Hi! Meet Vanessa Delos Santos, she’s an Anime Lover who uses Buyandship Philippines for her Otaku and overseas purchases. Get to know her and her overseas online shopping experience from different shipping methods and different sites; And why Buyandship Philippines is her go-to freight forwarder.
[Buyandship Review] From An Anime Fan Herself
Hello! I noticed na medyo maraming nagta-tanong so, I just want to share my experiences. For starters, I usually buy anime figures, manga, and merch. I usually buy from Japan but also tried a shop from the US. Here are my experiences from different shipping methods and different sites.
So far, here are the shipping methods na alam ko: EMS, Airmail, SAL, DHL, Buyandship.
The first three involve the post office. You can have tracking or no tracking options but I would definitely recommend tracking your packages para alam niyo kung anong balita sa kanila. Pag na-ship out na sila ng shop kung saan kayo um-order, you can use the PhilPost tracking website. Pretty okay naman ang tracking nila, di nga lang nakalagay kung saang specific na post office yung package ninyo once nasa Philippines na.
EMS: Normally takes a month, depende kung saan kayo sa PH. I ordered from Good Smile Company global website and they shipped using EMS. Technically yung buong shipping journey took a month, but it took a while before being shipped out since nagsara yung JP Post plus marami silang backlogs because of the pandemic. My goods arrived safely naman. Pagdating sa PH, they sort it out and send it to the post office near you. Siguro sinuwerte lang din ako na masipag yung post office samin, diretso sa bahay ang delivery. You just need to pay 112 pesos for ‘storage fee’ ng post office. May resibo naman for this. I know friends na nasa Manila na kinailangan pang kunin yung package nila sa post office (ang alam ko most of the time nasa Pasay office). Careful lang if EMS ang gagamitin nyo tas you’re in Metro Manila, based on what I heard, medyo strict pag EMS.
Airmail: I tried this for my Mandarake order. Same lang sila ng process with EMS, but usually cheaper. However, my Airmail package took three months, yung one month dun it was stuck sa customs. Again, it was sent to our house directly, but this time I paid 168 pesos. Not sure why, baka iba ang presyo with Airmail.
SAL: Currently suspended because of the pandemic, but this is usually the most preferred option out of the post office methods. It was cheaper but medyo mas matagal ng konti kaysa sa EMS, more than 1 week. Same lang din, either you pick it up sa post office or ihahatid sayo, but may ‘storage fee’ pa rin na babayaran.
DHL: Probably the most expensive but the fastest. Sa experience ko mga less than 1 week ang JP to PH, but sobrang laki ng difference sa presyo lalo na pag malaki ang dimensions ng package mo. And by malaki na price difference I mean around 2 to 3 times ng price ng EMS or SAL, depende sa size ng package mo. Kahit na magaan yan pero malaki, medyo mahal pa rin babayaran mo.
Buyandship: Sobrang helpful sa akin ng 300 pesos/lb. There are times na isang figure lang ang currently na gusto ko and sakto 1 lb lang siya, so 300 pesos lang babayaran ko. The fastest that I experienced was 2 weeks, JP to PH. What I loved about Buyandship rin is that kaysa sa magbayad pa ako ng 112 pesos sa post office, diretso na siya sa bahay, wala na kailangan ibang bayaran. Again, thankful ako na hinahatid ng post office sa bahay yung packages ko pero may iba kasi na hindi, so di ba hassle kapag kailangan pa lumabas ng bahay tas makikita mo pagdating dun parang napabayaan yung package mo. To add, may shops din kasi that do not offer international shipping so you can just ship it papunta sa warehouse nila tas diretso na sa bahay nyo. You can consolidate pa if your items came from different countries para tipid sa shipping fee.
For shops, eto yung mga na-try ko na:
Amiami: They can ship internationally using the other methods – EMS, SAL, DHL. They also have a JP site na may bayad na 500 yen ata per order. If relatively malaki ang size ng item mo but medyo magaan, you can opt to ship it to BnS warehouse tas dun na ang delivery ng JP to PH. Sobrang mahal din kasi ng DHL plus the other options involve the post office na.
Mandarake: Marami din items dito but they depend on the branch, better if you order within the same branch. They can give you quotes for different shipping methods that are available – EMS, Airmail, DHL – but you can also use BnS with them lalo na kung mahal quote nila for your shipping fee.
Good Smile Company Global Site: They only ship using EMS, but may times kasi na isang item lang ang gusto ko so medyo hindi tipid sa shipping fee plus fees pa for the post office. I have yet to try using their JP site and ship it to Chiba warehouse, but will do it next time.
Good Smile Company US site: They don’t ship outside US and Canada so I used BnS with them. They used USPS to ship sa Oregon warehouse tas check out na agad pagdating ng HK warehouse. Really smooth experience, however manipis lang ang box na ginamit nila so may dents yung box ng figure ko nung dumating. Okay naman yung figure sa loob.
Amazon JP: Dito ako pinakamadalas umorder. May shops that don’t ship outside Japan so I just used BnS. Mabilis ang delivery nila, minsan the next day darating na sa Chiba warehouse. Sobrang dami ng pagpipilian plus you do not need to worry much sa condition ng item – kahit used pa yan, minsan slight dent lang sa box malaki ang discount from its retail price. Super okay din ang packaging nila so you don’t really need to worry sa condition ng package mo pagdating.
-Vanessa Delos Santos