Amazon.com - int'l shipping vs VPOST

[sevenfightclub]

Hey guys, do you know if I want to buy 4 books, 3 DVDs from Amazon, is it cheaper to use direct international shipping, or VPost? The books are just normal books 250-300 pages each, weigh about 1.3 pounds each.

The Amazon international shipping is US$36.92. If I ship within US, it's free, but not sure if I go via VPost to SG, will it cheaper overall?

 

[satay16]

i'm not sure for dvds, but for books, amazon is cheaper. from both times i ordered, one small shipment one large shipment, amazon is cheaper in both cases. i only use vpost for items that cannot be shipped overseas. however, my books are those pretty heavy ones like a few thousand pages. not sure if that makes a difference.

 

[Rashkae]

Why don't you just calculate based on the rates published on their page?

 

[sevenfightclub]

Rashkae - because it's unpredictable how vendors pack their items. Amazon sometimes packs in big boxes or sometimes they send in diff things in diff boxes at diff times - which will bring up the VPOST rates.

 

[afbug]

Rashkae - because it's unpredictable how vendors pack their items. Amazon sometimes packs in big boxes or sometimes they send in diff things in diff boxes at diff times - which will bring up the VPOST rates.

U can ask Amazon for smaller packages. but I still think for CD/DVD/books, Amazon is cheaper. Vpost rates are ex these days.

 

[sevenfightclub]

thanks guys. Decided to use Amazon. Saves the hassle. Using VPOST is too unpredictable.

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

thanks guys. Decided to use Amazon. Saves the hassle. Using VPOST is too unpredictable.

only thing good about vpost is if the items cannot ship direct.

for eg if you are getting items from amazon that doesn't ship internationally, you can send it to vpost, also can combine orders with other vendors.

if all items can ship direct from amazon, might as well get from amazon direct, as they provide aftersales services like lost or damaged parcel replacement.

 

[phelan]

I tried vPost recently for two DVD boxsets, volume of 0.7kg combined.

Using vpost is nice if u get Amazon free shipping internally within US. You can just use the vPost address provided [Portland, Oregon] and vPost will handle for u from there. Usually they just take one day for processing upon receipt and will send you the invoice for shipping back to SG. After payment is done, it takes 5-8 days to deliver to SG [my first and only experience so far was under a week or 5-6 days, so not too bad].

The thing about vPost is that
1) you need to know your total shipment volumeric weight. Vpost charges 13+ bucks flat for one shipment and then adds on accordingly to weight [roughly 1 buck per 0.1kg? check vpost website for details]. So check your total shipment weight before deciding to either use Amazon to ship direct to SG or use Amazon-Vpost-SG.

2) Send one big shipment to vPost USA, or get Amazon/retailers to pack the shipment into as few packages as possible with minimum time gaps between packages. vPost can allow consolidating of shipments, but only has a grace period of two weeks before it starts charging for those packages on hold with them. [i.e. Amazon sends only one package on 1st Sept, but only second package three weeks later on 22nd Sept. Package A can stay with vPost for free up to 15Sept, and then a holding charge is added on before you decide to ship it back to sg with the other packages as one big shipment...]

So do your homework well. Hope this helps...

 

[wrx_sti_22b]

Hey guys, do you know if I want to buy 4 books, 3 DVDs from Amazon, is it cheaper to use direct international shipping, or VPost? The books are just normal books 250-300 pages each, weigh about 1.3 pounds each.

The Amazon international shipping is US$36.92. If I ship within US, it's free, but not sure if I go via VPost to SG, will it cheaper overall?

VPost very slow... but the price is ok i find, reasonable...

 

[satay16]

btw, today's DL talks about three shipping services. can compare them.