Shipping Your Things

[DonnyQ]

So I am looking at shipping my things. I have checked all these companies recommended on here and other sites. Most are in the thousands. And they do not have door-to-door service. And they take 3 months! So, just for fun, I checked a local American shipping company with a brown truck (don't want to be banned for listing their name!) and they can ship all my things, door-to-door, in ONE WEEK, for only $800!

 

So, uh...why use all these forwarders and balikbayan services then that are expensive and take 3 months? Or lose your stuff altogether. To be fair, brown says it is not guaranteed, but still.

[Dave Hounddriver]

The main advantage of Balikbayan boxes is:  Fill them full and overweight and no one cares.  And they get a free pass through customs.

1 hour ago, DonnyQ said:

So, just for fun, I checked a local American shipping company with a brown truck (don't want to be banned for listing their name!) and they can ship all my things, door-to-door, in ONE WEEK, for only $800!

That sounds too good to be true, and you know what they say.  But if you are willing to give it a go then be sure to tell us all about it as I have never heard of a truck of any color that drives across the ocean.  (Having a bit of fun, I am sure they use shipping containers).  Anyway, there are loads of people who have shipped their things here in a shipping container from USA or Australia and then dealt with Philippines customs on arrival.  Not many good stories to tell about that part.

[DonnyQ]

4 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

The main advantage of Balikbayan boxes is:  Fill them full and overweight and no one cares.  And they get a free pass through customs.

That sounds too good to be true, and you know what they say.  But if you are willing to give it a go then be sure to tell us all about it as I have never heard of a truck of any color that drives across the ocean.  (Having a bit of fun, I am sure they use shipping containers).  Anyway, there are loads of people who have shipped their things here in a shipping container from USA or Australia and then dealt with Philippines customs on arrival.  Not many good stories to tell about that part.

No, it goes by plane! I am getting an import exemption just in case I need it.

[Jack Peterson]

1 hour ago, DonnyQ said:

I am getting an import exemption just in case I need it.

[DonnyQ]

8 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

It's only like 1,000 pesos. Well worth it. You have to do it in advance, so why not?

[virginprune]

11 hours ago, DonnyQ said:

No, it goes by plane! I am getting an import exemption just in case I need it.

My boxes traveled in a container by sea. They took six weeks, when I checked their status I was informed that they were in Manila waiting for the container to fill before transporting to Davao. With no weight limit it would be odd to use a plane to transport them and at six weeks a very slow one at that. 

I sent mine by Forex. The cost for three medium size boxes was £120 which I found reasonable. This was three years ago.

Edited May 16, 2018 by virginprune
Add info

[OnMyWay]

18 hours ago, DonnyQ said:

So I am looking at shipping my things. I have checked all these companies recommended on here and other sites. Most are in the thousands. And they do not have door-to-door service. And they take 3 months! So, just for fun, I checked a local American shipping company with a brown truck (don't want to be banned for listing their name!) and they can ship all my things, door-to-door, in ONE WEEK, for only $800!

 

So, uh...why use all these forwarders and balikbayan services then that are expensive and take 3 months? Or lose your stuff altogether. To be fair, brown says it is not guaranteed, but still.

I'm not sure what "all my things" means, but big brown is not going to ship much at all from U.S. to PH for $800, especially by air.  Some wires are crossed somewhere.  I worked for a competitor for 29 years so I know the biz.

[DonnyQ]

3 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I'm not sure what "all my things" means, but big brown is not going to ship much at all from U.S. to PH for $800, especially by air.  Some wires are crossed somewhere.  I worked for a competitor for 29 years so I know the biz.

Well, if they quote me, and I pay, they have to do it, right? I was worried I was looking a $5,000. I would rather buy a house and a vehicle with that money.

[DonnyQ]

4 hours ago, virginprune said:

My boxes traveled in a container by sea. They took six weeks, when I checked their status I was informed that they were in Manila waiting for the container to fill before transporting to Davao. With no weight limit it would be odd to use a plane to transport them and at six weeks a very slow one at that. 

I sent mine by Forex. The cost for three medium size boxes was £120 which I found reasonable. This was three years ago.

Yeah, I was just looking at them. They quoted me $160 USD per box and almost 3 months of shipping. The other company(can I say UPS?) quoted me around $80 per box, one week of shipping. Leaves me wondering why anyone would use a service like Forex? I mean, Maybe I am missing something?

[Jollygoodfellow]

4 minutes ago, DonnyQ said:

The other company(can I say UPS?) quoted me around $80 per box, one week of shipping. Leaves me wondering why anyone would use a service like Forex? I mean, Maybe I am missing something?

Nuclear powered sub? One week shipping?