Int Postal Options From Thailand, EMS is expensive and slow

[ryanhull]

Hi All,

 

So I have been selling a few items on ebay, generally the stuff I am sending is low value and not too large (old mac components)

 

I sent my last few items via thaipost, my last item was to Canada and cost me 1200Bhat with tracking and had a delivery time of 4-6 weeks the lady said, she did say its usually quicker. Anyway all of my items have arrived eventually, but I am facing problems such as the tracking not updating even for weeks yet it should have been, its expensive and takes ages...

 

I noted a lot of other users selling on ebay from Thailand, they are able to offer 5-7 days shipping for less than me so I am wondering what are my other options for sending small packages abroad?

 

I also find thaipost a bit worrying as item can just vanish, I would assume that's less likely with another company?

 

Be great if any of you guys do send a lot of post internationally and might be able to point me in the right direction, as I am selling on ebay, I have to ensure the package is tracked right down to the buyer signing for it, at the moment, although I am not usually ebay as my primary income, its certainly hindering my sales and it will only take a few lost EMS parcels so get my account frozen, I would rather pay more or the same to get it quicker so I can essentially get my feedback quicker and keep the buyer more happy as it sucks waiting so long for an item.

 

Maybe we have some online sites where I can check weight/destination? although I only know of DHL and Kerry, DHL I have been advised against, and Kerry I believe it Thai only?

 

Thanks in advance for any responses. 

[MeePeeMai]

I can sympathize with you.  I recently sent a regular envelope via EMS from Thailand to Hawaii and it took more than 6 weeks to arrive (and cost just over 100 baht).  I can't see any reason it should take that long for a small envelope. 

 

I have no experience sending packages out of Thailand but I have sent a lot of boxes back and forth from Indonesia to Hawaii via DHL Global Express and never had an issue.  I remember that those DHL boxes only took about a week, but it was pricey.

[CharlieH]

If you are sending regularly and in quantities talk to DHL they will quote you a "wholesale" type rate.

 

Canadapost do not offer tracking on Registered Airmail, the other issue with Canada is they use communal mailboxes.

Average delivery time 6-8 weeks.

[ryanhull]

Thanks for the replies all,

 

@MeePeeMai I would assume you could have paid more with thaipost to get it quicker? 100bhat is quite cheap then again it is just an envelope heh,

 

@CharlieH so are we saying that once its left Thailand, my thaipost tracker will not even track them getting it signed for or no more info after Thailand?

I will have a word with DHL but tbh I am sending maybe 1-2 items MAX a week so I am probably quite small fry. The 1200 bhat option was not the cheapest, I could have gone a lot cheaper but I guess that means not much here. I also write gift on my items, not sure if that's a really good idea but everytime I buy off ebay they have done so I assume it avoids taxes which I pay anyway to ebay.

 

FYI, I did find a good article about it all here, seems they also faced similar issues but give a lot of good info, 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[MeePeeMai]

18 minutes ago, ryanhull said:

@MeePeeMai I would assume you could have paid more with thaipost to get it quicker? 100bhat is quite cheap then again it is just an envelope heh,

 

Yes they gave me that option but the letter I sent was not important... so I opted for the cheapest rate (thinking it might take about 2 or 3 weeks).  

[MeePeeMai]

If I remember correctly, the expedited rate was about 800 baht (for a business sized envelope with only one sheet of 8 1/2 x 11" paper in it).  I have no idea how long it would take to be delivered though.

[CharlieH]

Yes there are many countries where they do not provide enroute tracking for registered airmail. Your tracking stops at the airport.

[Mismogge]

Were you able to ask on some other forums for example niche ones who do same business as you ? If lot of people really have ability to send packages in like 5-7 days for less than you there should be some option anyway. I usually got that packages for free from AliExpress in a month or so.  

[scorecard]

I don't consider 550BAht to deliver an envelope of documents in Sydney from Bangkok in 3 days to be expensive. Just my opinion. 

