Singapore Expats

I have been told that we can buy stuff online from the US and get very attractive prices, even when shipping charges are included. I have tried some online shopping sites. There are some problems:

1) I don't know the actual prices in S$.
2) Sometimes shipping charges are unknown when I place the orders.

Do you have any ideas where I can get some good sites to do this king of shopping from the US?

javascript:emoticon(':???:')

I think generally, shopping in US website ranging from Neiman Marcus, to Nordstrom for the latest fashion, and shipping them to Singapore is slightly cheaper than buying the same item in the local boutique. In addition, you can't get some US brands like Victoria Secrets in Singapore, so shipping them in, might be the easiest option.

Pretty often, these sites offers free domestic shipping and I will use of vpost to redirect my shopping to Singapore. The thing is, vpost charges based on weight, so if you are shipping something big and bulky, it might run up to be hundreds in shipping costs.

I have read that some people have problems with vpost, but so far, I haven't had any problems (yet!). It will take between 2-3 weeks for the stuff to be redirect to Singapore as well. And of course, if you don't like what you bought, its going to be a hassle returning the goods.

Vpost often has shipping discounts for UOB cardholders.

Well, this definitely looks like some lousy e-marketing. A newbie OP with no posts so far asks a question and answers him/herself after two days, quoting a link to some company. Don't the mods around here delete such stuff?

I actually found this thread pretty useful.

Well, I guess marketing can be useful Just that I thought it would be against the rules of the forum, especially if you try to disguise it as a normal discussion.

Thanks for the reply Didn't know that, as I am obviously not a regular (yet). Will PM you from now on!

I have visited the vPost site and found it confusing. It requires a US address for the US stores to ship to and then re-direct my stuff to Singapore.

There are 2 problems. 1) All the prices are in US$ 2) Shipping charges are not very clear. I don't know the exact amount.

In the end, I decided to quit without completing the check-out.

Are there other better sites?

It was just a matter of time.

Not all US vendors that accept online orders will ship overseas. You can usually find a lot of items through Amazon.com (which does ship overseas) and some of its sellers will ship overseas. I'm a member of Expat Express (see www.expatexpress.com). I can order selected grocery items and they ship to me here in Singapore. If I want to order something from Wal-Mart or Target (who doesn't ship overseas) then I type in the Expat Express address as my "shipping address." Then I log in to my acct on Expat Express, fill out a "mall order" advising them of the items I've ordered that will be shipped to them. They receive the items on my behalf, then ship them here. There is a shipping and handling fee. I've also found that the shipping rates to Singapore are exorbitantly outrageous and expensive (but even so, it's many times even cheaper than buying same/similar items here directly). Go figure. It has something to do with the negotiation rates with UPS who has a LOCK on shipping here. When I was in Japan, items shipped from Expat Express were sooo reasonable. As for not knowing the amount in Sing dollars, you'll just have to convert it on the currency converter website to get a dollar amount.

Regarding this topic, can anyone tell me how shipping overseas works as far as customs? Do they open every package - and if so, is there a limit to the $ amount one ships and if it exceeds that you have to pay tax???? We are relatively new here and there are many things I just can't find and would like to order from the US and have shipped here, but I don't know the rules. Thnx

bitfitz wrote:Regarding this topic, can anyone tell me how shipping overseas works as far as customs? Do they open every package - and if so, is there a limit to the $ amount one ships and if it exceeds that you have to pay tax???? We are relatively new here and there are many things I just can't find and would like to order from the US and have shipped here, but I don't know the rules. Thnx

Here is a good place to start:

http://www.customs.gov.sg/topNav/hom/

You can find that link as well as numerous other helpful links in my links page in my signature. There is no paid advertising in there either.