mail forwarders market analysis
DESCRIPTION
Research of mail forwarding service providers for those who order goods from the US to RussiaTRANSCRIPT
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Mail Forwarders Market Analysis
May 2013
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Mail Forwarding
Registration on the mail forwarder’s website
Choosing goods from different online stores website catalog
Ordering goods from different shops to the mail forwarder’s warehouse
address
Parcels arriving to the mail forwarder’s warehouse
Forwarding the consolidated parcel to Russia
Mail Forwarding service includes forwarding parcels from the sender to the receiver using a supplementary transitional address.
Mail forwarder consolidating the parcels
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Advantages of mail forwarding
Using mail forwarding service is less expensive than ordering goods directly from an online store
Some ebay.ru sellers and online stores don’t ship outside US
Mail forwarding service usually includes creating supporting documents for the parcel
Mail forwarders usually provide insurance for parcel loss or damage
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Mail forwarders
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Description
Warehouse Oregon
Express delivery USPS
Payment methods Credit cards, bank transfer, Google Wallet*
Stores More than 10
*Commission fee is charged for every payment method (3.2% of sales price or $15 fixed fee)
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Customer feedbackGot it in a month, even no problems with EMS! Packaged very carefully. Additional package was removed. Got a postcard and complimentary sweets.
Thаnks Banderolka for the parcel delivered and the complimetary sweets! The parcel was packaged well, reached me with no damage.
…the parcel was a little damaged, but Banderolka’s package prevented the contents from being damaged.
The only disadvantage, in my opinion, is not including the payment system’s commission in the final price indicated on the website.
Banderolka continues to provide high quality service, despite clients quantity growth.
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Services
Service
Forwarding x
Consolidation x
Special request (taking photo of goods, additional package, size check etc.)
x
Assisted purchase (assistance in shopping process)
Storage x
Insurance x
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Rates
Service Rate*
Forwarding $3-8 (price of packaging materials)
Consolidation Free
Special request Depends on the request
Storage 30 days free, then $10/month
Insurance $3-100
*The rates are valid for testing period only
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Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths Weaknesses
•Warehouse in a tax-free state•User-friendly interface•Efficient customer support•High quality packaging
•Using only USPS for express-delivery means parcel delivery in Russia through EMS only, which has very bad reputation due to delivery delays, high parcel loss rate, careless parcel handling and inefficient delivery service and customer support•The rates may change after the testing period is over•Banderolka doesn’t accept payments through Paypal system•Commission fee is charged for every payment method
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Description
Warehouse California, Oregon, Nevada, Hong Kong
Express delivery USPS, Airmail, FedEx, TNT, DHL
Payment methods Credit cards, Paypal, bank transfer
Stores All large online stores
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Customer feedback
Very fastThanks a lot
Everything repacked properly and very carefully
The package with wrong address successfully returned!
Very professional and polite work
Failed to consolidate packages properly
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Services
Service
Forwarding x
Consolidation x
Special request (taking photo of goods, additional package, size check etc.)
x
Assisted purchase (assistance in shopping process)
x
Storage x
Insurance
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Rates
Service plan
INDIVIDUAL PACKAGES
VIRTUAL MAILBOX
Setup fee $0 $0
Monthly fee $0 $10/month or $50/year
Processing fee per package $8.50 $2.50
Fast mail out – magazine or letter $1 $1
Consolidation savings NO YES
Consolidation fee N/A $2 per package
Free Storage 90 days 90 daysAssisted purchase– $8.50 for 10 unique items of the purchase
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Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths Weaknesses
•Warehouses in HK and tax-free Oregon•Flexible rates•Large choice of express delivery companies
•Relatively high rates•No insurance service
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Description
Warehouse Pennsylvania
Express delivery USPS, ShopFans Express
Payment methods Credit cards, Paypal, bank transfer
Stores All large online stores
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Customer feedback
Everything is OK! Got the parcel! Packaged well! Got it in 6 days after payment!
The parcel was sent on 13th, today is 16th, and I’ve just had a call from the delivery man who said that the parcel was waiting for me. T was delivered in two hours. Packaged very well, the service is very efficient. I was delighted by the speed of delivery.
It would be very good if the delivery man called at least one hour before coming. No other disadvantages.
A little disappointed with no information about the parcel location after its customs clearance. Everything else is OK.
