ShippingCart.com

[OnMyWay]

Another update.....

I just shipped my second Sea Cargo shipment.  7 Amazon shipments with 9 items.  I was just over the minimum weight for shipping and just over the $500 free insurance.  See picture.

Now I'm waiting to see what happens with the cheap jewelry.  You can see it flagged for special handling and everything I found says special handling has to go air cargo.  Yet it let me complete and pay for everything as Sea Cargo.

[OnMyWay]

On 8/2/2018 at 12:30 AM, OnMyWay said:

Now I'm waiting to see what happens with the cheap jewelry. 

They shipped everything out yesterday including the cheap jewelry.  I got lucky this time but I won't try that again.

Due date for this shipment is 9/15/18.

[StayAtHomeDad]

Update.--- I ordered some stuff from Amazon on late Friday night/or early Sat morning -- Aug 4 -- (an SSD drive, a CPU fan, and a couple of SD cards). I opted to send it through Amazon Global Shipping instead of through ShippingCart.com. Because the items' total value was less than $200, Amazon charged only $16.52 to ship through UPS. They also state that if customs duties or taxes are more than their estimate (which in this case was zero), that they will cover those and the buyer will not be responsible.

Get this, though, the shipment is scheduled to be delivered on August 8 (according to UPS tracking anyway.) That's a bargain, I think. Also...if you order something that is estimated to have duties/customs fees, and it winds up that none are actually collected, Amazon will refund any Duty/Custom fees charged as a deposit.

It seems like many sellers add a 10 to 30 percent premium on shipping to cover their butts. But, many items don't have a tarriff rate at all (regardless of price). Of course, you would still need to pay VAT (unless the product has an SRP of P10,000 or less.) Still, that's only 12%. So, unless the item is super expensive, it may be much cheaper (and of course faster) to ship through Amazon direct. Something to think about anyway.

I have two shipments on the way through ShippingCart.com. Should get my fill of American snacks and canned goods for a good while. Although, I am sure the kids will go through a lot of it with the quickness. lol.

Edited August 4, 2018 by JeSsDaDdY

[StayAtHomeDad]

Of course for large items, ShippingCart.com Sea Cargo is still much more economical.

[OnMyWay]

7 hours ago, JeSsDaDdY said:

Because the items' total value was less than $200, Amazon charged only $16.52 to ship through UPS. They also state that if customs duties or taxes are more than their estimate (which in this case was zero), that they will cover those and the buyer will not be responsible.

It does sound like a great deal if duties are included.  I never tried the Amazon Global Shipping because I thought it was too expensive.

So no VAT will be due??

[OnMyWay]

7 hours ago, JeSsDaDdY said:

Update.--- I ordered some stuff from Amazon on late Friday night/or early Sat morning -- Aug 4 -- (an SSD drive, a CPU fan, and a couple of SD cards). I opted to send it through Amazon Global Shipping instead of through ShippingCart.com. Because the items' total value was less than $200, Amazon charged only $16.52 to ship through UPS. They also state that if customs duties or taxes are more than their estimate (which in this case was zero), that they will cover those and the buyer will not be responsible.

Get this, though, the shipment is scheduled to be delivered on August 8 (according to UPS tracking anyway.) That's a bargain, I think. Also...if you order something that is estimated to have duties/customs fees, and it winds up that none are actually collected, Amazon will refund any Duty/Custom fees charged as a deposit.

It seems like many sellers add a 10 to 30 percent premium on shipping to cover their butts. But, many items don't have a tarriff rate at all (regardless of price). Of course, you would still need to pay VAT (unless the product has an SRP of P10,000 or less.) Still, that's only 12%. So, unless the item is super expensive, it may be much cheaper (and of course faster) to ship through Amazon direct. Something to think about anyway.

I have two shipments on the way through ShippingCart.com. Should get my fill of American snacks and canned goods for a good while. Although, I am sure the kids will go through a lot of it with the quickness. lol.

Where did you find the info on total value less than $200 and the other info on duties and taxes?  On Amazon?

I put my PH address into Amazon and experimented with a WD 500 gb SSD.  $88.99 + $14.45 shipping = $103.44.  On Lazada the same drive is p7699, about $145.

Keep us posted!  If your transaction goes smoothly I will definitely try it with products that are hard to find and/or much more expensive here, like the SSD.

