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Mail forwarding services price chart

Abdullah, a reader of the blog put together a price chart comparing the 4 most popular mail forwarding services, Aramex’s Shop & Ship, U Shop We Ship, DHL’s EasyShop and My US. Is color coded it and the price chart goes up all the way up to 30KG. The conclusion is USWS is the cheapest until you hit 20KG when MyUS becomes cheaper.

You can view the chart by clicking [Here]

71 replies on “Mail forwarding services price chart”

Some extra info: MyUS has the ability of consolidating several packages into one box .. I paid roughly 60KD for 30lbs.

If I were to use Aramex for the same shipment, that would cost me 13KWD (plus 1KD customs) per package (6 of them) = 84KD

Yeah thanks that is really useful .

if u look on aramex and dhl u will notice the price is almost the same .. without even adding additional 1 kd on aramex shipments .. they really need a help .. !

I wish dhl open mail forward in UK .. aramex delay sucks real bad .

Dear god I don’t get why post isn’t going through. Anyways this chart depicts shipping charges, Customs is another story and the most stable is Aramex in terms of customs. but that means you have to wait around 2 weeks for something to be released.

Excuse the double post. But I didn’t think that one would go through as my previous 2 didn’t. The reason I say Aramex is the most stable is because they charge you 5% + 1KD for shipments over 100 USD, otherwise its just shipping charges.

Now DHL charged me 17.300KD for 20USD nail polish for my mother and again today another 17.300 for some shampoo (also for my mother, maybe they just hate her? lol). Although my video game that came in before I only got charged for shipping with DHL so I don’t know.

With DHL if its over $100 its stable, its KD3.5 +5%. Under $100 i’ve heard either you pay nothing or you pay KD10.

In any case you were able to ship liquids with DHL?????? Aramex doesn’t allow liquids and destroy your packages. I ordered shampoo for my sneakers with Aramex and the package got destroyed. Should probably order again but with DHL

I know that, now lets see…new york tax is 8% of the item you bought. So I paid 13.800 in customs fees alone with DHL. That comes out to 48 USD. So I paid NY tax for a 600 dollar item to customs for a 20 USD item. 2-0 DHL indeed…

Yes Mark, 2 went through and one didn’t cause it was flamable. Maybe thats why I got charged so much with customs, cause it was liquids? Either way I will probably stick to DHL for anything above 100 USD like you said Mark.

Mark, i do not think DHL charges custom duties or any clearence charges for shipment below 100 $, i had ordered a couple of shipments like blackberry accessories and they just charged me for 1 kg. earlier when easyshop was a baby i had the same problem with DHL (i had to pay some 11.500 kwd for a 10 $ shipment) but i guess they have improved their services to seize the opportunity. overall transit time and cost is better than Aramex. no need to pay new york tax, shipment arrives within 3 days(customs delay excluded), online tracking facility and friendly call center (to talk to aramex customer service you must hold the line for atleast 5 mins). i would strongly suggest dhl for this service.

Michael I have the reciept if you don’t believe me lol. For both today and last week. I got charged 13.800 in customs fees. But Mark was surprised that DHL shipped liquids so there could be a connection there as I didn’t get charged anything extra for my Auto Parts or my Video Game.

BAJS, then you must speak to supervisor or manager to get an explanation for such payments. when you are paying any amount its always good to know why you are paying that amount or you are giving an opportunity for companies to get more money from you. if you get a valid reason or explanation you will be satisfied and and others will be aware as well if you post the same here ..lolzz

I have a valid explanation lol. I posted a topic about it. This is the “Valid” explanation I got from the DHL customs supervisor in Ardiya.
Customs Duty 1.800KD
Bank Fees 2.000KD
Global Clearing System Charges 3.500KD
Stamp Fee 1.000KD
Bayan Fee 2.500 (Apparently I am funding renovations for Bayan or something XD)
National Aviation Services 3.00KD (IE Kuwait Airways, the bastards)
Comes to a total of 13.800KD. Same amount I got charged twice with the liquid products.

Maybe Mark I am not sure, I did ask whether it was for specific items the first time they charged me this much for Customs but they really didn’t give me a straight answer.

USWS has one problem they charge 10kd for clearance……
so they are cheaper only if your stuff passed custom other then that they burn your wallet.

I see a pattern here regarding DHL overpriced clearance fees. My friend has ordered three packages through DHL all contain perfumes. All the packages were slammed with 13 KD clearance fees plus the regular DHL shipping cost. So, may be it is true that liquid items get a special treatment in customs.

I’m waiting for my first order through DHL. It’s iPhone accessory. If it passed with only the shipping cost + 3.5 KD, then the above liquid theory is true.

Yeah saad I got an iPhone case coming aswell, let’s hope it’s just the liquids. My other theory I that if something does get cleared in a day or so (otherwise known as fast clearance) you will get charged the extra cash. Let’s hope only the first theory turns out to be true.

I ordered some t-shirts on two occasions about a month ago and both packages arrived at my appartment through normal post.Yay.I won’t attempt that with electrical goods though.