[rabas]

I've shipped ~200 items and a regular ebay seller friend has shipped ~7000, mostly by Thailand Post.  Neither of us has lost items from ThaiPost although I lost a coin delivered to the wrong house in N. Vietnam by VNPost. Thailand Post from Bangkok is safe and is scanned into the system at the counter. Beware postal service in the destination countries but by and large problems are due to unscrupulous customers, careful who you sell to.

 

Postal rates are cheap and I ship mostly via registered, certified, international mail unless someone requests EMS and pays for it. Registered is 'long tabien' and certified is 'taup rap' using an orange card signed by the recipient and returned. I usually register and sometimes certify. Delivery times to the US are slower, about 6 -8 days, solely because of US customs and security. Most items from Bangkok are on a plane within 24 to 36 hours.

 

EMS is significantly cheaper than commercial services, DHL, UPS, ... , and almost as fast. EMS is a non-commercial international postal union collaboration between ~190 national postal services. EMS is everywhere although a few countries, US, Aus, Germany, don't advertise it to sell more expensive services. EMS is excellent.

 

For small packages under 2kg  international small package SAL is significantly less than ordinary parcel airmail. SAL means Surface Air Lifted, so between major cities like Bangkok and LA it is the same time as regular airmail. Good for most computer parts.

 

ThaiPost tracking is excellent, though subject to destination tracking, I have seen few problems. I sold an expensive coin to a buyer in Starkville, Mississippi. It came out of US customs in NY, disappeared, and the buyer eventually ask for a refund. The buyer said USPS Starkville could not find it. Knowing items are seldom lost, I didn't want to refund because the buyer would eventually receive the coin and not pay.

 

I then went to Laski's main post office, the lady made a call and said wait here. She came back in 5 minutes and said the coin was in a holding center 30 miles outside NYC that had been flooded by a massive winter storm (Jan 2016) . The items were being recovered and my item would be delivered within 5 days. It was. I ask if she could write this down and sign so I could send to the customer, she did and the customer was willing to wait. I've found this is pretty normal for ThaiPost service.

 

Thailand Post has a good calculator here, no hidden charges.

https://www.thailandpost.co.th/index.php?page=rate_result&country_code=US&weight=18&language=en

 

I'll also opine don't ever use DHL e-commerce or Ebay's Global Shipping Program (GSP). Both are illusionary scams. DHL e-commerce is not real DHL service and often uses 'hidden' sea freight. Ebay, just google "Global Shipping Program Scam".

 

Good luck on Ebay, shipping is half the game.

[Pib]

^^^^ outstanding post, rabas....thanks.

[rabas]

21 hours ago, ryanhull said:

I sent my last few items via thaipost, my last item was to Canada and cost me 1200Bhat with tracking and had a delivery time of 4-6 weeks the lady said, she did say its usually quicker. Anyway all of my items have arrived eventually, but I am facing problems such as the tracking not updating even for weeks yet it should have been, its expensive and takes ages... 

I'm not sure why your experience is so different, where are you shipping to?  Certainly, delays are on the US/Canada side. Most packages will leave Bangkok in 24/48 hours. Tracking then stops until it reappears on the other side of deep dark US customs and reappears when USPS gets it. Delivery to US is usually 8-10 days total, which I put in my Ebay listings. I do not know about Canada, but here is tracking for a worst case, ordinary parcel post (AMD motherboard) to Russia. Russia is slooow.  Below, departure from outward OE (Office of Exchange) is out of customs, ThaiPost and to the Airline, 24 hours exactly.

 

[ryanhull]

Hi rabas,

 

Thanks for your reply really helpful, atm my last package I sent to Canada has the following last status see below. you say you have shipped a lot, who do you use to ship with? you see I am told that Canada for one does not track so once it reaches Canada I will not know when it arrives? the buyer for sure will open a dispute claiming to not receive it in that case,

 

I would rather pay a little more and get it to them quicker plus have full tracking ebay can see themselves, I don't think ebay will even look at the thai ems tracking number or the site, where as say DHL it would automatically be recognized and the money for the item released when ebay tracking it updated.

