Amazon shipping to Thailand incredibly fast!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Just by comparison, ordered a couple of pairs of Crocs shoes from Crocs.com in the U.S. lately for my wife and her father. Crocs was having an online sale at the time with good prices, which they often do, unlike the Crocs retail outlets here.

 

Had them sent with a free shipping promo to my Planet Express address, and from there, paid to have PE send the two different packages onward to Thailand using their own Airmail Express method. Both arrived here in 1 week+ delivered by ThaiPost with no VAT or duty charged.

 

The women's pair, which was lighter, cost about $10 to ship all in. The men's pair, which was larger and heavier, cost about $20 to ship all in, including insurance that I opted for for $3 or so because they were a slightly more expensive purchase.

 

In each case, each pair had a declared value under the 1500b small package exemption for Thai customs. And actually, the purchase price for each pair was well under the 1500 baht customs amount.

 

It's weird. Those Crocs shoes are made in Vietnam. But I usually pay about half the price to buy them direct from Crocs in the U.S. vs the prices that Crocs outlets here in Thailand sell them for for the same exact models. And still usually significantly less even after including shipping than the retail cost here.

 

Crazy! And all for shoes that start out in Vietnam!

 

[BritManToo]

After reading this post I gave Amazon a try.

Selected item for $47, got to the checkout and they added $85 for shipping and import duty ......... no thanks!

[johnjohn2]

Its all about what you get. Just browsing I noticed that I could buy a 1tb M.2 drive on Amazon for $100 cheaper than I could here in Thailand. This is with import tax and shipping.

Also with items that cannot be found in Thailand many people are willing to pay an inflated price for some things they want. End of Day BritMan its your choice.. but dont hit on Amazon out right.

Some items are pretty extreme. Others cheaper.

 

[SurfRider]

.  
"they added $85 for shipping and import duty ......... no thanks!"
   
WOW!!!  They hit you harder that they hit me.  Mine was a $65 "add-on" to a $49 item.

(estimated actual shipping cost $29). 

Not a bad scam since the buyer has no recourse.
   
Amazon should have a warning telling people something like:
You're leaving the Amazon jungle and going into wild unknown territory fraught with many dangers - tread at your own risk!
 

[vinegarbase]

14 minutes ago, SurfRider said:

WOW!!!  They hit you harder that they hit me.  Mine was a $65 "add-on" to a $49 item.

Anything valued over 1500 baht gets hit with duty. It could be worse, it used to be 1000 baht but Alibaba's Jack Ma complained and got them to raise it 500 baht. I'm with you though they are crazy protectionist with their markets here. 

Edited October 14, 2018 by vinegarbase

[SurfRider]

.  
"Anything valued over 1500 baht gets hit with duty"
 
Not in my case.  There was no duty listed on the Customs form.  The seller also made it very clear when I requested detail information on the additional charges, that they don't cover any Duties or Taxes - those are the sole responsibility of the buyer.
      
They identified extra charges only as "Endicia Insured", which they didn't explain.  Apparently they insured a $49 item for $150, which means they make out big-time even if the item vanishes in transit - additionally they get to keep their regular profit plus the overcharge to the buyer.   A very well rounded scam - they get their pay-day no matter what happens.
 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I'm not sure why a lot of folks here seem intent on doing things the hard way with Amazon.

 

FWIW, you don't have to be an American citizen to have an account with Planet Express. You can join for free, they have no monthly fees for their basic plan, you'll get a U.S. mail address you can use to receive almost any mail order package, and their shipping rates to Thailand are very reasonable. You only pay online on a package by package basis, when you order something forwarded to Thailand.

 

They accept payment methods of Paypal, Amazon Pay, credit cards and bank wires -- though I've only ever used Paypal or Amazon Pay with them.  Their mailout fee under their basic plan is $2 per package, plus the actual shipping fees, that usually run about $8-$10 a pound up to 4-5 lbs packages.  Optional insurance is also avail for a small added cost. All easy to do and manage online via their website.

 

They promptly answer their customer support emails, and likewise have a U.S. phone number that they'll answer during business hours to assist their customs with any issues or problems. I've sent close to 100 packages with them thus far, and never yet had a single problem.  And I'm not paying Amazon Global $50 or $70 per package for the privilege of having them sent directly to Thailand.

