ePacket Shipping to Australia. How does it work

China is Australia’s largest two-way trading partner. Two-way trade totalled $267 billion in the 2020/2021 financial year.¹

Ecommerce is big business in Australia, and a significant number of products come from China.

Previously, shipping goods from anywhere in the world was expensive and time-consuming. Often, companies would have to wait to place a large order to make the import cost worth it.

ePacket is designed to streamline this issue. Find out all about ePacket, how it works in Australia, the costs involved and the benefits.

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What is ePacket, and is it available in Australia

ePacket was created in 2011 as a way to ship small packages, in both size and value, from China to the USA. Since then, it has expanded its reach to 44 other countries, including Australia.

One of the benefits of ePacket for Australian ecommerce stores is that they can also ship products directly from the supplier in China directly to their customer. There is no need for warehousing or double-handling of goods.

ePacket is a popular shipping option for sites like eBay, Aliexpress and Shopify.²

How does ePacket work?

ePacket is a term for the end-to-end process of sending small parcels directly from a merchant to a customer via third-party logistics providers (3PL).

The parcel is collected from the seller in China via China Post. It’s then shipped to Australia via an international carrier, often EMS (but not always).²

Who handles ePacket shipments in Australia?

ePacket partners with Australia Post for final delivery to Australian buyers.

Are ePacket deliveries trackable?

You can track the parcel from door to door as soon as it has been allocated a tracking number.

• To track its movements in China, go to this China Post tracking page.
• To see where it is on its way to Australia, visit the EMS worldwide tracking site.
• Once it arrives in Australia via Australia Post’s tracking page.

The unique tracking number is 13 characters long. It begins with an L followed by another letter, then 9 digits, and CN at the end.

An example would be LG123456789CN.²

The main benefits and features of ePacket

ePacket benefits ecommerce stores as²:

• It’s comparatively faster - from 3 months to an average of 20 days
• It’s usually cheaper than standard shipping - 1kg can be $50 AUD and up
• Parcels can be tracked from door to door
• Undeliverable packages are returned to the sender free of charge

What are the cons of using ePacket over other options

ePacket isn’t for all businesses, there are a few limitations²:

• No compensation if the package is lost, delayed, or damaged
• Parcel sizes have maximum 2kg weight limit
• Goods cannot have a value over $400 AUD

The fees for ePacket delivery

Here’s a summary of what you could expect to pay. The rates were set on Nov 10 2020, but are re-set by China Post at the time of shipping.

Fees as of 7 February 2023

You can also check the current mid-market rate from RMB to AUD.

Which countries does ePacket support

If your ecommerce customers reside outside of Australia, ePacket might ship to them too. Here’s a list of available countries it can deliver from China to:

The limits and dimensions for ePacket shipments

As ePacket is designed for smaller, lighter packages, there are some maximum limits²:

What to keep in mind about customs and import fees with ePacket

Customs in Australia inspects incoming parcels. Currently, there is a list of 27 prohibited items that can neither be carried in nor imported.

As ePacket has a maximum goods value of $400 AUD, there is no customs duty to pay as the minimum threshold in Australia is $1,000 AUD.⁴

How long do ePacket deliveries arrive from China to Australia?

China Postal reports that deliveries to Australia are expected to arrive in 7–30 days, with the average being around 20.

Remember that delays outside its control, such as poor weather, events and festivals, holiday peak periods, or strikes, can affect these times.

Contacting ePacket/China EMS

China EMS has a customer service hotline 11183 if you are in China and +86 10 11183 if you are outside China.

The Wise way

When purchasing goods from abroad, you want to pay for them at a reasonable exchange rate and as cost-effective as possible.

The Wise Business account is tailor-made for international businesses. Send money to over 70 countries, including China, at the mid-market rate plus a small upfront fee.

Alternatively, use the Wise Debit card to pay for international online purchases, wherever Mastercard is accepted.

Hold and convert money in over 50 currencies, and provide your debtors with one of 10 local account details, including (AUD, USD, and EUR).

To learn more about what Wise can do, take a look at what they offer for yourself. It’s free to open an account and registration is conveniently all done online.

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