I just picked up 2 ipod touches and paid KD 14 (6 KD for shipping and 8 KD for customs which is 5% of the invoice value).
From what I have figured out, DHL works on a very transparent manner. i.e. they always collect the 5% customs duty on your behalf and then pay it to the Customs.
The additional charges (such as Bayan etc.) will be incurred only if the Customs department decides to hold the item for “inspection”. In this case, the clearance process has to be initiated incurring all the listed charges (approx. KD 10).
So I have decided to go with DHL for all high value shipments or something that I need urgently, and stick with ushopweship for the rest.

DHL does not charge customs and clearance charges if the invoice is under $100. Under no conditions will that apply. I have used them extensively and never had this issue. I also bought liquids as well. You guys who paid customs for items under $100 were robbed blind. It is however entirely your fault for not questioning why the charges were levied, and IMHO thus deserve to be overcharged.. A breakdown of the cost is not an explanation of why the shipment was charged.

Cheaper and they order from A&F and Hollister that both myus.com don’t order from them, Policy or something dunno why they don’t processed my order when i place it for these brands.

Ooh And Gap and armaniexchange.com

If a “lone” item arrives within 3 days it does not make it a “stable” service. My package was shipped on the 10th and I am still waiting!!!
https://www.dhl.com/cgi-bin/tracking.pl?AWB=8833594092
I used DHL when they started and they ripped me off with that volumetric charges then decided to try them again as it seems a 1 week shipping time is common with forward services.

Waaaay to go DHL…..!!!

You can’t just ship anything, you know..

I was bummed out after finding out that most of these services listed here, can’t ship a perfume I wanted to gift someone 🙁

Something about it being against their policies, anyone here have any advice?

MSM why don’t you tell me what you would’ve said then eh? I questioned and got a breakdown of the charges. Stop being such a ass and blaming people for something they could have not forseen.

BAJS, no one said you should foresee it. However, should have asked WHY THE FUCK AM I BEING CHARGED FOR SOMETHING UNDER $100. Instead you let them show you a breakdown of the charges and somehow that made you feel better. Lame.

MSM the breakdown charges is why I am being charged according to them, it didn’t make me feel any better since I was sill going to pay out the ass for my mothers items, I asked for further explination and that all they gave me. If it was something of moe I would have told the bastards to keep it and screw themselves. Sadly that wasn’t the case. What more could I do if they wouldn’t give anymore answers? It’s just unfair for you to say we deserved it that’s all I meant to say.

Also Abdullah it’s for my mother and apparently it’s not shampoo, some miracle hair thing which is not sold here so why don’t you grow up.

Thanks guys for that great job 😉
i just want to know if u recommend a way to have usa based visa ??
coz some stories didn`t accept my local visa !! please advice me if there’s anyway to deal with that .. thanks n advance

Lol whatever man, when you have something decent to contribute to this post go ahead, otherwise just leave. Man if only there was a children filter on this site.

@abdullah who made this … going the extra step and putting it in a graph where people can see the intersections points and what not would be a good idea

Damn u Aramex! my laptop arrived at my mailbox on the 2nd of dec. I just called them and they said it’s in customs and there is nothing they can do about it. I called them last week and they said it needs 4 workings days at customs. tomorrow it’s going to be 14 days since it arrived in my mailbox. I just opened a DHL account, i hope they are better!

ahhh i remember the times when ordering online was so simple and cheap, gone those days now! i should have bought my laptop from kuwait, paid the premium, and i wouldnt have to pay outrageous shipping charges and 2 week delivery dates!

im stopping online shopping for a while till things get better!

guys i never used aramex but used ushopweship… believe me it’s the WORST compared to all… keep away from it… yes it’s the cheapest but not only in price it’s the cheapest in everything…

Now, when a shipment arrives to your box you don’t see it in your account, you don’t receive any email notification and they simply don’t reply to you in email nor phone calls… you just keep praying that they deliver it… and after 20 to 40 days they might just do!!!

Guys, has anyone tried ordering from Sultan center.. they have a similar service.. what about the cost and those charges you are talking about..

Sultan Center overcharges alot from what a friend told me. He told me he ordered 3 pieces of clothing and they took over 100KD from him lmfao. He has the reciept to prove it. They were really high prices so that could be the 5% customs I don’t know.

I had a 209 lb shipment arrive in Kuwait a couple of days ago from MyUs.com.Upon arrival I was contacted by FedEx, I was told since the shipment was so large that customs would require a business license or a 1 time business import license. WTF since when did customs put weight restrictions on personal shipments??? Does anyone know the weight limit so customs doesn’t put us through BS??? However, we were able to get the shipment released 🙂 My husband said, without help we would have NEVER gotten our shipment released from customs!

Is aramex back ? Bought a few PSP games for my son on the 12th. Delivered on 15th to Aramex. Just getting a shipment in 3 days from UK. Got the SMS just now.

