order in just 10 days. This shipment typically takes 10 business days, which means that in just over a week (not including order preparation time) a customer will likely receive their order.
However, you should keep in mind that not all sellers offer this express delivery by default, which means that if you do not select the 10-day express delivery when adding the product to the cart, it will take more time for your customer to receive the order.
3. China Post Ordinary Small Packet Plus
Like the Standard Shipping method, it is the Chinese post office that takes care of the delivery of your small package. Shipping is free, however, there is no tracking number, and delivery times vary from 20 to 60 days.
4. Yanwen Express postal service
This delivery method is similar to the previous one: the shipment method is known to be “economical”, so you cannot track your package as well, and the delivery times are generally long (between 16 and 35 days).
5. SunYou Economic Air Mail
SunYou Economic Air Mail is an international postal service for parcels under 2kg and with a value of fewer than 5 dollars. It supports shipping to 159 countries, with the estimated delivery time also varying between 15 and 35 days, like the previous one.
Please note that this delivery is made without a tracking number.
6. China Post Registered Airmail
China Post Registered Airmail delivery option is also a postal service that is intended for small parcels of less than 2kg. It is a very economical way of delivery compared to other platforms, and orders are on average delivered in 20 days to Europe and 15-25 days to the US. You can also track your package using a tracking number.
Delivery is generally made by three kinds of transport called: Air, Surface Air Lifted (SAL), and Surface. As the name suggests, “Air” stands for air shipment, “SAL” combines air and sea or land delivery, and “Surface” stands for ground shipment.
The cheapest and fastest one is airmail delivery, which many sellers use.
7. Singapore Post
The national post of Singapore allows the international shipping of small parcels in single letters. Several Chinese sellers use Singapore Post to deliver products that are prohibited in China.
Although this delivery is inexpensive, it is done without tracking, and average delivery times vary from 3 to 4 weeks.
8. Private Carrier Services
Other International postal services offering delivery of the goods are usually not free (sometimes they actually can be quite expensive) and are made by private companies such as UPS, EMS, DHL, or AliExpress itself with its AliExpress Premium Shipping plan.
Until recently this type of shipment had been complicated because shipments with private courier services always stopped at customs to claim taxes and duties if a customer had not told their supplier their EORI number.
But since July 1, 2021, this inconvenience has disappeared, because AliExpress charges VAT on products under €150 directly at checkout and there is therefore no longer any risk that your package will be stopped by customs!
The disadvantage of these shipments is that they usually have a high price. That is the reason why most people choose to send goods for free using the other above-mentioned postal services unless it is a very expensive item and no other delivery method is possible.
Long story short, private courier shipping on Aliexpress is only a good option if you’re in a rush to receive your purchase and aren’t afraid to shell out several dozen extra dollars. It is also usually the fastest seller’s shipping method (offered by the seller).
Which Delivery Options Are Available
Let’s have a look at the shipping options that are available when a customer chooses this or that delivery service.
Aliexpress Delivery to Pickup Point
This option is available for orders under $25, with delivery via AliExpress Standard Shipping (although not in all cases Aliexpress Standard Shipping tracking is possible).
These collection points are starting to be available in Spain and Russia, alongside Cainiao lockers. Usually, in these cases, the message “Item available in collection point” will appear on your tracking system or Cainiao Aliexpress tracking.
Please note that you can only use this when purchasing items from a single seller. If a customer is trying to order a cart with orders from different vendors, they won’t be able to use this option, as each package is usually individually packaged and shipped in bulk.
The choice of your delivery point is nevertheless very limited and not customizable to date. AliExpress will suggest the closest delivery points to the customer’s address and notify you by email.
Also note that the email will be sent to your Aliexpress account address and not to your client’s one, so if you are a retailer, you need to remember to check your emails daily so as not to forget to warn a client who will have to go there.
Which Shipping Method Is The Best
It’s hard to say which shipping method is the best one for you because everybody is different and we all have our motives and desires. Sometimes you might think of a less time-consuming way, sometimes you don’t care about the period of waiting, because you need to save up more money. Sometimes there is no other choice but the most expensive way because you care about the fragility of the goods.
AliExpress Delivery Nuances to Consider
The advantage of dropshipping business via AliExpress is that your order will always arrive at the delivery address that you have indicated on your order manually, or at the shipping address indicated by the customer on another platform, which means AliExpress delivers right to the customer’s doorstep.
In any case, it’s good advice to put the address of the local post office of the customer so that the order arrives there directly because you run the risk that the parcel is automatically returned to its sender, in China and not at home.
The customer is not at home to receive the package
It often happens that the customer is not at home to receive their package during the week. If so, here are the ins and outs of the different cases that might happen.
- Absence & Certified Delivery
It depends on the country, but generally if on the first delivery attempt the postman can’t find anyone at home, they will try again the next working day.
