Online shopping

[wandergirlC]

I saw a similar thread but it was on its 34th page and I couldn't post a reply anymore.  It was all about online shopping: http://www.femalenetwork.com/girltalk/index.php/topic,199207.msg6205928/topicseen.html#msg6205928.

Anyway, I just want to ask for feedback from anyone who's already used FRS Freight Services? Is it really much cheaper than Johnny Air and as reliable?

I inquired at Johnny Air and it sounded cheap at first but when they gave me a quote (although they said it was a conservative estimate and might go lower), I worked out that it would be around $60-$75max for just two pairs of shoes! Parang nabawasan yung triumphant that I bought those shoes on sale.

Any other suggestions on cheap ways of shipping from the US? Lahat kasi dumadaan sa customs, except for Johnny Air which has fixed customs fees (and I'm really intrigued how they do tha

[mama squeak!]

sis yung online store mo doesn't ship direct to the Phils.? Sometimes it comes out cheaper kasi if they do since they use courier services like Fedex or UPS. You just pay the taxes based on the price of the item on top of the freight charges.

I've tried VS, Amazon and B&N and I only paid minimal taxes since naka-sale din yung mga items na binili ko. Just to give you an example, my last VS purchase 2 years ago was for 5 pairs of shoes worth around $200++ and I paid Php2-3K in taxes. Direct pa sa akin diniliver yung goods.

Another alternative which I am doing now is have your goods delivered to a US address in my case I have them delivered to my sister. Pag medyo marami na goods ko she'll send them via balikbayan box. Yun lang okay ito pag di ka nagmamadali. Shipping time usually takes a month or two.

 

[violet_dmd_75]

^sis, you have a US billing address? Kasi I was to shop online and have it shipped at my brother's address in PA sana but upon checkout (macy's and tiffany and co) both says I need to have a US billing address to ship in the US. Or do you know how to get around it? TIA 

[mama squeak!]

^I haven't tried online shopping with Macy's or Tiffany's. Yes, there are some shops that will only accept credit cards with US billings. If that happens, I ask my SIL to purchase the items for me then bayaran ko na lang sya. But meron din naman mga buying sites that let's you shop at websites with your Philippine issued card meron lang silang service charge na ipapatong. Sorry I forgot na the name of these sites.

[violet_dmd_75]

^I haven't tried online shopping with Macy's or Tiffany's. Yes, there are some shops that will only accept credit cards with US billings. If that happens, I ask my SIL to purchase the items for me then bayaran ko na lang sya. But meron din naman mga buying sites that let's you shop at websites with your Philippine issued card meron lang silang service charge na ipapatong. Sorry I forgot na the name of these sites.

oh okay.thanks. i guess i have to ask my brother to buy things for me na lang.  i'm looking for ways na cheaper magparating ng goods dito and yung di ko na iistorbohin masyado sana yung kuya ko. sa johnny air kasi may charge na 25usd aside from the shipping if you use their shop and ship service and kung jewelry pa and designer bags may additional charge pa ulit. so mahal na din. anyways, thanks ulit sis sis.

[melvel]

I almost never have items delivered directly to the Philippines (even if the online stores offer international shipping), because I do not want to pay an extraordinary amount for taxes, sometimes even more than the cost of the items!  Our postal system is hit or miss, sometimes even if the online store says they will ship by FedEx or DHL, the packages still get routed to the post office.  So I just use Johnny Air service, or wait for a relative or friend to come back to the Philippines and have the packages delivered to his/her place.

Example of how unpredictable the post office/customs can be:  All my book and DVD purchases from Amazon are delivered directly to my house.  A close friend recently ordered two books from Amazon, and he had to pick up the package from the post office and pay more than P1,000.00 in customs duties.

Pobox.ph is another option, you can shop from various websites and they will consolidate all your orders in a box, so you only have to pay per box (regardless of weight).  The box sizes vary.  The downside is that you get your box only one month from the time you ask them to ship the box out.  The boxes are delivered here not via airplane (unlike Johnny Air), but via ship.