 

On ebay itself, I can not ship to certain countries, for example I don't send to PO boxes and Nigeria etc, would it be wise to exclude other countries which don't do well with thaipost? also to be really blunt, which shipping service would you use if you was me, so for example my items range from 100 dollars to say 500 and all weight roughly 1kg maybe 1.5kg, I ask you because I don't mind paying slightly more yet being assured, I for some reason have little faith in the thaipost, im told by some its not good for ebay and tracking is not good enough etc, but you seem to be kind of saying its good and cheap, I appreciate your probably in the know a lot more than most with you sending a lot so really would appreciate it, also another thing id like to be able to do is print the ebay shipping label through ebay (apparently its better for tracking etc) yet I cant do that with thai post right? 

Atm its kind of putting a halt on my ebay sales as every item I sell the money is held until the buyer confirms recipt, which kind of sucks for me as I don't want to be sending out say 50 items worth 250 a pop if that makes sense, that would be over 12,000 dollars on hold in paypal on the hope the buyers receive it via thaipost,

 

thanks a lot for your comprehensive reply,

 

 

DATETIME Scan Location Description April 25, 2019 13:20:08 HANG DONG Accept April 25, 2019 14:53:31 HANG DONG Items Into Container April 25, 2019 16:31:06 HANG DONG Dispatch April 25, 2019 17:48:57 LAMPHUN MAIL CENTER Items Into Container April 25, 2019 18:29:41 LAMPHUN MAIL CENTER Dispatch April 26, 2019 09:23:13 BANGKOK MAIL CENTER Container Received April 26, 2019 09:24:43 BANGKOK MAIL CENTER Container Received April 26, 2019 10:37:09 BANGKOK MAIL CENTER Departure From Outward OE

 

 

[CharlieH]

Other than the couriers, the only other method is EMS, that will track all the way.

If you feel the customers will pay the 1400/1800 baht for it.(based on 1kg+)

[InTransit]

FedEx are good, if the value of your parcel is under $100 you can ship via FedEx Pack, shipping to the U.S. is about 1200 baht, Australia is about 900-1000 baht. Your parcel can be tracked throughout it's journey and will arrive within 3-4 days depending on delivery location. If the declared value of the parcel is over $100 then you have to use a FedEx box which is more expensive, not sure of the exact price for a FedEx box. I have used Thailand Post registered airmail regularly for the last 14 or so years and they are fantastic, never lost a parcel. If i have ever had a problem it has been with the postal service in the destination country. Canada post is absolutely useless, i refuse to ship there via registered airmail as it can't be tracked once the parcel leaves Thailand and takes forever to arrive. I will only ship there via FedEx.

[ryanhull]

Hi InTransit,

 

I would have no problem saying the item is worth 99 dollars even though it is likely more, plus I am a bit concerned now as I have shipped to Canada so hopefully these buyers wont do the whole item not received, fedex sounds like a good option as thaipost is 1200 bhat so taking the cost of shipping and time taken to arrive/poor tracking for Canada its not worth the risk. I think I would loose a lot of sales if I was to exclude Canada, but it makes me wonder if ebay users in Canada are buying off ebayers in Thailand in the knowledge it wont be tracked so they will refund. I have decided for now to halt selling on ebay and sell 50 cent tiny Thai items purely to gain a good sellers feedback, this means paypal will not hold onto funds on sales etc, so out of interest how much does it cost to send a tiny 5 gram item? looking forward to the day Thailand has a cheaper postal service. 1200 bhat for fedex isn't bad though even more so if they collect from your door, cheers

[InTransit]

19 hours ago, ryanhull said:

Hi InTransit,

 