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Services
Service
Forwarding x
Consolidation x
Special request (taking photo of goods, additional package, size check etc.)
x
Assisted purchase (assistance in shopping process)
Storage x
Insurance x
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Rates
Service Rate
Processing a package less than 3lb (1.3 kg) $3
Processing a package more than 3lb (1.3 kg) $5
Consolidation $0
Additional package $3
Photo of goods $2-5
Insurance $3 for every $100 of the package value
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Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths Weaknesses
•No sales tax for garments and shoes in Pennsylvania•Simple rates•Fast delivery due to own ShopFanExpress delivery service•Efficient customer support
•The service fees become relatively high when many parcels are consolidated•The clients fill in the supporting documents by themselves
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Description
Warehouse New Jersey
Express delivery Polar Express, DHL, Fedex, USPS
Payment methods Credit cards, Western Union, MoneyGram, bank transfer
Stores All large online stores
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Customer feedback
Got the parcel. Everything is OK. Packaged very well.
Failed to get one of the purchases that was supposed to be included in the parcel. Don’t know whose fault it is.
Good rate, the parcel reached the destination with no problem. Got the responses to the emails rather quickly.
Sometimes I don’t get the tracking status change notifications. Tracking is not useful, it has only the “Parcel number” data now.
Didn’t get the parcel for 1.5 month. The customer service wouldn’t respond, the tracking doesn’t work.
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Services
Service
Forwarding x
Consolidation x
Special request (taking photo of goods, additional package, size check etc.)
Assisted purchase (assistance in shopping process)
Storage x
Insurance x
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Rates
Service Rate
Parcel processing $1
Consolidation $0
Storage 30 days free, then $5/purchase/month
Packaged parcel storage with «waiting for delivery payment» status
7 days free, then $10/month
Photo of goods $1
Additional package $2
Insurance $0-100
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Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths Weaknesses
•Low rates•Large choice of express delivery companies
•Delivery delays•Parcel tracking on the website doesn’t provide information on time.
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Description
Warehouse Pennsylvania
Express delivery USPS, Meest
Payment methods Credit cards, Webmoney, RBC Money
Stores All large online stores except Abercrombie, Holister, Victoria’s Secret, Overstock, Sears, Kmart,
JCPenny
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Customer feedback
Very short period of delivery, notwithstanding Russian Post delays.
Got the parcel today. Waited for it rather long due to Russian Post workload. The parcel had been dropped several times, and its one side was badly damaged. The contents itself were not damaged due to additional package.
Was delighted with the service and customer support work.
The parcel was damaged. All the goods ordered were in the parcel.
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Services
«Full support» service. Pochtoy.com orders goods to its US address, gets the parcels, consolidates them and ships the consolidated parcel to Russia.
«Virtual address» service. The customers order goods by themselves from online stores to Pochtoy.com mailing address. The company gets the orders, consolidates them and forwards the consolidated parcel.
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RatesFull support
Service Rate
Parcel processing $1
Consolidation Free
Package removal Free
Virtual address
Order value Commission
from $1 to $100 $10
from $101 to $500 10%
from $501 to $1000 8%
Additional services
Multi-layer film $4
Envelope $2
Photo $3
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Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths Weaknesses
•Simple rates•No tax for garments and shoes•Assisted purchase service available•Frequent special discounts•Payment through Webmoney system is available
•No possibility to order goods from Abercrombie, Holister, Victoria Secrets, Overstock, Sears, Kmart, JCPenny.
Comparative delivery rates table
Company Fee*
Banderolka $84.3
Shipito $76.72
ShopFans $65.9**
Polar Express $86.56
Pochtoy.com $70.15
*Delivery of one $200 parcel by USPS Express to Moscow
**The fee becomes relatively high when shipping several parcels
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Description
Warehouse Chicago
Express delivery USPS, DHL, FedEx, Major Service, SPSR
Payment methods Credit cards, Yandex dengi, QIWI, Webmoney, bank transfer
Stores Amazon.com, Ebay.comSpecial order from other stores is
possible.
The service of forwarding goods using a transitional address is also provided by consolidator companies , that allow to order goods from their own online catalogs.
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Bay.ru vs Banderolka
Other large stores
Special order from
other stores
Choosing goods on Bay.ru website
Shopping cart on Bay.ru
Order to Bay.ru warehouse in the US
Shipment to Russia
Choosing goods on stores websites
Ordering from stores websites
Delivery to the warehouse in the US
Consolidation
Shipment to Russia
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Strengths and weaknessesStrengths Weaknesses
•Convenient website order interface•Many payment options•Many express delivery options
•The discounts provided by online stores may not be considered in Bay.ru catalog•There is an opportunity for secret charges due to non-transparent final fee structure•Bay.ru directly ships from amazon.com and ebay.com only. Special order from other stores may icrease the delivery period
