ith SM having 50 malls in the Philippines and countless other malls you’d expect that shopping would be a breeze living here. Also, we can shop online at Lazada and Shopee.

Unfortunately, it’s not so easy. The quality of the goods on Lazada and Shopee can be pretty disappointing. While the price may be right the items often aren’t as expected or wear out far too soon.

The sad state of buying locally

For bigger priced items like electronics and appliances – sadly, sometimes the rest of the world sends it’s defective or refurbished gear to the sell in the Philippines. I once bought a new clothes dryer from the mall, got it home, plugged it in only to find it didn’t work. Back to the shop – ‘sure, it’s a known issue – you need a special part, we can order it for you, it will only take 3-5 weeks‘ – doh! So you’re selling goods you know don’t work. Thanks, guys!

Or the time I bought an expensive air purifier from S&R in the Philippines, but of course it came from china and no-one sells any replacement air cartridges when yours needs replacement. (sigh)..

Now I primarily only shop from Amazon in America, they have amazing prices, you get the best quality merchandise and you can read hundreds (or thousands) of reviews before you order. Reviews are important (and a lot of them) as you know the quality you’re getting.

Amazon also now ships directly to the Philippines. But you’ll have to pay customs and duties and a higher shipping rate. Sometimes this isn’t a problem (if you don’t mind the spend), but occasionally you’ll run into a corrupt individual in customs that demands high fees to release your box. I shipped a chair from china a few years ago and when it arrived the official contacted me and wanted 110% of the purchase price of the chair to release it. Over the next 3 months, he kept contacting (at all times of day and night) me trying to negotiate down. Eventually, I just gave up on the chair.

My solution

The solution I use now is Forex Cargo US… Their service (now called Packypack) is super simple.

1. Sign up on their website
2. Pick either California or Virginia as your shipping location (I use California)
3. They’ll give you a shipping address, like: 123 Main Street, Los Angeles, Ca 94000

Now shop!

You can shop from any store in the states – Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Macy’s, Overstock, Walmart, The Gap, Target, BestBuy, Kate Spade Wherever… When you check out – use your California address to ship to. Forex will automatically send you an email when it arrives. If you have an Amazon Prime account it usually arrives the next day!

Hint: Be sure to change the website shipping option to USA instead of Philippines so you can see all their products.

The USA also has no import taxes to speak of, so you can even order from European stores. For rare or unique gifts I regularly will shop from stores in London and Paris – ship to the California address, and then it’s on its way.

Forex has a cool online dashboard you can log into and see what items are in your box, and you can decide when to ship to the Philippines. There are two options – by sea or by air. One cool thing about Forex boxes is that they repackage all your goods, (remove them from the original boxes and pack them smaller). There are no weight restrictions on the box – you can pack as much as you like – the price is just based on size. So you want everything as compact as possible.

Shipping via ocean freight

Is pretty inexpensive, around USD 35 – 95 a box, if you ship every 3 months and you ordered 30 things in a box you’re only paying a surcharge of USD 1 per item for the shipping. You’d end up paying P50 from Shoppee or Lazada most likely. It usually takes about a month to arrive in Manila – and if you live in the province it will take a few extra weeks depending on the time of year – Christmas is slowest.

Shipping via air

I’ll admit, I use this option far too often when I really want something. Shipping via air is more expensive. Around $95 for a small box – but if I have a dozen items that are small (or gadgets) I’ll ship them air and they’re too my door in under 10 days. This can get expensive, but again – you get quality American goods at prices you couldn’t get here – even if they were available… Plus you know they’re not refurbished or repackaged. The Philippines and US use just about the same electrical current so you use appliances as well. I’ve bought pizza and ice cream makers, electric crepe pans, popcorn makers and Cuisinart mixers. Perfect.

Delivery

Forex delivery service is pretty simple – you get an automated text you when your box lands in Manila, and then again in a few days when they’re coming to your house. When you sign for the box you can inspect it for damage and they’ll take a photo of you with the box for their records. In many years of using this, I’ve never had one item lost and only one bowl broken. Pretty amazing.

No U.S. credit card?

But what if you don’t have a credit card to shop on Amazon or USA stores? Or the credit card you have here isn’t accepted on Amazon?

Forex has a service where you can send them links to the items you want to purchase, they’ll buy it for you – and you can remit payment via your BDO, Cebuana, and other retailers for a small surcharge.

The boxes arrive without customs or duties and it feels like Christmas when you open them up. Yes, you have to wait a little longer, but you get access to all of Amazon’s inventory.

I buy almost everything overseas, clothes from the Gap, Banana Republic, Top Shop, or Etsy. Shoes from Converse or Zappos, all my makeup, personal goods, supplements and vitamins, purses and travel gear from Amazon, perfume from Sephora. Sometimes I even ship yummy snacks I can’t get here in the Philippines.

I usually ship about three times a year. But in reality, there are a few more shipments right before a trip starts. The prices are cheaper even when you add in the shipping fee for the quality of the goods you get.

Note: I am not an affiliate for Forex, I just love their service and am promoting it as a great alternative to expensive prices here, limited selection and often poor quality.