Shipping Documents & Packages In/Out of the Philippines

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Author: Reekay V.

Since 2012 I’ve been traveling through various islands of the Philippines as a full-time Expat and spent 1999 living in Vietnam.

Share with me my ongoing adventures of life in the Philippines. Hopefully you find my observations helpful in your own adventures.
— Reekay

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116 comments

  1. Why did it cost me $89.00 to send 1 document on 1 piece of paper from Atlanta Georgia USA to Makati City using DHL..?

  2. it really took me 2 to 3 months to send a package, just like an a4 size folder, light weight item to philippine from hong kong by hk post, the tracking said it was delivered to ph fast but stayed at ph post office very long time

  4. I used DHL going in for 15 years it can be Mahal depends on the weight and size..note Christmas time is not good month for inbound package ,for documents I have used FedEx, if you’re not in a hurry you can save money sending on a ship door to door 6 to 8 weeks.

  5. Thanks Reekay and others for the imput-sending boxes to the phils is an issue for many in the USA-a good web site would help take care

  6. LBC uses consolidation shipping with air and sea freight so it could sit there for 2 days or 5 weeks before space becomes available, DHL etc have established contracts with airlines.

  7. I don’t know about the Philippines but I’ve been in Afghanistan and Iraq kuwait Germany and DHL ships fast from there to America so I assume DHL is the best to go anywhere in the world

  11. Hi Henry,,,from the UK,,, I posted 2 @ 2kg boxes on the 24/11/20 by our Royal Mail,,, they arrived yesterday 9/12 =3 weeks ,,, for £26 per box x 2 = £52 ,,, normally before the pandemic it would of been £40,,, They said it was because the plane was not as full,,, so they put their prices up,,, during the first lockdown it took nearly 3 months before they could collect it,,, so although I initially paid more this time the boxes got there quicker. This pandemic has a lot to answer for. Best Wishes

  12. Registered mail documents (0.50kg) to Europe 15 working days, 400 PHP by EMS Phil Post ” Tracking NUmber”

  13. Hey Enrique, youtube is going to go down. Will look for you on rumble or parler or other venues

    1. maybe you meant Facebook, which is currently looking at US Anti-Trust lawsuits to dismantle the near monopoly they hold. it won’t mean the end of FB, but it would mean they’d have to disperse their ‘power’ over the market. more info on that here.. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/09/tech/facebook-antitrust-lawsuit-ftc-attorney-generals/index.html

      i’ve already made the switch to MeWe.. can find me here, https://mewe.com/i/reekayvelez
      video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqHdL8vxn0M

  14. A small parcel from Venice – Italy to Manila, takes normally 2 working days to be delivered with DHL

  15. Why don’t you use UPS instead? UPS is an A merican courrier company so you must trust them for sure.

    1. i’d have considered UPS but i am not aware of a UPS office nearby. and since DHL was just down the hall (in ayala mall) from LBC, i went with them.

  17. My wife sent me our marriage certificate through LBC it took about two weeks and I got delivered here through DHL

  19. Do you have a video about sending Balikbaya boxes from the US to the Philippines? I have some things I want to send friends. Thanks

  20. My wife just sent me documents from Angeles City to Houston, TX, with FedEx. It cost me $2,700php and took a week to arrive with tracking. And you can get text messages from Fedex when your package is moving from one station to another.

  21. Thank you Henry, it’s very important piece of information!!
    What about FedEx? Is it the same as DHL??

  22. I’ve used Atlas Shippers from California 3 times so far, and they are great. My current package left the bay area back on 10/20/20, and is scheduled for delivery in Palawan later this week. My first two times I used them, the package arrived in the Philippines intact and on time. The current shipment cost me $110, and weighed about 60lbs…It was about $65 to get a similar sized box to Antipolo about one year ago, so the cost can very, depending on the final destination.

  25. I need to find a good way to get one of my bolos back to the USA. They told me I couldn’t take them in my checked bags because I was going through Hong Kong. Apparently DHL and other shippers don’t want to do it either. Maybe I could balikbayan it back if I have other stuff with it?

    1. balikbayan is likely your best bet. airlines don’t want anything to do with it.

