Amazon to Singapore Buying & Shipping Guide

Submitted by  Teoh Yi Chie on  April 10, 2009 - 1:20 pm

(May 2014 update: Shipping charges are checked to be up to date.)

This guide is written for Singaporeans or those living in Singapore.

It should help you decide whether to buy from Amazon. I have bought items from all Amazon branches except from China, Italy and Spain branches.

For buying digital content like mp3, ebooks, etc, read Guide on buying Amazon Digital Content Outside of US.

1. Introduction

Why buy from Amazon?

1. Even after including shipping cost, some items are still cheaper than local prices. This is particularly true for books and video discs from Amazon US.

2. Their variety is huge.

3. Their customer service is excellent. They have great return and refund policies. You'll have to pay for return shipping charges though.

4. There is no GST if your package (including shipping cost) is under SGD$400. If you want to get SGD$600 worth of stuff, you should split them up into two orders, each under $400.

When is it not suitable to buy from Amazon?

1. If you need the item urgently. Shipping time varies. Shipment may get delayed at customs, post offices, etc.

2. They usually don't ship electronics to Singapore. Visit Amazon Global page to see products that ship globally.

To buy electronics, you can use services like vPost, Comgateway or Borderlinx (Citibank card users only) who act as third party forwarder to ship your items to Singapore. Amazon.com surface shipping is free for certain dollar amount so you just have to pay for the forwarder's shipping charges. I once paid $25 to vPost to ship a software package, the size of 3 CD cases, which is very expensive. For Comgateway, it's US$23 to ship a Kindle and case.

3. Generally, the more expensive the item is in Singapore, the more you'll save from Amazon. When price differences are small, it's not worth the effort and you should support local retailers instead.

2. The different Amazon branches

Let's talk specifically about each Amazon branch. The shipping charges listed below are all meant for shipments to Singapore.

(box) is a per shipment charge, (item) is per item. There can be many items in one box shipment.

Sometimes Amazon might ship items in separate shipments (at their cost). It happens when your items come from different fulfillment centres.

Also listed are the sales tax, which is only applicable to their local residence. You can deduct the sales tax from the listed price. For example, for a $100 Euro book from Amazon Germany (sales tax of 7%), you'll only need to pay $93 Euro. Shipping charges still remain the same.

Amazon.com (source)

Shipping charges and delivery times:

  • AmazonGlobal Saver 17-31 days (only to Singapore and India)
    Free for purchases above US$125 in value, typically for items such as books, discs, and selected items
  • Standard Shipping 17-31 days
    Books - US4.99 (box) - US4.99 (item)
    Disc - US4.99 (box) - US3.99 (item)
  • Expedited Shipping 12-19 days
    Books - US13.99 (box) - US5.99 (item)
    Disc - US13.99 (box) - US3.99 (item)
  • Priority Shipping 3-7 days
    Books - US29.99 (box) - US5.99 (item)
    Disc - US29.99 (box) - US3.99 (item)

I've had rare occasions where boxes take two months to arrive.

Generally, the more expensive a book is in Singapore, the cheaper it is in USA. It depends on currency rates of course.

Bulky or heavy items have additional surcharges. Anything more than 5 pounds (2.26kg) is considered heavy. The weight surcharges are as follows:

  • Standard Shipping - US1.99/lb
  • Expedited Shipping - US1.99/lb
  • Priority Shipping - US2.49/lb

So if you are shipping a 5lb (2.2kg) item, that would translate to an extra US$9.95.

Amazon.co.uk (source) - (Sales tax: 16% for electronics)

Shipping charges and delivery times:

  • Standard airmail 7 - 10 days
    Books - UK5.49 (box) - UK2.99 (item)
    Disc - UK2.09 (box) - UK1.49 (item)
  • Expedited Shipping 5 - 10 days
    UK10.99 (box) + UK4.99 per kg
  • Priority Express 2-4 days
    UK19.99 (box) plus
    Disc - UK1.99
    Books - UK2.49
    Others - UK4.99 per kg

Sometimes books here are cheaper than on Amazon US. This price difference is due to exchange rates and often the book distribution agreement. Their per item shipping charge is lower.

The delivery is about 10-14 days, from my experience with Standard airmail.

