Adventurer Posted January 31, 2012 Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) I'm trying to figure out if it is worth me sending a Balikbayan box?My situation is that I will travel to Cebu in about a month and I have been planning to for sometime but I had to get a lot of things sorted out here etc since I want to live there for at least 2 years.I have sold off most of my things here in Australia so I don't have a lot of things sitting around in storage plus I can do with the extra cash from selling a few things on Ebay etc.When I get there I have a girl to meet but there is no plans yet and I will be just taking each day as it comes. Ideally I would like to find a nice place to live by a beach and have a little bit of land to grow some veggies and fruit etc and live a simple provincial life with my girlfriend.What I'm thinking is that I could send a Balikbayan box with a few things but only send it to the LBC depot and not to an address at this stage. I would send it just before I head off so it will not get there for about 2 months after I arrive anyway and by then I should know where I will be living etc so I could pick it up from LBC and take it to where I'm living. I guess I would need to hire a vehicle as well to pick it up.So what I'm thinking of putting the following things in the box which would have to be a custom size one since it will be bigger than normal:1 x Mountain Bike (good quality one)1x Samsung 32" LCD TVother bits and pieces....I would have to dismatle the bike and really protect the TV as well with padding etc.So I would like to ask members, do you think it is worth it to send a box with my mountain bike and TV? The bike cost me about $1600 AU about 3 years ago, if i sold it now I would be lucky to get $600. If I purchased one like it there it could cost me 40,000 pesos or more. With the TV, it also was a good quality one I purchased about 3 years ago, they actually still sell this model in Cebu for about 40,000 pesos so it would be a way to save some money to not have to buy these things again when I'm there. If I sold the TV here I would be lucky to get about $250.Or is it just not worth it, especially since I won't know where I could be living, I could end up living on another island like Bohol or something and it might be hard to transport the Balikbayan box from Cebu to Bohol etc... Edited January 31, 2012 by Adventurer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braddo Posted January 31, 2012 Posted January 31, 2012 Hi Adventurer,IMO I would cut my losses and sell the items here in Aussie, by the time you get a box to fit it allthe gear in and to insure no breakages that will cost you a few hundred or so, then to hire a vehicle to take it to where you might be staying a few more pesso's, the TV 32" we paid P16,000 3 years ago for a Samsung brand if you look around you can get these items at a reasonable pricePersonlay I would just send a normal size box through Forex or the likes for $120 or $150 for all your smaller items and buy the rest when you have settled down either in Cebu or on another island less of a headache I think doing that wayCheers Mate :) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted January 31, 2012 Posted January 31, 2012 What I'm thinking is that I could send a Balikbayan box with a few things but only send it to the LBC depot and not to an address at this stage. If you do that, the employees there will think it is their gift. They will open it and help themselves to the contents. Better you send it in care of an individual like the ancient one on this forum. It is a part of his business to provide storage for BB boxes if they are not too huge. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventurer Posted January 31, 2012 Author Posted January 31, 2012 Hi Adventurer,IMO I would cut my losses and sell the items here in Aussie, by the time you get a box to fit it allthe gear in and to insure no breakages that will cost you a few hundred or so, then to hire a vehicle to take it to where you might be staying a few more pesso's, the TV 32" we paid P16,000 3 years ago for a Samsung brand if you look around you can get these items at a reasonable pricePersonlay I would just send a normal size box through Forex or the likes for $120 or $150 for all your smaller items and buy the rest when you have settled down either in Cebu or on another island less of a headache I think doing that wayCheers Mate :) Yes it might be better to not worry about the TV anyway.Another thing I was thinking about was just bring the bike with me on the plane a luggage (disassembled and put into a large suitcase etc).... The only problem is it might be a little difficult to get around with it until I have my own place etc so maybe I could use an expat service to store it for a bit. What I'm thinking is that I could send a Balikbayan box with a few things but only send it to the LBC depot and not to an address at this stage. If you do that, the employees there will think it is their gift. They will open it and help themselves to the contents. Better you send it in care of an individual like the ancient one on this forum. It is a part of his business to provide storage for BB boxes if they are not too huge.Yeah I had thought about it might not be secure leaving it there so it is good to know that now and will look into doing as you suggest if I go ahead with one.