Cross-border Hot Topic Large quantities of goods being seized? Are you still stepping on landmines?

Goods seized across borders? Avoid stepping on landmines

Logistics is one of the most fundamental and important links in cross-border e-commerce, but because it involves international transportation, it is also the most prone to problems. Recently, many American express companies, such as UPS and Fedex, are undergoing major rectification.

UPS is conducting a strict investigation into issues such as overweight and undercharge, and running fake accounts. Once caught, the consequences could range from light penalties such as additional freight charges and downgraded discounts to stopping the whole-cabinet transaction service of the warehouse, or even being sued and held legally responsible, and having the entire delivery warehouse address added to a blacklist. What’s going on? What kind of situations will be investigated? And how can cross-border sellers avoid this huge minefield?

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Fake Accounts: Fake accounts, or non-payment accounts, are situations where unscrupulous freight forwarders take advantage of two loopholes. One is the express company’s loophole, as the order number and code of the face sheet arranged by UPS are relatively regular, so it is easy to produce fake face sheets. The result is that UPS delivers the package, but cannot collect payment. Obviously, the express company is not willing to do this loss-making business. The other is on the seller’s side, because payment is made before delivery, there are only two possible outcomes: either the express company does not find out, and the goods are safely delivered, or the express company finds out and the goods are destroyed. But in any case, the money has already been spent, and UPS is currently cracking down on this issue.

Undercharge: Undercharge is actually changing the shipping address. Transportation distance is one of the key factors affecting express delivery fees, so some unscrupulous freight forwarders will use various means to modify the shipping address, so that the shipping point is closer to the destination, thereby achieving the goal of reducing transportation costs.

Parcel Weight and Size Fraud: It means reporting false dimensions and weights of goods in order to send them at a lower price.

Account Sharing: Using a third-party account, sellers can put their own bills under someone else’s name, effectively shifting the shipping costs onto other parties.

How to Avoid This?

Avoiding Extremely Low-priced Freight Forwarders: Good service comes at a price. Freight forwarders will not ship items without making a profit, so sellers should avoid those offering prices significantly below the market rate.

Multiple Investigations: When selecting a freight forwarder, sellers should investigate from various aspects, including social media feedback, word of mouth within the industry, and business practices. Being cautious in the early stages and selecting a reliable freight forwarder can help sellers avoid many unnecessary troubles.

Finally, it is important to note that the entire cross-border industry is moving towards compliance. Therefore, sellers should avoid having a lucky mindset and focus on legal and compliant operations for long-term success.

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