Seamail

[baldock92]

Hi all

I'm looking to get some stuff shipped home from Vietnam and the cost of posting via Seamail compared to airmail is significantly less, around 40% of the airmail cost. I wondered if anybody had any experiences using Seamail in the past, and whether it is a reliable service or something that should be avoided. The time taken for the parcel to arrive is not an issue, so may as well save the cash if i can.

Thanks

[Woodsey]

Yes sort of.....shipped a load of stuff back from Zimbabwe a few years ago. I used one of the reputable courier companies, I forget who but it was someone like DHL or suchlike. Was given a sea or air option and the times for both, sea a lot cheaper. It was a lot late (several weeks) wasn't a problem but as we were sending from a banana republic I thought we wouldn't see it again after a week or so of lateness went by, but it turned up eventually so no problem.

If you are sending a lot of the same thing home i.e. It looks like you are buying something in bulk to sell on at home, don't be surprised if you get hit by custom charges.....

[Graham C]

Only ever time I've done this was from Australia but it was a while ago.  We sent bits and bobs back from our travels and weren't in any rush for them so time wasn't a problem.  Also sent my camera films back for my Mum to develop so she could see what we were up too......and to save me paying     Everything went OK.

[baldock92]

Good to hear some positive stories from it. It's nothing to try and flog on out the back of a 3 wheeler van to make a few quid, so I don't think I'll get hit by customs charges- it's just a parcel with a couple of tailored suits as they're so damn cheap out here, I couldn't say no! Sent them off today and was told it'll take 3 months ish. 10/1 I never see them again haha. Thanks

[Doobs]

Good to hear some positive stories from it. It's nothing to try and flog on out the back of a 3 wheeler van to make a few quid, so I don't think I'll get hit by customs charges- it's just a parcel with a couple of tailored suits as they're so damn cheap out here, I couldn't say no! Sent them off today and was told it'll take 3 months ish. 10/1 I never see them again haha. Thanks

Did you mark gift?  If it is of value, you can get charged customs charges.  Sometimes they charge you, sometimes you don't.  The charge can be pretty random, but we have always just sucked it up.  I don't know if you ar enay more likely to get hit if it goes seamail or airmail.  If you mark gift, it doesn't seem to make you immune either, but am reasonably sure you get charged less often.

Sometimes things you send by seamail can get sent by airmail which is a bonus.

Your fabrics are going through the tropics which could be bad, but given they are made in Vietnam then guess they aren't anything that can't cope.

Where are you in Vietnam, diary please!   Guess Hoi An or somewhere like that for the suits. I went there years ago, loved it, but the whole place has changed massively.  When I went, there were 5 ATMs in the whole of Vietnam, and I think you'd have struggled to pay £10 a night anywhere.  I have been looking at some facebook stuff recently, and they have £100 a head meals now.  I am not sure I'd recognise the place. 

[baldock92]

No I didn't mark it as a gift, just turned up at the post office and handed the woman the clothes and lots of Dong (cheeky). I presume if the tropics were an issue somebody sending clothes back over the past x years would have raised a point, so I'm hoping it's not an issue!

Arrived in Da Nang today, after spending 5 days in Hoi An which I loved- such a pretty town. I find it mad how many tailors and clothes shops there are, I read that around 20-30 years ago or so there were only 14 tailors in the whole town, now there are something like 700 I think, some looking like they've not had a customer in weeks so no idea how they make any money!

I obviously can't comment first hand on how the country, and the surrounding countries in south east Asia which I've visited/ intend on visiting, have developed in recent years due to increased tourism but I've heard it's unrecognisable in places. Especially in the most popular destinations there are western faces everywhere you look. It's nice once in a while to take a local bus and disappear to a random town for a few days, with only local food at local prices and a dodgy looking guesthouse for $3.

Very much considered writing a blonde diary but I think I'd be pretty crap at updating it regularly. Considering this trip is going to go on for another 12-18 months or so I might start one up at some point!

[baldock92]

FWIW I'm very much looking forward to visiting Burma if I can, as they've only opened the borders to tourists within the past 5 years or so. Those who've visited it say it's very much like how Thailand/ Vietnam/ Cambodia etc were before the masses flocked there, and that they couldn't recommend visiting it enough. Definitely a place for anyone with an interest in travel to visit in the next couple of years to visit before it becomes another country packed out with selfie sticks and crepe stalls.