I’ve used the US mail forwarding company MyUS on and off since 2001. Originally they were the only option available, then Shop&Ship by Aramex came about so started using them, and it’s been a back and forth relationship with them ever since. I usually jump ship whenever I find a better deal since I ship a lot of items and the savings do add up. For the past few years, I’ve been using the MyBox service from PostaPlus since they were the most affordable offering but then last week I remembered one reader had previously told me MyUS had reduced their prices and were now cheaper than PostaPlus.
A couple of weeks ago I had ordered and shipped a bunch of parts for my Datsun 240z to my PostaPlus account and the total package weighed around 40lb. When I had originally checked the rate calculator on PostaPlus it told me I would pay around KD75 which I figured was ok. After I shipped the items, I decided to check the rate calculator on the MyUS website and was surprised to get KD45. That’s a pretty huge difference which is why I’m now thinking of moving back to MyUS.
But I have a few questions for those of you who currently are using them:
– Other than the shipping cost, what are usually the custom clearance fees you pay, for example with PostaPlus it’s KD1 for custom clearance and then 5% of the total shipment value for customs.
– Can you pay the customs fees online or is it cash on delivery?
– Are there any issues you’ve had with MyUS?
On a side note (and coincidentally), MyUS recently published an article about the top influencers in Kuwait and yours truly made the list. You can check that post out here.
Update: I tried them out and they’re more expensive than MyBox. Click here for details.
43 replies on “Do You Use MyUS?”
No longer having access to my military APO since the move to the commercial sector, I’m looking into both MyUS and Posta for incoming shipments. Thanks for the updates on these services. Much appreciated Sir!
no worries, i hope this post sparks up a discussion since there might be an even better alternative to the above.
also a point i should probably highlight in the post is the fact if you use a Visa or American Express card when signing up you’re entitled to some extra savings on shipping costs.
https://www.myus.com/welcome/amex/
https://www.myus.com/welcome/visa/
Been using MYUS exclusively for the last three years since Borderlinx shut down as ShopAndShip does not do consolidations. To answer your questions:
1) You only pay the freight charges online to MYUS when you choose the courier company. The customs duty and other charges are only on delivery as its paid directly to the courier company.
2) Never faced any issues with them since I started. Maybe a bit of a delay in the packages showing up in your account if the delivery was made on a weekend. But that’s it. Customer online chat is pretty responsive, but is not 24 hours.
What r the charges on customs? I know whenever I get anything from fedex there is always a large amount I think like 8 or 9kd just a processing fee, is that the same?
My last order was in May with an invoice value of approx 250 USD. I paid 5.500 KD in total to the FEDEX guy when i took delivery. Don’t remember what was the service fee amount on the invoice.
MyUS had charged me 59 USD for the freight (I had opted for FEDEX priority with delivery in 4 days) on a weight of 6.5 lb
I have been using shopandship for the last few years and a few weeks ago I tried MyUS to by a few items from Amazon directly through MyUS and here below is the conclusion of my experience:
Orders take time, however all the stuff I ordered can be delivered the same day by Amazon. I paid around $75 freight and handling charges.
It took them 2 weeks to deliver my package.
No updates whatsoever on their app.
I paid extra fees for to rush my delivery but it is useless
Then I was notified by the delivery guy that I have to pay customs, VAT and other hidden charges (prepayment and BoE). Those charges are approximately $65.
So you can imagine paying up $140 for stuff cost $320 and get your stuff in 2 weeks from the US to Dubai.
Accordingly, I don’t really recommend MyUS unless you don’t have any other alternative
Recently i bump into ship7.com and i believe they have the best rate, give it a try, and custom duty depends on which forwarding courier you select, i.e. FedEx, UPS, DHL, PostaPlus and USPS.
They definitely do not have the best rate. Ship7 charges based on volumetric weight so size of package + weight dictate the price. So the bigger the box the more u pay while with Aramex postaplus and myus u just pay by weight
MyUS is volumetric for larger packages. They have the dimensions on their website.