[StayAtHomeDad]

I read it on quite a few Filipino forums and sites. I spend the better part of a day researching before ordering. Seems they have updated their system to match the law here (no customs duty or VAT required for items valued at P10,000 or less.) That being said, though, it does not work for all items - especially for "on sale" items that are close to that price point. For instance, if the original price was $219.99, and the sale price makes it like $159.99, then Amazon will still include a duty/customs fee. Kind of hit and miss, and the actual price point may not be $200 depending on the exchange rate. After playing around a bit more, I have found the safe threshold to be around $165 to $170 to avoid the VAT/Customs fees. I think a lot of it has to do with the actual seller, though. In many cases, the seller just opts not to ship items here at all. HTH

[StayAtHomeDad]

4 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

So no VAT will be due??

Yes, according to everything I have read, no VAT will be due.

[StayAtHomeDad]

From the Amazon site:

About Import Fees Deposit

AmazonGlobal and Amazon Global Store offer customers customs duties, taxes and fees ("Import Fees") estimation during checkout and customs clearance on your behalf for certain eligible countries.

Calculating Fees

When you order products from AmazonGlobal for shipment to countries outside of the U.S. or from Amazon Global Store for shipment to the U.S., an estimate of the Import Fees will be levied on those items in your order. With your authorization, these funds are used by the carrier or another agent to pay the Import Fees on your behalf (or the recipient's behalf) to the appropriate authorities of the destination country ("Import Fees Deposit"). The payment of import fees is the responsibility of the importer and is levied based on the laws of the country into which the products are being shipped.

Import Fees Deposits will vary depending on the selected shipping method. The Import Fees Deposit is an estimation of the taxes and duties that may apply and isn't an actual calculation. Customs regulations and tax rates applicable to certain goods may change between the date the taxes and duties were estimated and the applicable taxes and duties on the date of import into the destination country. The duty or tax rate is often determined by the classification of a good, which varies by country and region.

Duties and taxes are calculated based on the market value (actual price before any promotions) of the product and not the price after Amazon promotions. This allows destination country customs authorities to obtain the accurate import duties and taxes owed to them based on the actual value of the goods.

You won't be charged additional fees if the actual Import Fees exceed the Import Fees Deposit we estimated. For items sold by Amazon Marketplace sellers, please check the seller's policies.

If the actual Import Fees are less than the Import Fees Deposit collected by us on your behalf, you'll automatically be refunded the difference to the payment method you used for the order. You'll receive a notification e-mail confirming the amount of the refund. The process takes 60 days from the shipment date.

Note:

• The cost to ship items from each product category to international destinations varies by item, shipment, and shipping option.
• The above terms also apply to the shipment of any replacement product that might be shipped if there's a problem with the original shipment. If you return a product to us, you'll be the exporter from the original shipping destination and will be responsible for compliance with all export laws of that country.

[StayAtHomeDad]

Discovered a pro tip for using ShoppingCart a couple of days ago and forgot to share it. So, here it is:

ShippingCart's site is very slow to update tracking information from LBC (they use them to ship). So, it may take a few days to receive updates in your account after they are received by ShoppingCart from LBC. Fortunately, there is a workaround to see the true latest LBC status of your package.

Step 1 - Locate the email you received from ShippingCart.com with the subject "Your Payment is Confirmed"

Step 2 - Open the email and locate the Shipping Cart tracking number. Copy that tracking number

Step 3 - Go to https://www.checkmeout.ph/track

Step 4 - Paste the ShippingCart.com tracking number into the search box and click the Search icon.

Step 5 - Scroll down to the bottom of the page and located a second tracking number in grey box with the text " You can also track your CMO order via our partner courier "

Step 6 - Click the tracking number link. After you do, you will be redirected to the AfterShip website to view LBC tracking. If that doesn't work, just copy the tracking number and go to the LBC main website and track the package from there.

CheckMeOut is owned by the same Singapore company ( QuadX Pte. Ltd.) that now owns ShippingCart (LBC sold out to them).

LBC tracking is also not so great and updates rather slowly as well. Nevertheless, it is still much better than the ShippingCart.com tracking information.

Also, after a few days, your ShippingCart.com tracking number will appear in your account dashboard. If you want it as soon as you send payment, just get it from the email mentioned above.

Edited August 5, 2018 by JeSsDaDdY