Comparison of EMS/TNT/UPS fast mail

[FatAndy]

Comrades (Ladies and Gentlemen ),

I'd like to share my experience with current fast mail services available in RF, for incoming parcels.

This summer my colleagues from Taiwanese HQ have sent me a parcel with 3 product samples by UPS (by my own recommendation), it has arrived in 1 week to my door, no customs fees, cost for them was around 10K Taiwanese dollars (~350 USD).

Later on they've sent me another parcel via DPEX from them and then transfered with TNT to RF territory, and it has turned into HUGE @$$ache, as local Russian TNT office has shown full impotence to pull the goods via customs. First of all they required to sign contract with them (min. 5600 rub for clearance services ), send them photocopy of my passport (thanks God, not my credit card), 3 additional claims for local customs, and wait for several days. In 3 or 4 days they've discovered that they're able to do nothing, and asked for one more claim with my refuse to customs. Whole process took around one month (delivery to RF, TNT pulling rubber and return back to TW), dunno about cost.

This parcel was returned to Taiwan, and then, by advice of RF partners, I've recommended them to send it back to RF again with EMS (fast mail of Russian Post). They've did it, it took 11 days with 2K Taiwanese dollars (~70 USD) and delivery was to my local post office, not to the door.

This info will hang here for some time, then I'll move it to Basics or Frugal expat sections.

[DavidB]

Thanks for the tips. I'm trying to decide how to get things sent at the moment, so it's good timing!

There is another option which I found: http://westpost.ru/ru/
It's a re-mailing service. If you have a lot of foreign mail, they can offer you a post office box in Finland. When something arrives, they will import it for you across the border near St.Petersburg. From there, they can deliver to anywhere in Moscow or St.Petersburg.

[Benedikt]

they had their main office in Zorge Street. Also a re mailer. THEY pick up your mail in Finland and either deliver it to you or you have a post pox at their office and went there to pick up your mail. I had them for years.never any problems or hassles.
While -everybody- was complaining about the unreliability of the local mail service, PX Post had to close down because there was not enough business support. Sad indeed.
If needed, i use EMS mail service, they might be a little slower than TNT or Fedex but i find them more reliable. And since there is a post office on nearly every corner sending and pickup is no problem.Fair enough no English spoken there, but then the Austrian post office employees do not speak Russian either and nor do people in US post offices.

[xp@]

Some years ago, I used Independent Postal Service for sending/receiving occasional letters or documents - without signing up for a mailbox.

Never had a problem.

They are in Moscow, and their site is: http://www.ips.ru/en/about_us.htm

[FatAndy]

Adding to my post above:
http://www.emspost.ru/send_ems_from_overseas/index.php - here you can find which countries cooperate with EMS and how to send EMS parcels from abroad, plus approximate rates in local currencies. It was very convenient for me, as they cover Taiwan (HQ is there), continental China (factory is there) and HK (logistic center is there).

That last parcel's weight was 3.9 kG.

[annasophia]

Tremendously useful thread. Needs to be pinned?

I riddle you all this:

What about mailing/shipping out of Russia to the west? What works, what doesn't work? Experiences, suggestions?

Is there a reliable reasonably priced service which can be depended on to mail/ship items both in and out of Russia, both ways?

Carry on.

[DavidB]

I've heard that exporting is not a problem, as long as you aren't dealing with items which are restricted (human body parts, antiques, etc.)

THe following is an example of my recent export by EMS. It's a letter. Took them almost a whole week just to get it on the plane in St.Petersburg! However, Pulkovo could only be considered half an airport at best (). I think it would be much quicker from Moscow and other air hub cities (Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Kazan)

Приём 20.12.11 18:29 САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГ 36 Единичный
Обработка 25.12.11 8:22 САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГ-ПУЛКОВО ММПО EMS Сортировка
Передано таможне 25.12.11 9:20 САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГ-ПУЛКОВО ММПО EMS
Таможенное оформление завершено 25.12.11 10:41 САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГ-ПУЛКОВО ММПО EMS Выпущено таможней
Экспорт 25.12.11 17:00 САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГ-ПУЛКОВО ММПО EMS

EMS is usually fast enough and reliable, even in Russia. I don't think it's Russian Post that causes problems, only the Customs service. Hopefully Customs will be reformed as part of the WTO entry, but don't forget that it will take some time.

[DavidB]

Is there a reliable reasonably priced service which can be depended on to mail/ship items both in and out of Russia, both ways?

If you need the cheapest option which is still reliable, you can use something like WestPost which I already wrote about. With that service, you will get an address in Finland where you can receive mail. They send credit cards and other sensitive documents by regular mail in Western countries, so it should be safe. Air mail arrives within 4-5 days in most of the EU, so it's fast enough not to use expedited services. Sending to USA should also be quite fast.

