Here's a post that'll be a real slice of Korean life. Today I'll document my misadventures at my local Korean post office, which actually turned out pretty informative over all. So I figured I'd write a quick post about it because maybe it can help some others out there.
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| Different shipping methods to pre-register for on Korea Post website |
Basically, it comes down to this: what, really, is the difference between these 4 methods of shipping packages at the post office?:
- 국제특급(EMS) (normal international registered mail)
- EMS프리미엄 (premium registered mail)
- 국제소포 (standard international parcel shipping)
- 소형포장물(등기) (small parcel shipping)
Granted, there is information about all these online, so I will skip over that stuff, and just explain what I personally experienced this week and noted down from a rather lengthy and awkward conversation with the postal worker where I realized there is a ton of vocab that I did not know. Luckily, the clerk was a patient guy and it was a slow time when I was in, so he tried to walk me through as best he could.
Background: My attempt at using the Small Parcel Shipping Service
So, I had two smallish boxes I wanted to send to USA. Yes, they were Christmas presents for family back home. Yes, I should have sent them weeks ago. Yes, I am sometimes an extreme procrastinator about certain things. I'm also super cheap and wanted to save money on shipping costs. Which is why I was interested in this Small Parcel Shipping service.
Side note: pre-register on the post office website
By the way, when shipping an item, it can save you tons of time if you pre-register the package on the post office website. If you have a Korean phone number for verifying your identity, you can make a simple post office website account that from then on can be accessed by simple username/password. Try it here:
https://ems.epost.go.kr/front.SmEmsAcceptIntro.postal
This will let you pre-register your packages conveniently online. You can input your info, the addressee's info, the required customs info (like what type of item, value of item, etc).
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| Entering customs information in online pre-registering for Korea Post mail |
Everything will be ready to go, so that you only need to show up at the post office with your reservation number, and they'll be able to print the shipping label right then and there.
You can also pre-pay with your credit card, but I never do, because half the time there is something wrong that they need to change, and handing over my card when it's time to pay is easier than trying to work out some sort of refund. You can also set up insurance if you want.
Another cool thing is to arrange to have a post office worker come to your door to pick up the package for you. It costs 3,000 extra. Personally I don't use it because, as I said, and as this post will demonstrate, half the time something goes wrong and better to be there in person to deal with it. I know that defeats the purpose of the online pre-registration a little but hey, the other half the time it works no problem.
Anyway, I had pre-registered my two boxes for Small Parcel Shipping Service, as it was promoted as being a cheaper alternative. So why not.
Accepted sizes for Small Parcel Shipping Service
But of course, something went wrong. My packages were too large for the Small Parcel Shipping Service. That was strange, because the weight was clearly under 2kg for each, and as far as I knew, the dimensions of the boxes were under the allowable size (less than 90cm total when adding width + height + length). But he said no; the weigh twas fine but somehow I didn't calculate the physical dimensions right.
That's when he gave me this useful rule of thumb:
Only boxes 1, 2, and 2-1 are accepted for Small Parcel Shipping Service
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| Shipping box sizes for sale at the Korean post office. Apparently only boxes 1, 2, and 2-1 are accepted for the Small Parcel Shipping Service. Image: 움직이는나: 우체국 택배 박스 규격과 가격 확인하고 보내세요 |
So, since I had already made the reservations under that service, and one of them was nothing special that I really didn't care about taking longer than EMS, I went ahead and opened it up right there at the post office and repackaged it in a post office #2 size box with the convenient scissors and packing tape they provide free for customer use.
But the other one, I cancelled the reservation online (via my phone, right there) and redid it under normal EMS.
Problem with Small Parcel Shipping Service
Here's where things get sort of funny.
My other package was small enough to qualify for the Small Parcel Shipping, but the worker flat out asked me: "Are you serious? Why don't you just do EMS?"
According to him, it's not worth it. He crunched the numbers for me:
- Shipping my box under the Small Parcel Service would end up being 38,000 won.
- Meanwhile, EMS would be 45,000 won.
- Firstly, the Small Parcel Service would take around ~7-10 days (but "more likely 2 weeks; the schedule is unreliable") to reach the destination, compared with ~3-4 for EMS ("it's reliable").
- And EMS will let me track the parcel each step of the way. Somehow, despite claiming to be a 등기 service, the Small Parcels method is unreliable once the package gets out of Korea.
- Based on his words, the small parcel service is an "old" system that once upon a time was a truly cheaper option, more than half cheaper than it is today. But apparently the infrastructure landscape has changed since then, with both EMS becoming the de facto standard and the basic parcel service all but being supplanted by it. Just pay $7 more (in this case) for the standard service that is more trustworthy and faster.
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| Shipping by "surface" mail takes 50~70 days |
And yes, the only apparent difference between 국제소포 and 소형포장물 is that the smaller package size will net you around a 5% cheaper shipping cost. Barely worth it these days. Maybe it could be similar to me going to a USPS and insisting on sending a letter by 2nd class mail?
Use the online shipping cost calculator
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| Korea Post shipping costs calculator |
Here you can compare various types of shipping options and get an idea of what costs you're looking at. My biggest problem ended up being that I must have put in the wrong dimensions for my box. Oh well.
Final thoughts
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| GS25 "half-price" store delivery, standard domestic delivery, international delivery |
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