Mail Order Shipping From Thailand?

[madamesuggia]

Hi there, I'm hoping someone can help me.

I'm hoping to move my mail-order business to Thailand...but I really need to find out about international shipping!

Can anyone tell me what the Thai postal system is like, in terms of speed, reliability etc? Browsing their website it *seems* that we could use them, their costs seem pretty reasonable but frankly if the mail gets lost in transit that's pretty pointless.

Obviously I've also contacted the usual suspects...DHL, UPS, FedEx...are there any other companies I should look at for this?

Just FWIW, we sell sewing patterns (printed matter) so the parcels aren't too big, (about 14"x12" x4") and don't tend to weigh more than about 3kg.

We will be shipping to the US, Canada, UK, Europe, and Australia/New Zealand.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated!

TIA

[Maestro]

Can anyone tell me what the Thai postal system is like, in terms of speed, reliability etc?

In my personal experience of over 30 years of having letters and parcels sent to me from Thailand to Switzerland I can say that the Thai postal service is excellent: fast, and never anything lost.

---------------

Maestro

[Nikkijah]

I've had things go missing quite frequently but I send approx 40 small parcels a day, the thing with using the Thai postal system is if you don't want to pay the premium and guarantee your parcels then there is nothing you can do if it goes missing :-(

good luck

[qualtrough]

I too have had a good experience dating back 25 years. However, I have heard from people who have had problems. I suspect sometimes that is related either to poor performance at the local post office level, or poor performance in the country of origin.

I think for 2-3 kg parcels you will find the mail much cheaper than DHL, Fedex and the like. Postage will certainly be much more than what your customers would pay for local shipping, so the price will have to offset the difference. There is an airmail small parcel rate for under 2 kg. but the package cannot be sealed with tape or glue. Do not use the Economy Airmail service, not much faster than surface in my experience.

I find that airmail to the US can range anywhere from 7 to 14 days, with the ocassional package taking a few days longer.