Shipping Flat Screen Tv To Philippines Via Balikbayan Box

[Old55]

We shipped a 48 inch Flat-Screen to Cebu from the Left Coast USA today using Forex Balikbayan door to door.The total costs came to ~$570.00 this included, shipping, packaging, full replacement insurance and customs duties.I armored the stock TV shipping box with wood and the finished box was 48X34X11. I used one sheet of plywood one 2X12X12 a box of wood screws and 18 oz of gorilla glue. Those materials came to $50.00.Forex charged $200.00 for shipping the box and about $20.00 for supplemental insurance to provide full replacement value if the TV were to be lost or damaged. They also required a $200.00 customs charge.

[MikeB]

We shipped a 48 inch Flat-Screen to Cebu from the Left Coast USA today using Forex Balikbayan door to door.The total costs came to ~$570.00 this included, shipping, packaging, full replacement insurance and customs duties.I armored the stock TV shipping box with wood and the finished box was 48X34X11. I used one sheet of plywood one 2X12X12 a box of wood screws and 18 oz of gorilla glue. Those materials came to $50.00.Forex charged $200.00 for shipping the box and about $20.00 for supplemental insurance to provide full replacement value if the TV were to be lost or damaged. They also required a $200.00 customs charge.

I didn't know it would be that much for a balikbayan shipment. I need to ship a 46in HDTV and I'm thinking to go with this place - http://www.ipsparcel.com/. They use the major air carriers (FedEx, DHL, UPS) and it's delivered in 3-5 days. I got an estimate of around $300 based upon dimension and weight (7x32x53 and 52 lbs) that included minimum $300 insurance; more insurance, more money. That does not include customs, from what I can find they usually charge 50% of the declared value plus a 10% VAT. It's a lot but still less expensive then buying a new one there. If anyone has real life experience of import custom charges on an item like this I would appreciate any information. The Customs web site isn't much help; in fact, it's down now.

[sjp52]

I sent a LCD tv via Balikbayan from Canada and it cost me $125. I sent it in the original box that it came in from the store. It took 90 days to get there but it arrived intact with no damage and it was not opened at customs.

[Mr Lee]

We shipped a 48 inch Flat-Screen to Cebu from the Left Coast USA today using Forex Balikbayan door to door.The total costs came to ~$570.00 this included, shipping, packaging, full replacement insurance and customs duties.I armored the stock TV shipping box with wood and the finished box was 48X34X11. I used one sheet of plywood one 2X12X12 a box of wood screws and 18 oz of gorilla glue. Those materials came to $50.00.Forex charged $200.00 for shipping the box and about $20.00 for supplemental insurance to provide full replacement value if the TV were to be lost or damaged. They also required a $200.00 customs charge.

We bought ours in Cebu and with the added cost you just quoted, I have to wonder why people would go to that expense unless they got the TV for free, and even then it seems to be easier to buy one locally and have the ability to get it serviced locally? I am not sure that local service centers will be able to get parts for TV's made for the US market. Believe it or not, parts are not always interchangeable and identifying the model might require them contacting the manufacturer and ordering the parts. When we had our cable TV hooked up in Cebu the TV came with a filter for the cable input, be sure yours has one and if not then be sure to buy one before hooking the TV up because it seems the cables there have enough voltage on them to cause a spark. :o  When the cable guy was playing around and trying to turn our cable on, he zapped our TV somehow and the picture no longer worked properly and I had to call in service and luckily it was still under warranty, but the factory service guy had to order the parts from Manila and it took a week to get them and then the board they brought had an audio problem and a perfect picture so it did not work properly in our TV, so another week later and they brought another board and it worked. I dread to think what would have happened had my TV been a US model.   :SugarwareZ-037:

[MikeB]

I sent a LCD tv via Balikbayan from Canada and it cost me $125. I sent it in the original box that it came in from the store. It took 90 days to get there but it arrived intact with no damage and it was not opened at customs.

How big was the LCD? The dimensions of the original carton I have are way bigger then any standard box and I wouldn't ship it in anything else. If it was shipped separately in a box marked as an HDTV I don't understand why it was not subject to customs. Maybe BB boxes are exempt?

