Shipping Advice
The journey of a parcel
Eight stages between our counter and someone’s front door. The one that worries people is stage six, where tracking goes quiet for days. That is the normal part. The one that actually delays parcels is stage seven.
Almost every message that begins “my parcel is stuck” turns out to mean “the tracking has not moved and nobody told me that was normal”. So here is what happens after you leave, how long each part really takes, and which stage is worth worrying about.
It reaches us
Same day
You bring it to the counter in Kerobokan, or we come and get it. Most collections around Seminyak, Canggu and Umalas happen the same morning you ask, and pickup is free when the shipment is going abroad, you are in that near zone, and it fits on a motorbike.
Weighed, measured, quoted
Minutes
Both numbers are taken, because couriers charge on whichever is greater: what the parcel weighs, or the space it occupies. This is the step where a light, bulky box turns out to cost more than it looks like it should, and where we tell you before anything is booked rather than after.
Packed and documented
Same day, unless a document has to be arranged
We repack almost everything that arrives, because how it is packed decides whether it survives. Then the paperwork: HS codes, the declared value, the customs declaration, and any certificate the goods need. If yours needs an MSDS or a quarantine certificate, this is the stage that takes days rather than minutes.
Handed to the carrier
Same day
The parcel is manifested onto a DHL, FedEx or Pos Indonesia service and you get the tracking number before you leave. It often shows nothing for a few hours: the number exists before the first scan does.
Export clearance in Denpasar
Hours, usually
Indonesian customs check the declaration against what is in the box. This is where a wrong HS code or a vague description costs you a day, and it is the reason we spend time on stage three rather than rushing it.
The flight, and the hubs in between
4 to 5 days express, 5 to 7 by Pos Ekspor, 14 to 30 economy
This is the longest silence in the tracking and the part that worries people most. A parcel can cross an ocean and two sorting hubs without passing a scanner that reports publicly. Nothing is wrong; there is simply nothing to report yet.
Import customs at the destination
Hours to several days
The destination country assesses duty and tax and decides whether anything needs checking. More delays happen here than anywhere else, and usually because the recipient has not yet paid a charge or answered a question. Who pays what, and how it is calculated.
Delivered
One to two days after clearance
The last mile belongs to the courier in the destination country (DHL, FedEx, or the national postal service), not to us. If nobody is home the parcel usually goes to a depot or a neighbour, and the tracking will say which. That is where the journey that started at our counter finally ends.
Questions about the journey
- My tracking has not moved for three days. Is something wrong?
- Usually not. The longest silence is normal and it happens in the air and in the sorting hubs between countries, where a parcel can travel a very long way without passing a scanner. Tracking tends to go quiet after export and wake up again at the destination. If it has been silent for more than a week, send us the number and we will ask the courier directly, which gets further than a customer enquiry usually does.
- Where does a parcel most often get delayed?
- Import customs at the far end, and almost always for one of two reasons: a charge the recipient has not paid yet, or a question the courier sent to an address nobody is reading. Neither is visible in the tracking, which is why a parcel can look frozen while it waits on an email. How the charge is worked out.
- How long before tracking starts working?
- You get the number the same day, but it usually stays blank for a few hours and sometimes until the next morning. A number that returns nothing on day one has not failed; it simply has not been scanned into the network yet.
- Can you tell me exactly which day it will arrive?
- We can give you an honest range, and we would rather do that than name a date we do not control. Express to major cities runs four to five business days, Pos Ekspor five to seven, and economy services fourteen to thirty. Customs at the destination is the part nobody can schedule.
Wondering where yours is?
Paste the tracking number and we will open the right courier with it already filled in. If it looks stuck, send it to us instead and we will ask on your behalf.