I’ve always wanted to shop in US online stores but I always get discouraged by high shipping costs. So I researched about third party courier services and stumbled upon My Shopping Box, an online package-forwarding service here in the Philippines. Read my review below if you’re curious how it’s done.
Using My Shopping Box is as easy as 3 steps: Shop, Authorize, and Receive. In a nutshell, it provides a personalized US address where your packages can be forwarded to. It also provides flexible shipping options by air or sea, depending on the shopper’s needs and budget.
Register
March 25 – I created an account at MSB’s website. There’s supposedly a yearly subscription fee of $25, but thanks to their ongoing promo for BDO cardholders I got it for FREE. 🙂
A few minutes later I received a confirmation email including my login details and my virtual US address. The address is actually a real facility, and the determining factor as to where the package will go/who owns the package is the Suite Number. Each shopper gets a unique suite number.
Shop
March 25 – You won’t believe that I stayed at the Amazon website for 4 long hours. LOL. I was excited, confused, and overwhelmed all at the same time. I signed up for the Amazon Prime free trial to get the ‘Free Shipping on orders $35 and above’ and spent hours combining items that would amount to $35.
I forgot about canceling my subscription later on so I was automatically billed $99 on my credit card [for a yearly subscription]. I sent an email to their customer service explaining that I didn’t use any of Amazon Prime’s services (other than the free shipping) from March to April, so they granted me a full refund. Buti na lang!
March 26 – My Amazon package was delivered to my MSB US address (Burbank, CA).
Authorize & Pay
March 27 – I received an email from MSB asking authorization for a shipment. A package must be authorized online before MSB will ship it to the Philippines.
The link from the email leads to a shipping summary page. It contains information about the package and the option to choose between air or sea delivery. I always prefer ‘by sea’ because it’s cheaper (but takes longer time to be delivered). I paid using my BDO card.
Rates & Delivery Timeline: The shipping charge is computed based on the product’s chargeable weight (actual gross weight or dimensional/volumetric weight, whichever is higher).
Air Freight ($6 to $9 per pound) takes 10 – 12 working days and up to 45-60 calendar days if by sea ($3 per pound).
The screenshot below is a recent order from Amazon.
A payment confirmation (with tracking number) was sent to my inbox. I paid a total of $20.93 for the shipping fee.
Track
March 28 – Order status: Shipment Authorized
April 3 (checked one week later) – Order status: Departed MSB USA
Receive
May 15 – After the loooooooong wait, my package arrived at my doorstep in perfect condition. 😀 By the way, MSB’s shipping fee already includes customs processing fees, taxes, and cargo terminal handling fees. So all I had to do was sit back, relax, and be patient while I wait for my package to arrive.
What I ordered from Amazon (there goes my money): EasyLunchboxes in Classic colors, EasyLunchboxes Mini Dippers, and a Yumbox Illustrated Tray.
I am 100% satisfied with My Shopping Box. Yay for hassle-free online shopping in the US!
I was also able to get a Loot Crate last month all thanks to MSB! I’ll be writing a review about it soon. 🙂
My Shopping Box
my-shoppingbox.com
facebook.com/MSBMNL
Published: 2015-06-25 15:06:20
Hi. Is there a price of the contents on the box exposed. The item I’m gonna order is pricey and my parents gonna kill me if they found out cause they’re probably the one who will receive it because I’m always at school.
Can’t remember kung exposed yung price eh. Sorry.
Is MSB is worth a try? I want to try them out but I also read some negative rants & reviews about their service.
Never lost a package so far. Medyo pricey lang ang fee, but you have the option naman to get the cheaper one — via ship — kaso matagal bago dumating yung package. 🙂
Hi! No more taxes when my package is delivered to my house? Is this for real? Haha. I am still undecided if I would US Postal Service (USPS) or MSB. If I choose the former, I’d still have to deal with ridiculous customs taxes and claiming it at their office. I think MSB is the way to go! Thank you for this post!
Hi Michi! The MSB shipping fee is inclusive of customs tax, delivery fees, etc. 🙂
What if wala pong bdo card? Di na po ba pwedeng mag avail ng service?
Yes pwede, any credit card will do. 🙂
Nice. Will check them out. I am an amazon shopper myself. Thanks for the tip!
I haven’t tried MSB yet so thanks for this review. I also recommend Johnny Air, we’ve been very happy with their service for about 5 years now, theirs is $5.99 for regular items like shoes, books, toys, etc and would always arrive within 7-10 days from the day of the package’s arrival at their New York office, but the package needs to be picked up from their Makati or Megamall office.
I’ve heard good reviews about Johnny Air, I use MSB lang kasi door-to-door delivery. 🙂
Wow, this is very interesting! I’d be happy to try this out. I hope they take debit cards because I don’t have a credit card.
Hi Nilyn! I don’t know if they accept debit cards eh.
My Shopping Box is such a good find for US online shopping. Is subscription still free via BDO?
I don’t know if the promo for subscription is still ongoing.
I’ve been wanting to order from Amazon for the longest time! Are there other options if you don’t have a credit card? Do they accept PayPal? Bookmarking this! Thanks!
MSB only accepts credit/debit cards, I think. 🙂