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Susan_in_Ecuador wrote:

As always your best bet is to have a fellow expat bring it in...

Yep, just ask my sister. Bet between family and friends we have probably brought in at least 10-15 large suitcases of things. In all fairness to her, about 99 percent of the things has been for her babies.

Susan_in_Ecuador wrote:

If that is not possible... then my preference has been for DHL ...and that solely due to their customer service on this end when the package is inevitably misdirected.

The 1-800DHLDHL number can be placed from any landline.  Of course finding a landline is difficult as most folks have a cell phone and cyber cafe phones won't work either for in Ecuador Toll-Free.

This has been my preference here on the coast for almost 10 years of receiving packages with time sensitive and important documents.

Next best is FedEx, but there have been occasions where Fed Ex has sent packages to JAPAN.  Something about the routing numbers.

Shipping a package by DHL or FED EX would subject the recipient to an additional of $42 which might be ok depending on the shipping cost. 

So my question to you Susan is if someone in Ecuador wants to buy stuff from Amazon.com or other online store in the U.S. and have it sent here without use friends or family as intermediaries, what shipping or package forwarding service would you recommend and what would be the cost for a 4kg package using DHL or FEDex as the courier, including the $42 duty?

icemeister wrote:

I have used TransExpress.com for over two years for my internet shopping forwarder.  Their service is excellent and the rates are very good.  On the Ecuador end they use LAAR Courier for receiving  your shipments, getting them through customs and then delivering them to your home. 

That package weighing 3.78 Kg, if it were valued less than $400 would cost about $135 to ship...including the $42 tax under 4x4.

Charlie B

That's pretty good, so let me get this straight, the $135 includes the $42? So basically a 3.78 kg package costs $93. Any idea what the maximum size (volume) the package can be?

icemeister wrote:

For example, I recently bought a new cell phone for $40 on Ebay.  It weighed under 1 lb so the freight  was $9.50.  They shipped it under the Category C and the total duty and IVA tax was just under $15, so I saved $27...and it was delivered to my home.  I did the same earlier this year for some inexpensive electronics parts and saved even more.

Charlie B

Wow!  First time I have heard of somebody sending something to Ecuador knowing in advance that it would fall under a different category than 4x4.  And you confirmed something that I had read but doubted: you can mail one cell phone to ecuador.

TransExpress has been implementing, for some countries, a comprehensive cost calculator, which also includes the estimated value of international freight, an estimate of costs associated with duties and taxes calculation and nationalization charges that apply for each country.

Countries that until now to have this comprehensive cost calculator are: Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama. Other countries will be added as they develop during 2015. For other countries use the cost calculator international freight available on this page.

When you put the details into calculator and the product type as celular, it pops up the following message on my computer:



That box says in English that you can import  one cell phone per year under your cedula identification number.  I wonder if that is one cell phone per calendar year or every 12 months.

icemeister wrote:

They also include receiving US mail in their service.  There's no added cost.  They will send any mail you get once every two weeks at their regular freight rates.  They won't sort, scan or throw out anything like some mail forwarders do, but the this is free.  I find it very handy for getting my new credit cards from my bank.  The post office has already lost a couple of mine sent regular mail and this will on;y cost $9.50 if it weighs less than a pound.

Charlie B

Great information.   I remember when I used Econcargo years ago they refused to forward regular mail. 

Question: Are you using the transexpress box in Florida as your official mailing address for banks, credit cards, tax returns etc or do you only forward mail to them from time to time from another mailing service?

Nards Barley wrote:

I got a call from LaarBox telling me that they had a piece of mail (Charles Schwab ATM card for a friend of mine) to deliver to me.  I told them I would come by and pick it up since my place was hard to find.  Turns out the courier was on his motorcycle outside trying to find my place. I stepped outside and flagged him down.

So total cost of that delivery from the U.S. was $9.50.  That piece of mail was received in the Transexpress warehouse in Florida on 11-28 and was delivered today 12-01.  Pretty fast.  So you decide. You can pay DHL or FED Express $60 to deliver that replacement bank card to you, or you can pay LaarBox $9.50

LaarBox was really fast!

Over the years, I’ve had Visa cards from two U.S. banks sent to me in Quito with the bank picking up the cost of mailing/shipping of the card every time.

The most recent instance occurred just a few months ago, and I received the card in less than a week.

Perhaps your hard-to-find address or the fact that the card was being sent for a third party caused you to hire LaarBox.

cccmedia in Quito

icemeister wrote:

That is fast.  TransExpress told me the mail is sent out twice a month, so you lucked out on this one.

That is the second mail delivery I have received from them in two weeks.  In each case they mailed out the letters immediately.

So I wonder if they have changed their policy on that or maybe due to the fact it is the holiday season. I will ask them one of these days.

cccmedia wrote:

Perhaps your hard-to-find address or the fact that the card was being sent for a third party caused you to hire LaarBox.

Actually, I didn't want Capital One to know I am in Ecuador just yet, but maybe I will ask Bank of America if they will mail my replacement credit card to Ecuador when it expires in 2018.

icemeister wrote:

The only hassle may be to get the bank to send it to an address other than the one on your account.

Good point. I vaguely recall asking Bank of America if I could use a foreign address as my mailing address and they said no. 

Eventually I may consider using my mail box with Transexpress as my mailing address for my Capital One 360 and Bank of America accounts.   Since they hardly send me anything in the mail these days, I shouldn't generate too much in shipping costs.  The risk would be if they would sell my info to companies that would send me junk mail. I would prefer that Laarbox would only send mail every two weeks, so I need to follow up on that issue.

I already changed my mailing address with Vanguard (retirement account) to Cuenca and I was told they would not mail any correspondence to a foreign address which is fine.

We launched a new service for those who need only packages and no mail from the US. If you have friends, family or locals where you live that wish to buy products from the US, the service is ideal for them. Help us spread the word!

I haven't reviewed the details but plan to one of these days.

icemeister wrote:

I took a quick look at USDelivered.com and their shipping rates are way higher than TransExpress.  For a 1 lb package to Ecuador, the cheapest listed is DHL at $36.00 whereas TransExpress would be $9.50.   

They don't mention anything about Customs duties and taxes other than they aren't responsible for those.  That apparently is up to the Aduana, the carrier and you.       

I used USGlobal Mail for a short time when I first moved to Ecuador, but the $25/mo plus fees for scanning, etc and then $30 or so to send anything was too rich for my wallet.

I figured that this new service would only be worth considering if they offered an option to ship using USPS international priority mail which they don't, apparently.

I think if I was in the market for a new mail box service in the U.S.  that scanned mail, I would go with    They have a $15 month plan that includes 35 page scans a month free.  U.S. Globail Mail charges like $3 + .50 a page for each piece of mail requrested to be scanned.  I know a few people who use this service and like it.