Here’s the secret to shopping from US stores to get unique products not available in Manila at the most cost-effective rate and fastest delivery possible… via comGateway service!
Yugi already got his Steve of Minecraft costume from a Halloween store in the US just in time for Trick or Treat.
You still have time to buy your unique costumes now and have it delivered before the 26th.
Aidan was able to get his Antetokounmpo basketball shoes (size 14) just in time to represent his school in their varsity games.
Also, you can now shop and enjoy the savings during the US Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales and have everything shipped to Manila.
Here’s our personal experience buying from US Stores and shipping to Manila in 10 days via comGateway…
First Things First
comGateway has a growing list of 12,000+ Filipino customer base who love buying from US online stores because of products that aren’t available in the Philippines, taking advantage of cheaper prices through bargains and saving on international shipping fees while having purchases delivered directly to their home.
comGateway is a US shopping and shipping service based in Portland, Oregon (USA) with customers from over 220 countries who shop from US online stores and have their purchases shipped from the US straight to their doorsteps.
You can register for FREE and get your own Portland, Oregon US Address where you can have your products shipped from US Stores.
U.S. Store Shopping Hacks
Halloween Costumes.
We bought Yugi’s Minecraft costume from HalloweenCostumes.com, but you can also check out Hot Topic for Adult costumes, Wayfair for Halloween decor and comGateway’s Halloween Gift guide.
Three product categories Pinoys love to buy from the US
• Cosmetics from Sephora (particularly brands that are hard to find here in PH [e.g. Tarte, Fenty Beauty, Colourpop, etc.])
• Car parts (those that are either not available locally or are being sold for triple the price here, including tax)
• Cheaper apparel and shoes (e.g. Adidas Continental 80 shoes. They cost ₱5,300 on Adidas PH’s website, but on Adidas US, they can go as cheap as ₱2,000; plus, they have more color and design options available.
We bought Aidan’s shoes from Footlocker which has the latest designs and bigger shoe size options (not available in Manila).
Buy For Me Service
BuyForMe (BFM) is a concierge service that helps customers shop from websites that restrict non-US issued cards, like the online stores of Walmart, BestBuy and Macy’s.
BFM service fee is 7% of item cost plus US domestic shipping for Prime members, 10% for Standard members.
This BFM service is the best way to shop the US Black Friday sales on November 29.
Shipping from US to Manila via comGateway
Portland US Address. This is the warehouse team that secures and accurately stores your packages before shipping.
ONEBOX. We asked comGateway’s team to merge all the items in OneBox, the package’s shipping weight has been reduced to 5.50kg ($54) from its original 8.00kg ($74) with their individual shipping boxes. You pay $10 for the OneBox service fee.
Ship! Use Express service to get your products within the week (3-5 business days) vs Standard (6-8 business days).
All comGateway shipments are insured up to the declared items’ value and shipping cost.
Unboxing. Don’t forget to video the excitement of the little ones when they open the box.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I love the all-in-one shopping and shipping service of comGateway!
Although there are other US Mailbox services, I like that it has a personal shopper service that can combine all the items in one box to reduce the weight.
To summarize, here’s our comGateway shopping experience:
a) We submitted BuyForMe orders from 3 online stores on September 5, all of which were purchased by the comGateway team on the same day.
b) The packages arrived at the US address on the 10th (Amazon), 11th (Footlocker) and 12th (Halloween Costumes).
c) We submitted a Onebox request for our packages (on September 12), which was completed the next day. It saved $20 on shipping fees.
d) We had our package shipped to the Philippines on September 16 and used the Welcome Promo (WELCOME15CGW) to get a $15 discount and an express upgrade on shipping, shortening the delivery to 3-5 business days from 6-8 business days for standard delivery.
e) The package was delivered after only 3 business days!
Thank you to comGateway for the enjoyable and seamless US online shopping, international shipment and delivery experience!
Live an Awesome Life,
Founder, Our Awesome Planet
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by comGateway. I wrote this article with my biases, opinions and insights.
P.S. Hope they have an anti-spam mail service because I don’t want to get unwanted mail in our US Address.