  26. Hey reekay my friend, thank you for the information. It will come in handy. Take care and you and Vi stay safe.

  27. Sent a very important small package to Cebu with DHL from Uk it arrived within 48hrs to Cebu, now lets see how long it takes to reach the recipient……

    1. @Reekay’s LifeBeyondTheSea arrived in less than 3 days to the recipient who went to the main sorting depot to pick up, very urgent paperwork. Impressed.

    1. that would depend on the point of origination and destination, weight and size. most shippers have a shipping calculator at their website, you can find out there.

      personally, for inter-island shipping i’ve been happy with LBC. for international, DHL.. FedEx or UPS or LBC.

  30. Sent an envelope there like a month ago using usps and still hasn’t arrived. I guess they shred the papers once it gets there.

    1. @Reekay’s LifeBeyondTheSea seems like the post office there is not really good? Happened also sending to China unless I use insurance, do you think that works? Something needs to improve. Our post office too has issues but not as bad.

    2. i sent a Christmas card to the PH back in 2009… still hasn’t arrived through Philpost.

  31. I wanted to send a Christmas card to my fiancé in Palawan Philippines and they wanted 78$ for fed ex and $113 for UPS. So I decided not to send a card and just send money instead!

    3. Google local flower delivery service in the Philippines. They buy and deliver gifts for fees. In fact, they use LBC logistics in most cases.

  32. LBC uses Ships that’s why it takes so long D.H.L uses jet planes that’s why it’s faster

  33. Thanks for the heads-up dude! Our vaccine is coming soon.. so many of us will be traveling soon!

    1. i did that a few years ago, i used FedEx and no issues. got my card. i figure DHL would also work just as well.

  37. I once had to send a document envelope to Tokyo from Manila. Checked out all options and FedEx had the cheapest and fastest. But that was for Tokyo. And things might have changed due to what’s going on.

  38. That is good information I was wanting to know because after I finally get there I may have to take care of some documents in United States.Thank you so much that makes me feel so much better I don’t have to worry about that

  39. DHL is more accurate and on time delivery from Philippine here at abroad like Europe.for 1 week in my owned experience.use DHL express from Philippine.expensive but faster and you can monitor where is your parcel going thru.From Eu to Ph I’m using also even though expensive but the service is express. when it is urgent documents that need to be send.

  41. I sent an 8# package to Dumaguete by way of our wonderful post office in the states and it cost $108.(air mail) and it took 3 months and 3 days to get there…..Then just last week I sent another package to Dumaguete by way of FedEx and cost $118. (this one was shipped by the vender I ordered from) and arrival time is to be next Monday and will take less than 2 weeks. and the last I checked, it was already in the Philippines

    1. here at the mall the only offices available were DHL & LBC. but UPS and FEDEX do deliver outward from the philippines. just no nearby office to my area that i know of.

  44. That’s correct LBC is slow and I believe it’s because they send on a ship. I just sent some documents to Montana in the US on FedEx, it only took eight days. They told me they only send out one packet out per week out of Bohol. It just so happened that their packet was going out the next Day so I got lucky. But really eight days and it was delivered.

  45. Thank you SIr, Yes I agree, I am a manager here in USA for DHL, normally we are more expensive but you have peace of mind and knowing that DHL will deliver your freight, no 3rd person delivery like FedEx does…

    2. You could have simply say not like the other competitors does, rather than naming a specific company. Not good business etiquette.

  46. I have had experience to ship a document from Manila to Hong Kong. I compared the prices, LBC was a bit cheaper but its slow.

  49. I just received some documents from my wife in the Ph via LBC. They told her 2 to 3 weeks, they came in 1 week. I wonder if they just tell you the worse case scenario so you won’t be let down?

    1. They told me 2 months and so I asked him a second time if he was sure that it would take 2 months and he reaffirmed it. But I’m glad they referred me over to DHL which is also in the Ayala mall and I was able to get my documents sent out to be delivered within a week.