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzighnman Posted January 31, 2012 Posted January 31, 2012 I'm trying to figure out if it is worth me sending a Balikbayan box?My situation is that I will travel to Cebu in about a month and I have been planning to for sometime but I had to get a lot of things sorted out here etc since I want to live there for at least 2 years.I have sold off most of my things here in Australia so I don't have a lot of things sitting around in storage plus I can do with the extra cash from selling a few things on Ebay etc.When I get there I have a girl to meet but there is no plans yet and I will be just taking each day as it comes. Ideally I would like to find a nice place to live by a beach and have a little bit of land to grow some veggies and fruit etc and live a simple provincial life with my girlfriend.What I'm thinking is that I could send a Balikbayan box with a few things but only send it to the LBC depot and not to an address at this stage. I would send it just before I head off so it will not get there for about 2 months after I arrive anyway and by then I should know where I will be living etc so I could pick it up from LBC and take it to where I'm living. I guess I would need to hire a vehicle as well to pick it up.So what I'm thinking of putting the following things in the box which would have to be a custom size one since it will be bigger than normal:1 x Mountain Bike (good quality one)1x Samsung 32" LCD TVother bits and pieces....I would have to dismatle the bike and really protect the TV as well with padding etc.So I would like to ask members, do you think it is worth it to send a box with my mountain bike and TV? The bike cost me about $1600 AU about 3 years ago, if i sold it now I would be lucky to get $600. If I purchased one like it there it could cost me 40,000 pesos or more. With the TV, it also was a good quality one I purchased about 3 years ago, they actually still sell this model in Cebu for about 40,000 pesos so it would be a way to save some money to not have to buy these things again when I'm there. If I sold the TV here I would be lucky to get about $250.Or is it just not worth it, especially since I won't know where I could be living, I could end up living on another island like Bohol or something and it might be hard to transport the Balikbayan box from Cebu to Bohol etc...I can tell you, LBC, charges duties and taxes (presumably on behalf of the Phils Gov't)... to the tune of nearly the cost of the item new... for electronics... everything I have sent is classified as used household goods....more or less. ;) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted January 31, 2012 Posted January 31, 2012 My bike was shipped w/o a box. They removed the pedals, turned the handlebars all the way to one side and tied it, and taped the shipping docs to the frame and it arrived like that. Cost was $125 USD. I would see if they will do that instead of boxing it. I used an agent of LBC, everything is "household items or goods". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatoosh Posted January 31, 2012 Posted January 31, 2012 Mark as used or personal use items. Consider cooking gear (only good quality stuff, cheap stuff is easily available), an eBook reader (Kindle or Sony eBook). When I priced better quality mountain bikes here, they wanted 20,000 pesos. I didn't hit all the bike shops though and I think there are others that have good selections and maybe not quite so much Kano pricing. Note: Kano Pricing is when they set a price based on the color of your skin. I see it often in the services industry where prices are quoted, not set on a menu or price list. It happens to Filipinos as well if they are perceived as being wealthy, so it is not simply racial profiling, but rather wallet or pocketbook profiling. (As capitalists are so fond of quoting: it's worth what the market will bear). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newexpat Posted February 5, 2012 Posted February 5, 2012 What I'm thinking is that I could send a Balikbayan box with a few things but only send it to the LBC depot and not to an address at this stage. If you do that, the employees there will think it is their gift. They will open it and help themselves to the contents. Better you send it in care of an individual like the ancient one on this forum. It is a part of his business to provide storage for BB boxes if they are not too huge.Do you know how much he charges for a storage of a box ( is he a shipping agent also ? I would like to ship about 20 kilo box from Subic area to Cebu .Thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventurer Posted February 6, 2012 Author Posted February 6, 2012 I also have another question; If I decide to ship it to an address, can I change the address later, say 1 month later contact them and change the address? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted February 6, 2012 Posted February 6, 2012 I also have another question; If I decide to ship it to an address, can I change the address later, say 1 month later contact them and change the address? I would not even try to confuse them. They will find you if you move. Well they will if they have a bill to deliver. The LBC courier driver caught up to me after I moved twice, because I had told landlord and neighbors where I was moving to in each case. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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