When a parcel you've bought arrives at your Forward2me warehouse, it goes through a few quick steps before it's ready for you to ship. Here's what happens, and what you can do to help it move faster.
The General Process - All Warehouses
As soon as a parcel arrives at one of our warehouses:
- We scan the courier's barcode and match your Unique ID Number to your Forward2me account, so the parcel is linked to you.
- We take a free OCR photo of the shipping label. This uses Optical Character Recognition so you can check the sender and tracking details straight away.
- You get a "Package Received" email as soon as the parcel is booked in.
- You choose what happens next from your dashboard:
- Ship it — choose your courier and send it on its way.
- Hold it — use your 30 days of free storage while you wait for other items to arrive.
- Combine & Repack — merge multiple boxes into one to save on volumetric shipping costs.
Why Your Parcel Might Show as Being in Poland
Parcels sent to our Germany warehouse may be processed and shipped from our nearby facility in Poland. If you see your parcel located in Poland at any point, there's nothing to worry about — it's a normal part of how our EU operation works, and it doesn't affect your shipment or delivery.
Please continue to use your Germany address for all EU deliveries — we don't offer a separate Poland address.
US and Guernsey Warehouses: Invoices Are Required
Our US and Guernsey warehouses have stricter documentation requirements. Uploading a purchase invoice is required for all shipments exported from the US and Guernsey — unlike our UK, Germany, and Japan hubs, where it's recommended but not mandatory. We aren't able to export goods from these warehouses without a confirmed value and an itemized description of the contents, so your parcel can't be shipped until an invoice is provided.
Upload Your Invoice Early to Speed Things Up
You don't have to wait for your parcel to arrive before uploading its invoice. Using the invoice upload feature to add it in advance — sometimes called pre-alerting — links the customs information to your parcel before it's even scanned in.
When the parcel then arrives, the details are already in place, which can speed up processing and dispatch. It's the simplest way to avoid your parcel waiting in the queue for information.
How to upload an invoice for an incoming package.
If you have any questions about your incoming parcels, our Customer Experience team is happy to help.