Sending Package - Fed Ex What a rip off !

[NoneYa 73]

I sent a 3 lb pacakge and I knew it would be a lot so I agreed to pay $ 122.00 to ship it to the Phiilippines, priority mail. It was a birthday gift, a pair of nice sandles/slippers she called them and I valued the package at $ 85.00 which is what they cost with tax. The package arrived in the Philippines within 3 days but once it got there, customs pulled it aside and kept it for a week. After 10 days or more they sent sent it out to the apartment she lived in and she had to pay $ 66.00 tax on the goods !!! Is that nuts ? A $ 85.00 ( 3,570 peso) value but a $ 66.00 ( 2,700 peso) tax ?

I guess they need the money.. I hope it goes to good use but I will never send anything again that is valued more than $ 5.00.

You can expect a priority package to take about 2 weeks to arrive based on my experience if you are using Fed Ex because of customs.

Edited November 18, 2011 by DaleFlorida

[TeapotGirl 66]

Yeap that's the way it goes. When my fiance was here, he asked his brother or daughter to send him the his phone charger and medicine and he was charged with the same amount to receive it.

It's not just FedEx, DHL, it's all of them. So anybody here who used different company and wasn't charged, please share. I use to pick up my beannie babies in the post office and just pay P35. Just 2mos wait time and of course time them you have to spend in the post office.

I am planning to buy DLSR camera to through my fiance then ship it to me, but I am worried about the charge of receiving it. I thought yo are charge per value of the item, DLSR i expensive so I said forget it.

Edited November 18, 2011 by teapotgurl1983

[DaveE111 10]

I sent a 3 lb pacakge and I knew it would be a lot so I agreed to pay $ 122.00 to ship it to the Phiilippines, priority mail. It was a birthday gift, a pair of nice sandles/slippers she called them and I valued the package at $ 85.00 which is what they cost with tax. The package arrived in the Philippines within 3 days but once it got there, customs pulled it aside and kept it for a week. After 10 days or more they sent sent it out to the apartment she lived in and she had to pay $ 66.00 tax on the goods !!! Is that nuts ? A $ 85.00 ( 3,570 peso) value but a $ 66.00 ( 2,700 peso) tax ?

I guess they need the money.. I hope it goes to good use but I will never send anything again that is valued more than $ 5.00.

You can expect a priority package to take about 2 weeks to arrive based on my experience if you are using Fed Ex because of customs.

Everyone learns this the hard way. You will often pay a 100% customs fee based not only on the valuation of the item but they charge on the cost of shipping also.

Value of the Article in ($)

+ Commission & Brokerage Fees

+ Cost of Containers

+ Cost of Packing

+ Amount of Royalties

+ Cost of Transportation (shipping)

+ Value of Resale

+ Loading and Handling Charges

+ Cost of Insurance

__________________________

= Total Value

x Exchange Rate ($ – Peso)

__________________________

= Dutiable Value

x Rate of Duty / Tariff (%)

__________________________

= Customs Duty

[Zen Den 18]

it's cheaper to send stuff through a balikbayan box...$85 average fee, but you won't get charged anything else =)

[Wally G! 58]

Same here on shipping a 2 yr old used MP3 player and charger. Cost $43 to ship and Customs charges P1800/ $41 US. Crazy Crazy Crazy. DO NOT SEND ANY THING TO PHILIPPINES UNLESS ITS AND EMERGENCY OR ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY AND WILLING TO PAY THE CUSTOMS COST.

Best way is to send the money through Westernunion or LBC or Money Transfer. Let your love one purchase the items there in Philippines. It will save you a whole lot of money.

Follow up note to shipping through Philspost office. My fiance witnessed first hand the corrupted people at customs and the people that worked at the post office in Pasay. Its a syndicate there people paying off people to get there packages without paying customs. Customs officers adding additional charges or overcharging people on customs fees. Especially foreigners or packages coming from abroad. I wonder what will happen if international shipping was to drop by 50 percent. Lot of jobs lost and questions will be asked.

Best

Wally Greene

[Leatherneck 693]

Same here on shipping a 2 yr old used MP3 player and charger. Cost $43 to ship and Customs charges P1800/ $41 US. Crazy Crazy Crazy. DO NOT SEND ANY THING TO PHILIPPINES UNLESS ITS AND EMERGENCY OR ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY AND WILLING TO PAY THE CUSTOMS COST.

Best way is to send the money through Westernunion or LBC or Money Transfer. Let your love one purchase the items there in Philippines. It will save you a whole lot of money.

Follow up note to shipping through Philspost office. My fiance witnessed first hand the corrupted people at customs and the people that worked at the post office in Pasay. Its a syndicate there people paying off people to get there packages without paying customs. Customs officers adding additional charges or overcharging people on customs fees. Especially foreigners or packages coming from abroad. I wonder what will happen if international shipping was to drop by 50 percent. Lot of jobs lost and questions will be asked.

Best

Wally Greene

It's one big government sponsored racketeering network. Send anything of value to the Philppines that is not in a balikbayan box and they will give you a serious haircut.

That VAT is nothing more than legal theft!

