Finance & Legal Receiving packages in Dumaguete

I would like to get packages from Amazon in Dumaguete, but could not find any recent activity on this question so looking for help. Amazon will not ship most things to a PO Box, so my box at the Dumaguete City Post Office is not the best option. Any ideas ???

I also have received one big envelope from my local san francisco mailbox, took three weeks to the Post Office, waiting for two more. To ship from amazon to there and have then ship USPS or ups is prohibitively expensive. Any ideas on that ???

 

I get stuff shipped using registered mail via the Philippine Post Office. Lately it has been much better than experiences of yesteryear. I give a street address but the post office just drops off a notification that there is a parcel to pick up and I have to get it at the post office. There is always a minimum charge for customs/VAT of 112 pesos and it goes up depending on the value of the package.

Today I got a package that they added on 2,900 pesos. I told them to shove it. My little fixer (wife) went to ask them why and what we could do to fix it. They told her that the customs inspector opened the package and decided, arbitrarily and unilaterally, that the contents were worth US$500. The charges included 12% VAT on US$500 and other inconsequential charges. If I want to claim the package I have to go to the customs office in Dumaguete and prove the value of the contents. Quite a hassle but the contents are only worth US$30 so its a huge difference.

Good luck.

 

Dave, thanks, not good news but now i know more what to expect. Appreciate the effort to respond.

 

Use the quotation site below One Time to figure out the tax and duty, then add 100 pesos for miscellaneous charges. I say one time because you have to pay to use the site for additional calculations so use your one time wisely. Its very in-depth.
Import duty & taxes made easy | DutyCalculator

Here is the Philippine government site if you want to figure it out yourself Tariff Finder - Home

 

My personal experience with this, is that I get stuff from Amazon, EBay Etc. mailed directly to my house here Negros Occ. Ive never had a problem & buy a fair bit of stuff from both the UK & US.
A man on his little motorbike delivers it to me direct from the local post office with just the P50 rip off custom charge.
Never had a package opened or had parcels ' lost'. Been doing this for the last 10 Years or so.
All in all for once on the Philippines the system works as advertised !....

 

p50 rip off charge? I wish, what kind of items do you buy from Amazon. I did a test with 2 pr of shorts and 4 shirts, customs charge was more like p1,500 so I scratched off Amazon. I was used to customs free in Hong Kong.

 

All good information, thanks. Temporary solution is to change the "PO Box XXX" to "# XXX" and the amazon order sailed thru, although the dog treats wouldn't go to either address in Dumaguete.

 

I've been having items delivered to the post office in Dumaguete (mostly eBay) and being charged the 112p fee on each item. A few months ago, I made the mistake of having an item sent FedEx and was charged 1200p (taxes / special delivery) on a folding chair that was only worth 1200p! Using my street address with Amazon works fine. Just that the local post office never notifies me (by text or note) that I've received anything and I end up having to go down there and search their arrivals record for items addressed to me.

 

I looked at Johnnyair before and even contacted them but their prices were pretty insane as well if the product was anything beyond pocket size. I looked at ordering a few items that were a bit bulky such as a computer case and their quote for shipping was more then the case cost. Not much different for smaller boxes as well.

I've wanted to order quite a few things over the internet to have shipped here as well from some small items to larger items but the few times I've tried has fairly well put me off to doing it any more. A fair number of times my purchase simply vanishes while usually gets replaced from the seller who never gets a confirmation of delivery it still puts me off. Other times just nonsense customs charges sometimes making you think they just guess at somethings value. I've had an item that cost $8 and had to pay the equivelent of an extra $4 in customs duties.

As it is now I'm waiting on a piece of mail from Google for a verification process that is about to expire on the activation window and still hasn't arrived. Of course its probably sitting in some post office someplace with the sad excuse of them not having available delivery guys to deliver in my area. I just decided instead on a phone call process.