Courier Services
UPS, FedEx, DHL Express for Package Delivery and E-commerce Door-to-Door
Everything You Need to Know 2025.
The continued rise of e-commerce has led to increased demand for courier services worldwide. As more consumers shop online, the big three couriers of UPS, FedEx, and DHL continue to dominate the package delivery market and keep improving:
- efficiency of the clearance process by customs and other border agencies
- quality of transport and information technology infrastructure for logistics
- ease and affordability of arranging international shipments
- competence and quality of logistics services
- ability to track and trace international shipments
- timeliness of shipments in reaching a destination
When shipping items to from China, there are certain factors you should consider before choosing a carrier. These factors include shipping costs, the delivery time, and the advantages of shipping through that particular courier provider.
With express services, you get your packages hand-delivered anywhere in the world within 1 week. Sometimes, express cost can be even cheaper than LCL sea shipping.
Courier service means a premium all-inclusive transport service which collects and delivers documents and parcels in the shortest possible time frame. It’s fast, door-to-door and customs-cleared.
As the top couriers – FedEx / DHL / UPS, each of them has a sizable share of the express market. Each courier may have different delivery variables and options to choose from. The price range can be very huge from case to case.
Move a package across the world quickly. Or take a little more time and save money. It’s all your choice. You can get reliable international shipping at the speed you need, whether it’s fast international shipping or cost-effective global shipping.
FedEx vs. DHL vs. UPS
Before selecting the delivery company, it is essential to know the weight and volume of your shipments. This can significantly impact your choice, since different weights correspond to different prices. If the parcel is bulky, the billable weight will be bigger, and you need to pay more.
Besides, you’d better pay attention to the weight and size limit.
- The weight limit is 150 lbs. per package with an unlimited total shipment weight.
- The maximum package size is 108″ in length and 130″ plus girth (L+2W+2H).
* It doesn’t mean that the exceed package can not be delivered. But considerable additional fees added.
FedEx – world’s largest express transportation company
FedEx is one of the world’s largest express transportation companies, with services covering 220 countries and regions. It is an international express delivery service with wide service coverage, safety, reliability, fast delivery, and door-to-door delivery. Suitable for transporting higher value and time-sensitive shipments.
- FedEx International Priority: 2 – 5 days
- FedEx International Economy: 3 – 7 days
DHL – world’s largest logistics company
DHL is a subsidiary of Deutsche Post DHL, a world-famous postal and logistics group. In 1969, DHL opened their first express shipping route from San Francisco to Honolulu. Since then, it has continued to develop at an alarming rate; it has become the market leader in the global express delivery industry. A network that can reach 220 countries and regions and covers more than 120,000 destinations (major postal code areas), providing courier and express delivery services to corporate and private customers.
DHL China transit time:
| Southeast Asia | America / Canada | Australia | Europe | South America | Middle East | Africa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-3 days | 2-4 days | 2-4 days | 3-6 days | 4-7 days | 5-8 days | 5-8 days |
UPS – world’s largest package delivery company
UPS is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has grown to become a Fortune 500 company and one of the world’s largest shipping couriers.
UPS China transit time:
| Southeast Asia | America / Canada | Europe |
|---|---|---|
| 2-3 days | 2-4 days | 2-4 days |
10 tips from practical experiences
We work with top of the world’s most trusted courier companies, meaning you can always be sure that your documents, parcels or samples are in good hands, no matter how far around the world they are travelling.
A lot of people would think that international shipping is a complicated and expensive task before they come to us. This doesn’t have to be the case and you might just be surprised at how easy it is using the cheap courier services available from us.
We offer a range of postage options, so you can choose the one that best suits your package and bank balance. Besides, we’d love to share our experiences, but as you know, different destinations and unlimited weight/volume data make it harder to sum up many basic rules. So just a few below.
1. First of all, find a courier agent, hopefully us. As you may know, prepaid is always cheaper than collect. Prepaid through a broker, which is the super VIP of the carrier, is the key point to save money on courier shipping.
2. DHL vs. UPS
- ＜5.5kgs, DHL win
- 6-21kgs, UPS win
- 21-100kgs, DHL win
- ＞100kgs, UPS win
3. Courier to Southeast Asia, FedEx is the king, no matter small shipment or big shipment.
4. FedEx best for U.S. fast, DHL best for Europe fast, UPS best for larger shipments.
5. Most big businesses just pick one carrier and focus on them, because it has much bigger discounts on pricing, while small and medium businesses tend to utilize two to three carriers to maximize cost savings.