  50. Information on shipping. LBC shipping on paperwork, when you go to the shipping outlet, make sure they handoff the shipment to dhl, depends on your city outlet if they handoff to dhl, the price will be the same. 1300 peso, and your correct , if hand off to dhl, 0 to 14 days to usa. If a person lives in the bigger city’s, you can use fed x, it takes four to five days. Cost us around 2500 peso, different prices different city’s, better tracking with fed x. One problem with going through Lbc when they hand off to dhl, hard to have the correct tracking. That makes it hard to follow your shipment via internet tracking.
    I have all my Amazon and Wal-Mart orders shipped free to a fright forwarder in Los Angeles .ca. Then it costs 65 dollars a box to my location in philippines. They hold items till box is full, then ship, if items bigger then box, they create and ship.
    Manila forwalders out of Los Angeles .ca. find them on internet.

    1. LBC according to another commenter here ships out there international stuff by ship and that seems to be the reason they take longer to deliver.

    1. Yes you can also send packages into the Philippines. If it is a larger item it would be better to check out a local place that provides balikbayan-box service.

  53. Yes, I am aware of the disparity regarding LBC vs. DHL. I made a video awhile back. Right now I am waiting for a package to get here. According to tracking, it made it to Cebu from Gardena, California in three days. It has been in Cebu a few more days and still hasn’t made it to Dumaguete yet. It is one of those companies that consolidate your packages from Amazon or where ever. Once it arrives, I will make a video. The jury is still out but, it looks promising.

    1. Say, I sent a Balikbayan box via LBC from Cerritos to Dumaguete. They told me 2 months by sea. Which company did you use to send your box, or can you post a link of the video you did when you sent the package to the Phils. Thank you.

    1. @Reekay’s LifeBeyondTheSea There are “American made” phones? 😉 Tariffs on almost anything coming into the Philippines are extremely high, especially electronics. Henry, you’ve lived there a while and no doubt gone through a number of phones. Have you stuck to the “big name” brands or switched over to the local market phones? It might make a good video topic for you… “If I were moving here now, with what I’ve learned, what local phone brands would I consider buying?”

    2. @SoundsOnline79 and buying local laptops usually run about 20% higher than outside the PH. only phones are cheaper here due to so much competition. but that’s for asian-built phones, not anything american-made.

    4. I suppose it really depends on the importance of the document, but yes for shipping and inexpensive item the shipping can be 3 or 4 times the value of what is being sent.

  55. Is LBC and DHL rival companies?? Reason I ask is you said LBC suggested you check out DHL. I find that surprising.

    2. Yes, they are competitors. But since they figured out I was not going to send it if it would take 2-months I suppose they figured they had nothing to lose referring me over to DHL down the Hall.

  56. Hey Henry. You were my #1 source of info before I left the U.S. I’ve been watching for a year and a half now… Your still # 1

    1. Not true at all. Most have numbers and street names. Maybe because the ones you used is your girlfriend’s home address either in rural barangay or village or within the city’s crowded informal communities. In all my entire life for 50 years, our address have numbers. All establishments and houses along the streets have numbers just like anywhere else. All my friends address have numbers, at least in the city or in central districts of rural towns.

    2. yep! when shipping TO the Philippines.. try shipping it to the LBC office in the same city as where the recipient lives. but they will only hold it for 10-days and then return to sender. or ship it to a trusted relative nearby who has a real street address.

      and always put the cell-phone number on the package, so that the recipient can be contacted when it arrives. that is the final, most important link to completing delivery.

  58. Good info. Shipping to Phils can be an expensive hassle. One option i have used a number of times is to use Balikbayan shipping outfits. These are usually run by fil-ams living in the US. I have used several over the years with no issues. You buy a box size and fill it up with no weight limit. They add it to a container going by ship and usually arrives in phils in 6 to 8 weeks and they will deliver directly to your phils address. Just make sure your phils recipient info (name, address, cell#) are written big and clear on every side of the box. For the cost of a single 2 lbs DHL package, i have sent over 100 lbs of goods. If i’m in the US, i do it myself, or if you are in the phils maybe you have a friend or family member who can shop for you buy list.

    1. @Reekay’s LifeBeyondTheSea Can I ship a Balikbayan box from Canada to the Philippines? Who do I contact? Thanks!

    2. Yes the Balikbayan box is a great way to send a large amount of items into the Philippines. It does take a little longer but you can send anywhere from 50-100 pounds depending on the size box you are sending. Use lots of shipping tape. 🙂

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