Amazon.ca (source)

Shipping charges and delivery times:

  • Standard 8-12 weeks
    Books - CA9.99 (box) - CA5.49 (item)
    Disc - CA4.99 (box) - CA2.49 (item)
  • Expedited 2-4 weeks
    Books - CA15.99 (box) - CA8.99 (item)
    Disc - CA9.99 (box) - CA3.99 (item)
  • Priority 3-7 days
    Books - CA19.99 (box) - CA9.99 (item)
    Disc - CA19.99 (box) - CA4.99 (item)

If you're not going for Priority shipping, the shipping time is very long. The per-item shipping charge is quite high.

Amazon.de (source) - (Sales tax: 7% for normal products, 16% for electronics)

Shipping charges and delivery times:

  • Standard 7-9 days
    Euro9 (box) and Euro4 per KG
  • Express 2-12 days
    Euro28 (box) and Euro8 per KG

Items sold in Europe are relatively pricey. You might be able to find some electronics that can ship direct from Amazon Germany.

The delivery is about 2 weeks, from my experience with Standard shipping.

Amazon.fr (source) - (Sales tax: 5.5% for normal products, 16% for electronics)

Shipping charges and delivery times:

  • Standard 12-15 days
    Euro12 (box) - Euro1.50 (item)
  • Priority 7-14 days
    Euro14 (box) - Euro6 per KG
  • Lightning 2-4 days
    Euro28 (box) - Euro9 per KG

Again, items in Europe are pricey. In addition to box charges, standard shipping has per-item charges, and express shipping has per-KG charges.

Amazon.it (source)

Shipping charges and delivery times:

  • Standard 12-15 days
    Euro14 (box) + Euro5 per KG
  • Express 2-6 days
    Euro25 (box) + Euro5 per KG

Items from Amazon Italy are also quite pricey. I've not bought here so I can't comment on the shipping time.

Amazon.es (source)

Shipping charges and delivery times:

  • Standard 12-15 days
    Euro14 (box) + Euro4 per KG
  • Express 2-6 days
    Euro20 (box) + Euro9 per KG

Items from Amazon Spain are quite pricey. I've not bought here so I can't comment on the shipping time. The standard and express shipping times are the same but at different charges.

Amazon.co.jp (source) - (Sales tax: 5%)

Shipping charges and delivery times:

  • International Express 2-5 business days
    Per shipment - 600 yen (box)
    Books - 400 yen (item)
    Discs - 300 yen (item)

The only shipping option is International Express. The per shipment charge is expensive, but per item charge is relatively cheap.

Shipping is very fast. I've the shipping date confirmation on a Friday and it was here next Monday.

In general, the Japanese books in Kino are 20-30% more expensive than Amazon Japan (with per item charge but no per box added). Buying from Kino means you don't have to pay the hefty per shipment charge. Again, if you're buying a few books, Kino's price doesn't look very good already.

Amazon third party merchants

If Amazon doesn't ship the item you want overseas, try the Amazon third party merchants. Merchants who can ship overseas will indicate on their page with "international shipping available". Each merchant has their own shipping rates and time. Generally, their shipping is more expensive than Amazon.

There's no consolidation orders for different items even if bought from the same merchant. E.g. If you buy a book and a DVD from a merchant, it will be shipped out in two boxes, and hence there will be two per-box charges.

3. Examples on calculating shipping charges

I shall use Amazon US shipping rates, the Standard Shipping, for these examples. Price of the items are not included.

For an order of 1 book:
US4.99 (box) + US4.99 (item)

2 books:
US4.99 (box) + (2 x US4.99) (item)

2 discs:
US4.99 (box) + (2 x US3.99) (item)

1 book, 1 disc:
US4.99 (box) + US4.99 (book) + US3.99 (disc)

The box charge, or per shipment charge, is always there.

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Comments

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 29 Nov 2010 - 21:25

hi, can we ship health food products (eg. a can of powder milkshake) from amazon to singapore? will it be very strict at customs and what will shipping cost be?

Joel (not verified) Mon, 13 Dec 2010 - 20:50

Hi, what courier usually ships your books? Is it i-parcel? If it is, how long does it usually take for it to arrive? I've ordered a book, and it is listed that it's sent by i-parcel. The estimated date of arrival was 8 December, but it is 5 days past. I'm wondering if that is normal and is there a cause for concern?

Thank you.

Teoh Yi Chie Mon, 13 Dec 2010 - 22:12

@Joel
The courier varies. When it reaches the country, the local country courier will take over. Having several days of past the estimated delivery time is not unusual. You can email Amazon again if it doesn't arrive for another few days.