6. Fuel oil surcharge / fuel adjustment factor range from 10% to 25%, and update on a monthly basis. So our quote can valid till the end of the month.
7. The total length (length+width*2+height*2) should be less than 330cm. And the weight should be less than 70kg per package for the best available rate.
8. Use reinforced cartons and take care of the packing quality.
Note: The carrier uses advanced laser scanning machines to calculate the volume of packages. This means, even a small bulge in your cartons can lead to a significant difference in volume.
9. DHL’s sub-channels include promotional prices, large-volume prices, and small-volume prices. It can handle general cargo, internal batteries, and batteries. The large-volume price for European and American countries with a price advantage of more than 23KG is obvious; the small-volume price for less than 5KG is obvious.
10. There are special lines for some specific destination and specific weight. Such carriers are not so famous, but also reliable and more cost-effective.
Courier Rate
- International express delivery is calculated by weight, and the charging unit is KG.
- Goods less than 21KG are called small parcels; goods of 21KG and above are called large parcels.
- Small parcels are calculated based on the first weight of 0.5KG (less than 0.5KG is calculated as 0.5KG), the first weight (starting weight) is 0.5KG, and each additional 0.5KG is a supplementary weight.
For example, 9.1KG of goods will be charged at 9.5KG. Then 9.6KG will be charged at 10KG.
Large parcels are charged per KG (less than 1KG is calculated as 1KG).
For example, 21.2KG of goods and 21.9KG of goods will be charged at 22KG.
RVL courier forwarding services
Nowadays, a modern logistics company is so much more than simply moving goods from one place to the next. A full-service provider like us can accommodate the needs of businesses and individuals alike, and be the one you wanna us to be.
Nowadays, a modern logistics company is so much more than simply moving goods from one place to the next. A full-service provider like us can accommodate the needs of businesses and individuals alike, and be the one you wanna us to be.
- DHL
- FedEx
- UPS
- TNT
- China Post Air Mail (Weight ＜ 2kg)
- China Post Air Parcel (2kg ＜ Weight ＜ 30kg)
- China EMS (Weight ＜ 30kg)
- Hong Kong Post Air Mail (Weight ＜ 2kg)
- Hong Kong Post Air Parcel (0.5kg ＜ weight ＜ 30kg)
- ARAMEX to Middle East
We get to deliver dreams to every corner of the world, every day, with every package. We will select the most economical courier for you OR you can select your preferred carrier. With the express’s network and our big discount, it will be more easier for you to arrange shipments transportation whether the destination is located anywhere of the world’s 220+ countries and territories.
Optimize shipping solution.
We select the best carrier for each shipment to help our customers maximize their interests for best safety, price and transit time, also tailor-made services.
Pro-actively monitors your shipments.
We actively keep our customers update about shipment, and if there is a delay, we will be there to help it and solve it. The entire transportation process will be continuous monitoring.
Please be aware that any goods you purchased in China and send to another country, you are always facing the possibility of customs issue, because you are liable to pay any inbound duties and taxes which local customs authority deems appropriate.
Meanwhile we will help you to reduce maximum the risk by choosing the most suitable shipping channel for you. Even when your package will be delay in local custom, we will help you to contact our carrier and solve the problem for you.
Courier Service Process
- You fill and submit our quote form with your shipping details. (Quote)
- You can expect the response within 12 hours.
- We discuss more, and come to an agreement.
- You simply provide the supplier contact details.
- We contact your supplier and recheck everything needed, then book the space from the carrier.
- We or your supplier arrange inland delivery to our warehouse.
- We confirm the chargeable weight.
- You pay the shipping cost as we agreed. (Pay)
- We deliver your shipment to the courier (DHL/FedEx/UPS/TNT/EMS…).
- The courier handle everything and deliver to your door.
We’ll keep tracking your shipment and keep you updated till received.
By gaining access and understanding of your deliveries, we can help you reduce costs, improve service, minimize delays, reduce confusion and raise overall performance.
Wrapping up
The cheapest courier selection is based on where are you located and how much weight you are going to ship. Besides, how much discount you can get is the key point.
You can negotiate with a rep. from a local branch in your country and arrange the pickup by yourself, but if you can prepaid, obviously the price will be more competitive. Just like the ocean shipping rates we have explained, work with a China forwarding agent will help you save both time and money.
RVL is dedicated to optimizing your end-to-end supply chain for your business from warehousing and fulfillment to trucking and transportation needs.
As a leading global provider of express courier solutions, we provide our customers the highest standard international services from the world’s best carriers, but with a much lower price and a much easier way to do. Feel free to get an express quote from us.