Carrier wording is written for logistics staff, not for the person waiting at home. This page translates the statuses you are most likely to see on an AliExpress parcel, in the order they usually appear.
Before it leaves China
| Status | What it means | Typical duration |
|---|---|---|
| Order accepted by carrier | The seller has booked the shipment. The parcel may not physically exist yet. | 0 to 3 days |
| Shipment picked up | The carrier physically has your parcel. The clock genuinely starts here. | — |
| Arrived at sorting centre | Routine internal movement toward a regional hub. | 1 to 4 days |
| Departed from sorting centre | Moving between facilities. No action needed. | 1 to 3 days |
| Handed over to airline | Waiting for or loaded onto a flight. | 2 to 10 days |
| Departed from airport of origin | It has left China. Expect silence from here. | 7 to 21 days |
Arrival and customs
| Status | What it means | Typical duration |
|---|---|---|
| Arrived at destination country | It is in your country, heading for customs. | 1 to 5 days |
| Inbound into customs | Being assessed. Batched, so slow. | 3 to 21 days |
| Held at customs | Duty may be owed, or paperwork is missing. Watch for a letter or text. | Until you act |
| Customs clearance completed | Released into your national postal network. Nearly there. | — |
| Handed to local carrier | Now with USPS, Royal Mail, Correos or similar. | 1 to 4 days |
The final mile
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Arrived at local facility | At a depot near you. | Nothing. One to three days out. |
| Out for delivery | On a van today. | Be reachable. |
| Delivery attempted | Nobody available, or the address failed. | Arrange redelivery quickly — hold windows are short. |
| Available for pickup | Waiting at a collection point or locker. | Collect with ID before the hold period ends. |
| Delivered | Signed or left in a safe place. | If you have nothing, see below. |
| Returned to sender | Customs rejection, refused duty, or a bad address. | Contact the seller immediately about a refund or reshipment. |
Delivered, but nothing arrived
Check with neighbours and everyone else at your address first, then look for a safe-place photo in the carrier's own portal — many national carriers publish one even when AliExpress does not show it. If it genuinely has not arrived, ask the carrier for the GPS coordinates of the delivery scan, then open an AliExpress dispute with screenshots before your buyer protection window closes.
Statuses that look alarming but are not
"Exception" usually means a routine re-scan or re-route, not damage. "Return to origin scan" on an early leg is often internal repositioning, not the parcel coming back. And tracking that repeats or reverses locations is normal — parcels get consolidated and re-sorted, and events do not always report in order.
You can check any number against every carrier on its route with our AliExpress tracking tool, which stitches the Chinese leg and the local leg into one timeline.