USPS pre-shipped a week? (Know what and what to do!)
I ordered a package the other day and every time I checked my USPS tracking number it said it was in “pre-shipped” status.
What exactly does pre-delivery mean? We looked into it and here’s what we found…
Why is my USPS package still pending delivery?
If your USPS delivery package has a status of “Pre-shipping,” your item is packaged and has a shipping label, but it has not been received by the postal service it mailed to you.
This article explains “pre-shipment”: what it means, why it happens, and what to do when you receive a pre-shipment reminder on a package.
do what before shipment meaning is?
before shipment Refers to the “location” of the package start The journey from merchant to buyer. The term refers to online orders, which take longer to process than traditional mail, which is just sender-to-recipient.
When you order an item online, the process for that item begins after you pay for it. Once the merchant generates a USPS shipping label for your package, your item becomes “pre-shipped.”
However, that doesn’t mean your item has shipped – or that USPS actually have your project. This is a situation where electronic information is ahead of its time! UPS has a similar package status for packages that are ready but not “delivered”. Their message says “UPS Shipping Label Created”. This format might be a little clearer.
Your items will remain pre-shipped throughout the warehouse checkout period and during any other carrier’s journey to a USPS location. It will remain pre-shipped until USPS receives it, scans it, and begins final shipping to you.
The status of your package refers to any stage of this start-up process, including when your item is Yes Actually at the post office, but not scanned yet.
Why do some packages stay in USPS pre-shipment for so long?
Package pre-shipment complexities arise for a number of reasons. It’s important to remember that the term actually refers to the entire time before arriving at the post office.
This means that even if another carrier owns your package (such as FedEx or UPS) and is shipping with them, it is still “pre-shipped” according to USPS. This is because it hasn’t reached them yet (at the end of the journey).
This means delays before shipping are usually not related to USPS.
How long is the package stored in USPS Pre-shipment?
Your package can stay in the pre-shipment stage at any time. This is because the delay occurs before your item even reaches the USPS location.
Consumer Reports’ pre-shipment wait times range from 24 hours to 12 days.
The usual carrier delivery delays may occur when your package enters USPS. These include weather and road conditions, traffic issues, driver availability and the volume of mail to be delivered.
However, consumers report another reason they believe may be causing delays before shipping: Merchants can print USPS shipping labels at any time. However, this doesn’t mean your item is ready to ship.
Delays at the warehouse level all result in longer “pre-shipment” times, independent of USPS.
What if my package gets stuck before shipping?
If you want to know where your package is during the pre-shipment process, you need to ask the company from which you purchased the package. While most larger companies should provide you with some information, Consumer Reports says smaller (or overseas) companies are not responding to inquiries at all.
If you’ve already placed an international order for something, your pre-shipment time will anyway take longer than a domestic purchase. Consumers suggest that air and surface shipments are more prone to delays than domestic shipments.
Some buyers believe that some companies may wait until they can fulfill their order quota before shipping the goods themselves.
It is also possible that your “pre-shipment” may be waiting for the actual product to be available (or arriving from elsewhere). In this case, a “pre-shipment” notification is more of a confirmation of your order than an alert that your product is about to ship.
When this happens, you can only wait – or check with the merchant and wait. USPS can only give you the information they receive.
Want to learn more about USPS? Check out our related posts to find out if USPS repurchases unused stamps, does USPS require IDs, and are USPS tracking numbers fake?
generalize
A package in “pre-shipped” status is worrying, especially if your delivery notice tells you it’s still there a few days later.
But it’s important to remember that your item may actually be in transit – it just hasn’t reached the USPS location yet.
In other words, your shipping label has been generated but not yet received and scanned by USPS.
