After taking over for just over a month, he began planning to transfer the business, only to see the price drop from 60,000 yuan all the way to over 20,000 yuan, finally managing to sell it after two months. According to an interview, a courier station owner named Cheng Si (pseudonym) shared his experience: nearing the New Year, during the peak season for courier services and a crucial period for high revenue, Cheng Si chose instead to sell his courier station. Reportedly, this station, which handles over 800 parcels daily, was acquired by Cheng Si in early September 2025 from the previous owner for nearly 60,000 yuan. However, just over a month after taking over, Cheng Si planned to transfer it; the asking price fell from 60,000 yuan to just over 20,000 yuan, and it took two months to finally sell.
Other netizens have noticed that the courier stations in their residential communities have changed owners several times, with some even shutting down completely. Some residents reported that the station in their community "is always changing owners": by the end of 2022, when she moved into a certain community in Chengdu, the Cainiao Station within the community had changed hands three times in about three years, averaging a change of operator every year. Recently, on online platforms like Xianyu and Xiaohongshu, many people across the country have been posting information about transferring their courier stations, with some using tags like "low price," "no transfer fee," and "urgent transfer."
The courier station business, once seen as a low-barrier, stable-cash-flow, popular startup choice for ordinary people, is now "not so appealing"? The cost-effectiveness of running a station is deemed too low, with some suggesting it's better to "work as a security guard." Interviews with operators planning to transfer their stations in various locations revealed that the cost-effectiveness of running a courier station is currently decreasing. In terms of working hours, most courier stations operate from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., with some closing as late as 10 p.m., seven days a week, taking a break only during the Spring Festival holiday.
One operator lamented, "There's too little time, it's too exhausting. The station ties you down; you can't go anywhere." Another courier station operator stated that it's still possible to make some money running a station now, but it's "hard-earned money." One operator even wrote in a transfer post, "If you can't handle hardship but still want to make money, don't bother." More frustratingly, whenever users lodge催促 or complaints with the courier company through customer service, any fines incurred are borne by the station.
Courier station owner Li Wenxuan stated, "A single催促 call results in a 50 yuan fine. A second complaint is 200 yuan." For four months of the year, after deducting costs and fines, the station's net profit was just over 3,000 yuan, and he has yet to recoup the over 80,000 yuan transfer fee. He plans to persist until next year and exit if the situation doesn't improve. One operator expressed helplessly, "After deducting costs like rent, earning five or six thousand yuan a month while having to guard the shop and work over ten hours daily is worse than being a security guard. Even if the salary is only three or four thousand yuan, there are no corresponding headaches."
While unit prices have decreased, the number of courier stations has been increasing. In recent years, price wars in the courier industry have intensified. Data from the State Post Bureau shows that the average single-piece price for domestic courier services has dropped from 28.55 yuan in 2007 to 7.62 yuan for January-November 2025. This is even after a slight price recovery under efforts against "courier industry involution." As courier prices fall, the末端派费 (last-mile delivery fee) is also continuously compressed.
Several station operators indicated that the single-piece派费 has decreased from an average of 1.5 yuan to 1 yuan, or even 0.7 yuan. Since station income from receiving parcels is a share of this fee, the per-piece revenue naturally decreases accordingly. It's important to note that while unit prices fall, the number of courier stations in the market keeps increasing. It has become increasingly common for a single residential community to host several courier stations of different brands.
According to Cainiao's previously submitted IPO prospectus, as of the first half of 2023, it had 170,000 stations, compared to publicly disclosed figures of over 100,000 in 2020. Other public data shows that the number of Zhongtong Tuxi stations grew from over 80,000 at the end of 2022 to over 110,000 last year; the number of Yuantong Mom stations increased from 40,000 in November 2020 to 70,000 by early 2023; when J&T Express acquired Best's domestic courier business in 2021, it included 37,000 Linli stations.
Furthermore, as e-commerce platforms promote "doorstep pickup" services, consumers are less willing to spend the time and effort to send items from courier stations, bypassing them altogether. Taking Taobao as an example, its customer service stated that when consumers choose doorstep pickup for returns, it is generally Cainiao Express staff who provide the service, not Cainiao Station staff; however, it's not ruled out that a Cainiao Station contracted for delivery services in a specific area might have its staff handle pickups.
"Courier stations are a transitional business model." Xu Yong, Vice President of the China Communications Association Express Logistics Branch, explained that the courier industry has low concentration, with many companies leading to oversupply, forcing price wars to "exchange price for volume," inevitably lowering unit prices. Xu Yong believes that manual courier stations have fulfilled their historical mission and are now being phased out by the model combining stations with parcel lockers. In the future, the industry will focus primarily on door-to-door delivery, supplemented by parcel lockers and the station+locker model. "Most stations are transitional formats and will eventually be淘汰," Xu Yong said.
An Guangyong, an expert from the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce Merger and Acquisition Guild's Credit Management Committee, pointed out that currently, stations are evolving from buffer nodes into liability nodes. Upstream players continuously pursue extreme cost reduction, pushing pressures related to timeliness, complaints, and compliance risks downstream, requiring stations to meet service standards akin to direct-operated outlets. As the nature of the business changes, so does the logic for筛选 operators. "Those who remain are not necessarily the hardest working, but those with the most stable cost structure and the clearest understanding of their role," An Guangyong believes.