# Alternatives to Aramex Shop and Ship



## dizzyizzy

Hello everyone,

I've had it with Aramex and their ridiculous fees that just keep hiking with no explanation whatsoever so I'm looking for a suitable alternative.

Does anybody have good experiences with similar services to S&S? I do quite a bit of online shopping in the USA so I need a USA delivery address and forwarding service to the UAE.

Any advice will be much appreciated 

TIA


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## Jumeirah Jim

You're a tough customer lizzy (non-shocker) 

Always found S&S very reasonable and efficient

Not aware they have any competitors


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## dizzyizzy

Jumeirah Jim said:


> You're a tough customer lizzy (non-shocker)
> 
> Always found S&S very reasonable and efficient
> 
> Not aware they have any competitors


Yes, I am 

I like their service but they have just come up with this 'delivery zone' concept which sounds like another scheme to hike their fees again. Last year they did it at least twice. I remember when I started using S&S it was around 40 dhs for the first kilo and now is 45dhs for the first half kilo. At is rate I'll have to give up my online handbag shopping


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## fcjb1970

dizzyizzy said:


> Yes, I am
> 
> I like their service but they have just come up with this 'delivery zone' concept which sounds like another scheme to hike their fees again. Last year they did it at least twice. I remember when I started using S&S it was around 40 dhs for the first kilo and now is 45dhs for the first half kilo. At is rate I'll have to give up my online handbag shopping


I did some checks with the calculator and it seems the prices are the same as they were before. What drives me crazy is that somehow my package is always the last one to be delivered, so I get a sms at 9:00 am and the package the guy shows up at 6:30 (the other day he showed up after 8:00 pm)

(Also, that price is lb not kg, it is 43 minimum fee which is up to about 1.1 lb (or under 0.5 kg) a kg is 77).


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## dizzyizzy

According to this table is 43dhs the first half kilo (not 45, my bad) and then 33dhs each half kilo after that. I don't see any prices published in lbs.

Shop and Ship :: Country Rates

Either way, I just paid 179 dhs for 2.16kg. Last December I paid 151 dhs for a shipment of very similar weight (2.02kg). There's definitely been an increase.


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## fcjb1970

dizzyizzy said:


> According to this table is 43dhs the first half kilo (not 45, my bad) and then 33dhs each half kilo after that. I don't see any prices published in lbs.
> 
> Shop and Ship :: Country Rates
> 
> Either way, I just paid 179 dhs for 2.16kg. Last December I paid 151 dhs for a shipment of very similar weight (2.02kg). There's definitely been an increase.


My bad, I read your previous post wrong I thought you said now it is 45 for a kilo, I missed the 'half' you had in there.

I just meant that I don't see an increase from before and after they started this zone thing the other day, did not mean to imply it has not gone up over time

The rate calculator you can switch between lb or kg if you ever care to


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## pamela0810

You need to pool your handbag shopping with Jynxgirl. That woman went nuts with her handbags! :nono: (I love this smiley!)

I'm subscribing to this thread as I'd like to find an alternative to S&S too. That being said, I haven't used them for the last 5 years!


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## speedex

dizzyizzy said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> I've had it with Aramex and their ridiculous fees that just keep hiking with no explanation whatsoever so I'm looking for a suitable alternative.
> 
> Does anybody have good experiences with similar services to S&S? I do quite a bit of online shopping in the USA so I need a USA delivery address and forwarding service to the UAE.
> 
> Any advice will be much appreciated
> 
> TIA


hi , 
MYBOX service is the same service with cheapest rate . Just 30aed for first half and 25 each add .


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## Malbec

Bringing this up.

Does anyone know in which state Postaplus has their address? I also think PP charge for volumetric weight instead of actual weight, which may turn out not as cheap as it sounds.

While I absolutely like S&S, the bad thing is their address is NYC based which means almost 9% tax being added to orders.


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## Edino

I have been using S&S for years, almost weekly, with great satisfaction. They delivery directly to my home, and I am not aware of any significant increases....


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## klerda

*try shipace*



dizzyizzy said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> I've had it with Aramex and their ridiculous fees that just keep hiking with no explanation whatsoever so I'm looking for a suitable alternative.
> 
> Does anybody have good experiences with similar services to S&S? I do quite a bit of online shopping in the USA so I need a USA delivery address and forwarding service to the UAE.
> 
> Any advice will be much appreciated
> 
> TIA


hi man, how about shipace? try to visit shipacedotcom/account/signin you might be interested in their service, i had great experience dealing with them and looking forward to do business again with them soon, hope this helps...


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## Malbec

klerda said:


> hi man, how about shipace? try to visit shipacedotcom/account/signin you might be interested in their service, i had great experience dealing with them and looking forward to do business again with them soon, hope this helps...


They are HORRIBLE, stay away.
It took ages to get my shipment, while it usually takes just 2 days from S&S once they got the package at any of their location. Shipace has some hidden "administrative" charges. On top of their per 0.5 kilo fees they add 5% of your total order value on orders below $250 and 10% on orders above $250. Obviously they don't mention this anywhere on their website.