I can say for sure that the regular post works well for sending and receiving letters in the following countries:
USA
UK
Hong Kong
Slovakia
Australia

Parcels are more risky, and in that case you should use insurance. If you're sending something worth less than $1000, it should still be much cheaper than EMS without insurance.

Despite being West of many countries, the postal service in Italy is not very reliable. Use something else for that country. TNT seems to work well.

[FatAndy]

DavidB
THe following is an example of my recent export by EMS. It's a letter. Took them almost a whole week just to get it on the plane in St.Petersburg! However, Pulkovo could only be considered half an airport at best (). I think it would be much quicker from Moscow and other air hub cities (Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Kazan) - not sure. As you see from dates, it is already pre-Xmas period, and I'm sure they have a huge heap for both input/output directions. My parcel was processed as follows (13th Dec they've sent it from Taipei post office):
Операция Дата Индекс Адрес Атрибут операции Вес (кг.) Объявл. ценность (руб.) Налож. платёж (руб.) Индекс получателя Адрес получателя
Экспорт 14.12.2011 Тайвань TWTPEB 0
Импорт 19.12.2011 104003 Москва PCI-3 3.8 0 0 117452 Москва
Передано таможне 21.12.2011 104003 Москва PCI-3 3.8 0 0
Таможенное оформление завершено 21.12.2011 104003 Москва PCI-3 Выпущено таможней 3.8 0 0
Обработка 21.12.2011 104003 Москва PCI-3 Покинуло место международного обмена 0 0 0
Обработка 23.12.2011 117452 Москва 452 Прибыло в место вручения 0 0 0
Вручение 24.12.2011 117452 Москва 452 Вручение адресату

As you see, same 5 days from the moment when the parcel was dropped to Moscow (19th Mon) to pick-up (24th Sat)
И не кати бочку на Пулково - очень хороший аэропорт!

[FatAndy]

Tremendously useful thread. Needs to be pinned?

What about mailing/shipping out of Russia to the west? What works, what doesn't work? Experiences, suggestions?

Is there a reliable reasonably priced service which can be depended on to mail/ship items both in and out of Russia, both ways?

I'll pin/stick the thread surely, pls give advice which subforum to? Till the decision it will be stuck here.


Ladies and gents, please share your experience here.
Pls note if those companies you recommend have English webpages/Eng-speaking personnel inside RF.

[DavidB]

As you see, same 5 days from the moment when the parcel was dropped to Moscow (19th Mon) to pick-up (24th Sat)
И не кати бочку на Пулково - очень хороший аэропорт!

Hmm.. so the question is, should export be quicker than import? Taiwan Post managed to export the item in 1 day. On the import side, they have to check for value, taxes, banned substances, etc. and then do the delivery. On the export side, they only have to take it to the delivery center and check that you're not trying to hide a dead body.
I'll probably use EMS again in a few months. I'll post the results here.

I'll be interested to see if someone has sent something from Moscow with EMS.

About WestPost: they have an English website (http://westpost.ru/en/). I'm not sure about their staff.

Also for EMS... you can use this website: http://www.track-trace.com/post
It's better to use the website of the country which the parcel is being sent to, because it's usually more up to date and sometimes gives more information.

[FatAndy]

I think export time is equal to import time in our conditions. As far as I know, most time is not physical check-up, but paperwork.

[jasone65]

I tried to use DHL a few months, to send some of my belongings out. UK to St Petersburg. I was told that Russia has restrictions so I could'nt. The only way was business to business. Im not sure if this is still the situation.

[snowshoe]

I needed to send a suitcase (of typical carry-on size) of stuff ahead of me as I left Moscow in December 2011, it was filled with a few books, clothes, and shoes. With a Russian-speaking friend, I stood in line at the Chistie Prudy Moscow post office for something like 4 hours.

First you have to certify or pack the stuff in your package, and I had to fill in these forms. More than 3 or so books and the lady is wont to refuse your luggage because apparently you are not supposed to send books in a separate manner. Because of this I took out 7 of the books that I'd hoped to send in the suitcase. The first lady sent us to the packing lady who sewed up a thin bag for my suitcase, weighed it, and I had to pay a small sum for that. Then I joined the first line again to waittttt for my turn to have my package addressed, stamped, paid for, and put on the conveyor belt.

The reason why it takes so long is that the first lady also packs all the other smaller packages, in brown paper or boxes or whatever. You need two of the customs declarations form, and there was a third form that I had to fill in as well. The customs form required a blow-by-blow accounting of what the items are, how much they weigh and how much they cost. The staff didn't actually check, though, and I simply estimated.

In total my suitcase was something like 11kg and cost 2300 rubles or so to send to California. The entire process took about 4.5h on a Friday afternoon.

[snowshoe]

I don't know if my stuff as arrived yet- will update when I can check.
Also, the books sending department next door was closed when we tried to go around to it.