 

[balo]

18 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Planet Express. You can join for free, they have no monthly fees for their basic plan, you'll get a U.S. mail address you can use to receive almost any mail order package, and their shipping rates to Thailand are very reasonable

Same as Shipito.com. Are there any differences between them at all ? I have a US mail address in California. 

Order anything and free delivery to Shipito in Califirnia, then I pay for the package sent to Thailand. 

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 minutes ago, balo said:

Same as Shipito.com. Are there any differences between them at all ? I have a US mail address in California. 

Order anything and free delivery to Shipito in Califirnia, then I pay for the package sent to Thailand.

 

When I ceased using Shipito a year or so back, their rates were generally a bit higher than Planet Express. I've heard they've adjusted their prices somewhat in the meantime, but haven't tested that.

 

The guy running Planet Express is a former Shipito manager, so he well knows the competition. I like PE because they have more personalized customer service. I can call them and talk to specific people by name if I have questions or any issues, which is rare. Shipito IME got to be pretty impersonal and trying to get one on one answers was difficult, except thru their online chat, which often referred issues elsewhere.

 

[JimmyJ]

On 7/9/2018 at 5:17 AM, LomSak27 said:

It pays not to burn all your bridges, but that also means quid pro quo on your part. I just purchased some items on amazon - should arrive on July 12  (in US) according to their latest update. They will then be repackaged and sent to me with a "happy birthday" note on the package.

 I do not ship expensive items but so far they have always went direct and no duty charged..

There is no duty charged on birthday presents?

Edited September 23, 2019 by JimmyJ

[Nyezhov]

Damn I should take orders when I go back to the states and fill up a suitcase

[JimmyJ]

50 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Damn I should take orders when I go back to the states and fill up a suitcase

You'll be on your way to becoming a Digital Gonad!

[LomSak27]

On 9/23/2019 at 9:08 AM, JimmyJ said:

There is no duty charged on birthday presents?

No, sorry if I gave that impression. I just have them packed like that. Put a dumb misleading comment like Happy Birthday on the package. I have never had the post office, or whoever, try and gouge me for “duty” or whatever they call it. You go with what works, and if it works you keep going with it.

 

That said:

 

The most valuable was a Kindle paperwhite, a replacement blue tooth speaker and from amazon direct, a housing for my camera for underwater pictures. No duty was ever assessed although everything but the camera housing was repackaged.

 

Lastly, I will likely be ordering some things form a chinese shipper next year ... I cannot have those repackaged so we will see how that runs.

 

They're cheap, so nothing I will be bothered about if they do not make it. Aloha

Edited September 24, 2019 by LomSak27

[4evermaat]

Well, this was an interesting thread.  

 

It looks like you must consider a few things before using such an option like AmazonGlobal:

 

1) is there a comparable item available locally, including minimum acceptable quality?

2) Is the total cost (including shipping and customs estimate) still make using amazon + amazon int'l expedited shipping worthwhile?   Or should I deliver to address local to amazon's "free shipping" first, then use a forwarding service?

3) higher ticket item that a warranty claim or spare part might be necessary (that could not be later sourced locally)?

 

In my test case, I think I made out pretty well

 

 

As buying direct from the seller's website off amazon was about the same price as on amazon.com with shipping + customs estimate (thank you amazon for pressuring vendors to increase their off-amazon site similar listings).  But the non-amazon shipping would be more generic, especially international.   Amazon seems to be using air expedited shipping relationships with fedex/ups/dhl to the destination country.  Then passed off to a local carrier (Kerry, Thai Post, etc) for the final delivery.

 

An almost 2nd test case was ordering a laptop.  I could not get the same exact specs here.  And there was a ton of video reviews and coverage on this laptop as it was budget laptop but maxed out specs for its price $315 (with upgrade options i could do locally).   With the shipping/customs estimate, it would be $378.  Still not too bad when compared with local options.

 

 

But I realized that Ryzen 5 (quad core) would have been much better in the long run vs Ryzen 3.   But amazon didn't have a similar Ryzen 5 version. 

