Shipping Wedding Favors to Mexico

A hot topic that has come up often in the recent weeks...

Unless you are able to pack the items in your suitcase or distribute them amongst your guests, please reconsider if you are thinking of shipping your wedding favors to Mexico. 

Unfortunately shipping costs overseas are very expensive as the only reliable way of shipping anything is via courier but even with a courier, it can get very complicated and stressful!

As customs offices are tightening up world-wide, every packet entering another country is subject to import tax, which happens to be a staggering 39% in Mexico (One of the highest import taxes in the world!). 

In most cases the package will not be delivered to the addressee, but needs to be collected from the customs office after a notice has been sent to the addressee. Although usually packets under a certain value are generally not affected, there is no guarantee that your package may not be pulled out randomly, its the luck of the draw!

Going to the customs office is very time consuming with endless queues, forms and paperwork that need to be filled in. Whoever collects your package, may charge you for the travel and time on top of the customs fee. In case of problems, especially with any items manufactured in China, the package may not be released until a proof of origin, invoices, etc. can be shown and some packages are still at customs long after the wedding has taken place.

Here is just one example: A recent bride sent 50 paper fans to her wedding coordinator at a shipping cost of 50 USD. Customs stopped the package and didn't release it because the items were manufactured in China and there was no invoice or proof of origin in the package. The bride had to pay 80 USD to the wedding coordinator, which was a bargain considering it took 4 hours in total for each visit to the customs, not even taking the administration in her office into account! The package was not released until the bride emailed all the paperwork to the wedding coordinator. The wedding coordinator was forced to return empty handed until the paperwork was sent over, return to customs again and pay 19.50 USD in import tax. A total of 149.50 USD for 50 paper fans!  

In order to avoid any complications and stress, the wisest thing to do, is to pack your wedding favors in your suitcase, or, buy them in Mexico. There are several companies who also specialize in wedding favors and if they don't have what you want, they may be able to get it if you give them sufficient notice. Ask your wedding coordinator who will help you locate what you want.