Planet Express is a service that consolidates multiple orders and ships them to your location. They have warehouses in the USA and in the UK allowing you to ship items from either continent. The true value of the Planet Express service is de-trashing and consolidating multiple orders. If you have just one or two items or if you have larger/heavier items, there are other services that will probably be more affordable.
To take advantage of their consolidation service, you need to sign up for a premium account. They have discounted rate of $50 if you sign up for a year, but the easiest is to sign up for a single month at $10 US. This also gives you free storage for up to 45 days so you can ship items over a few weeks then have them consolidated and forwarded.
If shipping from the USA, you can use their Oregon warehouse which has no sales tax.
This link https://planetexpress.com/?ref=146438 will take you to a sign up page and I’ll get a small referral credit.
Instructions for using their service in Grenada:
After you sign up for an account, you will get an account number. When you order items from websites, etc., simply have it shipped to the Planet Express warehouse of your choice and add your account number to the end of street address
- Oregon Address
- 12540 SW LEVETON DR #(Account Number)
- TUALATIN, OR 97062-6070
- United States
When your packages are received by Planet Express, they will send you an email with picture of package, label, tracking number, weight and dimensions.
On the website, you need to go into the details for each package and fill out the customs declaration for each item in the package, value, etc. For a small fee, they will also do this for you. This satisfies the need for shipper to clear packages out of USA but unfortunately, Grenada customs won’t accept this form so you’ll still need original invoices.
After all your packages have arrived, you can go into your dashboard and select the packages that you want to have consolidated.
For each package selected, you have three options for consolidation:
- Leave as is in shipping package
- Remove shipping packaging – good for most items
- Removal of retail packaging – good for things like shoes, etc where retail packaging is not needed.
It usually takes 24-36 hours to consolidate and there is a charge of $5 to consolidate plus $2 for each package consolidated. You will receive an email when it is complete, along with a picture of the contents and new package detail (weight, dimensions, etc).
At this point, you are ready to ship your package out. For shipping to Grenada, the only options are FedEx International Economy or International Priority but the rates are not that different and overall fairly decent compared to most other shippers from what I have seen. In addition, you get the advantage that FedEx in Grenada has an in-house broker with a flat rate of $57.75 ECD per package.
The address for FedEx in Grenada is:
FedEx, Lagoon Road, St. Georges, Grenada 99999
I usually include my boat name after my name. Packages usually arrive in 3-4 days from USA.
How to get your package from FedEx
This next section describes the steps you need to take to actually retrieve packages from FedEx office.
- If you are on a boat and bringing in ships stores, you will want to fill out 2 copies of a C-14 form. These are available at the customs office or you can download from the files section of the Facebook Group “Grenada Cruisers Information” https://www.facebook.com/groups/1428165970745389/
- Print two copies of each of your invoices
- Bring C-14 and invoices to the customs office in Port Louis Marina to be signed off and stamped. You will receive one copy, customs will keep the second copy.
- Bring your copy of invoices and C-14 to FedEx office along with your tracking number and let them know you wish to have them handle brokerage. It can take anywhere from an hour or two up to a day for broker to process paperwork. You can either do customs and drop off paperwork in the morning and then run other errands while paperwork is being processed, or I’ll usually do customs and paperwork once package ships then come back when package arrives so I don’t have to wait around.
- Once FedEx has finished paperwork, they will give it to you to go and pay the customs duty (2.5% with C-14). You can do this at the Post Office or the Customs and Excise office. Both are past the port from the FedEx office. Post office only takes cash, Customs and excise takes credit or cash.
- Bring receipt back to FedEx and they will give you package.
Map
- Port Louis customs is in the marina, bottom of picture.
- FedEx is in big blue building along Lagoon road, middle of picture, entrance on North side.
- Post office is small building on left just past roundabout, top of picture. Customs window is to the right when you go in.
- Customs and Excise office is near the post office, go around the left side of building and then it is to your left when you come out other side.
- Fed Ex closes at 4:30pm.
- Post office closes at 3:30pm
Word of warning, go earlier in the day and plan for delays. Many offices close for lunch and when it is busy, the wait at various offices can take a while.
If you need to make copies or have items printed, you can take files to Brydon and Minor Office Supplies, just next to Island Waterworld.
This link https://planetexpress.com/?ref=146438 will take you to a sign up page