Ep. 107: Shipping To the Philippines Through Balikbayan Boxes

Welcome to the Secret Sauce of Outsourcing podcast that's dedicated to making you better at outsourcing and working with a team in the Philippines. This is episode 107, shipping to the Philippines Through a Balikbayan Box. So I'm excited about this one because I actually, I think I know how to pronounce this word in Filipino, which usually I don't know. I have no clue. But this is one that I've dealt with enough times to know. So. So I've talked about how expensive it is to ship to the Philippines, but I also understand that people want to send something to your ofs. Sometimes you want people to feel like they're part of a family. And the last couple weeks when I talked about the mindless work, we talked about how important it is that they feel like they're part of a family. So that's exactly why Danny what Danny had in mind when he sent me this email with these questions and the shipping to the Philippines is a common question that I get, so I'm excited to answer it today. Here's what Danny says. Hi John, when we bring on staff or contractors in the us we often give them a company baseball hat, a couple of stickers, or other promotional product with our logo on them. I think it helps them to feel they are part of our business family. Shipping to the Philippines can be expensive and complicated, but I want my people over there to know that I value them and consider them to be important to us. But this brings up questions. I hope you'll ask your OFS to consider responding, which is interesting that I love that Danny said ask your OFS to help me respond to this, which I did. So he continues. 1. If we send a gift to our staff, does it put them in an awkward position? Do they feel they need to reciprocate? That's not what I'd want them to feel or do. 2. Besides company stuff, are there universally desired and lightweight items from the US that we should consider sending? 3. Are there any definite no nos things we should not consider sending? By the way, I found this page on the USPS website. Best thing in it if the value of what you're shipping exceeds 3000 php about US $58 the Philippines government tax on a US $30 fee, he says. Thanks for considering my question, Danny. So Filipinos who live in the US know this issue well. They want to send gifts and care packages to their family back home. But it's expensive and there's also a really good chance that things get stolen. So here's the solution that people have come up with. You ship it using a corrugated cardboard box they call a balikbayan box. Hopefully you can see this picture of these Balikbayan boxes if you're watching this video. Balikbayan boxes usually come in several sizes. The smallest ones are 24 inches by 24 inches by 12 inches. So that's a pretty dang big box. Biggest ones are 24 by 24 by 45. Boxes are seen as care packages by the Philippines government. They don't tax it as much as items imported for sale or items sent as gifts. So what people do is they get the box, they cram them full of as much stuff as possible, which helps kind of generally lower the overall shipping cost. So if you have a bunch of employees in the Philippines and you're looking to send them gifts, this is a pretty good option. So I asked my ofs like what are things that what are good things to send and what are bad things to send? So here's a list of things that she said are good and then I'm going to cover a list of bad things. Generally, it's best to send things that customs isn't going to care about or they don't require an fda, a Food and Drug Administration inspection. Things like children's toys or small perfume bottles, cosmetics, household products like cleaners or deodorizers. Which is a really interesting thing to say. Like I don't want to send household cleaning products to an office. But that's what she that's what she said. Vitamins and supplements, processed food, canned goods, jerky, shampoo, lotion, soap, liquor, wine and other spirits, clothing and accessories, shoes, bags, et cetera, stationary pens, notebooks, et cetera. So these are common things that get sent by family to go back home. So Customs will inspect the box if they suspect you're sending contraband or trying to smuggle something into the country you don't want to get. She says. She said to me you don't want to give Philippines Customs a reason to open the box because they're notoriously corrupt. So avoid sending electronics and jewelry. You'll also want to avoid the following things is what she says. Seeds and plants, anything perishable, batteries, cash, lottery and sweepstakes, tickets. Obviously people are sending them guns, ammunition, other related items, gunpowder, shell casings, etc. Anything related to gambling, like loaded dice, marked playing cards, etc. Anything flammable, lighters, lighter fluid, cigarettes, cigars, vape pens, drugs and narcotics, including items infused with hemp or cannabis. I Mean, none of that sounds like good things to send. But she's my office said don't send it. She also said avoid sending things in bulk. Like, don't fill a box with just shampoo. Which, I'm not sending shampoo to my ofs. But she said, don't fill a box with just shampoo. Customs will think you're trying to sell stuff to the Philippines. So, like, you're using a Balikbayan box to import, which is illegal because it looks like you're trying to avoid custom taxes because they treat Balikbayan boxes differently than other things. So when filling Balikbayan box, like a good variety of things is a good rule of thumb. You can sit a whole bunch of things that a family wants. She recommends chocolate. Even though I don't know how you send chocolate, how it's going to melt, I don't know. But she recommends chocolate and candies, which is like so easy, so easy, so easy. It won't attract the attention of customs. Sweets are traditionally given as gifts in the Philippines. Team will appreciate it. So how do you actually ship a Balik Bayan box? Two options are LBC Express and FedEx. Those are the safest and most reliable options when shipping from the US LBC Express, I'm pretty sure, is like a Philippines shipping company. And they don't exist everywhere. But like here on the West Coast. I know that there's an LBC in Las Vegas and one in la. I'm sure if you're in a, in a major area where there's, where there is any sort of Filipino population, you probably have an LBC Express where you can drop the box off. And it's, it's pretty cheap to, to ship that stuff. I know that. I know people here in the US who use LBC to send Balikbayan boxes to the Philippines. It's pretty easy and pretty reliable. So obviously there's a lot of information in this podcast, but if you want to send stuff to the Philippines, Balik Bayan box is a pretty good option. And LBC Express is a pretty good option. They'll know what a Balikbayan box is. So will FedEx, and it makes it a lot cheaper. Just doesn't allow you to ship a laptop, which is often what people want to ship is a laptop, and I wouldn't send that in a box.