86OF bulky goods sea freight shipping

It’s been some time since I found time to blog. Meanwhile, I’ve been busy shipping Taobao stuff. Lots of stuff. For home renovation. All in all I shipped more than 2 CBM of goods, with more to come.

This would be my third time shipping via 86OF, but only the first time I shipped more than 0.5 CBM to qualify for free home delivery. With free home delivery, it is a good deal. There’s no way I can self-collect a full CBM worth of goods (see above), and some items won’t even fit into my car.

I received a call to confirm the delivery timing (apparently it was a logistics company that is a separate entity from 86OF). The delivery went well, and all goods were accounted for. There was just one item that was slightly damaged, but it has more to do with the seller not packing the item more securely.

During the process of managing parcel arrivals at the warehouse and eventually shipping all the parcels, there was a minor hiccup. 86OF did a migration to a new website from amk.86of.com to amkb.86of.com (similarly for all the other branches). There was no notification given whatsoever regarding the website migration, AS EXPECTED. Sending an email would have been a cheap way to propagate this important news, even if it were only in Chinese, but i received no email nor SMS, nada. I was only told about the website migration when I checked with customer service as to why I wasn’t seeing parcel arrivals in my account.

The customer service personnel gave me a link with instructions (entirely in Chinese of course) on how they were going to handle the issue of customers having parcels in both the old and new website. I had to do cash top up in both the old and new website and ship the parcels respectively, after which, they will merge the shipment and refund me the extra shipping fee paid.

I did so, and they were really quick to do the refund. So, while 86OF remains lousy at communicating with customers, the prompt response from their customer service is reassuring. I feel completely comfortable with this level of service, but I can imagine there would be many other customers screaming at them. Well, they (86of) just have to learn it the hard way. Or more likely they will feel justified with their way of managing customer relations.

It is important to note that 0.5 CBM is an important cut-off threshold, because once you exceed 0.5 CBM, you will have to pay for the full CBM, currently at S$90, (vs $59 for 0.5 CBM). So, if you did exceed 0.5 CBM, it makes sense to add on more purchases to fully utilize the 1 CBM you’re entitled to. The 20 days of free warehouse storage should give you sufficient time to make further purchases on Taobao. I did so.

I learnt from my recent purchases that Taobao sellers sometimes send more than one parcel per order, or worse, they sometimes provide the wrong tracking number, and you’re left wondering why your parcel was sent to a different address. Taobao only allows tracking one parcel per order, which is a major drawback. Taobao sellers will sometimes inform you about the additional parcels through the Aliwangwang instant messenger. The web version of Aliwangwang is extremely unreliable, so, despite how I dislike the desktop version, I have it installed. It is a good idea to login to Aliwangwang the few days after you have placed your order on Taobao, just in case the seller needs confirmation from you about your purchase or have something to inform you about the order fulfilment. Alternatively, you can also install the Cainiao Guoguo app and you will receive notification on your phone when the seller sends you a message (the notification may be slightly delayed though, i noticed). I wouldn’t suggest installing the official Taobao app as it renders your phone useless. It uses up every bit of memory available and drains the battery like nobody’s business.

I collect cashback for my Taobao purchases through Shopback, even though it is not much. Interestingly, when I perform a search via the Taobao search bar on Shopback website, as is required for earning cash back, I sometimes find cheaper sources for the same item, so I end up saving even more, while also earning cashback.

I will be posting product recommendations for my recent hoard of Taobao purchases, do stay tuned!

Update 25 Apr 2019

It’s been slightly more than a year since i last shipped parcels through 86of sea freight, and i discovered that some things have changed. First off, the SG side customer service is non-existent now. They have “outsourced” all customer service to their Guangzhou office, which does answer queries in a somewhat timely manner, but they can tell you nothing about the parcel whereabouts once it has left China. The SG customer service will not bother to answer your WhatsApp messages like they used to, so all you can do is wait. My parcels were estimated to arrive on 17 Apr but the “ready for collection” update came only on 25 Apr. Still not too bad i guess.

I’ve probably mentioned somewhere before that all payments are in CNY now, and this probably puts some people off. Well, it’s good and bad. I happen to have a WeChat account with CNY credit, so i can pay for the shipping rather easily, and the shipping fee is actually cheaper – 59 Yuan for the first 0.1 CMB which is S$12 at the current exchange rate, instead of S$13 previously.

