Are you constantly searching for answers related to what does pre shipment mean? Is your delayed? Are the notifications not moving forward? The pre-shipment term could be confusing, scary, and surprising at the same time. With so many emotions, it isn’t easy to know how to feel. You have to come to the right place that will address all these questions. Continue reading for a clear understanding of the pre-shipment message.
What Does Pre-shipment Mean?
Pre-shipment is a very common term used in the shipping process. The stage occurs before the actuals are shipped to the buyer’s address. Pre-shipment is also a tracking feature that implies the products you ordered have left the warehouse. However, they are waiting for scanning at USPS. The tracking may take up to eight days to update the status.
Some numerous reasons and scenarios mean the package has not yet been scanned. If there is a delay, it will influence the entire shipment process. The shipment timeline has now become unpredictable. In other words, the buyer and seller do not know when the packaging will arrive.
Pre-shipment usually occurs before the vendor is preparing for shipment. Click here to know what it means when the Origin post is preparing shipment. If the packaging is not delivered after eight days, you can contact the vendor. Reasonable delay is justified when the reasons are valid.
9 Reasons for Late Delivery After Pre-shipment
Unfortunately, not eight but fifteen days have passed. The package has not arrived. The buyer begins to think that the package is now lost. The reasons for delay could be logistical, transportation, busy days, or tough weather conditions. Let’s begin with the reason that most buyers fear.
1. A Lost Item
After learning what does pre shipment mean, many buyers are fearful of losing their packaging. It could be that the item is lost. It could be because the staff left the package unattended at the front desk. The USPS employee did not mark the package correctly. Or the logistical company declares that the packaging is lost. The situation is very rare, but contact USPS for further assistance.
2. Challenging Custom Clearance
Your package is traveling from overseas along with other items. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the product, the item is not clearing customs procedures. As a result, you will not receive it on time. The pre-shipment message also confuses the buyer because they are impatiently waiting.
3. Multiple Shipments
Vendors promise delivery on time with products to USPS and UPS offices. When the sellers have a large volume of packages, it becomes difficult to manage everything. The logistical procedures take a toll on everyone. As a result, the packages are delayed, and the buyer is annoyed. Even after you receive the notification of shipment, the buyer has to wait longer than expected to greet the package at their door.
4. Busy, Busy
Let us make one thing clear! The seller is not responsible for the pre-shipment message. The busyness occurs at the USPS office, which means that the package is stuck in the logistical funnel. The USPS office is very busy during the holidays and festivity season. As a result, sending the product is delayed even after they receive it from the retailer. Therefore, do not worry if you order during the holiday period. Tracking information and shipping are delayed because the staff is overworked.
5. The Product Is Out of Stock!
Assuming you ordered an item that is not in stock, the vendor will reserve it for pre-shipment. The strategy is very common among vendors to reserve future sales as they will be re-stocking soon. As soon as the vendor receives the stock, the orders are dispatched.
The sellers will forward the orders to USPS when items are physically available. However, they will print a related shipping label with the buyer’s details. After the label is printed, the USPS is notified that the order is at the pre-shipment stage.
6. Packing
When you are notified with a pre-shipment message, it implies that the seller is packing the product. They have printed the label as mentioned above. The next step is beautifully packing the items. However, its duration depends on the seller.
If you are buying from a small vendor, then the packaging will take more time because of limited resources. In most cases, they will wait for the packaging material to arrive before dispatching the order.
7. The Vendor Did Not Drop the Packaging.
The USPS timeline is stuck on pre-shipment because the seller has yet to ship it. The staff has not scanned the product to update its status. After scanning, it is successfully updated from pre-shipment to in-transit. However, any of the other reasons can contribute to the delay as well.
8. Improper Barcode
The USPS package is not moving forward from pre-shipment because of a damaged barcode. The staff will need to contact a seller for the correct barcode, which they can scan for an updated status. If the reader does not register the barcode, the item will not move forward.
9. Software Compatibility
The issues connected to the barcode are linked to the software. These are not hardware issues. Wrong barcodes or defective equipment fail to update the status. Because the USPS system is handling large requests every day, it must have the capability to process data quickly.
Time to Wrap up the Discussion
Many reasons may cause the package to be delayed. In worst cases, the package is returned to the sender. What does pre shipment means is that the item has left the fulfillment center and is going to the postal service for inspection.
Do not panic if certain routine issues are delaying the shipping. Moreover, do not be concerned when you receive a pre-shipment notification. The package will reach your doorstep as soon as it is checked for quality and when the details are finalized. Happy shopping for the holidays!