The ongoing pandemic has made many of us turn to online shopping to fulfill our needs and wants, whatever they may be. And sure, e-commerce platforms like Facebook Marketplace, Shopee, Lazada, and Zalora have a lot of offerings. But there are still some things that aren’t available to us here in the Philippines. International online shopping isn’t exactly cheap — even if some international stores offer direct shipping to your doorstep, the shipping fees that could be more expensive than your purchased item would really make you think twice. Good thing forwarding services exist to save us from exorbitant fees.
A forwarding service is essentially a platform where you can rent a warehouse address in the country where you’re shopping and have all your packages delivered and consolidated to be shipped to you. It allows you to shop from stores that deliver exclusively within your country of choice and have them brought to you. Check out these forwarding services that allow you to shop from international stores all over the world. Each one has different prohibited items that they cannot accept or ship to you, so make sure you read their terms and conditions thoroughly!
Pinoy Box Delivery
Ships from: USA, United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, and South Korea
Pinoy Box Delivery offers forwarding services from several countries all over the world. Shop from any store in these countries and have your items shipped to their respective partner warehouses. Once your box is filled, you can then have it shipped to the Philippines. Depending on which country you’re shopping from, they offer different box sizes ranging from Baby and Bulilit to Jumbo and Mega. Their box rates start at PHP 1,780. Get your address here.
Buy and Ship
Ships from: USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Australia, Italy, and Indonesia
Buy and Ship has partner warehouses in the countries listed above, but their main warehouse is in Hong Kong, where they consolidate all your packages in one big box if you request it. They also offer reward programs, which include earning credits from using their services or referring friends. Get your address here.
My Shopping Box
Ships from: USA and Europe
My Shopping Box has two warehouse addresses you can use for shopping, one each in the United States and Europe. Your items can stay at their warehouse for free for 15 days. And when you’re ready to receive them, My Shopping Box can ship your items in two ways: via air cargo (faster but more expensive) or sea cargo (cheaper but a longer wait). It really depends on your need (or how quickly you want your package to arrive). Unfortunately, they do not offer consolidation services yet, so you’d have to pay per package that arrives in their warehouse. But if you authorize shipments within the same day with the same type of shipping (air or sea), they will ship these packages together. Get your address here.
STS Logistics
Ships from: South Korea
If you’re a big fan of all things Korea, you should probably sign up with STS Logistics. They provide you with a shipping address in South Korea, and you can have your purchases sent to their warehouse. Once your packages arrive at their warehouse, you get track your packages on their website. They don’t offer consolidation services, as they ship per batch of packages they receive at their warehouse. Rates start at PHP 300/kg via sea cargo and PHP 600/lb via air cargo. Once you have more shipments with them, you can avail of their lower rates — it’s part of their loyalty program. If you’re a small and micro-entrepreneur, they also offer assistance services, including lower rates, transaction assistance, and 24/7 customer support. Get your address here or through their Facebook page.
My Korea Box
Ships from: South Korea
Unlike other forwarding services that provide you with a fixed rate, My Korea Box offers you their services for a membership subscription fee, depending on how often you shop in South Korea. But they also offer a lot of other services with this fee, including storage, consolidation, repack, and returns assistance. They only ship through EMS or K-Packet, which are both shipped via air cargo. Get your address here.
From Japan
Ships from: Japan
Japan has a lot of offerings for Pinoys that unfortunately cannot be shipped directly to our country. But forwarding service From Japan helps you shop anything you want, from anime collectibles to unique KitKat flavors. Unlike the other forwarding services on this list, From Japan would be the one to purchase your items for you (since most Japanese shopping sites do not ship overseas or accept international payment methods). Aside from their buying service, they also offer consolidation of your packages so you can get them all in one go. Get your address here.
SkyBOX
Ships from: USA and Europe
SkyBOX’s addresses are based in Miami, Florida in the US and in London for Europe. Apart from consolidating your packages and shipping them all together in one go, they also allow you to track your purchases and verify the content by video and assist you with returns should your items have issues. And they’ve got a loyalty program that lets you earn points which you can then use to pay for future shipments. Tipid all over! Get your address here.
Johnny Air Plus
Ships from: USA
An affiliate of shipping freight company Johnny Air Cargo, Johnny Air Plus is the company branch catering to forwarding and shipping services. They have four warehouse addresses in the US: New York, New Jersey, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. If you become a loyalty card holder, Johnny Air Plus can help you consolidate your items into one single shipment, instead of getting different individual packages. What makes Johnny Air Plus so convenient is the fact that since they have their own freight company, you can also track your packages in transit from the US to the PH. Once arrived in the Philippines, your packages can be claimed at their Manila, Cebu, or Davao offices, or you can also have it delivered straight to you. Get your address here.
Got any other tips for international online shopping? Share them with us!
