The Best Package Forwarders of December, 2024.
We analyse and compare package forwarding services fees and shipping costs. We give them scores based upon their quality of service and value for money, so you can find the best and cheapest package forwader for your international shipping.
By Nick Beeny
Scores and results for forwarding a package from the USA internationally with a weight of 5lbs.
Compare forwarders
Consolidation fee: $0
Locations: New Jersey. London, UK. Istanbul, Turkey.
- Membership fees:
- Free, no premium level
- Package Consolidation:
- Free without repack
- Repackaging:
- 1st package $5, additional $3.
- Storage:
- Free for 7 days, $5 per day max 30.
- Photos:
- Free photos
- Live chat support:
- Phone number
- Shipping calculator:
- Visit
Ship7Full details
- Free membership
- Free consolidation
- Wide range of shipping options
- Good shipping rates
- Dangerous items, such as batteries, powerbanks and perfume are not shipped.
- There is no live chat support.
Consolidation fee: £0
Locations: Preston, UK. Germany. Delaware, USA. Turkey. Japan.
- Membership fees:
- Free, no premium level
- Package Consolidation:
- Free. At packers discretion.
- Repackaging:
- Combine and repack £2/$2 per package
- Storage:
- Free for 30 days. 50p per day after
- Photos:
- £5 for 3, £10 for 10, £10+ for 5+. UK and DE warehouses only
- Live chat support:
- Yes
- Shipping calculator:
- Visit
Forward2MeFull details
Good
- Forwarding available from many locations including the EU (Germany) and Japan
- Price matching
- Free returns
- User-friendly website and interface
- Competitive and transparent pricing
- Reliable shipping and parcel tracking
- Responsive and knowledgeable customer support
- Comprehensive range of services
- Tax free shopping is available from Delaware and Guernsey
Bad (or not so good)
- Price matching service is good but, not surprisingly, they will only match like-for-like, ie DHL Express with DHL Express.
- Support and pricing (it seems) is all in English and British Pounds, they can't translate.
- Turkey and Japan shipping is with DHL only
Consolidation fee: Premium only
Locations: Florida, USA. UK
- Membership fees:
- Basic free, premium $9.99 per month or $60 per year
- Package Consolidation:
- Premium plan only
- Repackaging:
- Premium plan only
- Storage:
- Premium plan only
- Photos:
- Premium plan only
- Live chat support:
- Yes
- Shipping calculator:
- Visit
MyUSFull details
Good
- Big and well established, with UK and US addresses
- Shipping rates are competitive
- Shipping rates calculated by weight not dimensional weight. MyUS TruePrice
- US tax-free shopping
Bad
- Some services only available to Premium Members
Consolidation fee: $2
Locations: New Hampshire, USA.
- Membership fees:
- Free, no premium level
- Package Consolidation:
- $2 a package, $25 cap.
- Repackaging:
- $5 a package
- Storage:
- Free for 45 days
- Photos:
- $4 first, $1 each additional
- Live chat support:
- Yes
- Shipping calculator:
- Visit
StackryFull details
Good
- No monthly plans
- Simple package forwarding service
- Good customer service
- Rewards
- $10 credit off first order
Bad
- Not the cheapest shipping costs
Consolidation fee: Premium only
Locations: California, Oregon, Florida, USA. Warrington, UK.
- Membership fees:
- Basic free, Premium $10 a month, $50 a year
- Package Consolidation:
- Premium only. $5 plus $2 each
- Repackaging:
- Not available
- Storage:
- Free 10 days or 45 days for premium plan
- Photos:
- Free exterior, $2 for 3, $5 for 10
- Live chat support:
- Yes
- Shipping calculator:
- Visit
PlanetExpressFull details
Good
- Live chat support available
- Support is available in English, Spanish, Japanese, Czech
- They run their own auctions
- UK and USA warehouses
Bad
- Consolidation only available to Premium members
- Tax-free warehouse only available to Premium members
Consolidation fee: $5.50/$3.25
Locations: California, Oregon. Rastenfeld, Austria. Chiba, Japan.
- Membership fees:
- Basic free, premium $10 per month or $60 per year
- Package Consolidation:
- Free $5.50/Premium $3.25 each package
- Repackaging:
- Not available
- Storage:
- Basic free for 7 days, premium up to 90 days
- Photos:
- 1-3 exterior free, aditional $8/$5
- Live chat support:
- Yes
- Shipping calculator:
- Visit
ShipitoFull details
Good
- Competitive shipping costs
- Tax-free shopping
- Assisted shopping service
- Free 90 storage
- Warehouse in Japan
Bad
- Fees are not the cheapest
- Handling fee on all packages
Consolidation fee: $0
Locations: Delaware, USA.
