Where are you sending from/to?Could I ask the different solutions residents use to replace the inadequate postal service?
I wish I'd known that - I recently had to send some documents to Paraguay (The employee said "?Eh? ?D?nde es eso?") and used TNT - the cheapest option offered by Vimenca. It cost RD$1,500 - the other options were around RD$2,500.To send letters and documents abroad, we use the EMS (express mail service) in the Post Office. While I never googled how this works, EMS seems to be every where as an optional fast delivery in Latin American countries. We sent documents to the US many, many times, and small packages. They always arrived. It's not as fast as a 48-hour service; it takes about a week to the US, but it works great and it is not as costly as Fedex. I think we pay $18 (US) for a small package or documents.
To send letters and documents abroad, we use the EMS (express mail service) in the Post Office. While I never googled how this works, EMS seems to be every where as an optional fast delivery in Latin American countries. We sent documents to the US many, many times, and small packages. They always arrived. It's not as fast as a 48-hour service; it takes about a week to the US, but it works great and it is not as costly as Fedex. I think we pay $18 (US) for a small package or documents.
PS: for packages in the DR, we use Metro. Be aware though that neither Metro nor Caribe Express provides insurance. If something gets lost, you lose.
How large of a package can be sent using EMS to the US?
This is exactly how I use my P O Box services: to receive a small amount of business correspondence from the UK (you pay a small fee per item, maybe 25 or 40 pesos) and online purchases from the US. In many cases shipping is free within the US, and I've learned to factor in the additional cost of couriering the packages to the DR. I buy mainly books (much less now since I bought a Kindle), some small items like vitamins/supplements, Indian spices, water filters, minor electronic accessories like external disks, some clothing and footwear, sheets, one magazine subscription for my son.Incoming international parcels, i have heard there are cheaper options than a PO box, or paying high courier prices, but the ins and outs of how to go about this I do not yet know. For instance I will prefer to buy my clothes and footwear online from the US, but standard courier prices are very high.
Also there will be standard mail from the UK, but paperwork, not substantial parcels.
I would appreciate specific details on how this is done as I am not familiar with US courier services, the national mail service or any other postal services available in the US. I have read some threads but much of it is something that falls beyond my understanding of how it really works. There is undue presumption we are all familiar with these types of arrangements.