Most stalled AliExpress tracking is a parcel in the air or in a customs queue, not a parcel that is lost. Long-haul legs have no scanners, so one to three weeks of silence is normal on economy shipping. The number of days that should worry you depends entirely on which shipping tier you bought.
Diagnose it first
| Last scan you saw | What is probably happening | Normal silence |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing at all, ever | The number is not live yet, or was never real | 1 to 7 days |
| "Shipment picked up" | Moving through Chinese domestic sorting | 2 to 7 days |
| "Departed from airport of origin" | In the air or waiting on freight capacity | 7 to 21 days |
| "Arrived at destination country" | Queued for customs | 3 to 14 days |
| "Inbound into customs" | Being assessed, possibly awaiting duty | 3 to 21 days |
| "Arrived at local facility" | Final-mile sorting near you | 1 to 3 days |
The six causes
1. The number is not live yet. Sellers mark orders shipped before handing them over. Give it three to seven days from the shipping notification before worrying.
2. The parcel is in the air or on a ship. There are no scanners in the air. One to three weeks of nothing is normal on economy air freight, and sea consolidation is longer still.
3. Customs has it. "Inbound into customs" with no movement for a fortnight is frustrating but common, especially in December and January.
4. You bought an untracked tier. Cainiao Super Economy and some seller free-shipping options genuinely do not scan in between. Nothing is being recorded, so there is nothing to show.
5. The number is wrong or mistyped. Try it in our tracking tool and on the carrier's own site. If neither finds it after a week, message the seller.
6. The seller gave you a number that was never real. A small number of sellers generate numbers to stop the dispute clock. If the number has produced no scan at all after fourteen days and the seller is vague, open a dispute rather than waiting.
When to actually act
| Shipping method | Chase the seller at | Open a dispute by |
|---|---|---|
| Express (DHL, FedEx, UPS) | 10 days | 15 to 20 days |
| AliExpress Choice | 14 days | 25 to 30 days |
| Standard Shipping | 25 days | 30 to 45 days |
| Economy / free shipping | 40 days | 45 to 60 days |
The hard rule underneath all of this: never let your buyer protection period expire while you wait politely. It is the only leverage you have, and once it lapses you have no route to a refund. Our guide to opening a dispute and winning it covers the evidence you need.
One thing that is not a problem
Tracking that jumps backwards, repeats a location, or shows a city nowhere near your route is normal. Parcels get consolidated, re-sorted and re-scanned, and carriers do not always report events in the order they happened. Judge by the most recent scan date, not by the sequence.