Shipping to Egypt

June 7, 2010 5:55 AM

What's the best way to send a package to Egypt from the US?

Does anyone have experience shipping packages to Cairo/New Cairo from the US? I've heard horror stories that it is very difficult to reliably ship anything.

I need to send a laptop, probably about 8 lbs. Speed is not the highest priority, within a week should be fine. I will probably be shipping it to a university office rather than a residence.

Are there any options outside of FedEx/UPS/DHL? Or does anyone have a particular recommendation or tips?

posted by minimal to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)

Best answer: I would choose DHL and FedEx over UPS by a mile, and of DHL and FedEx I'd go with FedEx because they are monolithic. Also, don't use slow service to the middle-east even if you don't need fast service specifically. Use overnight, because it will stay in the hands of their employees at all times from door to door. Slower services are often subcontracted for delivery and that's worrisome. I think it's worth it for parcels that simply mustn't go missing.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:39 AM on June 7, 2010

Best answer: It's worth noting that "speed is not the highest priority" and "within a week should be fine" may be in extreme contradiction when dealing with Egyptian bureaucracy. DHL is the way to go and definitely try to send it overnight.
posted by proj at 6:48 AM on June 7, 2010

Best answer: DHL - the large international company I work for only sends DHL abroad because it's more reliable/economical in sending to the countries we work in (non-industrialized countries) - and send it as fast as possible. "Within a week" is extremely fast for sending to Egypt, given the delays that will inevitably happen at some point, whether it's in transit or at customs. I agree with overnight.
posted by quadrilaterals at 8:16 AM on June 7, 2010

Best answer: I would be worried more about customs and taxes. The other day my coworker here in cairo had a pair of shoes shipped to her from the UK, and she ended up paying about 300% in taxes to the mail man.
posted by convex at 9:27 AM on June 7, 2010

Best answer: Consider USPS Express Mail International. The USPS and Egypt Post are both reciprocal service providers for the EMS service. They recipient must sign in order to receive the package, and if it's not delivered you can collect on insurance. This is not just the mail, it's EMS (analogous to Express Mail here in the US) and comes with tracking from acceptance to delivery. I ship everywhere but haven't shipped to Egypt yet, Express Mail International generally takes 4-7 days but sometimes gets held up by customs clearance.

An 8lb package will run you about $65 plus insurance. Quick quote at DHL pegged the same package at $170.

Do figure out how to avoid being taxed on the full value of the laptop.
posted by reeddavid at 10:45 AM on June 7, 2010