Remember that you can’t go to the post office right away to pick up your package when you see in the order status “arrival at the delivery office” because they won’t give it to you. You will still have to wait for the postman to make two delivery attempts before you can direct your customer to pick it up at their local post office.
To recover the package, do not forget to tell your customer to bring the notice that the postman will leave and to send the tracking number of the package.
- Absence & Standard Delivery
If it’s a small package and it fits in the mailbox, the postman will usually drop it off. If it doesn’t fit, it will also leave a notice for you to pick it up.
- Absence & Premium Delivery
For private courier shipments, the postman will call you on your phone after his first attempt to arrange a redelivery or give you the option to go directly to the official post office to collect it.
In this specific case, each private courier applies his delivery policy, it is also possible that additional costs are applied to it if the customer has to have his package delivered several times by the carrier without success. These costs will therefore be payable by your client, but it will be advisable to explain them clearly in your T&Cs to avoid any misunderstanding.
Is AliExpress Standard Shipping Worth the Wait
The time of delivery depends on the merchant, and can later be spread out between 3 and 60 working days. This is indicated in the product description when ordering.
Since most AliExpress sellers are Chinese, it may take longer for some to ship items, and you will have to wait because rare items are impossible to find in local stores. However, if your product is in one of the AliExpress warehouses present in the US or Europe, there is no reason to wait for 2 weeks more for the same product
Cheap & Reliable AliExpress Shipping Methods
The low cost delivery services mostly don’t offer to track purchases, the ones falling into the category are Cainiao Super Economy, Cainiao Super Economy Global, AliExpress Standard Shipping, and Yanwen Economic Air Mail. They are reliable enough to trust, however, it might be a little bit nervous to wait for the purchase from another country when you can’t follow it on the way and have no idea where it is exactly. But this way you can save up.
Fast & Reliable Shipping Methods
The faster methods (EMS, DHL, UPS, and other postal services) are more expensive: they can be up to $50 for delivery, although none of them can offer a guarantee of fewer than 10 days for delivery. Because it’s anyway about the real territories a purchase needs to cross, so we have to deal with waiting. But the goods come a bit faster, so expensive options are a good idea.
How to Track My Delivery Status
To track an order on AliExpress, you must first have a customer account and log in to it. To do this, simply click on “Account” at the top right of the home page and enter your personal information (email address or telephone number and password).
You can then consult your order history by clicking on “My orders”. The latter are classified according to their status: pending payment, pending dispatch, pending delivery, deleted orders, and disputes.
You can also search by an order number, by product, by name of the seller, or by date.
Once your package has been sent, you normally have a tracking code. This is available in the same section, the “Details” section. This number is used to track the progress of your order with the carrier. Note that the delivery times offered by AliExpress are quite long, with most items coming from China or other Asian countries.
Comparison of Popular Tracking Tools
Some different applications and extensions help customers not only track their items on the way but also to have many other options to make the shipping process smooth and easy.
AliHunter
- Tracks parcels
- Analyzes products that can be a perfect match for you
- Helps to discover trending items to sell
- Shows sellers’ credibility
AliInsider
- Tracks parcels
- Checks profitability of different niches
- Gives listings with sellers outside of China with all logistic information
- Provides analytics of images to products
Alitools
- Tracks parcels
- Shows sellers verification
- Gives all info about prices, showing the cheapest and most reliable product
- Automatically applies discounts
How Can Alitools Help
Alitools is a very useful extension that has been quite successful lately, because it allows users to monitor price changes for products on AliExpress, indicates seller trust levels, searches for products, providing only real reviews from sellers, and allows parcel tracking, through the whole way. This makes not only Aliexpress Standard Shipping tracking possible, but also tracking of other kinds of delivery.
The difference is, that Alitools takes care of your safety and with the extension, you can be 100% sure that you will find a bona fide supplier, and all the information is updated in minutes.
It’s free for use, you can install it from the official website.
FAQ
How long does standard shipping take for AliExpress?
It may take from less than 10 days to 50-60 days, depending on which country your parcel is from, and which kind of delivery you have chosen.
What is Aliexpress standard shipping?
AliExpress Standard Shipping is a kind of delivering your purchase from the supplier to a customer. This is a (mostly) free postal service that plays an important role as an intermediary between sellers and buyers.
What carrier is AliExpress standard shipping?
AliExpress Standard Shipping cooperates with Singapore post (used more often), Correos, Posti-Finland, SPSR, DHL, and Direct Link.
How good is AliExpress Shipping?
All postal services of AliExpress are quite reliable, and it doesn’t matter if we are speaking about any AliExpress shipping options: free shipping or a paid one.
How to track AliExpress Standard Shipping Package?
Follow these instructions to track an AliExpress Standard Shipping Package:
- Log in to your AliExpress account.
- Click on ‘My Orders’ located in the menu bar.
- Find the order that you wish to track and click ‘Track Order’.
- A new page will open with tracking information for your package. To track your package, enter the provided tracking numbers using Alitools browser extension