They only mention that:
_"** Shipment *may* be subject to import duties and administrative fees." _.

In my understanding, any particular import duties and administrative fees related to import duties would be in case if order is above $250, since they have to pay the customs and collect the same from the customer.

I don't mind whatever they charge and if someone charge premium for good service, the problem is that Shipace is not transparent in their fees and their service is poor compared to S&S.


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## m214_214

Hi,

I have used shop and ship since 2006.

Finaly i found a cheaper and faster service provided by a Dubai based company "We ship" 

Weship.to

They have a whatsapp contact just add it to your phine contacts and start chating with them.

Good luck


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## Malbec

MyBox from PostaPlus has a free lifetime membership until the end of December (normally sign up fee is AED 90). You can sign up here. The good thing about MyBox is that they charge AED 30 for first 0.5kg (vs SnS AED 43) and AED 25 for each next 0.5kg (vs SnS AED 34). Also the good thing is that you can ship perfumes through them without additional charges (+$10 SnS max 150ML) - max 200ML per shipment. The bad thing is if the package is more than 100CM they will charge you by volumetric weight - and this can be a gamble depending on how compact did the seller pack the shipment.

SnS is obvious leader, but I have recently noticed that they are slower than before. Shipments delivered at their US address take often more than 48 hours to be posted on the account. Once here in Dubai, I often get SMS that shipment is out for delivery just to have it delivered on the 2nd day from getting the SMS  The good thing is no matte how bug the shipment is, they charge per standard weight.

Another interesting alternative is Borderlinx, which I have recently signed up for but didn't use yet. They have similar shipping fees as SnS although they purely charge on volumetric weight, so again it's a gamble. The good thing however is that they offer free repacking and consolidation of items. Also their fees per 0.5kg are on par with SnS, which is good as apart from these three forwarders, all others (MyUS, Viabox, Shipito etc) seem to have a very high starting fee for the 1st 0.5kg (e.g. $50). There is a nice comparison here. They don't accept perfumes though.


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## BedouGirl

Malbec said:


> They are HORRIBLE, stay away. It took ages to get my shipment, while it usually takes just 2 days from S&S once they got the package at any of their location. Shipace has some hidden "administrative" charges. On top of their per 0.5 kilo fees they add 5% of your total order value on orders below $250 and 10% on orders above $250. Obviously they don't mention this anywhere on their website. They only mention that: "** Shipment may be subject to import duties and administrative fees." . In my understanding, any particular import duties and administrative fees related to import duties would be in case if order is above $250, since they have to pay the customs and collect the same from the customer. I don't mind whatever they charge and if someone charge premium for good service, the problem is that Shipace is not transparent in their fees and their service is poor compared to S&S.


 Before ordering perfumes from overseas, check out Perfume Souq here. I've found them consistently cheaper than DF, Paris Gallery, etc. and they generally deliver in 24 to 48 hours of the order being placed.


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## Malbec

BedouGirl said:


> Before ordering perfumes from overseas, check out Perfume Souq here. I've found them consistently cheaper than DF, Paris Gallery, etc. and they generally deliver in 24 to 48 hours of the order being placed.


I saw them, not sure about the authenticity though. I just ordered some Amouage from Frangrancex.com to MyBox and their prices are pretty much on par with Souq.com , especially considering Cyber15 promo code for instant 15% discount and additional 10% cashback from BeFrugal

There were some comments in arabic on one of the popular Souq perfumes seller that his Amouage are fake or watered down...


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## BedouGirl

Malbec said:


> I saw them, not sure about the authenticity though. I just ordered some Amouage from Frangrancex.com to MyBox and their prices are pretty much on par with Souq.com , especially considering Cyber15 promo code for instant 15% discount and additional 10% cashback from BeFrugal There were some comments in arabic on one of the popular Souq perfumes seller that his Amouage are fake or watered down...


This is www.perfumesouq,com. Not to be confused with Souq.com. I've ordered loads from there and it's all been fine.


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## Malbec

BedouGirl said:


> This is www.perfumesouq,com. Not to be confused with Souq.com. I've ordered loads from there and it's all been fine.


Thanks, poor selection of Amouage though. There is a V-Perfume shop in Al Barsha Mall, they have pretty good stock and prices. There is also perfume shop on the ground level of Al Ghazal Complex, prices even lower than V-Perfume. But still Fragrancex was hard to beat in my case, including 15% discount and 10% BeFrugal cashback it came AED 400 cheaper.


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## sarf

Does Uae custom charge duty on clothes costing more than 1000 dhs ?


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## Malbec

sarf said:


> Does Uae custom charge duty on clothes costing more than 1000 dhs ?


I think it's pretty much on everything if the shipment value is above AED 1000. However sometimes I was not charged it despite the value was higher than AED 1000, so it depends on luck it seems. However I would expect the charge.


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