RoseRoseShop, Sasa, KoreaDepart et cetera to Philippines: Think twice before you buy

Thanks to the internet, Filipinas have wider selections in skin care and cosmetics. A great deal of these treasures are found in online shops such as Sasa, KoreaDepart, or RoseRoseShop. However, fellow Filipino consumers like me should be mindful when purchasing items from online shops based abroad.

RoseRoseShop is a reliable online seller of Korean products, offering a huge selection of brands from the common Etude House to the novel Benton. In fact, RoseRoseShop is my go to shop if I need to buy product I like which can't be found here in the Philippines. Their prices are also reasonable and they have frequent sales. I love RoseRoseShop but I will think twice before any repurchase from them... or from any overseas online seller.

It's not because of the seller, it's because of this.

I bought a couple of sunblock from roseroseshop, which made me spend around $35, including shipping. However, I had to pay around $21 to claim my product! That's 60% of the total amount! Why? Because of Customs duties. And this is not the first time I have encountered the Customs people - I bought from sasa.com once and it was awful.

I was suprised that the Bureau of Customs now is a lot more strict in taxing all overseas parcel. (I should make a detailed Customs encounter post). I bought from roseroseshop last year but I was lucky at that time since I paid only a little more than a dollar for postal storage fees. Sigh, this government agency taxing us rigorously yet letting issues such as this and this pass by. The injustice!

Anyway, for all you who plan to purchase from online shops, be wary that almost any item you try to import in the Philippines - no matter how cheap or expensive, where the country of origin is, or if it is a genuine gift or not, from your loved ones or from  - will be taxed. And heavily!