Posted by Lisa La Nasa
October 22nd, 2009 
4 Comments
Miami-Box for Shipments from the USA
I needed to view and approve samples for work, but they were 6000 miles away in Minnesota. I weighed my options: FedEx and UPS were quoting in the $160-200 USD range to get a 2 kilo box to uruguay. I thought that was insane and was determined to find a better way. Mail would be cheap, but there is a hell of an ordeal to claim your package at the Correo Central and pay aduana (taxes) if necessary- plus stories of packages never arriving and I couldn’t take that chance. I decided on Miami-Box.
Miami-Box is a parcel forwarding service between Miami, FL and Uruguay. Set up a free account on their website and you get a unique address to send packages to in Miami. This is a great solution for items purchased online or gifts from family and friends. Once a package arrives for you in Miami, you are notified via email and you have a few options depending on the purchase price of the package: if under $100 USD, you can opt to pick up your package at the airport and handle the aduana (taxes) yourself (with Miami-Box supplying the paperwork for you), or you can opt for full service delivery, with your credit card on file being billed for the aduana and delivery fees. I decided on the latter and it was so convenient. Not necessarily inexpensive, but convenient.
My little 2 kilo package cost me $99.60 on a $30 retail value. A little painful, but still cheap in comparison to what UPS or FedEx were quoting. The fees were broken down as follows (all in USD):
Airline freight from Miami (based on weight) $27.00
Aduana Taxes (based on retail value of $30 + freight of $27.00) $36.00
Delivery (optional) $15.00
Handling $15.00
Administrative fees $6.60
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Grand total of $99.60 USD
The package arrived within 5 days, in one piece and hand delivered to my door. I will try priority mail next time for comparisons sake. The correspondence with Miami-Box throughout the process, as well as the delivery were all extremely professional. I would certainly recommend their service.
*As noted on the Miami-Box site, books and magazines are not taxed to bring into Uruguay. I will definitely use Miami-Box in the future for that purpose. They are also offering 60 magazines without the normal subscription cost for a limited time. Please see their site for details.
Thanks for the report on Miami Box. You checked UPS and FedEx; is there some reason you didn’t consider USPS (the US Postal Service)? I’ve always had good luck with them, and the price is much more reasonable.
Hi Shirley- I did consider USPS for a second. Then I remembered all the stories I’ve heard of packages not arriving, or arriving after a month or two- with all the runaround to pay aduana and pick up the package. I couldn’t waste the time or effort on this package. I’ll try USPS for my next one that isn’t so pressing.
I may be to blame to such horror stories…but my packages were coming from Ireland and Australia – and may they rest in peace wherever they are because they never arrived
Anything I have had sent from the US using first class airmail and priority mail arrived safe and sound and within a fairly short period of time (2weeks). Its really cheap and it seems very reliable, also in most cases I don’t think you even have to go to Aduana, they bring it to your door.
For us Europeans I am still searching for the secret to effectively receiving packages…especially since its birthday season again
Hey Lisa,
I enjoy your posts, thanks very much.
I just moved to Nuñez, BsAs and encountered similar outrageous fees, esp. with bicycles on planes (now US$300 each way). Ended up using USPS for small items but have heard similar horror stories. Would like to buy stuff on Amazon & Ebay and maybe pool with other purchasers to get the stuff down here.
Question1: do you know of a something similar to Miami-box servicing Buenos Aires area?
Question2: how ’bout starting a company that does ‘multi-buyer pooling’ of purchased (lightweight) items?
JayTee in Nuñez