Overall, i think the service is still satisfactory, and for shipping less than 1 CBM of goods, 86of is probably still very competitive.

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21 responses to “86OF bulky goods sea freight shipping”

  1. Meow Avatar
    Meow

    Hi Yenkai,

    We chatted previously regarding using 86of shipping service. Last time, the user page of the website was pretty good, they even have function like automatic calculation for items checked to be shipped.

    Now they have a new user interface, I don’t think it has the automatic calculation function anymore. Not sure why they removed that. Did you manage to know beforehand how much was the shipping fee?

    After checking the items I (trying out) want to ship, I was brought to the next page (pretty simple details about the items checked and almost like a blank page) requiring information for telephone number and name, and then submit button at the bottom…which i assume they will contact me once they calculated the fee?

    I haven’t shipped yet, still waiting for other items to arrive…I really wish to ship one particular item $80 plus, which is already in the warehouse through air shipping. But not sure how since no shipping options or shipping price for me to choose like last time..

    Yes, They changed warehouse and I was caught by surprise too. But luckily there were still people working at the old warehouse, so my goods were transferred and checked into the new website and account…

    I seriously prefer the old user interface account….sigh…I am assuming the user account interface is the same for everyone even if they register with different “outlet”, like mine is the boonlay warehouse….

    Meow

    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Hi Meow, you’re probably right about the automatic calculation which is convenient. But it’s easy to calculate the shipping cost. Below 0.5 CBM, it’s $13 per 0.1 CBM, between 0.5 and 0.6, it’s $59, 0.5 CBM, it is $59, between 0.51 and 0.59 CBM, $69 (max parcel count 10) and between 0.6 and 1 CBM, it will be $90 (max parcel count 20).

      There used to be air shipping listed in the menu but I’m not sure if they actually allowed shipping by air previously. Now it seems like the air shipping option is gone. You’ll just have to wait a bit longer to receive the goods.

      All the warehouse are “upgraded” to this new interface, which I suppose is meant to look more professional, but does not really offer any value-add to customers.

  2. Meow Avatar
    Meow

    I have seen their webpage on instructions regarding how to submit the items to be shipped.

    I just realized for instance I check that one item (which I already reported the price for GST) that I am keen to air ship, I was brought to the next page which was supposed to have options for sea shipping or air shipping at the bottom. But mine does not show any options for that.

    At the top, it only has a box asking for name and phone number, then blank page all the way at the middle, then at the bottom, price for the items combined. Nothing was shown under *包裹类型:

    Not sure why….I already reported the price for all items during the parcel forecast. I wonder what did I missed out…Do you think it might have something to do with putting real name in the account and ic number or something? The account only show my user log in name…

    Any help is appreciated…

    Meow

    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Hi Meow, I did a shipment using the new website recently and I don’t remember having to key in the declared value a second time. Unfortunately I don’t have any parcel now so I can’t see the options you are asking about, and I don’t remember much. I doubt it has anything to do with entering name and IC into the system.

  3. Meow Avatar
    Meow

    I solved the mystery of the missing shipping options….lol

    basically you gotta update the personal information, especially the singapore address, and then at the checkout page, at the top, there is a box that shows the name of the person / Singapore address, “have to click/highlight it”, only then the shipping options at the bottom will appear magically.

    I think they should have put those kind of circle button beside the box that shows the shipping singapore address, so people know that that is an option that needs to be highlighted/checked. Big companies have many different shipping address, so they could instinctively know they gotta highlight it. But small time user like myself, haha, tried to figure out for three days.

    Meow

    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Thanks for sharing your findings Meow.

  4. Yvonne Avatar
    Yvonne

    Hi there, I’m hooked onto Taobao recently. I was exploring cheaper shipping options and came across your blog! Never knew there’s 0.1 cbm shipping. It’s almost impossible for me to fill 1 cbm as I don’t have furniture and big/bulky items to buy from Taobao. It seems that 86of is not very popular. Wouldn’t know about it if not for your blog.

    Do you know if I can ship electrical appliances via 86of? I’m eyeing a handheld vacuum that’s about 2kg+ and the box dimension is 36 cm x 12.5 cm x 17.5 cm (checked with seller). I calculated the cbm and it’s approximately 0.008 cbm, which sounds a bit too good to be true -.-” Thought it would be 0.02 cbm or something.

    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Yes you can ship most electronic stuff, except a microwave oven (https://www.customs.gov.sg/individuals/going-through-customs/arrival/prohibited-and-controlled-goods).

