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Online shopping is great! You can browse through a huge inventory of items without needing to leave the comfort of your home, and you can be certain you’re getting the best deal by using browser extensions and comparing prices across a range of stores.
However, if you’re shopping online, the biggest thing you’re probably worried about is a long shipping delay. No one likes ordering items and then having to wait a month or more for them to arrive. At that rate, you might as well hop in the car and go to your local store and just buy it in person!
Today, we’re helping you figure out the best ways to get your items delivered on time, right to your doorstep!
International shipping takes a while even in the best of times. It’s not exactly speedy for a package to go on a cargo ship and travel across the ocean! Right now, there are even more factors slowing this process.
Ports around the world are backed up, with cargo trains and delivery trucks waiting days – or even weeks – to get unloaded. From there, ports are snarled, with shipping vessels queueing up for miles to get drop off their cargo.
The best way to ensure a package gets to you in a timely manner is to simply avoid international shipping. When an item needs to be shipped by boat, it encounters so many more handoffs along the supply chain that the slightest hiccup could tie it up past when you need it.
Some subscription programs offer guaranteed two-day shipping or similar services. For instance, the popular online shopping website Amazon offers a subscription called Amazon Prime. Prime members get a slew of benefits, including free two-day shipping on most products.
This benefit is reliable and convenient, as it allows you to get items in the mail only a few days after you hit “buy.” This makes it easier to shop on Amazon than on most other online stores! If you want your packages to arrive quickly, this is a surefire way to do it.
Sometimes, the item you want isn’t available on Amazon Prime, and you can’t wait for weeks for it to arrive. There is a solution: you can pay to expedite shipping through most vendors. This means you pay an extra fee and it bumps your item to the top of the queue.
This way, you’ll get your hands on your package in no time! Just be warned, expedited shipping can be pricey depending on what you’re having delivered!
