Every Friday, we answer a common question about fulfillment, shipping, or business. This week’s question comes from one of the fans who entered our giveaway contest for a copy of the board game Gloomhaven. Today we will answer the following question: “how long do products normally take to ship?”
Basics of Shipping
First things first: the amount of time it takes to ship products depends on a lot of different variables. The two most important ones will sound very familiar to regular readers.
- How fast the order is processed. (The biggest factor and one we focus heavily on here.)
- The location of the warehouse relative to the recipient.
If you’re shipping from a warehouse in the contiguous US to another place in the contiguous US, it’s usually 1-4 days with standard shipping options. But again, this all depends on the company!
How Long Do Products Take to Ship? It Depends!
One to four business days is a decent average for domestic shipping time. Yet other variables must be accounted for when estimating shipping speed. There are countless ways to have products delivered to your home, and there have never been more options for shipping.
Look at Amazon as an example. If you order an item from Amazon and select Same-Day Delivery, your item will ship much faster than if you had selected free shipping. This is due to the fact that the free shipping option often takes 4-5 business days to reach its destination once purchased. This is possible because commonly purchased items can be split among different Amazon warehouses across the country. For many businesses, though, this kind of warehousing strategy isn’t feasible.
Now all this said, it takes much longer to ship once products leave the contiguous US. Parts of Alaska, Hawaii, and the territories can be remote, which adds to the delivery time. This is even truer when shipping internationally, particularly when different national postal systems trade-off responsibilities.
All of that being said, if you want a specific answer on how long it takes to ship an item from point A to point B, use a system like Easyship or even our own Client Dashboard. It’s much easier to get a straight answer that way!
Final Thoughts
Next time you order something online, take a moment to appreciate the complex chain of events that gets the package to your door. Remember that if you want to receive your product as fast as possible, order expedited shipping. You’ll be glad you did! Otherwise, hold on for a few days and appreciate the extra change left in your pocket 🙂
You’ve done everything by the book. Your Kickstarter campaign is almost ready to launch.
You made a great product. Built an audience. Set up a campaign page.
But how do you ship it?
We put this checklist together to help you get started. It's free.
