Transit Time is the overall time required for a shipment to be transported from ELF to its delivery destination. The average time in transit varies depending on the shipping zone and carrier service selected.
Shipping costs are applied based on the shipping method used as well as the shipping zone and weight/dimensions of the package.
Guaranteed Delivery: No carriers guarantee a delivery date for standard shipments. Delivery dates are subject to change and in most cases, tracking will update to reflect the new estimated delivery date.
What can I tell my customers?
We do not recommend listing average transit times as guaranteed time frames for standard shipments. Carrier delays can occur without warning and these shipments are not refunded. Also remember that for any average transit time, there are always some packages that can take substantially longer to deliver because they get misplaced by a carrier but are later found, there are issues with the final delivery address, the customer has moved, etc.
During peak shipping times (Thanksgiving through Christmas) we would recommend adding an additional two days to your average transit times.
Recommended Ship Option Settings:
Domestic Settings (lowest rate)
To ensure the lowest available rate is chosen, you can set ship options to “Standard” with no particular carrier option selected. With all carrier options available, the system will rate shop to find the lowest-priced available option in each case. “Standard” is the only shipping option that guarantees the rate listed on the standard pricing sheet.
If expedited shipping is important, we recommend using FedEx or UPS express shipping options.
If you want an in-between option, USPS First Class can be a good choice. This will use USPS First Class under 1 lb and USPS Priority Mail over 1 lb. Because these services pick up the package and deliver it to the end destination without any handovers to other carriers they are generally faster than other economy options.
International Settings
There are currently no “Overnight” services available for orders shipping internationally so "Expedited" would be the quickest method while "Standard" would be the most cost-effective.
Shipping to all destinations worldwide involves a lot of variation and we are not currently set up to predict case-by-case situations. When “Standard” or “Expedited” is selected, the system will default to the lowest available option in each case. Some destinations will have more available options than others.
General transit time estimates to the continental USA:
- Standard carrier options (international) 7-30 business days
- Priority carrier options (domestic): 2-5 business days
- Expedited carrier options (domestic): 2-3 business days
- Expedited carrier options (international): 1-6 business days
Carrier types and services:
FedEx
- Overnight: 1 business day delivery with 92%+ historical on-time rates. An order fulfilled on Monday will arrive on Tuesday.
- 2-Day: 2 business day delivery service with 85%+ historical on-time rates. An order fulfilled on Monday will arrive on Wednesday.
- Home Delivery: Estimated 2-6 business days within the U.S. This service is equivalent to FedEx Ground but is focused on residential deliveries so is used in place of the ground as most shipments go to residences.
- Smart Post: Estimated 3-8 business days. Historically has used USPS for final mile delivery but is trying to move away and deliver all packages using FedEx drivers.
UPS
- Overnight: 1 business day delivery with 95%+ historical on-time rates. An order fulfilled on Monday will arrive on Tuesday.
- 2-Day: 2 business day delivery service with 96%+ historical on-time rates. An order fulfilled on Monday will arrive on Wednesday.
- Mail Innovations: Estimated 4-7 business days within the U.S. Sometimes can see a 24-48 hour delay in scanning packages after pickup at the ELF facility. For shipments under 1 lb only. Uses USPS for final mile delivery.
- Surepost: Estimated 3-7 business days within the U.S. Uses USPS for final mile delivery.
- Ground: Estimated 2-6 business days within the U.S.
USPS
- First-class: Estimated 3-5 business days. Generally the fastest option for shipping under 1 lb packages.
- Priority: Estimated 2-4 business days