What I term 3rd party shippers are the proxies who help you to receive merchandise that normally can only ship within the specific country or region (e.g. US, Japan, Europe) and redirect it to your own address in your own region or country (e.g Singapore) for a fee.
On this page, I will describe how to create a VPOST(which falls under Singapore Post) account that you can use for this purpose and some practical tips to consider when importing stuff to Singapore. Some other 3rd party shipping alternatives are Borderlinx (Citibank Credit Cards only), ComGateway and HopShopGo (aka ComGateway for Paypal customers - 10% off shipping).
Steps involved to create a VPOST account:
1. Go to the following URL: http://www.vpost.com.sg as below and click on the Sign Up Now button on the top right corner.
2. On the next page, start to create your profile by typing in your Desired User ID followed by NRIC/FIN and click Create Profile
3. In the subsequent screens, enter your Contact Details and to proceed as instructed to complete the registration.
4. Once completed, login to your account and you should also see the following details for your shipping addresses that you can use for the respective countries. The example below shows you the shipping address for USA merchants.
You need to use the address details stated here as your delivery address when you purchase items from a USA merchant. Please check carefully that the address is entered correctly. VPOST uses your VPxxxxx number to uniquely identify the package is yours and be sure to specify it in the Name and Address fields as shown to avoid any confusion or delays.
How it works
For merchant sites that accept your local Credit Card (please check the respective merchant site for terms and conditions of purchase),
1. You can select the product that you want to purchase, enter the delivery address as your VPOST address and make payment using your credit card or other payment methods like Paypal or Google checkout.
Practical Tip #1: Before you finalise the payment, if there is a way to write a note / remark to the merchant, my normal practice is to ask the merchant to pack the product in as small a package as possible. I do this to save shipping costs. Some merchants pack small items in huge boxes and you will be charged more if the weight or volumetric weight (relates to the size of the package) is higher !
2. Please print/save( I usually capture a screenshot or print to PDF file softcopy) a copy of your invoice as proof of purchase.
3. Now that the order is completed, you wait for delivery to the VPOST USA address. Some merchants will email you a shipping notice to let you know when they ship out the item.
4. Once VPOST USA receives the package, they will send you a notification email of receipt.
5. Next, login to VPOST to declare your item. Singapore Customs requires all imported items to be declared. In VPOST, you have to indicate the dollar value of the item (usually in USD), the description of the package contents and indicate the Merchant Invoice Number (i.e. Invoice Number that you saved a copy of earlier in Step 2)
VPOST has just implemented an option (VFlex) for you to self-declare your item or to let VPOST automatically declare (VEzy) the details of the package for you.
The default setting is VFlex AKA Self Declare. To change this setting, login to your VPOST account, Under the left toolbar, MyTools->Manage My Account, click on Change Profile. The next screen appears, locate Item Declaration Options
Select your preferred option and click on the first Submit button (Just below the Contact numbers section.)
Self declaration vs Automatic declaration:
Automatic Declaration is more convenient as you do not have to input any information to declare the item.
Self Declaration affords you more control to enter the correct details (including product value ($) ) especially if your shipment comes in multiple packages. I had a bad experience with another 3rd party shipper who declared an arbitrary inflated product value that they estimated out of thin air. It was part of a multiple package shipment where the invoice was only tied to the first package. Because of this, I had to split up the shipment to be sent separately else I would have had to pay 7% GST on the total cost.
6. Once item is declared, you can now see the shipping costs and you can proceed to pay the shipping costs via Credit Card (See section below on Tips for saving money) .
If you are still unsure how this works, there's a step by step guide on VPOST at the following link
For those sites that do not allow the use of Non-USA credit cards, try to see if they accept other payment options like Paypal. Why Paypal may work is because you can use your VPOST USA address as a Billing Address in Paypal.
If Paypal is not offered and you still want to get the item, VPOST offers a service called VConcierge where they can do it on your behalf and ship it to you for a fee of 5% of the Total Product value.
Some tips to estimate the cost of shipping the item
1. VPOST Shipping rate charges are described here.
2. You can use the VPOST Shipping Calculator to estimate the cost of the shipping.
For example, enter the dimensions of the package (e.g. 12 inch x 12 inch x 12 inch), weight (e.g. 8 lbs), Qty (e.g. 1 ) and product value (e.g. USD 100) as below and click on Add This Item
The estimated shipping cost will appear like so:
2. The formula used for the shipping costs is based on the chargeable weight of the package i.e. the physical weight of the package or the volumetric weight
(volumetric weight = [ length(cm) x breadth(cm) x height(cm) ] / 5,000cm) whichever is higher.
3. Unfortunately, there is no fixed rule on how to estimate the package size of a product unless it is explicitly stated on the merchant site. One way to estimate is to use the box or product shipping dimensions if available and add an additional buffer to the size.
4. If the option is available, sometimes it is cheaper to ship directly to Singapore than to use a 3rd party shipper. In some sites, you can check the shipping cost by proceeding to the checkout but not finalising the payment.
5. Banks always charge you a rate worse than what is stated on Currency Exchange for use of Credit Cards with foreign currency. My personal rule of thumb to estimate the Currency Exchange is to add S$0.05 to the published exchange rate.
For example: USD to SGD exchange rate is US$1 = S$1.30, I take the card exchange rate as S$1.35.
Tips for saving money
1. If you are using the VPOST account for the first time, try to make use of the Credit Card Promotions available to you. To see what promotions are available, go to this link and scroll to the bottom of the page as shown below:
Click on the respective bank to see the promotions available. The current promotion at the time of writing is: S$20 off the 1st shipment (regardless of minimum shipping amount). For repeat shipping, there is a 10% discount off if the minimum shipping amount is S$40.
2. If you are thinking of buying more than a single item (even from multiple US merchants), it may be worth your while to consolidate multiple shipments at the same time (or worst case within a few days of each other) as VPOST only charges the base charge of S$13.40 to the first package that it receives during that period i.e. no base charge for second package if both come in at about the same time.
3. If it is possible, avoid purchasing items or combining packages that are greater or equal to S$400 as you have to pay an additional 7% Goods and Services Tax (GST) of the total cost (including shipping).
4. Not so much a tip as an FYI: There is a new feature on VPOST to help you enjoy savings on shipping, VPOST will repackage items where the actual and volumetric weight difference is more than 3kg.
Other factors to take note when considering whether to import products from other countries:
1. If the product is available locally, do a quick estimate of the shipping cost to see if it is worth your while. It must be a certain percentage cheaper before it is worth your while especially when you consider you are forgoing the warranty.
2. Products ordered from abroad usually do not have international warranty so any possible repairs may be a huge hassle.
3. If the item is an electrical appliance then take note of its voltage rating. For example, electrical appliances from USA normally use a 120V voltage so you need to purchase a Voltage Step Down Transformer to step down the power outlet voltage from 240V to 120V to use the appliance safely else it may explode. This adds to the cost. FYI a 1500 Watts step-down transformer cost me about S$180.
4. There is always some inherent risk involved when you import stuff from other countries e.g. item arrives damaged, undelivered item etc. One way to mitigate this to a certain extent is to order from established merchants.
Whew! This article is meant to educate and enlighten people who are new to this. Please note all points of view shared here are my own personal views and are based on my past experiences and lessons learnt over the years.
