With the pandemic creating chaos all over the world 🌎 , you surely can’t do your online shopping 🛒 because no one wants to ship to an island 🏝 with very limited flights. Even though a few sellers on AliExpress and eBay are still willing to deal with us, most often they are providing only premium shipping 🚢 couriers such as DHL or UPS, which are not always affordable.
You also sometimes feel stranded on a tiny island when you are checking out your cart on a big branded online store : ⚠️ Sorry, we do not offer international shipping.
Examples are takealot.com in South Africa or bestbuy in the states.
There are also situations whereby products are on sale on specific websites, targeting a specific market.
For example, UK based FireAngel alarm 🚨 systems which are sold on Amazon.co.uk only ( not even Amazon global).
What is ShopAndShip / Aramex ?
shopandship.com ( by Aramex) is probably one of the workarounds to your online shopping spree. By creating an account there, you get access to a personal delivery address in over 30 cities while they operate in over 80 destinations around the world 🗺
Similar to other shipping carriers, shopandship have built their own global network around the globe in order to provide this forwarding service. In Mauritius, the Celero Group is responsible for the delivery of your parcels, including custom clearance and other paper works.
So, the next time you want to buy a specific brand of chai ( tea) sold only in 🇮🇳 India,
Step 1 : Go to your shop and ship account and note down your Mumbai address 🏠
Step 2 : Add your item to your cart 🛒 , checkout and type in your indian delivery address
Once shopandship receives your parcel, they will forward it to your real Mauritian 🇲🇺 address and depending on air traffic, you can expect to drink your fav Indian tea while comfortably sitting on your couch within a few days 📅.
Step 3: Meantime, you can pay 💰 for shipping costs on shopandship.com directly, or on delivery. Other charges, such as VAT (if applicable) will be charged on delivery 📦 too.
Step 4 : Relax and drink your tea at home. ☕️
How much does it cost ?
Even though it is a paid service, it is still cheaper than other premium shipping couriers and more reliable than normal shipping. It costs $45 to create an account on their web site and they charge you per weight of your parcel. You can even subscribe to their premium services and get additional benefits.
Below is the cost if you have to ship from different countries to Mauritius 🇲🇺:
As you can notice, the price is not excessively high, and it varies per weight, not cubic volume. If you are shopping online very often, then it might be worth paying for their premium services (FLEX), enabling you to make savings on each shipping.
You should not forget additional charges in Mauritius, charged at delivery :
- VAT (Charged at customs)
- Brokerage fee (charged by Celero)
- MACCS fee (charged at post office)
Coupon codes
And if you are lucky enough to get valid coupon codes, that $45 subscription fee can be waived off, just like when I got one on the 31st December 2020. In fact, I have been actively looking for coupon codes since a few months 🗓 and it paid off! So, if you are looking for a free subscription, good luck.👍
And another awesomeness happened at that same time : it was the last day to grab boxing sales on Amazon UK 🇬🇧 . No need to say that I took that opportunity to buy a few stuff on that day.
My experiences
I first used the service earlier in 2020, much before Covid 19 was declared as a pandemic 😷
At that time, I ordered my FireAngel alarm devices on Amazon UK, got it delivered to a friend’s shopandship UK address and the parcel reached Mauritius after approximately one week.
And on 31st December, after creating my own free account, I received my Amazon purchases 💰 in my UK address on the 4th January 2021. The parcel was registered ( and visible) under my account on the 5th January. Later that same day, it left shopandship premises and took a flight ✈️ to Dubai. It stayed nearly 3 days in Dubai because of a shortage of flights and on the 9th, it reached Mauritius.After going through paperworks 📝 and customs, it was finally delivered to my doorstep on the 14th January 2021.
There is a detailed tracking available for each parcel they receive at your shopandship address:
So, it took roughly 10 days from London address to my real doorstep 🏡
Other alternatives
These parcel 📦 forwarding services have been around for quite some years and many people, including Mauritians, use them for the reasons I mentioned earlier. Popular ones are borderlinx ( closed now) and I think myus among others. They will surely be gaining more popularity now that I wrote an article on this topic. Lol 😂
Each one of them have their own set of benefits, disadvantages and associated costs. For example, shopandship does not offer combined shipping, meaning that they will forward your parcels as they receive them, separately in case you have several parcels. Make sure to read properly all facilities and restrictions before using such service.
One last thing : Don’t even think about staying at your shopandship address on your next vacations! 🎉
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