Greetings all. Has anyone here shipped a package to Mexico or had a friend ship them a package while they are in Mexico? And if so, is there any issue with it? I’m located in playa del carmen.
I need a friend to ship me a package of contact lenses, vitamins, face creams etc. I will buy it online via amazon and have it shipped to his house back in the us. Then he would ship that along with my contacts to me. The thing is there are no mailboxes here so i believe he will have to ship it to the actual post office in playa del carmen for them to hold right? I know someone here who had used UPS and had someone ship him something to the post office here in playa del carmen and he then went and picked it up himself but it was very expensive due to that package being very big etc. He recommended it.
I heard doing usps or fedex is not good idea because many people either don’t get the package or they have no clue where it is and best option is UPS or DHL. Can someone here attest to this being true if you have someone shipping a package from the us to here?
Does anyone know about how much it would cost to ship a package here? The package will probably be medium size… its contact lenses, some creams and vitamins. All these creams/vitamins are purchased from amazon… they are not expensive creams but i would have about 10 of theses vitamins/creams combined total though. I cannot get these items here so thats why. Im guessing it will be minimum $100 to $200? And how many ways is there to ship it? I guess the faster way probably isn’t that much more than the regular way?
But most importantly, would there be issues at customs? I read online that people have issues with shipping vitamins and the package might get stopped at customs? Is this true? I assume there should be no issue with contact lenses right? I cannot get the brand here. What about facial creams etc? These are like 10 dollars and under for each of these creams and wondering if there would be any issue there.
Also does anyone know if i have to pay a lot in custom fees? I dont have any electronics etc. And I believe when my friend goes to UPS or DHL, he has to tell them what the declared value is worth? Its about a few hundred dollars total. But im not sure if i should go with UPS or DHL. But the other thing is of course im not sure if there would be any issues and then my package would be stuck in customs because they are vitamins etc.
Has anyone had someone ship them a package from the US and can tell me their experience? And what exactly did they get shipped to here? Thanks.
Shipping international like that is almost always MUCH cheaper to ship through anything other than DHL/UPS/FedEx and the like. A package the size you described might cost $300 to ship with one of the major players.
Most international communities in the US are served by a network of shippers that get the job done reliably and more cheaply. They offer tracking, customs clearance, and often call the recipient at the destination to sort out details of final delivery. Have your friend ask around at a Mexican grocery or butcher shop, or at a genuine Mexican restaurant near the shipping point and the staff can likely point the way.
Often such shipping counters are located in other businesses that don’t seem to have much to do with shipping goods. One I used shipping Miami to ship Colombia was in a musical instrument repair shop. I found it by asking the staff at the genuine Colombian home cooking restaurant. They assumed I knew the music shop right next door was the place to go.
And, anecdotally, I have had less difficulty getting my stuff through customs in Colombia by shipping with the little guys. Not sure if that would hold true for shipments to Mexico.
Hi there. Yes i know its very expensive using UPS or DHL. However, i read lot of cases where if you use USPS, you wont get the package etc. Yes the price you mentioned does sound like how much it would cost.
I have never heard of what you mention with your example etc… but that is interesting to know.
I believe every package sent internationally gets opened at mexico customs. So im not sure if these items of fine would get stopped or not etc. Now if some of the items are not allowed, what happens to the other allowed items in the package then? Are those shipped or not? So would really like if someone who shipped to mexico can give advice on this.
There are restrictions on some items, the vitamins and any type of cosmetic. I buy things online often and have had certain items refused entry by customs.
Here is a list (in Spanish) of prohibited items from Merkalink.
http://www.merkalink.com/importacion.asp#prohibidos
“Armas en general y accesorios, productos inflamables, tóxicos o peligrosos. Todo tipo de alimentos frescos, semillas, medicamentos, suplementos alimenticios, vitaminas. Instrumentos médicos de cualquier tipo como: medidores de presión, masajeadores, material pornográfico. Algunos artículos cosméticos con ingredientes farmacológicos. Ropa y calzado usado, artículos de piel en general. Algunos accesorios para bebé como biberones, pañales, mordederas. Llantas usadas y nuevas. Artículos de madera en general, tintas y tóners líquidos, velas, ceras, globos, cigarros electrónicos y accesorios. Equipo para gotcha o paint ball y accesorios. CD´s o DVD no grabados (vírgenes), etc.”
Get a physical address in Mexico. Ship USPS with signature required. You will get it.
Not very trustworthy, given that the list includes “used clothing and shoes”. Importing those for sale would be prohibited, importing them for personal use is not.
And why not do the shipping directly from Amazon? I’m genuinely confused about that bit. If there is a company in the world which I expect to know everything about logistics of small items, it’s them, and they have a .com.mx… they’ve got huge shipments crossing the US-MX border every day.
I spent a couple of years in Mexico buying arts and crafts for an import / export business in the USA. Sometimes packages and entire shipments through any shipper disappeared without a trace – “No hay caja … No hay orden … No hay papeles … No hay nada, senor.”
Some American and Canadian importers drove their own trucks to the Mexican towns where pottery and such is made so they wouldn’t have lost shipments.
My lady friend in Mexico once got separated from her luggage on a return flight from Japan. When the airline located it and she went to pick it up Customs charged her substantial import duty (about $200 on some expensive suits and shoes), ignoring her argument that they were her own clothes … I figure the agents simply pocketed the cash.
There was a prominent sign on the wall at the Western Union office I used in the USA stating “Cash transfers to Mexico are not guaranteed to be delivered.
Shipping things to, from, or within Mexico is not a sure thing; sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you get nothing.
I beg to differ. Used clothing is definitely prohibited unless you personally carry your own into the country. And that is exactly why it are on the list of prohibited items I quoted. The site I linked to, Merkalink, is owned by Estafeta, the largest Mexican package delivery company and I have used their services quite a number of times. They process the merchandise through customs and forward packages to their destination in Mexico.
I have also ordered directly through Amazon USA and Amazon Mexico (they offer some imported items from Amazon USA) and had items sent directly to my home. Several items failed to clear customs. Amazon fails to advise you on many of these shipments. I ordered 2 gallons of a special wood glue through Amazon that were denied entry. Someone just lately sent my wife some over the counter medications via UPS. UPS in the USA accepted the shipment but it was held at customs upon arrival in Guadalajara.
Merkalink, on the other hand, when they receive your package in Laredo, Texas,will notify you if it contains a prohibited item(s) and will ask if you would like it returned to sender at your expense. They refuse to forward anything prohibited through customs in Laredo, Mexico as it will be refused entry. Good luck sending a small shipment of used clothing as they will not ship it to Mexico. The information I posted is from their website. They handle thousands of packages every day and I wager are more experienced in shipping to Mexico than Amazon.
http://www.estafeta.com/Servicios/Mensajeria-Paqueteria/Internacional/Importacion/Merkalink/
I have imported many things over the past 20 years or so, from heavy machinery to used pick up trucks to small consumer goods since the early years of the NAFTA treaty. I speak from experience.
Why not just order from Amazon Mexico? (www.amazon.com.mx). There’s quite a good selection of stuff (I think they offer a lot of things from the U.S. side and import them themselves). I’ve had good experiences with them.