How To Change A Fedex Shipping Address After The Package Has Shipped

One common question that comes up with shipping using Fedex is, “How do I change the address of a package that is in transit?” This isn’t alway possible, but when it is, it can be a huge help. Here’s how to make it happen.

The Situation

This is something that’s happened to every one of us: We buy something for a friend or family member and ship it to their home. The package ships and we mention to them, “Your birthday present has shipped, it’ll be there on Friday…” only to find out that they will be traveling that day and the package should go to another address.

Or perhaps you bought something and you expect it to show up in 3 days, but it turns out that the seller waited a few days before shipping it, so the time between the purchase and arrival went from 3 days to 6! You know you won’t be home on that 6th day, so you try to have the package shipped to the address where you will be.

Seems logic enough right? After all, if a package is going from Ohio to your home in California and one day in you tell Fedex to ship it to a few miles away from your original destination, the actual change to Fedex seems very minimal. If you had used the new address when you purchased the item, the shipping cost would have been exactly the same.

Most Popular Solution: The Shipper Makes The Change

When the package is shipped, the shipment will have an option for if the shipper, the receiver, or both can change the ultimate destination. Typically a restriction is set at this point so that only the shipper can change the destination. This might seem inconvenient if you are the person receiving the package, but many shippers set this so the item is being sent to a verified address and they (as the seller) have to be made aware of any updates to the shipment.

In this situation the receiver (usually the buyer, particularly if the shipment was something that was sold online) has to contact the shipper and tell them to, in turn, contact Fedex and update the package’s destination.

In this situation the tracking number won’t change, but instead the tracking history will show a note about an “alternative delivery requested.” The main status of the parcel might temporarily to “delivery option requested” for a time, as the item is being rerouted.

Use Fedex Delivery Manager

If the shipment doesn’t have a restricted status then the receiver (in this case, you) can change the final destination. This will be done using Fedex’s online tool known as Delivery Manager. This is a sort of shipment command center for anyone with a Fedex account, including consumers with a free Fedex account who are only managing deliveries of items being sent to them.

Using Delivery Manager it’s possible to reroute a package that you’ve sent or one that has been sent to you. The process is very simple:

  1. Go you your item in Delivery Manager.
  2. Expand “Manage Delivery” and select “Deliver to Another Address”
  3. Input the new address and then pick “Continue”
  4. Select a new delivery date and time
  5. Enter your payment details to pay for any fees related to the change
  6. Click “Submit” to finalize.

What those changes made you should be all set!

What If No “Deliver To Another Address” Option?

What if you are logged into your Fedex account, you go to the tracking number of the shipment you’d like to reroute, you expand the “Manage Delivery” menu, but then there is no option to delivery to another address?

This means that the shipment is restricted and you are not able to change the destination of the package. You will have to contact the shipper and have them change the address.

At this point you can call Fedex, but the only thing they are likely to tell you is what we’ve already covered: destination changes are restricted to the shipper and cannot be input by the receiver.

Is It Free To Change An Address With Fedex?

The answer to the question of if a Fedex address change is free is: it depends.

If you contact the shipper (the seller) and they change the address for you, then the address change will usually be free. Or perhaps there will be a fee, but may be absorbed by the seller and you’ll never know about it.

If you have to make the change yourself by working directly with Fedex then there will likely be a charge. This will depend on the distance between the two addresses and other factors that Fedex could explain to you if you really want to know, but the important thing to note is that there will be a fee of at least $5.55.

Change Is Possible

So, in short, it’s possible to change a Fedex address, but it’s not always straightforward and it’s rarely as easy as simply logging into Fedex.com and making the change yourself.

Anything we missed or got wrong? Send us a note.