Shipping to Philippines Cheaply Travel Tip

Here is the link to the largest Balikbayan forwarder:

http://www.manilaforwarder.com/

Very descriptive website for information on shipping to the Philippines.

JD

Gadget from has written 831 comments

I tapped into a Baguio "Insiders" newsgroup, a great source for Philippines questions.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BaguioCityPhilippines/

A response, they aer like a club, you must find them...

Andy,

Balikbayan literally means "returning Filipino" and the use of a "balikbayan
box" is a marketing ploy used in the US to entice Filipinos (and others) to
use a shipping company's services to send goods back to the Philippines.
There are dozens of shipping companies offering these services, over 50 of
them in the San Francisco, California area alone. A few of the better known
companies are Forex, Willex, Bayoni and LBC.

Each company has it's own operation. There is nothing special about these
boxes. Each shipper uses his "standard" sizes and there are no weight
limits. They are typically about 2' cubed. Many of these companies have
made prior agreements with Customs not to ship cameras and electronics or
any other kind of dutiable goods or contraband. Even so, Customs does
inspect a sampling of these boxes at their POE.

Amount of goods shipped are limited only by the size of the shipper's
"standard" box. Depending upon company and location in the US the cost will
range from US$60 to over US$120. They will take about 30 days from the west
coast and again, depending upon company, will deliver in the Philippines to
the door or to a nearby location. A couple of the shippers will even take a
photo of your box being delivered.

Unfortunately, there haven't been any like services for packages going the
other way.

Ron

hoz from has written 62 comments

Where do I get the Balikbayan box?
Check with the local Filipino/Oriental markets.Most are representatives for a Forwarder.

Is this cheaper or just a marketing scheme?
Certainly cheaper that regular shipping and the "no weight limit" is an attraction.

Is this just same as normal container shipping or special?
The company combines boxes at their west coast warehouse and ships a container to Manila. Each company has their own approved size boxes.

Can I get hard to ship items in the country easier, for example items that would normally be stopped by customs?
Yes. Balikbayan boxes are not normally checked by customs.
(This refers to those boxes shipped by a company, NOT boxes carried by an airline passenger.

How long does it take, weeks, months?
Varies, 30 days to 2 months.

Is it truly safe?
As safe as anything in this world. There has been no pilferage on boxes we have shipped the past several years. We use Forex.

Give me a list of shipping companies that specialize in these Balikbayan boxes.
see above posts

Maybe to the USA also? - If a discount and customs bypal, this is a good import export tip...? (I do not recommend starting business in the Philippines, the country is clever to the level of thieves.)
Some have already considered this.

The Philippines Postal system is horrible. My friend who had a small internet company often had seemingly tangential complaints about not receiving mail from senders and receivers thinking somehow his website is the complaint department for the Philippines Post Office. The Balikbayan boxes are usually much more reliable.

B. Boxes is a big Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) cultural thing. Yes, you often see Indian, Indonesians, Sri Lankan, Thais, and other 3rd world contract "guest" workers return home with big boxes of goods, but not to such an extent of Filipinos. And I have yet to see these other nationalities send large boxes independently of the returning worker in the numbers and regularity Filipinos do.

These are boxes are especially popular at Christmas, but throughout the year many people send monthly boxes of stuff. Often times, even soba/ramen "cup-a-noodle," and corned-beef is sent in these $90 boxes. The economic decision-making often seems to make little economic sense . Why not just give the person $90-120 extra in remittance to buy these things? However, my friends did tell me of their wives being harped on to send boxes instead of remittance, as the fathers had spent the money at the cock derby or hit the San Miguel gin bottle and pulutan for him and his friends. And Filipinas are often manipulated with mind games by their families to send stuff, along with remitted money. Andy, this won’t be your problem, so the high value items might be sent to you from the States. You will need 4 weeks to 6 weeks to receive a package, so you have to plan where you will be to receive your door-to-door. And timing can be imprecise…21 days to 70 days for some boxes.
Yes, you can send Balikbayan boxes from the Philippines to the U.S. for about 50 more than going from RP to U.S. about $150+.

Philippines money matters…
FYI for those travelers who want to decrease the payouts to financial institutions--thus keeping more of your cash in your pocket. Remittance (of money) to the Philippines is usually much cheaper than an International wire transfer ($50-75), or cash advance with ATM fees. The best part is you don’t need to go to a bank or ATM. The money is delivered in hand to you. Usually the frictional charges on the exchange rate are much better too. And even out in the boondocks (bonduc) you will get your money paid in cash without having to go to a bank to pick it up , in even the wildest corners of Mindanao for only $6-12 and about 1 Peso commission. The traveler may see the obvious advantages of not having to find an ATM or Bank, or even go into town at all, especially if that ATM or town is a 2 hour each way bone-rattling jeep/trike away. Have your money come to you. I have money delivered to myself for only 1.25 to 3 this way . If accepted, Credit cards often charge 2-3 on the American side plus cash advance fee of 2-3 and sometimes dubious exchange rates and fees by Philippine banks. My friend was complaining this month that the hotel charged him 12 or 13 more to use his credit card to pay his Bacolod city hotel bill--on top of the 3 his American bank charged him!

Subic Bay often has duty-free (no import taxes paid) products that you can’t find elsewhere in the RP, and at good prices...Heinz ketchup, Ritz Crackers...eh Marshmellow Fluff. Check out the department stores on the former Subic Base, and maybe they have that at Clark Base Proper too because they are both so-called “Freeports.”

Hope this helps budget minded RP travelers.

has written 205 comments

Anyone know what the rules are for sending cigars or cigarettes to the USA ? I get a lot of request but don't want to end up on a THE LIST. Do you send them as gifts ? Do you write tobacco on it ? Any customs duties ? Extras that would make it too expensive ? limits ?

PS. I got to get one of those cigars Andy photographed of the Old Lady smoking the largest smoke I have ever seen since a Cheech and Chong Movie from the late 70's

This site is intended for all kababayans sending boxes to the Philippines. We come up with this site because of complaints. Customers just want their box(es) to arrive it doesn't matter how long. We invite all kababayans to help us track their box(es) by updating us existing and reliable agents/forwarders in their respective area. Nasaanna.com will contact them.