Balikbayan Boxes

Tagged with balikbayan, cargo, freight, philippines, united states on January 12, 2024

Unless you’re a Filipino or have close ties to Filipinos, you may have no idea what I mean when I mention balikbayan boxes. The word “balikbayan” is a Tagalog word that was coined way back in the 1970s. It refers to a Filipino who returns to the Philippines. The word “balik” means “going back” or “return” while “bayan” means “country” or “birthplace”.

Balikbayan boxes are large cardboard boxes, containing cargo. They’re usually transported by ship instead of air, where the weight of the boxes aren’t of any concern. They’re still sometimes shipped by air when time is of the essence.

Shipping Boxes

If you want to ship stuff to the Philippines, using a postal service, UPS, DHL, or FedEx is probably the most expensive way. Balikbayan box cargo shipping services or freight forwarders are generally far less expensive. Before you ship anything, however, please think about what you’re shipping. Your relatives can buy many of the things in the Philippines at nearly the same amount it would cost you in your country.

Some Filipinos prefer to use the same bailikbayan boxes as luggage while traveling by aircraft. As long as the boxes don’t exceed 50 pounds and aren’t larger than 72 linear inches, it isn’t a problem.

Contacts and Empty Boxes

Shipping balikbayan boxes can be an interesting experience in frustration if you don’t know where to go or who to contact.

The best way to find out about cargo services in your area is to go to an Asian market or supermarket. A lot of them are affiliated with one cargo company or another. They will sometimes have the empty boxes you can use for balikbayan boxes. You can call one of these markets if it’s a hassle driving to them, but I can’t guarantee you’ll get answers to your questions.

In my experience, only a Filipino can talk to a Filipino without getting frustrated by the language barrier. That is, unless the Filipino on the other end speaks good English. Regardless of where you get the empty boxes, and you can’t just get them anywhere, you may or may not have to pay for them. Most of them typically give you empty boxes to replace the boxes you’re currently shipping.

I believe all of them charge for the first batch of empty boxes, although they’re not expensive. It’s probably a practice used to discourage people from using them as home storage containers. The 24x18x18 size box is pretty big at 60 linear inches.

Balikbayan Box Cargo Services

When you use your search engine, you can find more services than you can probably use. Over the years, I’ve only dealt with a few:

• Forex Cargo
• LBC Express
• Manila Forwarders

I’ve seen “Atlas Shippers International” at places like “Seafood City” in Hawaii, but I’ve never used them. My wife’s aunt has used services that were months slower than the ones I’ve used.

I haven’t actively searched for other shipping services, yet I came across MyUS.com. They give you an address to send your purchases to and then turn around and ship the box to you in the Philippines. It seems like a good deal. Someone pointed to ShippingCart as a similar service, but it doesn’t seem as good.

Image by minka2507 from Pixabay