Coronavirus forced many of us to change our travel plans and for me, an earlier return to New Zealand from Australia than previously planned.
I had intended to lockup my household possessions and clothes in storage for a few years but I think it could be quite some time before I can come back to Australia. I decided to look at home to send my luggage to New Zealand.
This is when I discovered MyBaggage, and as you'll discover in the next few minutes, it was a highly rated company that I would definitely recommend.
Why I Used MyBaggage?
Currently a one way ticket to New Zealand is well over $600 per person, with 1 piece of baggage. Air New Zealand charges $65 for the first extra bag, then $100 per bag after that, with a max of 3.
Cramming my entire life into 3 bags was difficult, I had about 6 bags in total. But of course I couldn't bring this with Air New Zealand. I checked how much the post office charged, $500+ for a bag.
I then also considered pack and send which is often touted as the best alternative to NZ Post, but this wasn't much cheaper.
I started looking at unaccompanied baggage providers and quickly came across MyBaggage. Not only was it $50-$100 cheaper than most of their competitors such as SendMyBag, they claimed delivery to New Zealand from Melbourne would only take 2-3 working days.
A 20kg suitcase, with reasonably large dimensions costs £54 ($95). This includes pickup the following day via DHL, and delivery to your door anywhere in New Zealand.
I'll be staying in Wellington. The total amount for 1 bag came to $95, which is cheaper than Air NZ, plus I don't need to carry it to the airport, which is worth a lot in my opinion.
My Baggage Review Australia
Using the website was a piece of cake, you simply need a printer before you checkout. If you book before 5pm on a business day your package is confirmed for next working day pickup.
MyBaggage is best suited for clothing. DHL courier man made it pretty clear each time he picked up the suitcase that DHL doesn't allow batteries, aerosols, liquids to be included.
You start by going through the website and choosing your location and destination. You'll need to provide evidence of your identity such as a passport.
You'll choose the dimensions of your baggage and the weight. You are told to overstate the weight. Ours was a volumetric weight of 15kg but I put 20kg just to be safe.
Lastly you need to set a customs declaration for the value of your luggage. Used clothes are worthless so I'd say they are worth about $2 per item.
You need to choose the delivery address, so I used a family member. You also need to specify your intended date of arrival in the country. No requirement to show flight tickets.
Once you've paid using AMEX, credit/debit card, you'll be able to complete the customs documentation. New Zealand is pretty strict on import fees so make sure you value your clothes at the bottom dollar, i.e. $2 per item and clearly fill your customs documentation as 'Used Clothes'
My first bag was valued at £50, and my next two were £80. All 3 cases entered New Zealand with no import taxes to pay, probably as I clearly mentioned they are Used.
Once you've completed the customs paperwork, you'll be able to download the forms and the shipping labels. You need to follow the paperwork instructions.
For customs, there's two lots of paperwork, one set must be stuck in a letter on the luggage, while the other goes to the driver. The same with the shipping labels. One for each of the bags and one goes to the driver on pickup.
One of my bags was plastic so sticking the labels was a piece of cake. I used a polly pocket, then a piece of string (a zip tie would work well) to attach the pocket to the suitcase handle. Then I selotaped the pockets to the bag.
The other bag was cloth like material and selotape didn't stick. I bought some clingfilm and wrapped it around my bag 5 times, then stuck the label ontop, again with a zip tie to the handle.
At the other end, all the labels were still in tack.
Once you've printed your labels, you'll want to ensure you're at home for DHL or the local courier to pickup your suitcase. Both times we used MyBaggage the driver arrived shortly after 9am.
MyBaggage Shipping Times
We used MyBaggage once on a Thursday and once on a Friday. Both times the luggage was shipped from Melbourne to Sydney to Auckland to Wellington and was delivered on the Monday.
In effect that's next business day service, so very fast indeed.
Despite coronavirus it would appear New Zealand customs and DHL didn't open our luggage on either occassion. Given how tightly packed our clothes were I was concerned they wouldn't be able to zip the luggage back up again if they did, however they never checked.
With this said, it's entirely possible they could have opened our luggage so locks can't be included.
MyBaggage Tracking
The website provides real time tracking and includes email notifications when your package is picked up, out for delivery and delivered.
Additionally to this, DHL was provided with the recipients phone number. I delivered this to my mother as I was still in Australia and she was notified when the driver was on the way and when the package was delivered.
MyBaggage Negatives
One small negative point is that MyBaggage includes a copy of your passport in the customs label which goes on the front of your suitcase. I find it quite strange you would need to send a copy of your passport in plain sight which someone could easily take a copy of.
Your passport often contains confidential information and can be used for things such as opening bank accounts or applying for finance. While it's highly unlikely anyone at DHL, MyBaggage or customs is going to do anything, if the courier left your luggage unattended, it could be an issue.
MyBaggage Australia Verdict
I looked long and hard at the different unaccompanied luggage providers in Australia before booking and MyBaggage was the cheapest and fastest I could find. Their website is simple to use and automated, with DHL being booked automatically after checkout.
Customs forms can be completed online and downloaded instantly, and are easy to attach to your baggage provided you use a polly pocket.
Fortunately, like most of the other positive reviews online about MyBaggage, we had no issues and all our bags arrived on time and undamaged.
I highly recommend you checkout this service if you're relocating your used clothing to either a holiday destination or returning home to live.
MyBaggage Australia Coupon Code
Best Five readers can save £5 ($9-$10) off their first order with MyBaggage. Simply create a quote, account and once you checkout enter this discount code in the box: RHYS5585.
Click here to apply the coupon code.
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source https://bestfive.com.au/mybaggage-review-australia/
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