[Old55]

We could have sent the TV labeled as household goods or whatnot. I am fairly sure it would not have been inspected by customs. However if for any reason it were to be damaged we would be screwed. To have it fully insured we chose to declare the TV.Lee makes some very good points. Can the imported TV be serviced in Philippines, will it work with local power and with all the risk, cost and bother is it worth shipping? The TV was a gift from my sister in law here to our family in Cebu. She did save a fair amount of money. The same make and model TV with smaller 42 inch screen costs 100,000 Peso at SM today. The 48 inch TV that we shipped out came to 73,146 Peso, a bit over $600.00 USD savings for a much larger TV.

[MikeB]

We could have sent the TV labeled as household goods or whatnot. I am fairly sure it would not have been inspected by customs. However if for any reason it were to be damaged we would be screwed. To have it fully insured we chose to declare the TV.Lee makes some very good points. Can the imported TV be serviced in Philippines, will it work with local power and with all the risk, cost and bother is it worth shipping? The TV was a gift from my sister in law here to our family in Cebu. She did save a fair amount of money. The same make and model TV with smaller 42 inch screen costs 100,000 Peso at SM today. The 48 inch TV that we shipped out came to 73,146 Peso, a bit over $600.00 USD savings for a much larger TV.

I don't think the power issue should be a consideration because the newer ones that I have seen have input voltages of 110-240 so will work in either. They are much less expensive and newer models are "more" available here but if I didn't have one I would wait and buy it there rather then go through the risk and hassle of shipping but since I already have it (and like it), it's going - somehow.

[sjp52]

I sent a LCD tv via Balikbayan from Canada and it cost me $125. I sent it in the original box that it came in from the store. It took 90 days to get there but it arrived intact with no damage and it was not opened at customs.

How big was the LCD? The dimensions of the original carton I have are way bigger then any standard box and I wouldn't ship it in anything else. If it was shipped separately in a box marked as an HDTV I don't understand why it was not subject to customs. Maybe BB boxes are exempt?

It was only a 32 inch samsung and the box had Samsung LCD written all over it ( original box ) and yes it was much bigger than the normal size boxes I send via Balikbayan. I have read on other forums that many people have sent TV,s by Balikbayan with out any issues so I thought I would try it and there was no problems. I think as soon as I find another good deal in Canada I will send over a bigger TV. Of all the boxes I have sent I never wrote on them what was in the box. Just wrote the address of where to ship it. The girl that takes care of my shipping ( a Filipina down the street from me ) gives me a deal that if I ship two boxes the third one is free. I have sent many boxes over the last 2 years and the most recent one was the first to have any damage. A couple of pans had dents in them.I was wondering if any one on this forum has ever had a problem with Balikbayan Boxes either damage or not showing up. I don't think I would take a chance with a 2 or 3 thousand dollar TV, But I have seen 46 inch LCD,s going for as low as $500 here in Canada. They are not the latest greatest LCD,s but you don,t need the latest s technology here as the Philippines is a little behind in that field. HD is just starting in the Philippines.

[No name]

I have to agree with Lee, I would sell it and buy here. UNLESS I was doing an entire container which last time I checked was around $1000. Probably has gone up now as I think exports from the USA have improved sense then. More exports, more competition for shipping space.But not really an issue for me, I'm way too poor these days to buy a 50inch TV :SugarwareZ-037: Heck my TV died two months ago. I guess I'll try to get it fixed next month. :)Just proof though, one doesn't have to have a lot of cash to be happy living in the Philippines. Really, I could have gone to Rent-a-Center and got a monster TV, almost did but then realized, no point. I'll be leaving soon anyway. Let me see, loving Filipina, big screen TV? Going with the Filipina for me.

[Jake]

You guys have made some very good comments about whether to ship a BB or just purchase an LCD in the Philippines. Although it may be more expensive, Lee's suggestion is the readily available warranty service if one purchased an LCD in PI. Is it safe to assume that any electronic items purchase outside the Philippines, the warranty will not be honored? I've been studying on line (Walmart and Amazon) and the 32" LCD are really coming down in price. SJP52 commented on high definition technology in PI is still in its infancy and a 32" LCD with only 720P high definition resolution is still good enough for me. For example, a Westinghouse 32" for only $290 if purchased in the states is still a good deal, even when you tack on another $125 for shipment to PI (undeclared).Decisions, decisions -- Jake