If you want faster shipping, avoid free shipping.
 
According to Omniva parcel business segment manager Marita Mägi, each paid option provides more certainty than the free service. In the case of AliExpress orders, the AliExpress Standard Shipping service is more likely to provide faster shipping.
 
"Both AliExpress shipments and goods sent from elsewhere in the world arrive to Estonia with different delivery services, which is why the delivery times can vary from a couple of weeks to even several months," Mägi explained. Although the client can usually select from various shipping prices and services, according to Mägi, there are still another several transport options behind each option the client sees, and the sales platform will make the final decision.
 
"If some more popular goods are shipped from warehouses located in Europe or Asia or delivered directly to Estonia from China, in the case of cheaper delivery services, the shipments are consolidated for delivery by the cheapest possible transport means," Mägi explained. "This in turn means that the shipments will wait a long time before shipping and may pass through several cargo terminals around the world." "In the current situation, this can mean that, in the worst case, an item ordered today will not even be here by December," Mägi said to illustrate.
 
"If possible, we recommend opting for a paid delivery method that is also trackable. Although there is no 100% guarantee, our experience shows that in the case of AliExpress parcels, those shipped with the AliExpress Standard Shipping option often arrive by direct transport and usually quite quickly."
 
As we know, only a part of AliExpress parcels reach Estonia by direct transport, the remaining large volume of parcels arrive here through multiple mediators. Parcels ordered during the COVID-19 pandemic in spring started arriving to Estonia at the end of June when parcel movement in China started to recover. "At the moment, most parcels move quite smoothly and, in the case of direct transport, the parcels arrive from China to Estonia in 10-12 days," Mägi explained. "Additionally, both postal and air transport service providers have prepared for a possible second wave of COVID-19 and so we should not experience any major stoppages in parcel movements again."
 
It is worth noting that if a parcel tracking page shows the first event concerning a parcel destined for Estonia, in the postal world this often means that the parcel has only just exited the export terminal of the shipping country and is en route to Estonia. "For example, recently, a large number of AliExpress orders moved via the Latvian postal service and, unfortunately, the AliExpress tracking page displays that the parcel has reached its destination country when the parcel has reached Latvia. It can still take several days or even weeks for the parcel to physically reach Estonia," Mägi explained.
 
According to Mägi, it is incorrect tracking info that often gives clients the impression that the parcels are stuck at Omniva. "In reality, the delays often happen in the international supply chain where we have little power to influence parcel movement," Mägi added.