Which Shipping Carrier is the Best for the Delivery of My Parcel from Korea?

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While shopping online, one of the main questions is how to decide on which shipping carrier to use. To help you out with making a decision, in this article, we will compare both the economy and express carriers and stop in detail on the factors that you need to consider upon choosing the best carrier for the products you order from South Korea to your country.

In general, we can divide all shipping carriers into two big groups: express and economy. The main difference between them is that the express carriers use their own airplanes while economy carriers mainly rely on commercial flights. For this reason, during the Covid-19 pandemic, shipping your products via economy carriers may take longer. Since the number of lights is less, there is a lack of space. Furthermore, flight schedules are not fixed. As a result, delays often occur.

First, let’s stop on the shipping companies that offer express shipping services in which Delivered Korea uses. In particular, they include UPS, FedEx, and EMS.

Carrier	UPS	FedEx	Korean Post: EMS
Estimated Delivery Time	1 - 3 business days	2 - 4 business days	3 - 7 business days
General Insurance Policy	- Declared value - Max: $100 - Additional insurance: unavailable	- Declared value - Max: the greater of $20/kg or US$100 - Additional insurance: unavailable	- Declared value - Max: 70,000KRW + 7,870KRW/kg - Additional insurance: available*
Other	Cheaper for shipping heavy items	Cheaper for shipping light items	Easier customs clearance

Now, let’s compare the Korean economy shipping carriers available on Delivered.

Carrier	Delivered Standard	Korean post: K-packet	Aramex
Estimated Delivery Time	4 - 15 business days	5 - 20 business days	4 - 10 business days
General Insurance Policy	Unavailable	Unavailable	- Decalred value - Max: $100 - Additional insurance: available*
Other	- Only up to 10kg	- Easier customs clearance - Only up to 2kg	- Only up to 10kg

*Click here for more details

Please note that the level of service that a shipping company provides may differ by country. In some countries, FedEx services may be the best, while in others, UPS excels. For example, in South Korea, UPS is a premium service carrier while in some US States, their service level leaves much to be desired. Thus, it may be useful to read reviews in your native language on the Internet before making a decision.

So, how to decide which carrier is better in your particular case? The main factors to consider are:

Costs: You may check the shipping costs using our shipping calculator.
Brokerage services: You may want to check if a carrier provides brokerage services in your country. You can do it by contacting their customer support. Usually, if the carrier doesn’t provide brokerage services, they can refer you to a broker that can assist.
Note! If the carrier doesn’t provide brokerage services in your country, shipping under DDP terms is not possible. If you are not familiar with Incoterms and don’t know what DDP terms are, you may check the information here.
Type of product: First, some items are prohibited for shipping by air, while for others, there are restrictions on importation in particular countries. If you are interested in which items are normally restricted for shipping, please see this list. As for the former, you may consider contacting your local customs office. Also, sometimes products, in general, can be shipped, but some carriers don’t accept them. For example, if you are shipping products that contain batteries, it’s not possible to use Korean post services. If your product is either cosmetics or electronics, you may consider contacting our CS team to make sure which carrier best suits you.
Delivery timeframes: Of course, shipping your products using express shipping services will be faster than using economy shipping services. Also, as we previously mentioned, some carriers may work faster than others in your country. Even the level of post office services depends on the country. It may be great in Japan or Singapore, but horrible in Russia or the US. We advise you to check the online reviews in your native language to get a better picture.
Customs clearance: Depending on your country of residency, customs clearance may be harder or easier depending on which carrier you use. For example, FedEx and UPS can’t ship anything to Russia except for documents. In the case of Brazil, shipping using Korean post economy services causes the least trouble. Check online or contact our CS team to get advice on this matter.