How to choose an intermediary for the delivery of parcels?

Your virtual address for online shopping.

If you prefer online shopping, then in order to save on the delivery of goods, you will need a reliable forwarding intermediary or Mail Forwarding - a service that will provide a virtual address to which your purchases from stores will come. The virtual address is your individual "suit", at the real address, where a large warehouse of the intermediary company is located. At the warehouse for its customers, the mail forwarder organizes the space so that the parcels are not lost and do not confuse their addressees.

It is important that the mail forwarder you have chosen, and therefore the address, is in the same country as the store from which you order. Otherwise, you will lose shipping savings.

What services does the Meil Forwarder (MF) provide?

One of the important advantages that all MFs probably have is the free shelf life of goods, which is usually 60 days. This means that you can buy something and during this period your package will be in the warehouse, waiting for the time when you send it. The advantage is that the more goods there are in the parcel, the more profitable it is to send it - the shipping cost for each item is reduced. Sometimes in stores there are very favorable offers or there is not enough money for everything that you are going to buy abroad, then you make purchases as far as possible, and then consolidate the parcels into one and send the wholesale parcel to your home.

Therefore, the main function of the MF is to take your goods, collect the parcel and send your orders safe and sound. In the EasyShip service, customers pay only for the delivery of a consolidated parcel to the address you specified, other functions are free.

But in addition to the main tasks, the MoF always has a wide range of additional services that are sometimes needed when shopping or can help save money. For an additional fee, you can take pictures of the contents, remove the boxes from shoes, pack the parcel in a tight bag, insure, return the order to the store, issue one parcel to several recipients so as not to exceed the duty-free limit, and more. Some MFs charge a fee for renting a virtual address for a certain period: a month, three months, half a year, a year. If you don't shop often enough, you may not be able to afford the cost of renting an address.

Purchase service

It so happens that an online store, according to its marketing policy, does not sell to foreign buyers. In such a store, you will not be able to pay for the goods with a plastic card issued in your country, because the store will reject your payment by card number. In such cases, the MoF provides a service for buying goods in such a store, usually the cost of the service is 10% of the price of the goods, but there are restrictions on the commission from above. Buying goods for you, MF also accepts a call from the store and confirms the order.

If you have no experience

When making your first independent purchases abroad through the MF, keep in mind:

• it is better to insure large orders for the full amount and use the delivery method with tracking by the parcel number;
• before making purchases, use the shipping calculator on the MF website to calculate the approximate cost of shipping the parcel (the weight of the goods is often indicated in the description on the stores' websites);
• check that the purchased product is not listed in the list of goods prohibited for import into your country;
• find out the size of the duty-free customs limit;
• Explore all the services of the MoF that will help you save money;
• start shopping with small and inexpensive packages.

What is important to consider when choosing an MF?

Perhaps the strongest argument in favor of one or another MF will be the cost of delivery, but besides this parameter, other aspects must be taken into account:

The one to whom you entrust your parcels must have a good reputation and an established system of communication with clients.

The minimum shipping cost for a parcel of a certain weight will differ from one MF to another. It ranges from 0.5 kg to 2 kg. It is more profitable to choose such an intermediary, where the minimum weight is less.

A low price can result in a long delivery time (up to 2 months), the lack of tracking by the parcel number, the inability to insure the contents of the parcel, as well as high payments for warehouse services. You need to take this into account and carefully study the description of delivery options.

Fraudsters are also found among MFs, but you can easily identify them by the lack of positive reviews and suspiciously low prices for services and delivery.

If you need oversized goods, for example: skis, check with your MF for the possibility of sending such a parcel. The same applies to fragile products, technology and electronics.

EasyShip makes sure that you do not get lost in choosing a mail intermediary