Amanda (not verified) Thu, 16 Dec 2010 - 22:10

HI ,

Any idea if it is advisable to ship glass ware from amazon to singapore? I read reviews on amazon and even in local shipping some of the goods are broken. Should I take the risk?

Susie (not verified) Sun, 19 Dec 2010 - 15:59

Hi,
It seems that everytime I try to buy something from Amazon that is NOT sold by Amazon itself, I get a message telling me it's unable to ship to my address. This happens for products that are even fulfilled by Amazon by are sold by some other store. Why is that? I also tried to buy some clothes from eg. Armani Exchange on Amazon and it gives me that message as well.

I also tried buying some things from marketplace sellers that list International Shipping and I keep getting that unable to ship to my address message. I don't think it's the marketplace seller problem as I've tried about more than 10 different sellers and I get the same message. Can you help? Thanks.

SLV (not verified) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 - 20:57

You should try hopshopgo.com for cheaper and convenient shipping rates from US to Singapore

Eunice S. (not verified) Sat, 25 Dec 2010 - 02:47

Hi, I was thinking of making my first purchase from Amazon.fr on DVDs..Do they ship DVDs to Singapore?
And will they combine shipment?as in getting 2 items at one go and will they charge the shipping fees together? So I don't have to pay for separate shipping costs?
Thanks!:)

Eunice S. (not verified) Fri, 31 Dec 2010 - 02:11

Hi,I'm sorry..one more question, regarding DVDs, it has to go through MDA first is it?
And how long will the process usually take before I can collect my DVDs? (5 music DVDs and a CD)
Thanks alot!

char (not verified) Sun, 02 Jan 2011 - 08:27

Hi, can i ask. regarding dvds if MDA checks, will i have to pay for the check? do you know any information on this? thanks!

Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 21 Jan 2011 - 12:49

hi!

i stumbled upon your blog when i wanted to order 3 nicholas sparks books from amazon.com

the total bill turns out to be

Items: $25.98
Shipping & Handling: $19.96

Total Before Tax: $45.94
Estimated Tax To Be Collected: $0.00

Order Total: $45.94

total in SGD if i assume the conversion rate is 1.4 from US dollars to SGD would be

$45.94 x 1.4 = SGD$64.316

is it still worth it to buy?
thank you!!

:)

sorry this is my first time purchasing from amazon... thus the fuss.

Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 21 Jan 2011 - 18:46

hi parka,

its not any cheaper though...

why do you mention its cheaper?

Vinayak (not verified) Fri, 21 Jan 2011 - 20:11

Hi Parka,

I wanted to order a book from Amazon.com(~ @SGD60). At the checkout, it says that you may be charged custom duties, taxes and other charges for your country.

Apart from 7% GST, are there any other charges for Singapore? Also, since the total shipment cost is < SGD 400, even 7% won't apply, per your previous posts.

Can you kindly confirm?

Regards
Vinayak

Vinayak (not verified) Sat, 22 Jan 2011 - 00:40

Thanks Parka

su (not verified) Wed, 26 Jan 2011 - 22:04

Hi there! thanks for the informatn provided..its really great.

however, theres some things i dun understand

Im on an exchange programme in the states now and wanna ship a casio watch to my fren in singapore as a gift.

however, the shipping costs usd18.98.. its not 4usd as stated in their site and in ur blog post for this one item

I also thought of shipping a book to another friend also in singapore. The shipping for that book is abt 10usd (also not the price stated in the amazon site and ur post)

Finally, would u think its a better idea to put these 2 items together and ship to just one address rather than 2 ? like would the shipping be cheaper? also sld i jus rely on amazon or use vpost? (how do i go about telling amazon to use vpost anyway?)

ps. the total amt do not exceed 400dollars

Please advise.. THanks so much!

Teoh Yi Chie Thu, 27 Jan 2011 - 10:45

@su
The watch is an electronic and will be shipped via Expedited Shipping which has a more expensive per-shipping charge.

Shipping them together will be cheaper than shipping separately.

