Hi Guys,

I am from Ipoh, just wondering if i import goods from overseas into Malaysia, if via Sea Mail, where do i collect my package if it is tahan by customs? Do i need to drive all the way down to KLIA or i can meet the custom director at Pejabat Pos Besar Ipoh to settle it?

Besides, comparing air parcel (eg. EMS) Sea Mail (shipping via Sea), which mode is better for custom clearance? One of my buddy told me that apparently sea mail is even worse for custom clearance, means they check more strictly and the chances of you kena taxed is higher as compared to you ship via air parcel.

Anyone has any idea about this? Kindly please share any comments regarding importing via air parcel and sea parcel.

Thanks so much

I think u can choose the normal registered airmail...EMS is a faster version of airmail
Don't think u'll have to personally go till the airport...just ask PosMalaysia settle for u can dy...

I read somewhere that apparently someone has bad experience appointing pos malaysia to settle custom clearance, that resulted in higher tax.

You go there to claim the parcel yourself is much more better, if you have the transport.
Pos Office then won't nego the tax for you.

hmm, i'm not so sure, in my case, I use EMS but just make sure the weight didnt over 4kg, for safe side, i have received my items at about 5.69kg, and still i get my items using EMS, just received a warning letter only..
ems reason:
-expensive, yet safe
-faster
-postmalaysia service provided better
-no hang at custom for sure, unless ur items too too heavy


for seamail, i just can say, it is worse, from the beginning till end.
reason:
-slow
-cheap, but not safe
-custom duit kopi alot
-items might be check and missing
-items might be claimed few times

these are all my experience. hope it can help

Hi dude...yup, from all cases that i read, what you mentioned seem to be very true...

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Added on November 22, 2008, 5:30 pmHi pinkling,

so what you are saying is that it is better to keep all package/per shipment at the weight of 4kg or below in order to be safer and faster in terms of custom clearance?

thanks a lot for the comparison between ems and sea mail...

This post has been edited by Kenix L: Nov 22 2008, 05:30 PM

Edited. wrong post and sry.

This post has been edited by Ckteoh: Nov 23 2008, 02:29 AM

Having had my share of importing stuff in, here's a hint that might help too..

1. NEVER have the sender notify the item as gifts. The word gifts is like a magnet, leading Customs to make further checking to ensure there are no taxable items. Have them notify on the package what it is, so for instance if its Playstation, you dont have to have the sender put it as Playstation ( that attracts a different kind of attention ) put it as say, Kids Games.

2. Even if all the items are not taxable, you mark them as gifts, customs may want to open them, so all your nice packaging, well they can go haywire, ie perhaps something may go missing or broken in the process of inspection.

3. Try to keep items below RM500 inclusive of shipping. Thus if item is worth RM480 and say shipping was RM30 and thats marked on the package ( even if its other currencies ) you might just end up paying tax on the whole amount, RM499 will still not be taxed, RM500 and youre taxed for the whole amount, seriously uncool.

4. Actually its more on luck really, sometimes you may ship in items worth RM1000 and still gets through. It depends also if the sender is willing to under rate the value of their items. You see, say you purchased an item worth RM4000 but you ask the seller to mark it as only RM200 worth with shipping, some sellers simply outright refuse as they lose their personal insurance on the item. Ie if anything is lost and they claim against their courier they can only gain back RM200 worth of insurance as they marked it themselves on the package while they may have personally lost RM4000 worth

5. A smaller box will of course gain less attention from Customs. Note, there is no way to confirm expediting your items. They are after all Customs and they have to do their jobs as well. So anything in a huge container, hey thats grounds to check, who knows you might have a Panda Bear in there. But thats not to say if you have a small package, they wont open it at all, it depends on the randomness of their checks, they gotta make sure the stuff that comes in through our borders are legal

6. Finally you might wanna just check out The Customs Tariffs by clicking on me. In it there is a wealth of information on items that might be taxed or exempted which might help you out.

Hope that helped

can opt by sea???

haha...its hard to say they wont open up small packages as they might suspect any firearms or greenades inside...haha..
one small pack of heroin would have bring harm to the nation in a whole,so basically small packages is not totally "safe" from custom clearance.
basically i think inspection by ems would be stricter as plane crashes and plane hijacks are grabbing more attention after 911,anyway Sea mail are famous for duit kopi lo...
IMHO,choose the safest one,ie. less percentage of the parcel to be lost...