I would have no problem saying the item is worth 99 dollars even though it is likely more, plus I am a bit concerned now as I have shipped to Canada so hopefully these buyers wont do the whole item not received, fedex sounds like a good option as thaipost is 1200 bhat so taking the cost of shipping and time taken to arrive/poor tracking for Canada its not worth the risk. I think I would loose a lot of sales if I was to exclude Canada, but it makes me wonder if ebay users in Canada are buying off ebayers in Thailand in the knowledge it wont be tracked so they will refund. I have decided for now to halt selling on ebay and sell 50 cent tiny Thai items purely to gain a good sellers feedback, this means paypal will not hold onto funds on sales etc, so out of interest how much does it cost to send a tiny 5 gram item? looking forward to the day Thailand has a cheaper postal service. 1200 bhat for fedex isn't bad though even more so if they collect from your door, cheers

Hi Ryan

 

i don't like to be too cynical but i'm sure there are buyers on eBay from certain countries exploiting the loophole knowing parcels can't be tracked in their country. For lower value items i simply use Thailand post registered airmail, the weight i send is minimal and cost is about 140 baht to the U.S. The parcel can be tracked throughout it's journey, both on the Thailandpost website and USPS website.

 

Good luck!!!

[WonnabeBiker]

On 4/29/2019 at 11:07 PM, MeePeeMai said:

I can sympathize with you.  I recently sent a regular envelope via EMS from Thailand to Hawaii and it took more than 6 weeks to arrive (and cost just over 100 baht).  I can't see any reason it should take that long for a small envelope. 

 

I have no experience sending packages out of Thailand but I have sent a lot of boxes back and forth from Indonesia to Hawaii via DHL Global Express and never had an issue.  I remember that those DHL boxes only took about a week, but it was pricey.

That was Air Mail, not EMS! EMS takes a few days and starts at like 600 THB or more irrespective of the weight.

[ryanhull]

Hi All, now it states below, id assume this is where my tracking stops? thanks 

 

April 26, 2019 10:37:09	BANGKOK MAIL CENTER	Departure From Outward OE
May 2, 2019 20:02:00	Canada (CAYVRA)	Accept
May 2, 2019 20:02:00	Canada (CAYVRA)	To Customs

[mikebike]

9 minutes ago, ryanhull said:

Hi All, now it states below, id assume this is where my tracking stops? thanks 

 

April 26, 2019 10:37:09	BANGKOK MAIL CENTER	Departure From Outward OE
May 2, 2019 20:02:00	Canada (CAYVRA)	Accept
May 2, 2019 20:02:00	Canada (CAYVRA)	To Customs

I am from Canada and have found that entering the tracking number on Canada Post’s tracking website yields quicker results than Thai Post’s, once the pkg has reached Canada. My experience is that it does not end there...

[Pib]

I'm doing a test of Thai "Registered" Mail to the U.S.  Wanted to see how well the tracking works with Thai Registered Mail, see if it arrives any faster than regular mail, etc. 

 

So what I did on 3 May/Friday afternoon was mail two identical envelopes from a Bangkok Post Office (Khet Talingchan)  to a Texas address...a mail forwarding address of mine where as soon as mail arrives it is date/time stamped, the outside envelope is scanned, and I can then see it online.  So it's a good way to know when the mail arrived without needing to get a friend/family member involved on the other end.   Both envelopes were mailed to the same address, both by Airmail (Bt19), but one was Registered also (another Bt85)....the one I'm tracking.   I seriously doubt the one envelope being registered will allow it to arrive sooner but this is all part of my test to see.  As mentioned, when both the unregistered and registered envelopes arrive the Texas address I will be able to see them online as to exactly when each was delivered.