My favorite online shops are Amazon, Zappos, Nordstrom and Target because they accept non-US issued credit cards.

[violet_dmd_75]

^sa macy's kasi for one dooney and burke bag that costs around 7k, pag pinaship sa ph, additional 2k inclusive of the taxes and duties and the shipping(100% na wala na daw iko-collect since paid na yung tax). So sayang naman the 2k eh pwede naman sana ako makisabay kay kuya pag nagpadala dito ng box. And my problem with other sites eh they accept ph issued credit cards (if papaship mo din sa ph) but if ship sa US they are asking a credit card with a US billing address  nga. kainis hehe

Pero thanks sa tip na fave mong online shops. Will check them out. Baka dun ako may magustuhan :-)

[nikki]

^hi sis!  i think i replied to a similar query in another topic.  there are merchants (shops) that do not accept a non-US issued credit card like Macy's so there's really no way around it unless u ask someone who has a US issued credit card.

some merchants naman will accept international credit card but will only allow if shipping address is same as credit card billing address.  if this is the case, call your credit card company and ask for a temporary billing address update on your record same as the US shipping address.  this worked for me when i ordered from Tiffany & Co. online and had it delivered to my hotel when i was in the US.

[mama squeak!]

^Good you mentioned about the credit card providing a US billing address.

^^sis, if you have a Citibank credit card they offer this kind of service. I'm not sure lang how much their service charge is or if wala naman. Check their website na lang.

 

[violet_dmd_75]

^cc ko is bdo, rcbc and eastwest eh. will call all of them na lang to see kung sino papayag ;-)


^^ tnx will ask, sis nikki. will try that temporary billing address thing...
Ako rin yung sa kabilang thread hehe

[brittani]

Question mga sis:

Nagbackread kasi ako, and most of the sisses suggest shipping to US address, then ipabox na lang to Phils. which takes 1-2 months. Pag ganun ba, hindi hinaharang ng customs ang mga boxes for taxes?

[chefron]

no sis,. kase balikbayan box gamit mo. thinking akse nila its for your personal consumption not commercial.

[fibia]

I noticed most of you do online shopping sa us websites.  Anyone tried uk website like mytheresa or warehouse, etc..

Im planning to buy mulberry alexa sa mytheresa but im worried sa customs.. Dati bumili ako sa mrspharmacy.com (uk din) naharang sa post office, buwaya sila.. Recently galing hk naman, ayun nasa psit office pa hindi ko pa makuha

[marienmarien]

I love shopping online, mas mura pa siya compare to going sa states to shop. I just ask them to ship to my sister's house para siya na mag padoor to door.

[twelvth_goddess]

I love online shopping! Most of the time, I pre-order stuff like make up and bags as well as things for my daughter. I know kase na I'm buying authentic stuff that way tapos cheaper pa. I'm very careful naman with buying from local sellers ng imported stuff that are priced too low. Chaka at the end of the day, nothing beats pa din the satisfaction of being able to buy something at the mall kase you can use it right away. Sometimes I hate waiting for my US orders eh.

[beach]

i love online shopping... will try johnny air this month. sana okay.

[mama squeak!]

Just made another online purchase of clothes and a bag. Had them delivered to JAC SFO para walang sales tax. Hopefully I'll get them by next week.

 

[always a shopper]

Just made another online purchase of clothes and a bag. Had them delivered to JAC SFO para walang sales tax. Hopefully I'll get them by next week.

 

sis ano po yung JAC? and pano po yun? im planning of getting a bag kasi, pero wala akong idea and takot ako baka magulat ako sa .tax

[Heatherette]

^Johnny Air Cargo. You can check their website sis, may info dun kung paano, kung papabili ka sa kanila or ikaw bibili then papa-ship mo sa US address nila then sila mag-ship dito.

[EL Kikay]

Yes, I have heard Johnny Air is ok... I think that they might even have something set up for US shopping so you have it sent to their address.  Syempre there are businesses that won't do it but hubby ko just got a computer from BestBuy that way and no problems.  Maybe I read somewhere that they can do that through Amazon?  Anyone know?