Package Delivery Services

[Mpexy]

I had a package shipped to me via FedEx, a box not just a envelope, containing electronics I needed from the states. Other than a 1 day delay where my FedEx tracking showed it was delayed at customs, it got passed through and delivered to my door.

No customs payment or tax. Maybe because it was a computer part, not the whole laptop it didnt need to be paid as a import duty. Who knows.

Also, guess no one needs to sign for anything directly here, my doorman received it - my buzzer was never rang by the FedEx guy, it just went directly from the FedEx guy to my portero who later knocked on my door to personally hand me the package.

I see that Amazon.com delivers to international locations for only a little bit more in shipping fees so I think I'll try ordering a bunch of books for delivery to my place in Argentina.

[Seaman]

I recently bought some stuff at Ebay, which was coming from the states.

Before I got the stuff sent over I inquired about the customs regulations here with a local friend. He advised me to get it sent down here if possible in an envelope, since envelopes would not be checked by customs.

For one item I was able to get it sent down here in an USPS envelope, and indeed it showed up at my door without any invoice of customs attached to it. The declared value of the contents was US$200, so it was way over the duty free limit of US$25 (!!!) / month.

The other item had to be shipped in a box (by USPS / EMS) Correo Argentino showed up with the box and a customs invoice. The package had a declared value of US$150 and shipping value of US$57, and the total customs fee was $328. Since I did not have the cash on me at the time I asked the driver if it would be possible to pick it up at the office near Retiro station. That was not a problem and he gave me a notice showing the package details etc. I called the phone number on that notice the day after, and got advised that I had to wait for another notice which would come in by mail later the week, which I needed to pick up the package.

Well it took a week to get the needed second notice. I went to the correo argentino office and waited for >2hrs to be served. Once I handed in my notice they processed it, and I got told to wait in the room next door for my number to be called.

I had to wait another 30 mins in that room before my number got called. I went in the back to the customs guy who was going to open the box and inspect etc.

Once the guy figured out I was a foreigner without a residency down here he told me that I would not have to pay duty on the package, since the law does not require it. He just singed off the paperwork where he put my passport number on, and that was it.

All in all it saved me $328, and cost me half a day at the post office and another week of waiting for my package.

So if you have the time, just make sure that the package is sent back to the correo argentino office, and then tell them you are not a resident, but a temporary visitor. Most likely they will wave the duty on the package.

In any case, if possible, have it sent in an envelope instead of a package, and it will save you the duty too!

[El Perro]

I'll look into this right away. Thanks for the info!

John

[El Perro]

At the moment that is my only option due to some folks I work with in the states being hardheaded. I do alot of dictation, and my packages back to the states are microcassettes (weighing next to nothing) $40US a pop though I can write em off at years end. The sane solution is digital dictation / transcription. Everything digital, transferred back to the states via the web. Philips is the state of the art. Too sane for my clients who are used to the ol way, and are now barking that I want to change things after relocating to BA. They are fuckin' envious that I am here, and not in the mood to make changes. I'll trek on down to the Fedex office and see what the deal is with this no credit card / CUIL business. Any news in this area would be greatly appreciated. This area of my plan will make me, or break me. God knows, I ain't interested in returning to the states if I can help it! Thanks again!

[Moore]

I had the same experience that Jackson had with FedEx. Even the same location. Credit cards no problem. Cash no problem. 2 day delivery the quickest (cheapest/only?) option available at 100 pesos, as posted previously. Also you can use your Fedex acct number that they'll give you for free. The acct number is very useful when someone in USA has to send you something at your expense.

They never asked me for my CUIL, which would make zero sense anyway. Are you sure you're thinking about shipping, bro?

[El Perro]

In a previous post I mentioned my business plan that I hope leads to my making BA a permanent home. Part of my plan involves sending small packages back to the states. I recently used both DHL and Fedex. FYI-the cost with Fedex was nearly half that of DHL. Interesting however that DHL allowed me to use a credit card for payment, where Fedex would not, unless I had a CUIT.