 

First image below is from Thailand Post tracking...notice it left Thailand 4 May/Saturday on the way to the US.  Second image below is from the U.S. Postal System saying they have not received it yet but were notified by the sender (Thailand Post) it's on the way and even showed some of the tracking while the item was still in Thailand.  Actually, an hour or so after I mailed the registered email 3 May/Friday at the Bangkok Post Office I checked the U.S. Postal System tracking and even then it recognized the tracking number but just said the number had been issued but maybe not actually mailed yet.  This shows me the Thailand Postal and US Postal System must have real time interface or at least frequently daily updates.

 

Thailand Post Tracking

  

 

U.S. Postal System Tracking

 

[rabas]

On 5/1/2019 at 10:07 PM, ryanhull said:

Hi rabas,

 

Thanks for your reply really helpful, atm my last package I sent to Canada has the following last status see below. you say you have shipped a lot, who do you use to ship with? you see I am told that Canada for one does not track so once it reaches Canada I will not know when it arrives? the buyer for sure will open a dispute claiming to not receive it in that case,

 

Hi Ryanhull,

 

I checked with my friend who has sold 7000 items. As you said, Canada has limited international tracking including from Thailand. Only Thai EMS will show and  only shows the delivery.

 

Ordinary Thai Post is tracked into the US among many countries. However, registration is required for international tracking. In the interest of man vs. Ebay, I'm posting the  tracking number for an  active registered parcel form Thailand to US.  You can track it through both Thailand Post and USPS tracking. It just exited customs in the US in NY. (shown in both US and Thailand).  Tracking number CP049505137TH.  But that does not help with Canada.

 

Thailand post can tell you which countries it shares track with for registered post. The US shares tracking info with a long list of countries from Albania to Zambia including Thailand and Vanuatu. However, it recently banned China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Russia, for some reason.

 

 

[Pib]

A nice site to track shipments is the wheremy.com website.  Enter the tracking number and then it will show tracking results from whatever postal system tracking systems it interfaces with, like U.S., Thailand, etc.  

 

Since rabas is allowing us to track his package, when I enter the tracking number into wheremy.com it shows tracking results from both Thailand and U.S. Postal Systems.  Pretty neat...Click below.

 

https://wheremy.com/share/eNpz9Q2ucQ4wMLE0NTA1NDYP8ajJs0Xhq6Uk24YGAwDPxQpd

[rabas]

2 hours ago, Pib said:

A nice site to track shipments is the wheremy.com website.  Enter the tracking number and then it will show tracking results from whatever postal system tracking systems it interfaces with, like U.S., Thailand, etc.  

 

Since rabas is allowing us to track his package, when I enter the tracking number into wheremy.com it shows tracking results from both Thailand and U.S. Postal Systems.  Pretty neat...Click below.

 

https://wheremy.com/share/eNpz9Q2ucQ4wMLE0NTA1NDYP8ajJs0Xhq6Uk24YGAwDPxQpd

Cool. FYI, the package weighed 0.943 kg. sent by regular ThaiPost Int'l Parcel SAL for 700B and 10B registration. EMS for the same package would have been 1600B, still reasonable for better speed.

[ryanhull]

Hi all thanks for your replies I read them all really helpful,

 

Id like to add my bit in here for anyone wondering (it finally arrived) so below Ill paste the thai tracking then the canadapost tracking. I must say although canadapost was slow, the expected delivery date it gave me was way off as it was delivered quicker and within 10mins of the dispatch it updated to delivered. I  found actually within ebay your best off adding the Thai tracking number as Canada post (anyway that's an ebay thing)

 

So I sent it on April 25, 2019
13:20:08

 

Arrived on May 14, 2019
18:00-21:00

 

Thai Tracking:

