Shipping Household Goods to the Philippines

[RichardSC]

I'm new to this forum and I'm not sure if I'm asking these questions in the right forum, so if you think there is a better forum to ask these questions, please let me know.

I'm now retired and I told my wife that if she wants to move back to the Philippines (that's where she is from - actually, Cabanatuan), I would take her back. We have and are currently living in South Carolina, USA. She now wants to go back so we plan to move back, first to somewhere in Manila, in 2026. My wife has her dual-citizenship.

There are a few things that I've had a long time and that I would like to take with us. I know that many of the smaller things can be shipped in balikbayan boxes, but a few things are too big - such as a wood 3' x 5' chest that I made my wife, @ a dozen framed portraits, and a few other things. I believe I could get these things in a 1/8th or 1/4 container. I know these will be costly to ship.

My question is, have any others that have already moved done this? How exactly did you do it? Are there any companies that you would recommend or tell me to stay away from? Are you happy with what you did? Any advice you could give me would be helpful...

[Old55]

Welcome to the forum Richard. 

You may want to ask the local balikbayan box shipping company. Ours will ship odd sized items.

[scott h]

24 minutes ago, RichardSC said:

'm asking these

If your interested in shipping a container just start with a local house moving company first. If memory serves we just use Allied moving when we moved 13 years ago. Took about 30 days (I think)

Don't worry about asking silly questions, we are a bunch of crazy ole coots, old because we are mostly retired, and crazy because most of us are married to Filipinas 

[Lee]

2 hours ago, RichardSC said:

but a few things are too big - such as a wood 3' x 5' chest that I made my wife

As you have noted, somethings are too big to fit in a BB box.

When we went through this, we basically "built" boxes for a few oversize items. One item that was shipped (in 2 boxes) was a complete toolbox--top and bottom--that was filled with tools. You have to pack everything in these boxes so if you shake them you can't even hear a rattle.

When the toolbox arrived, the delivery crew didn't have a dolly so they simply put it on the ground and ROLLED it end over end into the house. YMMV.

Edited December 11, 2025 by Lee

[hk blues]

8 hours ago, RichardSC said:

I'm new to this forum and I'm not sure if I'm asking these questions in the right forum, so if you think there is a better forum to ask these questions, please let me know.

I'm now retired and I told my wife that if she wants to move back to the Philippines (that's where she is from - actually, Cabanatuan), I would take her back. We have and are currently living in South Carolina, USA. She now wants to go back so we plan to move back, first to somewhere in Manila, in 2026. My wife has her dual-citizenship.

There are a few things that I've had a long time and that I would like to take with us. I know that many of the smaller things can be shipped in balikbayan boxes, but a few things are too big - such as a wood 3' x 5' chest that I made my wife, @ a dozen framed portraits, and a few other things. I believe I could get these things in a 1/8th or 1/4 container. I know these will be costly to ship.

My question is, have any others that have already moved done this? How exactly did you do it? Are there any companies that you would recommend or tell me to stay away from? Are you happy with what you did? Any advice you could give me would be helpful...

When me moved here from Hong Kong we used a mix of BB boxes (for the stuff we kinda needed quickly on arrival) and then a half container (i.e. 20' of a 40' container) - we were advised this was technically illegal as customs would not be 100% clear on what belonged to who but the shipper suggested it as it was much cheaper than a stand-alone 20' container.

If you can fit everything into a BB that's the way to go, but it may not be possible for bigger items. 

[Possum]

In the US I have used UMAC Express to ship balikbayan boxes with good success over the years. When they came to pick up some boxes 2 years ago they said they had recently shipped a grand piano to the Philippines from a home in Florida. Apparently anything can be shipped for a price the question is always what assurance one has that customs won't have some surprise charge upon arrival.

[hk blues]

3 hours ago, Possum said:

In the US I have used UMAC Express to ship balikbayan boxes with good success over the years. When they came to pick up some boxes 2 years ago they said they had recently shipped a grand piano to the Philippines from a home in Florida. Apparently anything can be shipped for a price the question is always what assurance one has that customs won't have some surprise charge upon arrival.

I think any shipping company can pretty much ship anything anywhere but I don't think everything qualifies for the balikbayan privilege.  

[Rooster]

Many years ago when I decided to retire here I took pictures of items I valued then sold everything or gave it away. I have never looked at the photos of the items I valued because I deleted them from memory.

This is from Google AI on importing wood furniture to The Philippines. 

Importing household wood furniture to the Philippines involves strict rules from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), requiring a DENR Authority to Import or Certificate of Registration (COR), a Phytosanitary Certificate, proper documentation (Invoice, Packing List, Bill of Lading), and paying duties (around 37.5% + VAT for standard items) and taxes, with low-value shipments (<P10k) potentially exempt; using a reputable customs broker (like ImportAnythingPH) and considering local climate/termites are also key steps

Your 3' x 5' chest that you built for your wife and other wood items may be termite infested by the time you receive it if you decide to ship it.

Edited December 12, 2025 by Rooster

[hk blues]

13 hours ago, Rooster said:

Many years ago when I decided to retire here I took pictures of items I valued then sold everything or gave it away. I have never looked at the photos of the items I valued because I deleted them from memory.

This is from Google AI on importing wood furniture to The Philippines. 

Importing household wood furniture to the Philippines involves strict rules from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), requiring a DENR Authority to Import or Certificate of Registration (COR), a Phytosanitary Certificate, proper documentation (Invoice, Packing List, Bill of Lading), and paying duties (around 37.5% + VAT for standard items) and taxes, with low-value shipments (<P10k) potentially exempt; using a reputable customs broker (like ImportAnythingPH) and considering local climate/termites are also key steps

Your 3' x 5' chest that you built for your wife and other wood items may be termite infested by the time you receive it if you decide to ship it.

There are rules, and then the reality. We definitely had some wooden pieces and definitely had some of the above mentioned requirements but not all. We did have to pay an (ahem) release fee over and above what had been quoted. This was  my 1st exposure to how certain things work here.

On the plus side, after 3 months in storage here everything was delivered in tip-top condition. Wasn't even that expensive- from memory under £3k HK-here all in.

[Freebie]

I bought a wonderful Narra table in Baguio.. it then traveled with me  in many countries that I lived in... I eventually retired in Manila, and the table was shipped along with rest of household contents. The crocodiles at Customs demanded I paid an mport tax on this particular table.

Couldnt explain why an item from Philippines would need an import tax but they were very clear that if i appealed  their ruling the import tax would increase.  Any shipment over BB box size might need a shipper and when customs are involved...be aware