Shop and Ship From US to PH with myMallBox + My US Beauty HAUL (Nordstrom, Sephora, Mac & Sigma)
9:18 PM
Been itching to purchase that newly released highlighter or eye shadow palette from
Sephora.com or similar US shopping sites but holding back because of the hefty shipping fees, or worse, these sites just don't ship to your country? I feel you. I've been there and it was such a bummer.
Tell you what, gone were the days when we just sit and lust over these brands that only ship to a US address. No need to wait for a relative from the US to come home so that we can make "pabili" because we can now get to enjoy shopping our hearts out and having our purchases delivered straight to our doors. All these thanks to the rise of freight forwarding companies that ship goods from the United States to various countries (including the Philippines).
After much deliberation (and reading Hollie's blog post), I decided to give myMallBox a go. Yesterday, my package came so I decided to write a blog post about my experience with myMallBox.
Here's how myMallBox works:
Here's how myMallBox works:
1. Sign up for myMallBox and receive a free U.S. address with your own unique suite number. You also get a $10 credit to your account if you sign up using my link HERE.
2. Browse your favorite online stores and find the products that you would like to purchase.
Make sure to check their lists of prohibited products to make sure that they can have your item shipped to your country.
Some of the items that can't be shipped out are perfume, aerosol cans (hair spray, etc), hand sanitizers (anything with alcohol) and batteries to name a few. If you're not sure if the item that you're eyeing falls into the list of prohibited items, you can contact myMallBox directly. I actually emailed them to ask if I can order an external hard drive and they replied with a big YES. Their customer service was very helpful.
3. Purchase the items that you would like to shop and then enter your myMallBox address as the shipping address.
What I liked the most about myMallBox is that I get to pay 0% sales tax when ordering from online merchants because their warehouse is located in tax-free Delaware! Yey!
If let say, the site only accepts U.S.-issued credit cards (like Ulta), you can tell myMallBox the products that you would like to purchase and they will place the order for you. However, for this service additional fees will apply.
4. Your products will arrive at their warehouse and can be stored for FREE in your suite for up to 90 days. I always get an email from myMallBox acknowledging that they already received my package typically after 3-4 business days after my order was delivered. You can also see your packages on your myMallBox account. Unfortunately, unlike other freight forwarders, myMallBox doesn't automatically take pictures of the contents of your package. You can still request though, but there's a fee per picture.
5. Once you've decided to have your order/s shipped out to you, just log in to your account and submit your instructions to repack, consolidate or to ship them individually. Since I placed numerous orders, I requested for my packages to be consolidated (shipped in one box) in order for me to save on shipping fees. If you only have one package, you can request to repack your items to help lower the shipping cost.
Take note that the consolidation process takes awhile. I requested my products to be consolidated last Sept 1 and it was processed Sep 7. To be fair, I ordered a lot. One bummer was that myMallBox did not notify me that my package had been consolidated already and ready for check out. I just checked every single day that's why I saw the update.
Take note that the consolidation process takes awhile. I requested my products to be consolidated last Sept 1 and it was processed Sep 7. To be fair, I ordered a lot. One bummer was that myMallBox did not notify me that my package had been consolidated already and ready for check out. I just checked every single day that's why I saw the update.
6. Pay the shipping fee (myMallbox only accepts paypal) and choose your courier (USPS or DHL) and then sit back and relax while you wait for your package to arrive. I chose DHL because they were cheaper and ships faster than USPS. My package weights 11.20 lbs and measures 12'' x 12'' x 12" and I paid US$94 shipping fee. It was also shipped out a day after I paid and the tracking number was immediately generated on my account.
My package was shipped out last Sept 11 via DHL and it arrived in Manila last Sept 14. Please take note that duties and taxes may apply based on your country. I live in the Philippines and I was not asked to pay any additional fees when I received my package. And yes, it was delivered straight at my doorstep by a friendly DHL guy.
Unfortunately, due to customs clearance, I just received it yesterday, Sept 27. My package was held by Customs for 12 days due to some missing paperwork (regarding the contents and value of the products inside my box) that apparently myMallBox did not provide. I just emailed DHL a screenshot of the list of the items on my myMallBox account which they forwarded to Customs. True enough, when I received my package there was not even a single print out of the contents of my package. No return labels and no hard copy of receipts also, which is not a biggie (at least for me) since I have my electronic receipts.
