How to deliver purchases from the USA to Russia

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Most often, people refuse to buy in foreign stores for fear of loss, damage or delay of parcels. Lifehacker tested the speed and quality of delivery of goods from the United States in practice.

Foreign shopping attracts with low prices, fabulous sales and a unique assortment. Many American stores do not accept Russian cards for payment and do not send purchases to Russia, but these problems are solved by the mail forwarder.

A mail forwarder can deliver your purchases in four different ways. Which one is the best? To answer this question, we tested them all.

Four identical goods were ordered from the USA to Lifehacker's editorial office located in Ulyanovsk in four different ways available in Qwintry. Thus, we were able to check the compliance of the actual waiting time for the parcel with the declared one, as well as the safety of the packaging and contents.

Now we will explain how different delivery methods differ, and then we will tell you how they showed themselves in real life.

What is the difference between different delivery methods

Qwintry air

• Average delivery time: 8-14 days.
• Types of delivery: courier, self-pickup.
• Maximum weight of a parcel: 18.1 kg.
• Box size: the sum of the three sides is no more than 150 cm, the length of one side is no more than 100 cm. If the sum of the three sides exceeds 150 cm, then the shipping cost is calculated by volumetric weight.

Qwintry Air is Qwintry's own air delivery, which does not include Russian Post. Parcels fly from the USA to Russia to Moscow, go through customs, and then get to the recipient by one of the trusted courier services that meet the quality criteria of "Qwintry". Customers can pick up the package at self-pick-up points or choose delivery by courier directly to their home.

Qwintry Air is one of the cheapest shipping methods. The final cost of shipping a 1 kg item is $ 26. The price includes:

• Bank commission for transferring funds to the Qwintry account.
• Acceptance of parcels at the Qwintry warehouse.
• Storage of parcels at the Qwintry warehouse for up to 45 days.
• Consolidation of several products into one package.
• Packaging: a waterproof bag for each product, protection of the box with reinforced tape to prevent invisible opening.

This list of services is included in the cost of any other Qwintry delivery method.

There are things that cannot be delivered from abroad. This is not a whim and not harmfulness of "Qwintry", but the rules established by the states. When you try to smuggle something prohibited, customs will deploy or confiscate your purchases.

In addition to the ban on the import of certain goods, in Russia there is a monthly limit on the amount of purchases abroad, which is 1,000 euros. If you go beyond its limits, you will have to pay a state duty in the amount of 30% of the excess value and another 250 rubles (a fixed customs fee).

However, the difference in prices in Russia and the United States is so significant that it is not covered by any government duties and taxes.

Qwintry Ecopost

• Average delivery time: 15–35 days.
• Types of delivery: to the branch of the Russian Post.
• Maximum weight of a parcel: 18.1 kg. The cost of a parcel is calculated only by physical weight.
• Box size: the sum of the three sides is no more than 150 cm, the length of one side is no more than 100 cm.

Qwintry Ecopost is the newest delivery method from Qwintry, combining the speed of air forwarding and the low cost of government mail. Works only in Russia. Parcels arrive at one of the European transport hubs, go through customs and are delivered to the post office by Russian Post.

Delivery via Qwintry Ecopost takes longer than via Qwintry Air, but noticeably cheaper, especially if the package weighs a lot. Simply put, if the product is light, then choose Qwintry Air, and if the product is heavy, choose Qwintry Ecopost.

The final cost of shipping goods weighing 1 kg is 39.87 dollars.

USPS Priority

• Average delivery time: 12-21 days.
• Types of delivery: to the post office.
• Maximum weight of a parcel: 18.1 kg. The cost of a parcel is calculated only by physical weight.
• Box size: length - no more than 106, 68 cm, length plus coverage - no more than 200, 66 cm.

USPS stands for United States Postal Service, that is, the United States Postal Service. You should not compare this organization with the Russian Post, because the former has a significantly higher quality of work.

USPS Priority is priority mail, that is, not express, but still pretty fast. After completing the journey from the United States, the parcel goes to the state mail of the country of destination and is delivered to the post office.

The final cost of shipping a 1 kg product is $ 63.36.

EMS

• Average delivery time: 8-18 days.
• Delivery types: courier.
• Maximum weight of a parcel: 18.1 kg. The cost of a parcel is calculated only by physical weight.
• Box size for Russia: length - no more than 152.4 cm, length plus coverage - no more than 274, 32 cm.
• Box size for Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan: length - no more than 91, 44 cm, length plus coverage - no more than 200, 66 cm.

EMS stands for Express Mail Service, that is, express mail. EMS services are provided by operators of the Universal Postal Union. Every year, independent auditors assess the quality of EMS in each country.

According to the results of the first quarter of 2017, EMS Russian Post took the 6th place in the world ranking of the quality of EMS services (there are 198 postal operators in total). For comparison: in 2013, our EMS was in 92nd place, so progress is evident.

You have to pay for speed, quality, reliability and courier. For light parcels, EMS delivery will cost almost twice as much as Qwintry Air. With an increase in the mass of the parcel, the difference in cost is smoothed out.

The final cost of shipping a 1 kg product is $ 80.

Results of testing delivery methods

We ordered four cool spinners with LED lamps and three lighting modes from the American Amazon. It is clear that it is unprofitable to buy such cheap things abroad, but in this case everything was done only for the sake of experiment.

Each spinner went from the Qwintry warehouse to the editorial office in its own way. All four packages have successfully reached Ulyanovsk. Spinners ordered through Qwintry Air and EMS were delivered by couriers right to the office door. The spinners ordered through Qwintry Ecopost and USPS arrived at the post office, from where we picked them up ourselves.

	Qwintry air	Qwintry Ecopost	USPS Priority	EMS
Declared delivery time, days	8–14	15–35	12–21	8–18
Real delivery time, days	9 ()	17 ()	13 ()	6 ()
Parcel status	5 out of 5	3 out of 5	4 out of 5	5 out of 5
Content status	5 out of 5	5 out of 5	5 out of 5	5 out of 5
Shipping cost, dollars	36	30, 6	51	67, 75

A big surprise for us was the delivery time of goods with the participation of the state mail. The actual time almost coincided with the minimum stated for Qwintry Ecopost and USPS. Unfortunately, there is nothing more to praise these shipping methods. In both cases, the parcels did not arrive in perfect condition.

The corners of the box, delivered by the USPS, were dented, and an elephant appears to be sitting on the Qwintry Ecopost packaging. The cardboard on one side is literally broken in half. If it were not for the foresight of "Qwintry", which protects the contents of each parcel with soft filler or pillows, the contents might not have been good.

Courier services, as expected, work flawlessly. Our favorite - branded Qwintry Air delivery - did it in 9 days. Packaging and contents are in perfect condition.

I was really surprised by the EMS express mail. We, of course, guessed that the high cost of this service is compensated for by efficiency, but so that such … The parcel went only 6 days, that is, faster than the minimum declared period. In this situation, Qwintry Air retains the status of a pet delivery only due to its cheapness.

Raffle for Red iPhone 7 and Sony PlayStation 4 Pro + VR

Lifehacker and "Qwintry" announce a competition for residents of Russia and the CIS! You can win a chic red iPhone 7, as well as a set of Sony PlayStation 4 Pro game console and PlayStation VR headset.

Three simple conditions for participation in the competition:

1. Create an account in Qwintry, if you still don't have one.
2. Subscribe to the Qwintry page in or.
3. Make an entry on your Facebook, VKontakte or Twitter with the text:

Pin the entry and make your profile public so we can check if the competition conditions were met.

Made? Now fill out the form and that's it.