[Babydolljen 0]

Use Forex balikbayan boxes

[Hank_ 9,174]

Like said it is not just FedUp it is all shipping to the Phils, much cheaper to simply send money and let them buy it there. Yup, I learned the hard way also.

[mapletree 33]

Sometimes I see posts like this where people argue they were cheated or the like, but the truth is they just do not understand how it all works. An American shows up to play "football" in Australia and then gripes that he is penalized for touching the ball with his hands and claims it is not "fair." Truth is he just does not know the rules. The game is different.

There are rules for sending things to the Philippines. They may not make sense to you, but they are no wackier than the rules for baseball or anything else.

Just think of this as one step in a long path to greater cultural understanding. And trust me, if you marry someone from the Philippines, this is just the start.

[Theresa0828 65]

I sent a 3 lb pacakge and I knew it would be a lot so I agreed to pay $ 122.00 to ship it to the Phiilippines, priority mail. It was a birthday gift, a pair of nice sandles/slippers she called them and I valued the package at $ 85.00 which is what they cost with tax. The package arrived in the Philippines within 3 days but once it got there, customs pulled it aside and kept it for a week. After 10 days or more they sent sent it out to the apartment she lived in and she had to pay $ 66.00 tax on the goods !!! Is that nuts ? A $ 85.00 ( 3,570 peso) value but a $ 66.00 ( 2,700 peso) tax ?

I guess they need the money.. I hope it goes to good use but I will never send anything again that is valued more than $ 5.00.

You can expect a priority package to take about 2 weeks to arrive based on my experience if you are using Fed Ex because of customs.

This happens to me too, in Makati Postal Office, I pick up the package and they told me that I have to pay this amount... I forgot how much it is... then the clerk said if I do not need a receipt, the amount is like cut into half... and I was like... #######???!!! I actually paid the one that is half the amount without the receipt and while on my way to the office i just thought... #######! its corruption and I just played my part.

The saddest thing though is when I told my officemates about it... someone told me that I do not have to pay any cent... that it happened to her aunt and her aunt insists that its a gift... that you can only be charged if you meant to re-sell it... but since its a gift and its for your own use.... you do not have to pay... and you can insist that with the postmaster too. Also, when shipping, clearly indicate that its a gift.

Now that I am here in the US, one of my friends in the Philippines bought something on ebay and have it sent to our house... I sent it to the Philippines indicating that its a gift... we have done this twice and so far, he was only ask around 30 pesos...

[pepper 34]

Sometimes I see posts like this where people argue they were cheated or the like, but the truth is they just do not understand how it all works. An American shows up to play "football" in Australia and then gripes that he is penalized for touching the ball with his hands and claims it is not "fair." Truth is he just does not know the rules. The game is different.

There are rules for sending things to the Philippines. They may not make sense to you, but they are no wackier than the rules for baseball or anything else.

Just think of this as one step in a long path to greater cultural understanding. And trust me, if you marry someone from the Philippines, this is just the start.

I totally agree! We need to understand how it works first. Commercial invoices that have a dutiable value of 3000 pesos and above are subject to authentication by the customs and is subjected to custom duties and taxes. I dont advise it but I always declare lower value on customs form so I don't pay anything. Never had a problem and never paid zilch.Also it would help if you use the Phils Custom Tax Calculator to get a ballpark figure of how much you will pay.

[TeapotGirl 66]

The saddest thing though is when I told my officemates about it... someone told me that I do not have to pay any cent... that it happened to her aunt and her aunt insists that its a gift... that you can only be charged if you meant to re-sell it... but since its a gift and its for your own use.... you do not have to pay... and you can insist that with the postmaster too. Also, when shipping, clearly indicate that its a gift.

Just to be clear, you can't do this to the Fed Ex guys.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

I sent a 3 lb pacakge and I knew it would be a lot so I agreed to pay $ 122.00 to ship it to the Phiilippines, priority mail. It was a birthday gift, a pair of nice sandles/slippers she called them and I valued the package at $ 85.00 which is what they cost with tax. The package arrived in the Philippines within 3 days but once it got there, customs pulled it aside and kept it for a week. After 10 days or more they sent sent it out to the apartment she lived in and she had to pay $ 66.00 tax on the goods !!! Is that nuts ? A $ 85.00 ( 3,570 peso) value but a $ 66.00 ( 2,700 peso) tax ?

I guess they need the money.. I hope it goes to good use but I will never send anything again that is valued more than $ 5.00.

You can expect a priority package to take about 2 weeks to arrive based on my experience if you are using Fed Ex because of customs.

Translate it to Cebuano.. Shoes roughly translates to "DOCUMENTS"...

[sea-town 5]

I learned the hard way like many others, sent a cell phone to the Philippines and paid more in customs and tax than the cell phone cost after that never again. one way around it is just visit more and fill up ur bags with all u want to bring her and no tax no custom charges

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

I learned the hard way like many others, sent a cell phone to the Philippines and paid more in customs and tax than the cell phone cost after that never again. one way around it is just visit more and fill up ur bags with all u want to bring her and no tax no custom charges

The way to do it is put it in the Balikbayan Box. Only about 80 bucks and you can cram it full of stuff. I sent a cell phone in my last one and an X-box. Of course it takes about1.5 -2 months. I use LBC and have never had a problem.