Ink that Lazada sells are mainly from China and have a chip to make them compatible. It's a crap-shoot if they work or not. I always look at the reviews before I buy and COD.
I picked up on this old thread and thought to tell of my recent experience sending Balikbayan Boxes over to PH from UK, I must have sent a dozen boxes over in the past 10yrs, mostly using a Filipino company called Alsomavic Cargo ltd, there is two UK Mob No; 07957945745/07984517093, the price to send a standard box, 24inch high and 20x18inch wide is £65, usually I send three of them to get a better deal 3 for £150, larger boxer are to be had but I prefer to use the small ones as they are easier to handle than the large, plus the bigger they are the harder they fall, my choice of box is comparable to two large suitcases side by side, I would guess I have at least 5okg's in each and there is no limit to weight, up till now I never had any damage (usually i am generous with the parcel tape to the tops and bottoms of the boxes) or things stolen from these boxes and they have taken 10 weeks to arrive, they seem to fly through customs and are never really checked in my experience, I guess you can send anything you want in them even contraband if that is your desire?
When I send packages to the Philippines, I use Parcelforce with a 10kg limit. Pay £60 for door collection service. From the UK to Manila, takes only a few days. Then it stays there for around a month before the good lady receives the packages.
David 52 I can only guess we are a similar age as I was born in 1952 and now both or us are coffins dodgers reaching our 3 score years and 10 and working towards our 3 score years and 11, what you are getting seems like a Fecking bad deal to me, the way I work using the Balikbayan boxes when I send only one it is £65 with an unlimited weight, I can only guess this but I would think I have had 65kgs at times, OK it takes a little more that double the time of your service provider taking 10 weeks door to door, but yours comes at a very high cost, I cannot see any justification to use Parcelforce for anything other than important documents and especially at the price you are paying??? I do think YAYFH. Many times I have been on the receiving end sending boxes just before a flight to PH, then I see the Filipinos opening the box with such unbelievable infectious excitement, even thought much of the extra space in a box I just fill up with cheap often second hand goods, understand this most Filipinos have never received much in the way of present for the whole of their lives, some have never travelled any further than 10 miles from their homes, getting a present from UK even a used item of little value really does mean the world to them.
every year i undergo the nightmare of the balikbayan box saga. Wife buys dozens of cans of spam, corned beef. Boxes of toblerones, and other cheap lidl type chocs. Jars of instant coffee. She also hits the charity shops for bric a brac, clothes, dead mans shoes...you name it. Used flat tv's..vacuum cleaners, DIY tools..anything and everything. All this is crammed into large cardboard boxes provided by Pooten cargo--she then wraps them in miles of gaffa tape and pays £160 or more to ship them. They weigh more than a cubic metre of concrete. Ive told her time and again to send the money she would spend plus the shipping fee. Deaf ears.
As I said the extreme excitement they get from opening these boxes is almost infectious, sure give them money they will like that but it will be gone the same day, my immediate family members here will donate as much as one full box of old and some new clothes, then there is the discarded toys from my Grandchildren, this is all put to good use, I hit the January sales buying around £400 worth of toys with 70% off the original price, these filled a box on their own.
Most of the stuff you get in the UK is of a far superior quality to what you get here unless you pay for the shipped in original brand. So sending over used/2nd hand electrical stuff and tools is quite a good idea imho
My kids bought me a couple of t-shirts for Christmas when I was over there and they were made of much more substantial material then anything I buy from M&S or anywhere else over here in the UK, I took them to M&S in Glorieta in Makati to get buy them some good quality clothes but my daughter really didn't like the styles we ended up going to other brand name shops instead but I did get my son some pairs of jeans in M&S.
We do a yearly box with Forex courier company to the wife’s eldest daughter and her daughter. Normally summer clothes for the daughter and next years age range for the granddaughter. Christmas gifts in the shape of toys for the granddaughter also go in and are put away till Christmas. Gifts for her ageing father and spinster sister. Wife has largest box forex do takes about 10 weeks to ship at about £90 As @HONEST DAVE suggests the arrival of the box is greatly anticipated and appreciated, who am I to deflate the euphoria!
You are correct about the T shirts there in PH and perhaps that applies to much of the clothing there especially cotton goods, there is a section in SM department store for Fat Feckers like myself called Maxwear, they are expensive but the T's and Collar shirts last for years, however JS is correct to imply most other things available there in PH is of poor quality, that also applies to the people and the service you get there. The best T's I had in UK were from Aldi and Fruit of the Loom I bought on-line, I had many of them that I had taken over to PH and they lasted well, considering how they are hand washed there on scrubbing boards and beat on the rocks they kept their shape well even long after they faded at the shoulders with the sun.
Just a quick question on this topic. As a non filipino, Can I use the balikbayan service to send to my good lady over there in the PH? Would there be any issues in regards?
the little igarut blokes that collect for pootten cargo are immensly strong--lifting the largest boxes on their own
There is plenty of ignorant blokes from all over the Philippines all brawn and no brains but exceedingly strong.