      0.008 CBM will be counted as 0.01 CBM which is the minimum quantity. Even if it is 0.02 CBM, you can add-on 8 more 0.01 CBM parcels and still fall within the minimum shipping volume of 0.1 CBM (which will cost you $13).

      1. Yvonne Avatar
        Yvonne

        Thanks for your reply! I managed to find their number to whatsapp and asked them as well. I have no idea how to use aliwangwang and all the others. They’ve clarified that vacuum cleaner is not considered sensitive item, hence no need to pay extra 20% as well.

        Understand the cbm thingy.

        Just find it confusing to calculate cbm (for sea shipping) and volumetric weight (useful for air shipping).

        From my research,
        Cbm = h x l x b (in meters)
        Volumetric weight = h x l x b (in cm) divide by 6000 (air) or 5000 (sea)

        Hope this helps your other readers!

  5. Meow Avatar
    Meow

    hi yenkai,

    So…now I have close to 10 orders / products, (some heavy items) in the china warehouse, which is exactly 0.5 cbm, which means sea shipping is $59…then gst is about $25 plus….plus free home delivery

    I still have a few more items I plan to buy, do you think it is worth it to pay extra $10 for the incoming extra items/orders, and ship everything together, total probably less than 20 items?

    Or should I just ship the first 9 orders already in ware house, then wait till i accumulate next 10 items then ship again next time? my next few items include a digital watch, clothes, and probably solar powered lights, which will exceed 0.13cbm I believe, light enough to self collect .

    And last time i think I read somewhere you mentioned don’t exceed 0.69cbm and they charge full price of 0.1CBM…?

    Btw, I am not sure if 0.5CBM to 0.6CBM is $59 like you mentioned above….previously I got 0.51CBM for my orders in the old system, they charged me $69 for shipping….I asked can choose 0.5cbm or not, they replied cannot….only exactly 0.5 CBM is entitled to $59 shipping fee excluding GST… =/

    Also just to share, 860f have new revised price for air shipping, with $8 payment for home delivery. The main difference I think is the compulsory first kg last time $7 changed to $4。now cheaper by around $3 compared to 4px.

    The subsequent kg last time was $4, and they calculated by 1 kg not 0.5kg, meaning if last time your item was 1.1kg, they charge compulsory first kg $7 + 1kg $4 + 0.1kg $4 = $15 with free delivery (customers lose out paying more because of charging by subsequent 1kg).

    So with new air shipping price, if an item is 1.1kg, they now follow the standard practice of charging by next 0.5kg…this means compulsory first kg $4 + 1kg $2.50 + 0.1 kg $2.50 (considered next 0.5kg) = $9 (self collection, no free delivery). For home delivery, add $8 + $9 = $17. So actually more expensive and less added value for customers compared to previous pricing.

    It can take up to nine days for 86of air shipping item to reach the customer. For example, air shipping paid on Tuesday night, Wednesday they confirm received payment, Thursday transfer item to air shipping warehouse, Friday air shipping warehouse to process the order, Saturday and Sunday no actual work done, Following Monday start to pack, Tuesday or most likely Wednesday go on plane, Thursday reach Singapore, Friday self-collection or home delivery.

    I still think cannot compete with taobao 4px service which includes 5 days shipping plus free home delivery guarantee (refund 50% up to max cap $10 if delivery exceeded by 5 days).

    Just sharing my experience with the 860f air shipping… the items do reach Singapore safe and sound so it’s definitely reliable and fuss-free if anyone likes to stick with a familiar shipping company. Hope this helps,

    don’t forget my question at the top….lol ( ^___^ !! )

    Meow

    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Hi Meow,

      If you exceed 0.6 CBM (not 0.69), you will be paying for the full CBM ($90), so if your subsequent items will exceed 0.13 CBM, the total will surely exceed 0.6 CBM. If so, better to ship the current items first. Anyway, the allowance for 0.6 CBM of shipping is still 10 parcels maximum, so you may have to pay another $10 if you exceed the 10 parcels count (which you will). Anyway, i just read also that there is a rule that you can only ship out once a week, otherwise you will have to pay an additional fee of $15. This is to penalize those who try to circumvent the parcel count rule. Anyway, probably doesn’t affect you since you mentioned you have not started doing your second round of shopping, but good to bear in mind.

