For less urgent shipments, parcel service is a very economical option compared to regular courier service. In this article let us try to understand what international parcel service is, how it works and most importantly how to choose a good service provider.
International parcel service as the name suggests is the movement of parcels, commercial or personal from one international location to another. Say for example, you want to send a box containing some old books and cloths to Texas from Mumbai.
Ok now how does it work and how is it different from courier? The major difference between courier and parcel service is the speed of delivery and the cost involved. Courier is fast and expensive compared to parcel service. Its time definite. Whereas the parcel service is more economical option suitable for less urgent shipments.
Alright. I seem to understand what you say. But how does international parcel delivery service works?
Different carriers and service providers may have different processes but here’s a general overview.
You parcel gets picked and goes to your service providers nearest handling center or warehouse. Here the parcels are sorted by the destination address and all parcels to same destination country are clubbed together. From here it goes to carrier’s main regional hub where it undergoes various checks like weight, dimensions, scanning of parcels etc… From there it goes to the airport where it undergoes customs clearance. Post clearance it gets loaded on to planes for onward journey to destination country. Once it reaches there it again goes through a clearance process and ends up at the carrier hub. It’s then routed to the nearest handling center to the address mentioned in the parcel. The delivery personal at the local handling center completes the delivery. In nutshell this is how international parcel delivery service from India works.
Tips for choosing best international parcel service in India
There are many companies that offer international parcel service in India. The tricky part is how to choose the most reliable. Don’t worry. Here are a few things that you need to check out before you send your parcels:
- Always check through which carrier the agency or the company that you’re dealing with sends the parcel.Confirm that they are sending your parcel through some leading carriers like for example DHL, Aramex, UPS, Fedex or TNT. These are some of the leading carriers and are very reliable.
- Check the delivery time that they are offering. Parcels can take anywhere between few days to a couple of weeks or occasionally more depending on the destination country. The reason being your parcel is going to sit at the agent’s warehouse for sometime before it gets consolidated and sent to carrier’s hub. So if your agency is offering a very short or a long delivery time, ask why and if the explanation isn’t satisfactory stay away.
- If the agency offers to send parcels as ocean freight at a really low rate then its better not to go as the delivery times could easily run into several weeks with limited or no updates. Not to mention the damage that might happen to the packages. Unless you are sending commercial shipments it’s always better to send your parcels via air.
- As a thumb rule go with an international parcel service company who’s rates are neither cheap nor expensive. Always remember that there are reasons why they are cheap and most of the time it isn’t good for us. Similarly being expensive does not necessarily mean good service.
- If it’s your first time using an international parcel service then it’s a good idea to take multiple quotes, compare and then decide.
How’s Shipbuz different from others:
- Reliable carriers
- Thousands of packages shipped from India to USA and worldwide
- Secure payments
- Fully managed documentation
- No hidden charges
- Friendly customer service
- Experienced shipping team who ensures that your consignments reach on time
- Consolidation & other value added services for better convenience and increased savings