So after all the stress, I finally received my box and I was really pleased with how myMallBox packed everything.
For starters, I like that my box was filled to the rim. I felt that it was the indeed the right size to contain all my items and that I was not deceived in any way. Most of the items I ordered were fragile cosmetics and they bubble wrapped everything perfectly.
myMallBox also assigns an item number (see that orange label above) for each package that they receive and then they pack all the contents of that altogether in one packet. This made cross referencing everything to my list so much easier. No missing item. My package was complete and everything was in top notch condition - no broken eye shadow palettes! Yey!
Unfortunately, due to customs clearance, I just received it yesterday, Sept 27. My package was held by Customs for 12 days due to some missing paperwork (regarding the contents and value of the products inside my box) that apparently myMallBox did not provide. I just emailed DHL a screenshot of the list of the items on my myMallBox account which they forwarded to Customs. True enough, when I received my package there was not even a single print out of the contents of my package. No return labels and no hard copy of receipts also, which is not a biggie (at least for me) since I have my electronic receipts.
So after all the stress, I finally received my box and I was really pleased with how myMallBox packed everything.
For starters, I like that my box was filled to the rim. I felt that it was the indeed the right size to contain all my items and that I was not deceived in any way. Most of the items I ordered were fragile cosmetics and they bubble wrapped everything perfectly.
myMallBox also assigns an item number (see that orange label above) for each package that they receive and then they pack all the contents of that altogether in one packet. This made cross referencing everything to my list so much easier. No missing item. My package was complete and everything was in top notch condition - no broken eye shadow palettes! Yey!
Now lets get into my beauty haul. First stop, Nordstrom! Nordstrom had their anniversary sale and I was able to order a few of their exclusive beauty sets from Charlotte Tilbury and Hourglass.
Next, Mac. We have Mac counters here in the Philippines, but the selection is sadly not as wide. Only the Mac counter at Glorietta carries refill e/s pans (and it was expensive) so I decided to order a few shades. I finally got around with completing my Mac Eye Shadow Palette. I also picked online exclusive products (Mac Select) that of course, are not locally available.
Now Sephora. I had no intentions of placing an order because I was waiting for the next VIB sale. But Sephora.com came up with the VIB 3x Points so I decided to get new foundations and a couple of things. I also bought a ton of gifts which I will not be posting here. By the way, Sephora does not accept Philippine-issued credit cards. Just sign up and check out using paypal.com (U.S. site).
Next, Sigma. I bought a fan brush because this is one brush that is missing from my collection. I also added a lip brush for my Mac Pro Lip Palette which you can disassemble and then pop the brush inside the handle which makes it perfect for traveling. So cool! I didn't know it has that cool mechanism when I ordered it online. The travel size coral powder foundation was a gift-with-purchase.
And here are some deluxe samples from Sephora and since I placed my order from Mac last National Lipstick Day, I even got a Mac Prep+Prime Lip for free and a bunch of samples too. I also got ton of samples from Nordstrom and Sephora which I forgot to take a picture of.
My husband also decided to shop a few things from Amazon and have them delivered to myMallBox address too. Here are some techie things that he got. Oh, the yellow portable hard drive was for me. My husband is the sweetest!
Over all, I had an amazing experience with myMallBox and I would continue using this freight forwarding site. I enjoyed shopping and taking advantage of awesome deals. Sign up now with myMallBox HERE and start reaping the benefits of having a U.S. address. Make sure to sign up using my link in order to get US$10 credit to your account.
Another tip, make sure to sign up with Ebates as well to get instant rebate from various online shops like Amazon, Neiman Marcus, BestBuy, Mac, Macy's, Sephora, etc.). It's like our local shopback.ph. I basically used my rebates to pay for myMallBox shipping fee from U.S. to the Philippines. So if you think about it, I technically had free shipping after all, right? Sign up with Ebates HERE to get US$10 too.
Have you tried myMallBox or other freight forwarding sites? Share with me your experiences by commenting below.
*this post includes affiliate links
Kiss Kiss,
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