      Sorry that i actually stated the rules incorrectly! For 0.51 to 0.59 CBM, it will be $69. Now that you mention, it does seem funny to have this $59 fee for 0.5 CBM. There’s no way anyone can “zhun zhun” hit 0.5 CBM. But anyway, the maximum savings is about 0.05 CBM (price for 0.45 CBM = $58.5 which is almost $59, meaning you could have shipped another 0.05 CBM for free), not very significant.

      Thank you for your very useful information about air shipping. I’m actually going to try their air shipping for the first time, and it’s good to know that i am going to enjoy lower fees. Actually, my understanding of how they charge, according to the website, is that the first kg is $4 and every subsequent kg is $2.5. This means shipping a 1.1kg item will cost $4 (first kg) + $2.5 (0.1 kg) = $6.5. This would be similar to Taobao Consolidated shipping. Sad to hear it may take 9 days for the shipping. This will be slower than Ezbuy (6 days) which i have always been using for air shipping. Then again, 86of has cheaper shipping rate if you ship 3kg or more (Ezbuy costs $3.38 per kg). In any case, it’s good to have an additional option, slightly slower and slightly cheaper, might just match the need sometimes. Good to know about the 5 days shipping guarantee offered by 4px, another viable option as well. I have not used Taobao shipping in a long time.

  6. Meow Avatar
    Meow

    Hi yenkai,

    I think I will ship out the items first since I lucky hit 0.5CBM. You are right, it is difficult to hit exactly 0.5CBM as it depends on how the warehouse staff measure the thing. The 0.5CBM I guess is just marketing strategy to make it seem attractive….

    No apologies needed, the 0.51CBM was last time system and I already reached 10 items…so I chose the category for 0.51 to 0.6CB…which showed $69…now I am not sure how they charge also…haha, I just click the options let the system tell me..

    Hmmm, I think you are right on the air shipping prices…Maybe I read wrongly. Just tried with a 1.08 kg item in the system air shipping with self collection option, it is $6.50. My understanding of the calculation method (not talking about pricing per kg/per 0.5kg) was based on the previous time I air shipped, first item was 0.47kg, it was $11. when I added another item it reached 1.1kg and the system calculated $15.

    So for now this means…

    860f = first kg $4 + item 1.1 kg $2.50 = $6.50 + $8 (delivery) = $14.50

    4px = first kg $6.80 + item 1.1 kg (2.05+2.05 + 2.05/ 0.5kg) = $6.80 + $6.15= $12.95 (free home delivery or PoP collection)

    I hope my above calculation is correct.

    You are welcome, I think can try 860f air shipping, reliable and hassle-free since you already know how to use their system. If in a hurry to receive your 1 or 2 items, then can consider 4px.

    Thanks for letting me know about the 1 shipment per week rule, never knew that…do show me the link so i can find out more… =)

    Meow

    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Hi Meow,

      I think for shipping 1.1kg with 4px, it is only $8.05 -> $6.80 (1 kg) + $2.05 (next 0.5kg), so it’s actually cheaper if you want home delivery. A good option, especially if they calculate by actual weight like they used to. Will go with 4px if i want my items delivered quick, using the POP station option since i prefer to self-collect, and it is even cheaper. Been using Ezbuy for shipping the small and light stuff mostly, because there is no first kg rule (useful for stuff like mobile phone screen protector whereby i pay just $1.69 for shipping 2 or 3 of them) and this translates to even lower prices, and the shipping speed is about 5-6 days, and sometimes they can do it within 3 days.

      The webpage for the one week rule (for all the rules in fact) is here in their old system.

  7. KC Avatar
    KC

    Hi YenKai,

    I was trying to search around for sea freight from Taobao and came across your helpful blog! thanks for the detail explaination with fellow readers but I would still like to check with you to see if my calculation is correct?

    Assuming I’m ordering a tv console (111 cm x 45 cm x 60cm) – that will in turn be 1.11 x 0.45 x 0.60 = 0.299 cbm? Ie: cost of shipping will be 0.299 x $13?

    If I were to purchase a few bulky items – such as studying table, shoe rack etc – actually the 0.5cbm will be quite easy to hit? And they provide free delivery to my place irregardless of how many parcels / items right? Or it’s still cap at 10parcels?

    Thanks!