- Membership fees:
- Free, no premium plan
- Package Consolidation:
- Free
- Repackaging:
- Free, additional packaging extra
- Storage:
- Free for 6 months
- Photos:
- Free exterior, content $2 always /$5 one off
- Live chat support:
- Yes
- Shipping calculator:
- Visit
FishisFastFull details
Good
- Pay only for what you want
- Good shipping prices
- Plenty of shipping options
- Good management of your items
- FastBuy for purchasing
- Power-on testing, get a video of your electronic item being powered up
Bad
- Shipping only from the US
Consolidation fee: $0 for 10/$0.99 each
Locations: Oregon, USA.
- Membership fees:
- Free, no premium plan
- Package Consolidation:
- 10 packages or less free, over 10 $0.99 each.
- Repackaging:
- 11 packages or less $0.99 each.
- Storage:
- Free for 60 days
- Photos:
- $5 per package for 5 photos
- Live chat support:
- Yes
- Shipping calculator:
- Visit
USGoBuyFull details
Good
- Free consolidation
- 99c repackaging per package
- Tax-free shopping
- Chat support
Bad
- Not the cheapest shipping charges
- Broken links on website
Consolidation fee: $0
Locations: Oregon, USA
- Membership fees:
- Free, premium plan $8 or $16 per month
- Package Consolidation:
- Free.
- Repackaging:
- $0
- Storage:
- Basic, free for 30 days. 120 with pro plan.
- Photos:
- Free exterior photos, no content photos.
- Live chat support:
- ChatGPT Beta
- Shipping calculator:
- Visit
ViaboxFull details
Good
- Low fees and account charges
- A Beta ChatGPT chat bot for support
- Taxfree shipping
- Free assisted purchase
- A rewards program
Bad
- Expensive shipping fees
- FedEx not offered
Consolidation fee: Premium only
Locations: Oregon. Milton Keynes, UK. Surrey, BC, Canada.
- Membership fees:
- Basic free, premium $9.99 per month or $60 per year
- Package Consolidation:
- Premium only. $2 each
- Repackaging:
- Not available
- Storage:
- Basic free 7 days, premium free 30 days
- Photos:
- Live chat support:
- Yes, messaging
- Shipping calculator:
- Visit
ReshipFull details
Good
- Business users
- Locations in Canada, US and UK
- Live message support
- Receive and send a pallet worth of items
- Gold or Platinum users save 20% on shipping fees
Bad
- Complex membership tiers
- High fees, especially on lower priced membership plans
- Oversized items could be expensive
- Better alternatives for single package forwarding
Comparing Package Forwarders
What is a package forwarder?
A package forwarding company (forwarder) is a company that will send to a package that it receives at it's warehouse in your name. This means that if you are living in one country, and you want to buy something from a shop in another country, like the USA, you can use the package forwarders warehouse address as the delivery address on your shopping from the shop in the USA and they will then forward that package on to you in your home country.
The shipping services are provided by the shipping companies which the forwarders have relationships with. These usually include FedEx, UPS, USPS and DHL.
How do I compare package forwarders?
There are a few key things you need to think about, these are summarised here:
- Does the forwarder ship to my address or country?
- What are their fees? Such as membership fees and handling fees?
- How much are their shipping fees?
- How any shipping options do they offer?
- Are they trustworthy and can I speak with their support if I need to?
Which countries do package forwarders not deliver to?
Most countries in the world are served by package forwarders, the exceptions inlcude, Cuba, Iran, N. Korea, Syria and Russia. the decisio is made by the couriers that they use rather than by themselves.
What fees can I expect to pay?
Most package forwarders charge some fees. You will need to consider a joining or registration fee, a mambership fee. These are only really worthwhile if you are planning to shipping stuff regularly and are probably not worth it for a one off purchase. Consolidation and repaackaging services will cost extra but by using these you could save money on your shipping cost as multiple package will be placed into one package with potentially smaller size and therfore less shipping fees.
We have listed their fees for you on each listing so that you can easily compare them in one place
Do they offer a range of shipping options?
Yes, all package forwarders have relationships with most of the shipping companies, so there is normally a good choice of options, if you need something delivered quickly there are express options and if you don't mind waiting for a cheaper delivery cost then that option will be available too.
Will they ship batteries to me?
The decision to ship batteries is made by the shipping companies. Some provide services that will allow batteries, in some instances, to be shipped. This may include batteries that are inside electronic components. When choosing a services for a product that has a bettery it is advisable to check the terms and conditions.
How do we score the package forwarders?
We have created two scores for each forwarder, where we can, these are:
- The Fee score, and
- The shipping score
The Fee Score
We have looked at all the fees for all the listed parcel forwarders and have given each fee a score out of 5, 5 being the best and 1 the worst. We added up all the fee scores and averaged he total to find the total fee score. 5 being the best and 1 being the worst.
The Shipping Score
We looked at a selection of 10 of the most popular shipping destinations and compared all the shipping options and costs for each forwader to each country. These were ranked based on cheapest to most expensive for each country. The ranks were scored out of 5, totalled and averaged to give a score based upon their shipping costs. 5 being the cheapest on average and 1 the most expensive on average.
The range of shipping options was also ranked for each destination country for each forwader, ranked and scored as well.
The total shipping score is a weighted average of the shipping costs and options, to give a total shipping score out of 5.