 

 

In fact, it was a LazMall flash sale that ultimately had me buy a more expensive local option (worked out to $493 USD at local exchange rate).  The universe told me "stop spending too much time researching this thing and make a choice already"  Just arrived earlier this morning actually.  Everything I wanted.  And Advice has a killer promotion yesterday on 1TB 2.5" SSD

 

 

 

For certain items, when you included the shipping/customs estimate, it was about the same or slightly less/more expensive in Thailand.   So then just get it here.

 

But things like quality, piece of mind, etc make amazon.com option viable in some cases.   You can't just shop on price alone in these situations.   It's just another option that should be spot-checked.  It may or may not work for a particular use-case.  Just click on "buy now" (with 1-click buying turned off) to view the estimates for a single item. Or add multiple items to the cart, and then select what you want within the cart and get estimates that way.

[HandsomeTallFarang]

How much is the shipping cost?

 

also I still can’t figure out how to write the address of condo. Lol.

 

im afraid whatever I order will never arrive because I can’t figure out how to write my address.

[taxout]

Transhippers can be a reasonable option, but there are some considerations:

 

-- Amazon itself is usually OK with transhipments, but some online retailers in the US will not ship to a known transhipment address. Sometimes it's hidden in their terms, sometimes you don't know till you find your order suddenly cancelled.

 

-- Transhippers often have a long list of prohibited goods, which sometimes includes such common things as electronics with lithium batteries (e.g., mobile phones) and powdery/liquid stuffs (e.g., cosmetics).

 

-- Returning goods can be more than difficult. This is a concern especially when buying clothes on Amazon, where descriptions and sizings and colors and order fillings are too frequently haphazard: you frequently don't get just what you ordered.

 

 

[4evermaat]

On 10/11/2019 at 2:36 PM, 4evermaat said:

In my test case, I think I made out pretty well

 

 

As buying direct from the seller's website off amazon was about the same price as on amazon.com with shipping + customs estimate (thank you amazon for pressuring vendors to increase their off-amazon site similar listings).  But the non-amazon shipping would be more generic, especially international.   Amazon seems to be using air expedited shipping relationships with fedex/ups/dhl to the destination country.  Then passed off to a local carrier (Kerry, Thai Post, etc) for the final delivery.

 

 

I got it on the 19th.  It actually came on the 18th, and ThaiPost left a notice on the door.  So I will count it as delivered on 18th.

 

Amazon's tracking isn't the greatest (for int'l packages).  What you need to do is once Amazon ships it and assigns the tracking # from i-parcel, you must go to i-parcel's website and input the tracking # there to get more up-to-date tracking info.  Then "subscribe" to the tracking updates with your email.   

 

They will issue two important email updates:

• Arrived at destination and undergoing Customs
• Entered into local delivery system

 

Once it is entered into the local delivery system, you should get it 1-2 days after that.

 

They used i-parcel (UPS subsidiary) to get it to the country, and then in my case they used ThaiPost EMS for the final leg to my house.  No extra money was requested.  And the bubble-wrap envelope packaging had Prime smile logo all over it.  And the custom's label actually had "Personal Computer - New" in clear English. @Langsuan Man may be particularly interested in that detail.   

 

 

Again, in my case, the price was the same if I would have bought it directly from the company ($39).  But they likely would have used generic air shipping from their Chinese factory or wherever.

 

Others have noted if you used the "Priority" option, you might have saved 1-3 days and Kerry would likely be used instead of ThaiPost.   It's only a few USD more depending on the weightd.  Perhaps on a future order, I will test the "Priority" option.   The regular Expedited option took 8 days.  Ordered on the 10th around 21:00 (gmt +7) and it arrived to the door on the 18th before 16:00.

 

My only complaint is that they do not give you the local tracking number.  So you are on your own.  And i-parcel's customer service did not yet reply to my email.  They claim 24/7 support.  I sent it on the 15th requesting the local tracking #, as I suspected it would be different from their own tracking #.   And the package still shows as "Entered into local delivery system".

 

 

On 10/12/2019 at 11:36 PM, HandsomeTallFarang said:

How much is the shipping cost?

 

also I still can’t figure out how to write the address of condo. Lol.

 

im afraid whatever I order will never arrive because I can’t figure out how to write my address.

 

It varies depending on how much you buy, what you buy.  the shipping carrier costs seems to be very cheap (for an air express package).  It is the customs estimate that can make you blink.

