Forwarding of Amazon shipments

Member since 28 August 2023

wondering9Serial expatYesterday 13:02:03

201

I tried my first Amazon purchase from the DR, and one thing I hadn't thought about was how Amazon splits an order into multiple shipments, thus (I assume) making the forwarding from Miami much more expensive than it would be for a single package. Apparently there's no way to get Amazon to consolidate an order. I just paid a freight forwarding fee that was literally 1/3 of the total purchase price (and then lost 1.5 hours out of my life on the most absurd customer-service chat ever with Amazon 😨).

So my questions are (1) is that normal / just the cost of doing business? (2) have you found any work-arounds? (3) is there substantial difference between the different freight forwarders? I just used Domex because I already had them from my passport renewal, I haven't shopped around yet.

Any clues welcome, including "get used to it, it's just how things are" (if true).

planner Dominican Republic Expert

Member since 27 December 2010

Dominican Republic Expert

plannerDominican Republic ExpertYesterday 13:51:25

17625

I have tried a few times and come to the conclusion that it's almost always better just to use the mail forwarder!

Only very few items was it in my interest to buy direct and deliver direct. And they go through delivery drivers weekly it seems! Not reliable, not cost effective most of the time

UncleBuck Serial expat

Member since 06 June 2017

UncleBuckSerial expatYesterday 16:42:33

554

From my experience, even if during checkout with Amazon, all items are together and arriving on the same day, they will still sometimes be split just before shipping. Or, you have separate orders to stay below the $200 limit, and an item is delayed, but added to your next order. I then cancel the item and re-order because that is way more simple than paying customs or trying to explain what happened.

With Domex, you pay by the exact weight, they don't round up. You maybe lost a few pesos in the packaging weight, but not too much to worry about. It is very much "get used to it, it happens all the time here" thing. Despite your best planning. Or likely, BECAUSE of it?!?! 😁