Hi Doggboy,

I'm surprised to read your report, because I send packages and letters back to the USA every month, and in my experience DHL and FedX are approximately the same, approximately $100 AR to send an letter pac to the USA. This was for 2nd day service as next day delivery is not available.

I've also used my credit cards at both locations, and specifically the FedX office on 25 de Mayo, near Correntes.

Thanks,

Jackson

[Moore]

OK I have no experience with that since I've never shipped goods to/from Argentina, only documents (or bankcards that fit into document packs). Whenever I need something durable from the USA I just wait until I visit there and then bring it back with me. Computers, certain clothes, some books from Barnes & Noble.com, Christmas gifts, etc. It sounds like a costly hassle to ship durables here - personally I don't foresee the need to ever do it, especially after reading your informative posts.

If, for instance, I'm bringing back a lot of new clothes in my luggage, I'll usually at least take the price tags off to avoid potentially getting dorked for import taxes. I don't ever remember having an issue though.

[MoonDog]

Are you sure Moondog?

I've had items FedExed many times from USA to my apartment here and never had anything opened and it always came directly to my door. Never took more than 3 days USA-ARG.

Yes, positive. As the others point out, documents are no problem. But any package of any value sent via Fedex will be opened and held for additional taxes and storage fees. I recently sent a Christmas package to BA. It was almost a week before the person could get out to the airport to pick it up. Even though I told Fedex to add any charges to my credit card, they made the person pay storage charges and additional taxes. Add to that the cost of transportation to and from EZE, and it added up to about 220 dollars additonal.

Documents are ok, but be prepared to pay the charges of anything of value.

Moondog

[El Perro]

www.efax.com is a service which allows people to fax stuff to your US email address but which is delivered to you as an email attachment.

As Moore indicates, FedEx does deliveries in Buenos Aires, which should be fine for delivery of paper. You can have clients send stuff on your account number.

Vonage internet telephone service works for plenty of people in BsAs (US telephone number, but rings anyplace in the world that you have a broadband internet connection)

Some people on the board have suggested different PO Box services which scan your mail and email it to you, again as an attachment.

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely check out the efax prospects. I hear some folks are using Skype down here for phone service abroad as well. Nice to have that local area code back in the states while you answer down here.

[Hunt99]

www.efax.com is a service which allows people to fax stuff to your US email address but which is delivered to you as an email attachment.

As Moore indicates, FedEx does deliveries in Buenos Aires, which should be fine for delivery of paper. You can have clients send stuff on your account number.

Vonage internet telephone service works for plenty of people in BsAs (US telephone number, but rings anyplace in the world that you have a broadband internet connection)

Some people on the board have suggested different PO Box services which scan your mail and email it to you, again as an attachment.

[El Perro]

I recently relocated to BA from Miami. No problems with personal mail as I am using USABOX in Miami (they scan and send to BA via DHL) Will cost you about $35 a month as long as you keep the shipments to less than 2 a month. My challenge is going to be finding the cheapest, most reliable way to get my work related packages delivered here from Miami. My plan is to do my consulting here in BA and get paid dollars from Miami. This will necessitate sizable packages of documents to be shipped to me from Miami about twice a month. My packages back will be miniscule. The issues:

1. Is the cost going to be prohibitive re: the packages being sent here? Somebody in one of the other postings scared the shit outta me with a story of huge price and having to get my stuff at EZE. Tell me it ain't so!

2. As I am only at my current residence here for 2 months before finding a better place, what company can I trust as a "drop" for my packages? I checked with Correo Argentino who will accept the packages, and only charge me 4p to pick them up. Way cheap, but how reliable? Plus, no emails or phone calls to let you know stuff is here. You gotta hoof it by there. Is Correo Andreani an option?