April 25, 2019 13:20:08 HANG DONG Accept   304563 SVR50230_01   001       50230 April 25, 2019 14:53:31 HANG DONG Items Into Container   304563 T50230-IN-07   007     07 50230 April 25, 2019 16:31:06 HANG DONG Dispatch   304563 T50230-IN-07   008       50230 April 25, 2019 17:48:57 LAMPHUN MAIL CENTER Items Into Container   200073 T51010-IP-01   007     CA 51010 April 25, 2019 18:29:41 LAMPHUN MAIL CENTER Dispatch   200073 T51010-IP-01   008       51010 April 26, 2019 09:23:13 BANGKOK MAIL CENTER Container Received   200017 T10000-IP-03   010       10000 April 26, 2019 09:24:43 BANGKOK MAIL CENTER Container Received   200017 T10000-IP-03   010       10000 April 26, 2019 10:37:09 BANGKOK MAIL CENTER Departure From Outward OE   200017 OUTSAL01   002       10000 May 2, 2019 20:02:00 Canada (CAYVRA) Accept   199999 CACAYVRA   001       99999 May 2, 2019 20:02:00 Canada (CAYVRA) To Customs   199999 CACAYVRA   004       99999 May 7, 2019 12:12:00 Canada (CAYVRA) Items Into Container   199999 CACAYVRA   007       99999 May 7, 2019 12:12:00 Canada (CAYVRA) Dispatch   199999 CACAYVRA   008       99999 May 9, 2019 04:42:00 Canada (V7B) Items Into Container   199999 CAV7B   007       99999 May 9, 2019 04:42:00 Canada (V7B) Dispatch   199999 CAV7B   008       99999 May 13, 2019 07:36:00 Canada (H4T) Items Into Container   199999 CAH4T   007       99999 May 13, 2019 07:36:00 Canada (H4T) Dispatch   199999 CAH4T   008       99999 May 14, 2019 20:57:00 Canada (J5W) Out for Delivery   199999 CAJ5W   011       99999 May 14, 2019 21:54:00 Canada (J5W) Out for Delivery   199999 CAJ5W   011       99999 May 14, 2019 18:00-21:00 Canada (J5W) Delivery Status Successful Recipient Name

[ryanhull]

Canada tracking :

May 14	9:56 am	Signature available Download delivery confirmation
	9:56 am	Delivered L'assomption, QC
	8:54 am	Item out for delivery L'assomption, QC Additional information Delivery pending
	7:57 am	Item processed L'assomption, QC Additional information The item has arrived at the destination facility for final sorting before delivery. Look for an "Out for Delivery" scan today or tomorrow to know when delivery will occur. You can also sign up for email notifications.
May 12	9:13 pm	Item in transit Montreal, QC Additional information The item is travelling to its destination. It will remain in this state until it arrives at the final processing location. Typically, the final processing scan occurs on the expected delivery date or the day before at the local delivery facility. Check this date to know when we will attempt delivery.
	6:36 pm	Item processed Montreal, QC
May 8	3:42 pm	Item processed Richmond, BC
May 6	11:11 pm	Item processed Richmond, BC
	11:11 pm	Item was released by Customs and is now with Canada Post for processing Richmond, BC
May 2	7:02 am	Item has arrived in Canada and was sent for further processing. Richmond, BC
Apr. 26	10:37 am	International item has left originating country and is en route to Canada Thbkka, Thailand
	9:49 am	International item processed in originating country Thbkka, Thailand
Apr. 25	1:20 pm	International item mailed in originating country Th50230, Thailand

[ryanhull]

Hey  @Pib any results on that? 

By the way guys, you know those poy sian inalor things you see the lasses have hanging out there noses in bangkok, my auntie wants me to send her one, they cost nothing at the local shop... how much would one of those cost do you think to send to the UK? there about 4 grams I think, 

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan

[CharlieH]

1 minute ago, Just Weird said:

That's not correct, registered post from Thailand tracks all the way, I've used it many times, and it's much cheaper than EMS.

No you are wrong it stops at the airport. It used to years ago but not anymore.

[taiping]

I have shipped hundreds of small packages using Thailand Post "Economy Air Mail" also called ISAL (International Surface Air Lift). All arrived even though they were not registered. However, for one-off items which cannot be replaced easily I would register. The PO has "Economy Air Mail" stickers to attach to packages.