As long as it’s not larger than 2meters it’s by actual weight. This is from their website:
Only MyUS TruePrice™ provides guaranteed upfront pricing, with no complex calculations and no surprises. Excludes oversized shipments and palletized shipments with linear dimensions greater than 80 inches (203 cm).
Mark, you’re not an influencer, you’re better than that!
I frankly don’t know if you mean that he is selling the service, but you can easily compare the prices and check if he is trying to sell you the service or just an honest review.
I stopped using MyUS a few months back and switched to Stackry. It is so much better in terms of cost
Will check them out now
Are you sure you’re saving money with Stackry? I just checked and their prices are more expensive than MyUS (at least for 40lbs) and they charge based on volumetric weight not actual weight.
Yes I am pretty sure. First off they don’t have the monthly/annual fees, and they also don’t have fees if you exceed keeping a package in the locker for over a month
Similar sized packages have always cost me less with Stackry vs MyUS
Be careful of Stackry. I’ve had items missing from my shipments during consolidation and they never admit responsibility.
1- The fees that you pay with customs are relative but they are the customs fee which usually amounts to 5 % of the price of shipment.
2- The customs fee is cash on delivery.
3- I’ve ordered alot of items ranging from Sneakers, Watches, and range of items you get from Amazon, with absolutely no issues. I highly recommend them if you have heavy items especially, and using Fedex priority as the option to send seems to be the cost efficient option.
Hmm the only influencer in KWI that isn’t a beauty blogger. Congrats, but maybe you should add a beauty column to increase viewership. BTW they posted a good pic of u, natural beauty!!
hahahahahaha
Mark, I really appreciate the fact that you haven’t sold yourself knowing how easy it would be for you to do so.
You could easily become one of those Instagram influencers who make a buttload of money through social media but you choose to keep things very honest and straightforward. This is why I 110% trust your reviews and opinions. Been checking 248am absolutely daily (even when on long vacations) since 2007 btw.
Thanks!!
2 reasons i us my US
1. Their zip code is tax free in US
2. If you have NBK Mastercard World you get 30% off first month then 20% off and become like a VIP customer, so package consolidation etc etc etc
the customs fees etc depends on who you choose in myus to forward to Kuwait, as they give you options, and each one is different, DHL, FedEx, UPS
I have the NBK MasterCard world how do I get those benefits?
ok found it
https://www.myus.com/welcome/mastercardpremium/
The advantage over Visa is first month 30% discount on shipping vs 25% for visa
But, after that with visa its 20% discount on all future packages while with mastercard its 20% discount for next two years.
I use DHL’s own mail forwarding service that replaced BorderLinx: https://www.dhleasyshop.com/
Fast and convenient. Customs fees are paid upfront.
But they charge shipping based on the more expensive volumetric weight calculation, why would you prefer that over actual weight?
…and what about Facilito Express, someone has tried it?
Doesn’t seem cheaper when you consider the speed of delivery and weight of the package. I just checked my old MyUS account and it says for a 1lbs shipment to fedex economy which takes 5 to 10 days (which is similar to Shop and Ship speeds) comes out to 38.84 USD. Same weight with Shop and Ship using my FLEX subscription is 2.77 KD. Without a flex subscription its 3.25KD which is still cheaper.
However that is for light weight packages. If you go heavier Shop and Ship ends up being similar (WITH FLEX). Lets take another example. I recently got a huge monitor and shipped it through S&S and had to pay 78.300 KD for shipping and customs. The same package shipped through MYUS not including customs costs 245.98 USD through Fedex Economy which comes to around 75KD. So for heavier packages especially expensive ones I would go with MYUS especially if you order through amazon as you would avoid the sales tax.
Ignore everything I just said, apparently premium members get cheaper shipping. MyUS ends up being much cheaper.
That is for heavier packages, smaller packages are still cheaper on Shop and Ship.