There's the problem in a nutshell. FYI-another option for me, and possibly others. HP makes a device called a digital sender. It's sort of a combination hard drive, scanner, "faxer", except it doesn't "fax", it sends scanned info to your email address. Example-like me, you need a bulk of documents sent to you from wherever, and the cost via traditional methods is too expensive. Solution-a digital sender (I think the model # is 9200C)-you "feed" the documents into the scanner part of the device, they are scanned and saved to the hard drive, and then can be emailed anywhere in the world. Presto! This was my original idea for my consulting work but it was shot down by the bosses's moron son who is computer non savvy. Well, I think he is about to find out that several pound packages sent from Miami to BA ain't gonna be cheap.

Any feedback and advise will be greatly appreciated! Save the Doggboy's BA experience!

Hi Doggboy,

This doesnt specifically answer all your questions, but I'd like to point out that there is a big difference in the way Argentina Customs handles documents and the way they handle merchandise. From my experience, documents are assumed to have no montary value and thus ARE NOT held by customs for inspection and possible tarriff levies. This, I assume, is why FedX, UPS and USPS packages containing documents are delivered relatively rapidly (with a day or two of entering the country) and directly to your door, whereas similar packages containng "merchandise" are held at the airport, at the customs house, etc. waiting for you to appear to pay any tarriff that may be assessed.

Thanks,

Jackson

[Andres]

I appreciate the responses.

It's my work knives. I would rather travel with them, but I'm sure TSA wouldn't approve of me carrying my roll into the cabin and I'm terrified of putting them in my luggage in case they get bent (hold sentimental value) or puncturing through the roll and jacking my stuff up.

At any rate I am done whining.

Thanks again for the heads up. I might have to end up using FedEx.

In my case, I had the same experience as Moore had.

If you send the knives with an invoice by USPS, registered package, it will arrive at the international Mail ward in Retiro. There, you will be asked to pay Customs fees in order to release that package, fees that may be much cheaper than FedEx fees. It used to work for me.

Hope this helps,

Andres

[VaqueroNY]

I appreciate the responses.

It's my work knives. I would rather travel with them, but I'm sure TSA wouldn't approve of me carrying my roll into the cabin and I'm terrified of putting them in my luggage in case they get bent (hold sentimental value) or puncturing through the roll and jacking my stuff up.

At any rate I am done whining.

Thanks again for the heads up. I might have to end up using FedEx.

[Moore]

Are you sure Moondog?

I've had items FedExed many times from USA to my apartment here and never had anything opened and it always came directly to my door. Never took more than 3 days USA-ARG.

Cost for a letter sized package is US$50 coming down and US$30 sending from here. Not the cheapest, but it is the only way I send things of any value whatsoever. If you send something regular mail from or to Argentina that even looks valuable (bank statement, etc) it will get stolen. As a newbie here I had an ATM card sent here regular mail once! I never made that mistake again.

Regarding Correo Argentino for mail within the country, I've used them several times to send registered mail - called "carta documentos". Cost is 20 pesos, you get a tracking number / receipt, and its always worked.

PS Vaquero, maybe you have a special situation, but many people dont need mail. You can do almost everything online free and instantaneously. The only time I need a FedEx is for a new bankcard or for a legal document that needs my signature. Very rare.

Greetings everyone,

I agree concur with Moore. I've used FedX both ways several times and I've never had a problem. The only caveat I've found is that if your sending anything besides documents that Argentina Customs may delay the delivery by several days. I usually get my monthly package containing my US Mail from my house in the states within three days, but one time I was expecting a print proof from my printer for approval, andI guess because it was in a tube instead of a letter-size box, customs held it for inspection, which delayed the delivery for several days.

I've also used Adrianni Correo (a large, private mail service here in Argentina) to send a couple of items to other cities within Argentina, and I used the same registered mail service level, both times without incident.

Regarding the concept of having your mail scanned, I believe Saint recently provided the name of a mail-drop service that specifically specalizes in that service.

Thanks,

Jackson

[Thomaso276]

You'll have trouble getting packages. Hire someone you trust to check your mail, give them your printer scanner from home and they can scan and send you important stuff via email! Of course they will have access to personal info so be careful.