I am from Turkey so suggestions I have written will not be very correct for USA.
The list is ordered by delivery time. And premium carriers .like DHL, UPS is not included yet as I did not use them.
Shipping times below is not delivery time! It is “Date of arrival to the destination country - Acceptance date”.
1. Turkey Post -> Operated by PTT in Turkey. It belongs to government. In recent years, they opened an office in China and started to accept packages from China to transfer to the world (not only Turkey. Like Post Netherlands)
Turkey Post Tracking Website: http://gonderitakip.ptt.gov.tr/en/
I bought 4-5 packages and all of them arrived in 1-2 day to Turkey.
People from Europe also reported that they got their packages in very short times.
According to their website, estimated delivery time to USA is 3 days.
- Cost: Relatively expensive compared to Chinese postage services. Example: 3-4 USD for 4 18650 delivery to Turkey.
- Can be globally tracked: Yes.
- Warnings: If you are from west Europe, especially for Germany, Netherlands I do not recommend this service for now because customs will not be happy to see a package coming from Turkey or Turkey Post. And returns will go to Turkey first ( PO BOX 5001 Istanbul )
2. Post Netherlands (PostNL) -> Operated in Netherlands. According to my experiences, all packages first go to Netherlands then to the destination country.
Post Netherlands Tracking Website: International Tracking
5-10 days to Turkey.
Delivery time similar to Turkey for Europe.
Do not know about USA.
- Cost: Expensive compared to Chinese postage services, may be a bit cheaper than Turkey Post.
- Can be globally tracked: Yes.
- Warnings: Usually there is a huge delay(2 - 3 days) after the `pre advised` marking. Returns will go to Netherlands first.
3. China Post (Registered) -> Most used postage service.
China Post Tracking Website: http://www.17track.net (Not official)
6-30 days to Turkey.
Delivery time similar to Turkey for Europe.
Do not know about USA.
- Cost: Cheap.
- Can be globally tracked: Yes.
- Warnings: Delivery time varies greatly because sometimes this service gets overloaded and postages will be delayed. Delay happens mostly in the air (Plane will not go to directly your country.). Make seller not to mark the package as Gift. Returns will go to China, so if you buy something which is forbidden by your country use this service because returns will be easier.
4. Singapore Post (Registered) -> Alternative to China post.
China Post Tracking Website: https://global.cainiao.com (Not official)
5-30 days to Turkey.
Delivery time similar to Turkey for Europe.
Do not know about USA.
- Cost: Cheap. But I think it is more expensive than China Post.
- Can be globally tracked: Yes.
- Warnings: Packages first go to Singapore than to your country. Due to this delivery time increases. Delivery time varies greatly because sometimes this service gets overloaded and postages will be delayed. Delay happens mostly in the air (Plane will not go to directly your country.). Make seller not to mark the package as Gift.
5. Aliexpress Standard Shipping -> This is not a one specific postage service.
Tracking Website: https://global.cainiao.com (Official), http://track.yw56.com.cn/en-US (Official) (This one, if not Cainiao, will give you the second tracking number)
This shipping method is the most complex one among others because it includes several shipping services to reduce cost and you will need to track two different tracking code.
The most common order is this:
1) Yanwen Special Line.
2) China Post Registered Air Mail.
13-30 days to Turkey.
Delivery time similar to Turkey for Europe.
Do not know about USA.
- Cost: Cheap. Probably cheaper than China post only because packages get bulk processed.
- Can be globally tracked: Most of the time yes, but you need to use a website like I have given to get the second tracking number. First tracking number is only trackable until the package arrives to the main postage service like China Post.
- Warnings: Sometimes a secondary service is not involved (Yanwen only) and with this way, packages can not be tracked globally. There are huge delays while Yanwen handles the package.
6. Malaysia Post -> AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
Tracking Website: https://global.cainiao.com (Official), https://packageradar.com (Not Official)
30-60 days to Turkey. Probably packages get traveled around the world.
Delivery time similar to Turkey for Europe.
Do not know about USA.
- Cost: Cheap.
- Can be globally tracked: Yes. But it will not include some information like the countries package will go. I think they should post this information because packages go a lot of countries before arriving final country.
- Warnings: Just do not use this. Instead, use untracked China Post or Yanwen (Even though it is bad, it can not be worse than this).
.
.
.
Some facts:
- The “Slow Boat” meme is a joke. According to international agreements, all of small packages whether or not it is tracked must be send in a plane. The only way to send a package in a boat from China is to send it as a “parsel”. I doubt any Chinese seller sending a small package as parsel because it is generally more expensive.
- Small package limits: Weight: 2 KG. Size: Longest edge can not exceed 60 cm and sum of all of the edges can not exceed 90 cm.
- Marking a package as gift is not a good thing if it is coming from China. Because many customs officer will think this this as a way to avoid paying tax.
- Most of the customs use X-Ray device to determine what is inside of the package. And there are some softwares to automatically determine what is inside. For example customs of Turkey use a specific software to detect specific brands of e-cigarettes/vape machines. So if the item is metal or has metal parts and if you fake item description, make sure to do it good. Like “digital voltmeter” for a e-cigarette.
- Faking with “Bicycle Parts” is being used too much and it can be risky to use that.
- The reason behind Chinese sellers not willing to send products in retail package is because shipping cost of “Small Packages” I have defined above strongly depends on weight rather than size. Retail packages generally made from cardboard and it is heavier than nylon.
- There is a point where it is cheaper to send the package as “parsel” rather than “Small package” even though size is ok for “Small Package”. This point is when the weight is too much compared its size. (Still lower than 2 kg).
If this happens, packages can be send as “Parsel” to reduce shipping costs. But I did not see any Chinese seller doing this because this way parsels will be send in a boat or in trucks (Plane option for parsels will still be more expensive than small packages) and this will make buyers opening dispute.
This post will be updated.