If the items have not been bought, you might want to consider buying and shipping from Amazon. You can check their shipping cost on the last page (and here) before confirmation. It should be around US$25 in total.

alwaysLovely (not verified) Mon, 31 Jan 2011 - 23:30

Pika, Thank you for the helpful information!
I'm considering whether to get my item in a MO or get it through myself.
I'm just getting one piece of item though.

ph (not verified) Sat, 26 Feb 2011 - 22:15

Hi,

I'm hoping to get a pair of asics shoes (a bit weird from amazon, but, hey, it's cheaper), and there's actually the restriction that asics shoes can't be exported from the US, which affects certain stores (especially the ones that specialize in sale of running shoes). Does that apply to Amazon?

Teoh Yi Chie Sat, 26 Feb 2011 - 22:36

@ph
I manage to reach the last page of the checkout process so I guess Asics shoes can be shipped internationally. The shipment charge should be us$14 and per item should be us$6 - that's expedited shipping.

Val (not verified) Tue, 08 Mar 2011 - 00:28

Hi. Ive entered my shipping add at Amazon.com but it says that ''item cannot be shipped to address you have selected'' , what add am i supposed to use??

yaseen (not verified) Mon, 14 Mar 2011 - 13:24

Hi Parka.. just a clerification.. i bought movies from amazon.com and total plus shipping came up to $50 plus.. So is the amount in us dollar? i used my credit card to pay.. is $50 the final amount or do i have to times the us currency for the final bill amount? im in singapore.. thanks for your help..

Amir (not verified) Fri, 18 Mar 2011 - 12:08

How did you get past the entering name in Japanese character part of the registration? Thanks for the help.

Henry (not verified) Mon, 28 Mar 2011 - 11:48

Hi,

1) I wanna purchase a Beats by Dre Pro on Amazon, but the shipping can only be in the US whereas I live in Singapore. Do I have any other options?

2) Then I tried to get the Beats by Dre Solo HD Red Product, which is normally allowed to be shipped in any other country than US, but Amazon just can't accept my adress in Singapore, and say that it's invalid or impossible for shipping... How come?

Thanks for your help.

Richard (not verified) Sun, 10 Apr 2011 - 20:12

Hi, thanks for your valuable info. Can I buy a hard drive from amazon. My macbook pro is dying almost. Thanks a lot

Baldwin (not verified) Thu, 28 Apr 2011 - 02:41

hi,

I recently purchased a camera via Amazon.com and it was shipped to VPOST address in Portland. VPOST later told me they cannot deliver to Singapore cos it contains batteries, a prohibited item. They advised me to get my own courier to pick it up from the Portland address for delivery to Singapore. Could you advise what other options i have? Any cheaper (but reliable too) courier to do the job?

Thanks.

Gynnie (not verified) Tue, 10 May 2011 - 14:14

Hi Parka,

I wanted to buy a waffler maker on amazon.com. There are two different weightage, one is the product weight and the other is shipping weight. I chat online with their staff and were told to calculate based on shipping weight then plus per shipment cost. I also give them the item website, so I guess it does ship to Singapore?

She mentioned there will be a import duties i need to pay? Would you be able to advise how much would that be? Cos the staff said i can only see the charges when I proceed to check out which would require me to input my creditcard details. I am just wondering whether you would have an estimate instead of me giving out my CC details..

Thanks

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 16 May 2011 - 14:41

Hi Parka,

I've ordered three books - A4 sized about a month ago.
Since one was pre-ordered, my items were only shipped on April 25th.
I wasn't asked about any particular carrier to deliver my items.
Just my address. They said it would most probably be here on the 13th of May, but I haven't got anyone knocking on my door.

I then checked at the website that if it's not delivered directly to the address you have put, it would be delivered to the local post office.

Do I check it out at SingPost?

Teoh Yi Chie Mon, 16 May 2011 - 17:46

@Anonymous
Delays are common. You should wait a few more days. The postman will leave you a collection note if no one is at home to receive the package.

If you email Amazon, they will ask you to wait a few more weeks. Anyway, if it's non-delivery for whatever reason (except wrong address), Amazon will send you another package to make sure you get what you pay for.

Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 18 May 2011 - 01:46

Thank you so much for your reply. I shall wait and see how things go. Thank you!

Hey01 (not verified) Thu, 26 May 2011 - 17:11

Can you help me out with filling in the address? Sry This is my first time buying from amazon.

Hey01 (not verified) Thu, 26 May 2011 - 18:27

Do I nd to put my blk no? And for the ZIp do I nd to put an 'S' infront? Really sry for all the questions

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