Monday, October 10, 2016

Amazon Shipping To Malaysia


I know quite a few of us in Malaysia (in fact more than a few) want to buy things from Amazon. However, most of us are concerned or have doubts about Amazon shipping to Malaysia; - how it works, shipping cost, returns, customs etc.

There are lots of questions about using a US address, a US credit card vs. local credit card, USD to RM conversion, and even multiple steps to buy e-books.

Disclaimer - This is my experience buying. Your experience will probably be different. There are different parties involved, Amazon, third party retailers, shipping companies etc. so things can happen along the way.

I've bought:-
  • items shipped directly from Amazon to a Malaysian address
  • items shipped to a relative with a US address
  • both free and paid Kindle ebooks

Buying Physical Products


There are two types of products. Those that can be shipped direct to Malaysia, and those that cannot.

So far, I've not bought things that Amazon does not ship direct to Malaysia. Some items are restricted in terms of location the sellers are willing to ship to. The way to go about buying things that do not ship direct from Amazon involves using a third party shipping service.

There are many services that does this for a fee but then, your total cost increases but I'm getting ahead of myself. When you buy things from Amazon.com, some items are sold by Amazon while others are sold by another party using Amazon's infrastructure.

Some merchants do not want to ship to overseas for whatever reasons so you cannot buy that item directly. Recently I bought a new tool for my business and had it shipped directly to me. The item is not sold here and as far as I can tell, the best place to buy it is from Amazon.

I selected Amazon Global Expedited Shipping, which was the cheaper of the two available. The other option was Priority shipping which is faster. Estimated time was 10 working days for expedited. I used a Malaysian credit card plus a gift certificate for the purchase.

A few clicks and the order was completed. Over the next few days, I manage to track the package in Amazon's website under "Your Orders". So far so good.



By the time, the package arrived in Malaysia, I did not see further shipping updates on Amazon's website. You see, the item was shipped through i-Parcel, which is a shipping company that Amazon uses. So I keyed in the tracking number in I-Parcel's website and they showed the same status; consolidated arrived - pending custom clearance. 




Since I've waited four days with no status update, and with the estimated delivery being the following day, I decided to write an email to I-Parcel.com's customer service and ask for a local tracking number. An I-Parcel rep replied in about 45 minutes with a local tracking number but stated the item is still waiting custom clearance.


However, I decided to just submit the tracking number to Pos Malaysia's website just to see if the number is active. Lo and behold, the item is already in their care and they are attempting delivery, the same day I contacted them.

I had a feeling the item I bought will reach me a day early because I've read that Amazon is quite timely with their expected delivery time which is why I decided to act rather than to sit and wait.



Search for I-Parcel online and you'll notice a lot of comments some good, some not so good. Based on my observation, with I-Parcel (you'll see which service is doing the shipping when you checkout from Amazon at the point of ordering), will ship overland (by truck) in the US to a port city before it goes on a plane.

There, your item is consolidated with other items and flown by air to Malaysia or elsewhere. Once it reaches Malaysia, the consolidated items are again sent individually to the buyers. I-Parcel uses Pos Malaysia for the final delivery once your items reaches Malaysia.

For me, the item arrived a day early and I'm a happy customer.

Your mileage may wary so patience is required unless you want to pay more for faster shipping, then choose the faster more expensive option.

Buying Kindle E-books

If you are interested to know about e-books, I've written about buying Kindle e-books here on this post. By the way, you don't need a Kindle to read Kindle e-books. I don't have one myself since I try to limit my gadgets whenever if I can. I

n order to read Kindle e-books, all you need is a Kindle app which you can download and install on your phone, tablet or even a computer.

Note : I have a US address and a local Malaysian address in my Amazon account. This could be the reason buying things is a bit easier and may have a bearing on buying e-books. If you need a US address but don't know where to find one, perhaps you can choose a McD restaurant in New York. The addresses are here.
Just make sure you don't accidentally ship some physical products there. It is usually not a problem since upon check-out, Amazon will ask you where to ship the products too.

P.S. With a relative in the US, you must be wondering why I choose to ship direct.

Well two reasons.

First, if you want to save on shipping, Amazon shipping will be the cheapest especially if the item can be shipped direct. Second, if the item is damaged or dead on arrival (DOA), I think can ship the item back to Amazon at their cost.

If I had shipped it first to a US address, then reship it to me, I would probably have to bear the cost of sending the item back to the US. I'm not absolutely sure on this as I've not tried it. A few hours after I have my new business tool in my hands, I received several more emails from I-Parcel after I receive my parcel.

On a closer look, I saw it on Amazon's tracking status too. Crazy emails if you look at the date.



Hmm, maybe someone forgot to set the clock on their computer. Whatever. Anyhooo, I'm quite satisfied.

Returning an item

If an item is damaged, malfunctions or is DOA (dead on arrival), returns are quite easy. To return the items, log in to your Amazon account, look for items your bought and click on the "return button". Y
ou can request for refund or for a replacement.

To make sure you are not penalized when you return items a bit late, what you need to do is inform them via email to say that the item is out from the US and may take a bit longer to reach them. One time I received a defective item. It was shipped it to a relative in the US who was coming back to Malaysia.

However, it malfunctioned after using it for a few days and I was forced to return it for a refund. Fortunately for me, my relative was going back to the US. Unfortunately for him, he had to carry it all the way back.

Due to all the traveling, by the time the item reached Amazon's warehouse, it was out of the return window period (usually 30 days for the item to reach Amazon's warehouse for a full refund. Late delivery could mean partial refund). To make sure I won't be penalized, I wrote to Amazon to explain the situation.

No issue, great customer service from Amazon for being flexible. I think they do this because there could be people who buys things like cameras and other gadgets, go travel and don't have the opportunity to return a defective item.

So in my experience, if it is a few days out of the return time frame, you should be okay. This is another item I found that is worth getting from Amazon if you want to reduce paper in your life.

There is a huge price difference compared to getting it in Malaysia Even after adding the cost of shipping, it is still 44% cheaper. This has reduce the clutter around my home office. Great even if you are looking to get more hours in your week. All in all, I've had a great experience shopping with Amazon.

Here's a video that shows the buying process in Amazon.

Also be wary if you receive email that is supposedly from Amazon. Double check those.

There are phishing scams designed to trick you into revealing your login ID and password. Find out more about this scam here.

Amazon, the Amazon logo, AmazonSupply, the AmazonSupply logo, Kindle, Fire and all related logos are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

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