    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Hi KC, your calculation of the CBM is correct (but likely the size will be bigger due to packaging). The cost is 2.99 X $13 ($13 for every 0.1 CBM if total is below 0.5 CBM). Yes, it’s quite easy to hit 0.5 CBM if you ship furniture. Free delivery for 0.5 CBM and above. Capped at 10 parcels for below 0.6 CBM of shipment, 20 parcels if above 0.6 CBM. Pay $10 for every additional 20 parcels, which is quite ok so I think you need not be worried about parcel count.

  8. KC Avatar
    KC

    Thanks for the kind advice, Yan Kai! Just to check if there is a maximum number of days that the goods can be stored in the warehouse before they must be check out? (I have been using 4px all these while and I know that goods can only be store max 20days otherwise have to pay)

    I read somewhere that watch is also considered as sensitive item(?) – meaning it cannot be send via air but must do so by sea? I’m looking to get the sport watch (similar to Fitbit kind and I’m thinking if there might be issues)

    Appreciate your kind help! Thanks!

    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Hi KC. They offer free storage for 20 days as well. Yes I would guess that (sorry I didn’t check to be 100% sure) a fitness watch is considered sensitive because of the Lithium battery contained within. Then again, 86of usually closes one eye if you’re just shipping one sensitive item amongst a few other non-sensitive items.

  9. J Avatar
    J

    Hi yenKai,

    I have been reading up on sea shipping from Taobao and yours was the only one which mentioned 86of.

    So my questions are:
    1. Most agents/forwarder have other fees such as service charge, I can’t seem to find/ understand the details on 86of website. apart from the delivery fee based on volume (Cbm), what other charges should I expect?
    2. Am I right to use sea freight for the best deal since I’m planning to order 3 massage beds (which I assume is considered bulky/heavy item) amongst other items?
    3. If 86of is a forwarder, am I right to say Im supposed to do all the purchases on Taobao myself , then I input the warehouse address given by 86of. From there, I can consolidate the purchases, 86of will help me repack, quote price, then ship to designated address in Singapore?
    4. What are the payment methods available?

    Thank you so much and appreciate your reply as im new to this and hope I don’t overspend unnecessarily and lose any items along the way!

    1. yenkai Avatar
      yenkai

      Hi J,

      1. No service charge. The shipping fee quoted is all-inclusive.
      2. Yes, sea freight is much cheaper, and actually not too slow. In my experience, 86of has managed to deliver exactly on the estimated day of arrival every single time, and it can be within 10 to 14 days from the time you submit to ship.
      3. Yes
      4. Interbank transfer and PayNow.

      1. J Avatar
        J

        Thank you for the prompt reply yenkai!

        Just to clarify this section that I saw on the website:
        运费到付
        只要快递单上写的是“到付”和顾客ID,我们就直接付款,客户的账户有余额,按3%收取服务费,账户没有余额,需要我们催促你充值后付款,按10%收取服务费,最低$1。
        客户在“会员中心-财务管理-财务记录”中查看到付的快递单号(会标注最后4位数字)。
        物流提货
        收货人请填写:陈培斌,电话:18920028659.
        距离我公司仓库10公里以内1立方米取货费是120元,超过10公里,按50%加收,180元。超过1立方米,按50%加收,180元。
        货到广州时,请通知客服(TEL:91602555)安排车辆提货。

        1.Can u enlighten me on the 运费到付 and 服务费 here? As well as the 取货费?What do they mean since u mentioned they only charge shipping fee?
        2. I should put in the name and number of the 收货人 stated here, Together with the warehouse address right?
        3. 货到广州时,请通知客服. do I check if all the items have arrived the warehouse Via Taobao delivery status? And after all items have reached, that is when I need to inform the customer service (via the number given), and ask them to consolidate and ship over?

        Thank you once again!

        1. yenkai Avatar
          yenkai

          Hi J,

          1. This is for those goods that are paid only upon delivery to the China warehouse instead of being paid for before it gets shipped (domestic). Probably doesn’t apply to Taobao since you always pay first.

          2. Use the address as stated in your account home page (which includes branch and member ID).

          3. When your parcel is shipped by seller (you would then know the courier company 快递 and shipment no 运单), you should submit a forecast entry into the website. However, even if you didn’t do so, there shouldn’t be a problem for the warehouse staff to update your account with the arrival of any parcel with your branch and ID clearly marked in the address. You initiate the consolidate and shipping through the website as well and never need to contact customer service, unless there is any problem. What you normally need to do is to check the shipping cost for the consolidated shipment, top up your account with sufficient funds to pay for the shipment, then proceed with the consolidated shipping.

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