Shipping items Rabat to USA

alcornc New member

5POSTS

11 years ago

Hello Everyone,

I am an American and have been in Morocco for a few months. My time here is coming to an end and I would like to ship some items to my home to the USA before I leave. I hope to have one large box where I will send a guitar, some tea cups, and slippers. Has anyone gone through the process of shipping a large box back to the USA or out of Morocco in general? I Am going to travel to some in Europe before returning to the USA so I have ruled out taking the guitar with me on the plane back to the USA. I have a short list of questions to ask for guidance so any advice would be a great help.

I know there is a FedEx in Rabat, but is there a cheaper option that FedEx?
Could anyone estimate a price (I am thinking about not insuring the box unless it is required)?
Where is a place I can learn about the paperwork required to ship these items from Morocco to the USA?

Thank you,
Charlie

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omzda Member

13POSTS

11 years ago

and what shipping items to morocco from the usa

My fiance wants some stuff like clothing and makeup accessories.

Does anyone have any experience with any of the common shipping brands here like DHL, UPS, USPS, FedEX - which one is the best and won't damage or loose my packages ?

I am shipping to Rabat.

alcornc New member

5POSTS

11 years ago

I successfully shipped from Rabat to the USA.
I shipped a small guitar as well as some other items so my box was large; bigger than a guitar, and weighed about 12kg. This information is based off of when I shipped from Rabat a few months ago so this information may have some small errors, but this is generally what I remember.
I learned that DHL does express shipping. They said the item would be shipped in 3 days and it would cost something like 6000DH to ship
FedEx was similar, they were around the same price and I think they were express also.

I went to the local post office in Ocean. They looked at the box, weighed it and told me something around 1200DH. I was a little worried, but I decided to go for it with the local post office. My box arrived in the USA about a month later.
I shipped it to my family and they told me that it looked a little beat up, but everything was intact. One recommendation is to be sure you include your information on your box. Write all of the address information on the box multiple times. I almost let them take the box without any postal information on it because I assumed the people working would take care of it.
So I am a living success story of the local post office shipping from Rabat to the USA!

omzda Member

13POSTS

11 years ago

alcornc wrote:
I successfully shipped from Rabat to the USA.
I shipped a small guitar as well as some other items so my box was large; bigger than a guitar, and weighed about 12kg. This information is based off of when I shipped from Rabat a few months ago so this information may have some small errors, but this is generally what I remember.
I learned that DHL does express shipping. They said the item would be shipped in 3 days and it would cost something like 6000DH to ship
FedEx was similar, they were around the same price and I think they were express also.

I went to the local post office in Ocean. They looked at the box, weighed it and told me something around 1200DH. I was a little worried, but I decided to go for it with the local post office. My box arrived in the USA about a month later.
I shipped it to my family and they told me that it looked a little beat up, but everything was intact. One recommendation is to be sure you include your information on your box. Write all of the address information on the box multiple times. I almost let them take the box without any postal information on it because I assumed the people working would take care of it.
So I am a living success story of the local post office shipping from Rabat to the USA!

Thanks. So Ocean is the name of the local post office in Rabat ?

Also does the local post office actually deliver packages to your home / villa / apartment - you know the way they do here in the states ... OR do you have to go to the post office and pick up your packages ?

This information will help me to determine if I should spread my stuff across multiple shipments or just use a few big shipments.

And also what about customs or duty taxes ? did you run into any problems with that at this "Ocean" post office ? did they ask you to declare what you were sending out ? And of course receiving it back in the states I imagine was not a big problem.

All I am shipping is mainly clothing and some makeup accessories but I may also ship off a laptop - but I am afraid it might get damaged in transit or worse can brake if package is not handled with care. Also I think I would run into customs or duty taxes with the laptop and maybe the clothing also since 99% of it is brand new.

alcornc New member

5POSTS

11 years ago

Ocean is a neighborhood in Rabat. There are several local post offices in Rabat and they are the same company (Marco Post). Here is a google map of some of their offices.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Post+ … 4d67484140

They do ship packages to your home in Morocco, but it doesn't always arrive. I would recommend if you are shipping from the USA into Morocco you have something sent to your work/ school (if possible) or some other location that would frequently get packages. If you are living in a small apartment in the Medina the delivery guys might not know where your place is and I don't know what happens after that.

When I was shipping from Rabat to the states they gave me one form to fill out. Mostly contact information, but also a space to list what I was sending and its worth. I listed the items I was shipping (most of them, not everything) but I didn't write the total worth. My thought process was that if the package didn't look like it was carrying anything valuable it wouldn't draw anyone's attention and would just be moved through the system. After I sent the package I wished I had written the value of that package to be like..$100 just so no one could assume it was worth more. I asked several times about taxes and other fees while at the post office. They assured me that what I paid in the office in Ocean was the only expense and I found that to be true. The post office workers told me over and over again it would only take 10 days, my friends told me that I would be lucky if it took 2 months, it ended up taking 1 month.
The package arrived at my house in the states with no questions asked, don't think there were any problems once it entered the USA.

I am not sure about your laptop. I did ship my phone to Morocco which ended up having a very high tax ($70). I believe Morocco has a large tax on electronics entering the county, I am not sure about shipping out.

omzda Member

13POSTS

11 years ago

alcornc wrote:
Ocean is a neighborhood in Rabat. There are several local post offices in Rabat and they are the same company (Marco Post). Here is a google map of some of their offices.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Post+ … 4d67484140

They do ship packages to your home in Morocco, but it doesn't always arrive. I would recommend if you are shipping from the USA into Morocco you have something sent to your work/ school (if possible) or some other location that would frequently get packages. If you are living in a small apartment in the Medina the delivery guys might not know where your place is and I don't know what happens after that.

When I was shipping from Rabat to the states they gave me one form to fill out. Mostly contact information, but also a space to list what I was sending and its worth. I listed the items I was shipping (most of them, not everything) but I didn't write the total worth. My thought process was that if the package didn't look like it was carrying anything valuable it wouldn't draw anyone's attention and would just be moved through the system. After I sent the package I wished I had written the value of that package to be like..$100 just so no one could assume it was worth more. I asked several times about taxes and other fees while at the post office. They assured me that what I paid in the office in Ocean was the only expense and I found that to be true. The post office workers told me over and over again it would only take 10 days, my friends told me that I would be lucky if it took 2 months, it ended up taking 1 month.
The package arrived at my house in the states with no questions asked, don't think there were any problems once it entered the USA.

I am not sure about your laptop. I did ship my phone to Morocco which ended up having a very high tax ($70). I believe Morocco has a large tax on electronics entering the county, I am not sure about shipping out.

thanks a lot for the information. very useful indeed.

I have some more questions so I am just going to send you a PM if thats alright with you ?