Before the advent of Lazada and Shopee, I did my online shopping at Amazon.com. But I did it the hard way back then — I’d have my orders delivered to my mom’s house in California. She’d bring them to the Philippines whenever she would vacation here, or I would get them when we went to the US. Sometimes she’d send balikbayan boxes and pack in the stuff I ordered in them. It was not very convenient.
Sometime ago I read that Amazon.com was now offering FREE shipping to the Philippines for purchases worth US$49 and up. I tried ordering vitamin supplements and a few other things. Non-generic supplements (Vit C, B-Complex, you name it) are a lot cheaper in the US compared to here in PH. True enough, I was able to avail of free shipping and I got my order in a week’s time. It’s more or less the same time frame when I order stuff from sellers based in Korea or Japan on Shopee and Lazada.
It’s important to note that NOT ALL items are eligible for free shipping. FREE Shipping on orders over ₱2000+ is indicated underneath the listings of qualified items. If you don’t see this, it means item cannot even be shipped to our country (see examples above). Some items can be shipped to the Philippines but not for free. In such cases, Amazon would indicate how much the shipping would cost underneath the item listing.
Of course, you still need to keep your order below ₱10,000 so you won’t get taxed. The tax automatically reflects on your Amazon.com shopping cart. If you exceed this limit, just remove items from your cart until you reach the tax-free bracket.
My latest order from Amazon is a set of Peet’s Coffee Nespresso-compatible pods and Clinique Even Better Clinical Radical Dark Spot Corrector + Interrupter 30ml. Peet’s Coffee is hard to find here in the Philippines. Resellers usually sell them for nearly double the US price. Meanwhile, this particular Clinique product sells for ₱3,900 at the official PH store, more than double the Amazon price I got it for. I ordered the above items on Oct. 9, 2023 and they were delivered to my doorstep on Oct. 15, 2023. Items are always well-packed and received in pristine condition.
Amazon accepts credit and debit cards as a mode of payment. I’ve read that the Maya Virtual Card is also accepted. I wish they also accepted Paypal but this is not ever going to happen since Amazon is a direct competitor of Paypal’s parent company eBay.
I highly suggest checking Amazon first if you’re in the market for American products. Their prices are better than PH resellers most of the time and Amazon free shipping to Philippines makes it a practical option.
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