Last August, POS Malaysia stopped Flexipak parcels to US so my online business has been closed since then. I have shopped everywhere for alternatives but there is only the branded expensive couriers which RM100-400 for just 150gm package. There are Malaysian sellers on Ebay still shipping at RM15 only, how do they do it? Which service has such low prices? Some are shipping from Singapore because its cheap but if that, how are they getting the parcels from Malaysia to Singapore for free?

Forget Asia Express, very expensive.

And its not to a single address but many addresses.

POS Malaysia said on its website that it was broke and sent home 50% of its staff and thats why no international shipping. But suddenly it starts Asia Express at 5X normal price and then its OK to ship?? They play games! And if it was broke and couldnt afford to pay the staff, where did it get the money to make a new website two weeks ago? I wrote to my MP for answers but so far, Hi-Com wont answer the MP about whats really going on.

I was paying RM28 with tracking to any country for 150gr. So im looking for a similar service. I know there are many Malaysian online sellers and I dont know how they are doing it. They WERE on Flexipak but now, who knows? Thats what Im trying to find out and its difficult.

Ok, here is an example of forwarders....

There is a Malay seller who gets people to join his business as drop shippers or something. What he plainly says on his advert details is that he is based in JB. He either carries the packages across the bridge and mails them at Singapore Post, or a singaporean mule carries them back to SG for a price. Im not sure which way he does it but he shows pics of his shippings which have the SG Post stickers on them. I have forgotten his company name but he sells a book to explain the details for RM3K or 4K or something.

So it looks like in JB there are people around to take packages back. I wrote to SG Post about this and they claim they dont know anything. Im writing again to today to see if they are willing to open an office in Malaysia to catch the Malaysian sellers.

I dont have commercial account but thats not the problem because discounts from RM200 wont take you back to RM28 or lower. Other couriers like DHL e-commerce offer a BIT of discount if you are high-volume shipper, like 50 packages per day. Im not that high.

But people HAVE found these answers somewhere, somehow, because they are shipping very cheap. Its such a mystery.

This post has been edited by ChasV: Oct 26 2020, 10:31 AM

Yes, I dont have friend in SG to post for me and I think thats how many are doing it. Does your friend want a customer? I know the prices from SG, cheap, if your friend charges something its OK too.

ALL the world couriers have lower price but they demand high volume. I have been searching all of them. Many demand paid membership, your company papers, etc.

I dont want to go off the topic but even locally, how is free shipping done? You see an item on Shopee, RM6....and free shipping. How is this done? Even Easy Parcel is RM6 so how can they offer -0- ? Someone has to pay for shipping!

This post has been edited by ChasV: Nov 2 2020, 11:39 AM

Why do you think the worst of people? I just want to ship my packages because right now i cant because Flexipak closed! Why are you making a problem suddenly where one never existed? When I posted the first time it was for one purpose, to say that others are shipping cheap, how can I too? Thats it! Whats malacious about searching for cheaper shipping than high priced couriers? If you have ideas and shipping possibilities please say them but dont come here to insult people who are trying to solve problems.

This post has been edited by ChasV: Dec 2 2020, 06:14 PM

When I searched Singapore Post recently it was about RM12 for a 150g pack. Thats dirt cheap. The lowest Flexipak at Pos Malaysia was RM28 with tracking but thats closed now in favor of Asiaexpress for RM200. But how to get the packages to SG to ship? Youd have to mail to someone in SG first and then they take it to the post office. This eats a lot of shipping time. I dont know how to search for someone there who could act as a relay agent. I asked SingPost if I could ship to them for re-shipping and they said no. It would be great if they would open an office in Malaysia. I believe the shipper who was the topic of my original post is located in JB and he was taking packages across the bridge but that is also difficult and I dont think SG is letting people in now due to Covid but I dont know.

Or even FREE? Yes, i'll share why. Years ago under Obama's desire to appease China, US began subsidizing China parcel shipments under ePacket and similar names, meaning that the US ratepayers were paying China to put US sellers out of business because US sellers couldnt compete with that. It was cheaper to send from China than within US.

Cheap or free shipping was written about many times with great anger by online sellers but they didnt know what was behind it. When Trump came, he brought on a special man to work to end this rape of ratepayers as part of the tariffs program against China. Ive forgotten his name but only recently there was news that he was on the verge of agreements to end the subsidy which would cause China to charge normally for shipping and suddenly US sellers could compete fairly again. Some people have already noticed that some China sellers are charging much more for shipping now. Its a complicated matter. Should Biden take over, surely he will cancel Trumps plan and once again US will subsidize China at huge cost to ratepayers.

Obviously nothing is free in this life. SOMEONE had to pay for that low or free shipping and someone was.

This post has been edited by ChasV: Dec 14 2020, 06:51 PM

UPS was the inventor of that kind of parcel delivery and they were cheap in the old days. On your advice I checked and the lowest price for 150g to US is RM207. Thats a promotion? Thats even higher than Asia Express which i thought was impossible.

You can get an answer by googling your problem and also checking sites like Easy Parcel. Right now everything looks too high to me. I have a box, 32kg, I cant send it because of the cost. To get lower rates you have to send many packages everyday -- volume shipping.

As to your second question, China is being hauled up to the Universal Postal Union because they are violating rules with cheap shipping and they are expected to adjust to world rates soon. So moving to China might help for a little while but not for long.

Does this mean Flexipak is back now? Has anyone tried?

https://www.pos.com.my/news-info/pos-malays...ce-is-back.html

Chanwsan you make me sad and dash my hopes!

As I remember, EMS never stopped within ASEAN, thats why I thought maybe they referring to Flexipak. Its true, Flexipak isnt express, in fact its the opposite of express really. That said, in the way you read the link would you guess Flexipak is next? I can go to the POS on Monday and ask but they usually never say anything until something has already happened.

Im so bitter about all this, especially when Singapore never stopped. They simply covered the seats in the regular planes and hauled parcels instead of people. Why couldnt Malaysia have done the same?

This post has been edited by ChasV: Mar 5 2021, 05:48 PM

Chanwsan, good points. I see it the same way.

Here is how we would know things are changing, which they are. I get adverts from airlines. One of them, Gulf Air, announced they are restarting service from the middle east to Singapore. If Singapore is opening to travel now, it means Malaysia has to follow soon. If Malaysia becomes even partially open to travel, those airlines will be taking Malaysia cargo again and that means parcels. One thing I do is stay glued to skyscanner.com to check flights to and from Malaysia. Before covid there were at least 30 flights, then to zero. During covid there is usually one airline offering one flight, once in a while. As that picks up, it means cargo will be open too.

However, because Im focused on US, its not open to travel yet and that means parcel delivery might expand within ASEAN before other places. I watch US news daily for this and its tied to vaccines. Not that I have any plan to take the vaccine, when there is a certain percentage, things will open. US has 320 million people, about 70 million vaccinated so far.

In any case, there were 100 ways to manage this and they chose the one that would ensure maximum pain to commerce.

This post has been edited by ChasV: Mar 11 2021, 09:39 PM

Maybe things are improving as we speak.

A few weeks ago, skyscanner.com showed ONE flight from Malaysia to US, suddenly yesterday there were 10 flights and i was shocked because I havent seen that all during covid. As flights are opening that means cargo and that may mean Flexipak. I will go to the pos and ask but if anyone has news please report for the group!

I might be the last person to know that Flexipak and related services have re-opened since 7 Oct. I was checking the site once a month all this time and finally gave up, so I didnt see it last month. There is a surcharge added at the post office at the time of shipping so if people want to begin using Flexipak its best to go to a pos office first and confirm the price as i will do tomorrow.