10lb
Shop&Ship = 28KD (19.3kd with flex)
MyUS = 13.3KD (further 20% off if u have one of their cc packages)
5lb
Shop&Ship = 14.25 (10.1 with flex)
MyUS = 10.6 (further 20% off if u have one of their cc packages)
Just to clarify something, those prices are for the cheapest shipping option which is USPS. I asked and those shipments are not tracked which from experience aren’t really trust worthy. However, even if you choose fedex economy it ends up around 20KD with MYUS and if you factor in no tax it ends up being cheaper overall.
I hope thats not the case. According to their website the only companies that ship to Kuwait are:
DHL Express
FedEx Priority
FedEx Economy
UPS Worldwide Saver
UPS Expedited
I just spoke to customer support and Budget Economy is the cheapest of what’s available to Kuwait (so can’t be USPS).
In any case will find out soon enough since I just sent a package over to my MyUS mailbox and it should cost KD20 to ship with budget economy and 28 with fedex. PostaPlus would charge 28 as well so there really wouldn’t be an advantage for me to using myus in this case.
Yeah please let me know I am considering switching over but the rep I asked on live chat said that the cheapest option was through the “Postal Service” his exact words. If you get lighter packages there is also a Small Pack Saver option which according to the Rep they use Posta Plus For.
I really don’t mind paying little extra as long as the shipping company providers a better service and won’t mess with my shipments along with the delivery speed of course!!
Now I use one of the virtual mail services which give you a real US street address versus the mail forwarding box (MyUS, Aramex shopandship). I do that because I had some declines before from some websites which don’t ship to forward mailing/PO Boxes. The cons: the application needs a notary.
I have the Flex subscription from shop&ship. I don’t know how it compares to other services but the convenience of delivering to my work place and a competent courier is worth it to me.
I need your help guys, i want to order some tires which i can only get from the US because they are for an old muscle car. anyway the total weight is 108LB.. from your experiences what is the best place to order for such a hefty weight just to know i never ordered anything online before. Thank you
Use tirerack.com
So after reading everyones reviews in this thread, I actually went forward and placed an order with myus.
filled up the cart with items from several different vendors and made the payments on myus shopping website, as instructed.
Next day i get an email stating that 1 item i order is slightly oversized. They gave me 2 options.
option1. remove that product out of your order and process everything else.
option2. cancel the complete order and reorder through myus premium managed suite or something like that.
so i agreed to cancel the complete order and place it through the suite. But they only cancelled few products and processed the remaining order. which lead to a cart of 17 USD with shipping of 50+ usd.
I sent them multiple emails stating that there has been a misunderstanding and it needs to be fixed. but they have conveniently quit responding.
initially my order was 580 usd with a shipping of roughly around 100 usd. now m paying half that shipping price for point % of the order value.
Never going to use MyUS ever again
Hi
I am a user of your website (Myus.com)
Some day before, my account hold for several days, and I contact the support team and say waiting, we will contact you And they say your account will be opened in the next 24 hours and you can use it
several days since 24 hours and my account has not been activated
The support for this site is very weak
Their online chat does not give the correct answer
And when I send an email, it takes a few days for them to respond
My products are in the account and I can not track them
And I cant send them.
I received an email with the following subject:
(Hello Marjorei,
I am writing you today to inform you that due to some information provided, we can no longer provide you services.
The packages remaining in the Suite can only be returned to the merchants.
Please contact the sellers through Amazon or through the merchant websites and request a pre-paid return label. Once you have the labels, please reply with them attached to this e-mail and we can have the packages returned.
I look forward to your reply with the return labels.
Best Regards,
Tracy
MyUS.com
http://www.myus.com)
Many of my products are non-refundable and I cannot provide a return label for them Because many sellers are not willing to take back the products And a lot of time has passed since buying them
I have purchases made by myus.
Do they get a return label for the products they bought for me?
My request is that I can log in to my account and send my products
to my address or allow me to send the products to the US
I use APO Box. Of course, one must have an APO or FPO Mail address.