 

Amazon.com makes it really easy to check the total cost first..  First you must change your address to Thai address.  Or at least Thailand as the country (without having to add address).  This will let you know if that particular item ships to thailand.   And then you mouseover or refresh page.   

 

At worst, just go to the checkout page and get to the last page.  It will give you the estimate there:

 

 

If you have multiple items, click on the shopping cart and proceed to checkout.   They will ask where you want it to ship.  Now you must enter the complete Thai address.  Then select credit card to use.  Then the review page will contain. 

 

Do not press "place order" unless you actually ready to buy.  You are just checking the price for the total shipment.

 

Other people in your condo or nearby have a foreigner there or a Thai that has some English?  They could help with getting you an English transliteration address.  OR a business card / contract for the condo must have had some English at some point.

 

Check PM also.     

[Pinot]

I want to get new Apple Airpods Pro. They cost $249 on Amazon. They won't ship to Thailand. 

 

I was hoping someone might help. If I send them to someone in the US and they repackage and send to me, how much will Thailand want for duty? Does it do any good to repackage them as a gift? 

 

Thanks

[CharlieH]

13 minutes ago, Pinot said:

I want to get new Apple Airpods Pro. They cost $249 on Amazon. They won't ship to Thailand. 

 

I was hoping someone might help. If I send them to someone in the US and they repackage and send to me, how much will Thailand want for duty? Does it do any good to repackage them as a gift? 

 

Thanks

There are plenty of "forwarding" agents in the US. The declaration is the important factor as to what gets stopped etc, and you can work on around 20% of value & shipping cost combined, by USPS, DO NOT use any form of courier ! "Gift" means nothing, it's the declared details/value etc.

[mokwit]

22 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

There are plenty of "forwarding" agents in the US. The declaration is the important factor as to what gets stopped etc, and you can work on around 20% of value & shipping cost combined, by USPS, DO NOT use any form of courier ! "Gift" means nothing, it's the declared details/value etc.

Not so. Thai customs often apply their own 'assessed' value regardless of declared value. It seems they are getting much more aggressive with charging duty and anything with an assessed value over Bt1,500 is liable to duty unless in an exempt category. I just got clobbered for GBP 100 on something that cost me GBP 150. They assessed a jacket on the weight of the fabric (mistook wool for spun gold obviously) and charged me total Bt 3,900 on their assessed value of Bt10,000.

 

Don't be too sure labeling as 'gift' or commercial sample will work in the new regime.

Edited November 5, 2019 by mokwit

[CharlieH]

8 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Not so. Thai customs often apply their own 'assessed' value regardless of declared value. It seems they are getting much more aggressive with charging duty and anything with an assessed value over Bt1,500 is liable to duty unless in an exempt category. I just got clobbered for GBP 100 on something that cost me GBP 150. They assessed a jacket on the weight of the fabric (mistook it for spun gold obviously) and charged me total Bt 3,900 on their assessed value of Bt10,000.

 

Don't be too sure labeling as 'gift' or commercial sample will work in the new regime.

Had you had the purchase receipt of "actual value" you could dispute it and/or  claim it back which is a relatively easy process and takes about 3 weeks in my experience.

However, as stated in general terms, and of course will vary, as do most things in Thailand, dependent on the item category and who stops it on the day !

[mokwit]

1 minute ago, CharlieH said:

Had you had the purchase receipt of "actual value" you could dispute it and/or  claim it back which is a relatively easy process and takes about 3 weeks in my experience.

However, as stated in general terms, and of course will vary, as do most things in Thailand, dependent on the item category and who stops it on the day !

OK thanks, I will look at that in future - on this occasion I did not have a receipt enclosed  - maybe they opened the package to look to see if there was one (the sender ignored all my instructions for favourable treatment and put nothing in the value declaration). I have noticed how some sellers include the invoice in a plastic pouch on the outside of the packaging).

 

[Puccini]

1 hour ago, mokwit said:

OK thanks, I will look at that in future - on this occasion I did not have a receipt enclosed  - maybe they opened the package to look to see if there was one (the sender ignored all my instructions for favourable treatment and put nothing in the value declaration). I have noticed how some sellers include the invoice in a plastic pouch on the outside of the packaging).

 

No value declaration is a sure way to get a postal parcel singled out for a detailed inspection.