Kuwait,Kuwait 12/17/2009 09:51 AM SMS Sent to Consignee
Ardiya,Kuwait 08:50 AM Shipment Out for Delivery
Ardiya,Kuwait 08:38 AM Shipment Received at Operations Facility
Ardiya,Kuwait 12/16/2009 03:49 PM Held in Customs – Awaiting Inspection
London,United Kingdom 12/15/2009 09:05 PM Shipment Record Created – Full Record
London,United Kingdom 09:05 PM Shipment Forwarded to – Ardiya,Kuwait

My son is going to flip. I had told him he would get his games by the 31st. Usual charges + 1 KD to the mafia.
Seems there were a few shipments, this one shipment got released from customs immediately for some reason.
Must be the rains or something…

YES CR
I know this from someone working in airport…he said weights above 70 Kg will require a “packing list” “commercial invoice” both attested from chamber of commerce in the country of ship-out. Then in Kuwait it will require 1x time import license and for sure the content will be subject to approvals depending on its nature. same thing if the total value of the shipment is more than 3000$

Thank you BAJS
I found on Sultan website a form to calculate the charges before ordering, they added some interesting information also next to each charge..
I called them over the phone and the guy there explained to me – what he said – “cost components”. Anyhow, they don’t have a box, they have an office in US, they receive, and check the items, prepare the shipments per the requirments of kuwait customs. If the shipment is not “OK” to come to kuwait or fly by courier “DHL, Aramex, Fedex” they will not accept it in the first place. bottom line -he said- this little extra is remitted in value to the customer in the end. He did mention that the shipping charges alone are less than the other companies, and i went back to this form on the website, and he was right..the shipping charges alone are better than all rates posted by Abdullah. I guess they need to maybe segment their service, or offer additional service for low price items… who knows…

I just got an email from DHL telling me that they received my amazon package. It is mentioned that there was no invoice and I have to contact them to change the value to the correct amount.

Is that necessary? Will this affect the custom fees? I never had anything like this with Aramex.

Lol today I received my projector and guess what? No customs fees, and it was over 100 USD! Will this random madness ever end!?!

Aramex 4 ever i don`t mind the Delay at all, SCREW DHL they charge you even if you want to self clear things WTF !!

They want me to submit some papers to MOC because i`ve ordered a Media Player NMT C-200 Mass murderer device be careful people !!

and on top of all this they want to charge me 2 KD for CBK 1 KD for the Stamp and 1 KD for Global etc etc, i ordered the ITEM Via DHL Express Direct to Kuwait why i should be treated different should be same as DHL Easy Shop ?!

Hi from MyUS.com
To the best of our knowledge we have had no weight issues/ restrictions on shipping to Kuwait. We deliver packages duties unpaid which means that you will be contacted by our shipping partners (i.e., DHL, FedEx) on the duties owed. If you have had any issues on overweight / oversize packages, please feel free to contact me or provide your suite # so I can investigate this for you. We do try and service our customers as best we can and I’d like to get to the bottom of the issue and try and resolve it as best we can.

Regards

I just realized something when ordering books or DVDs.
If we were to just go to amazon.co.uk and ship straight to Kuwait, wouldnt it be cheaper? and faster?

@MrEngineer You are so right with the current USWS. About a year ago they were superb, it would take about 2 and a half weeks from ordering from amazon to delivery for items like blu rays and books, and items that would spend no more than a day in customs with no extra charges. So far this year, one year on its still the cheapest but the service has gone down the drain. Their website is never updated nor is your mailbox. you have no idea where your packages are. If you call them they tell you they have something of yours but they don’t know when it will arrive. I ordered some clothes at the end of Novemeber and I am still waiting we are pushing almost 6 weeks now, to the point that i have forgotten what I ordered altogether!! I have simply ‘Gone On’ with life. I called them again 3 days ago, they said Monday (Today) after the holidays.I asked them what was the hold up, they gave me some excuse about not having a plane. I called them 3 times today, at different times and nobody answered at all. They have gone AWOL and in my opinion after I get this shipment I will totally ditch them. I am still undecided over DHL or Aramex. Any ideas people?

Try Aramex @DesertEagle, I had no issues with them at all.
I have ordered sunglasses, flash drives, external hard disks, books, etc,etc without any issues or delays.
I like their service.
The only problem is their calculation, i still don’t understand it. I ask them the price and pay it, that’s all.

That impossible!!!!! I ordered some cases for my Iphone and I got a HUGE BELL from DHL …

Custom Duty 2.25 KD

bank fee 2 KD

Global clearing system charges 6.5 KD

Bayan fee 10 KD

National aviation services 17.25 KD

total 38 KD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLUS what I already paid for shipping

38 KD is 120 $ !!!! and shipping was 40 $

what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was really bad experience with DHL and the representatives most of the are rude and they don’t care

and I went to the airport 2 times to clear the shipment

and to DHL custom office around 5 times ….

It was really headache……

PLEASE FOR YOUR OWN SAKE … DONT DEAL WITH THEM AND KEEP YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE DOWN …

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