There’s a certain thrill to opening a parcel from overseas, even if you know what’s inside.

Or perhaps especially if you know what’s inside, and it happens to have been stuck at customs for a solid month.

People complain about the cost of having something shipped over to this side of the world from the likes of America and the UK, but that’s actually the easy bit. At least you know what’s cracking, because once it touches down at customs all bets are off.

You’ll know exactly what we mean if you’ve tried to free up a parcel recently. Red tape, head-scratching, and some or other fee chopped on top that seems to have been plucked from thin air.

In short, it’s a bit of a shambles. Suffice to say the whole ordeal can leave a bad taste in the mouth in terms of buying goods from overseas, but then you’re doing it wrong.

Take Seth, for example.

He’s snapping up two Sonos wireless speakers to beef up the crib, and he takes a look on Dion Wired.

Price – R4 650 a pop. You’re forking out R9 300 for a pair – yoh.

But after a little digging and he found that Amazon is running a crazy deal – we’re looking at $300 for a pair, actually.

Using R12 to the dollar, that’s R3 600, but then you have to get it here. And then it has to clear customs. And then someone adds on the duty and the VAT.

Basically, who knows what the final price is going to look like, and who knows when you’ll be able to take your babies home.

Seth doesn’t like uncertainty, and he sure as hell doesn’t like dealing with bureaucracy, so he asked Postbox Courier to handle the whole thing.

Here’s their price breakdown of what two Sonos wireless speakers will cost, delivered right to 2OV headquarters:

2 Sonos                $300 / ZAR3 600

Courier                 $100 / ZAR 1 209,60

Clearance            R 125

Duty                      R289

VAT                       R594,97

Disbursement     R44,24

Total                    R5 863,61

Would you look at that – all sorted and at your door for under R6 000.

The best bit? Postbox Courier has someone at customs who personally deals with every parcel they deliver, meaning there is no hold up.

Order something from certain locations around the world, whether or not the product ships to South Africa, and they will have it at your door in THREE TO FIVE DAYS.

How does it work if the product doesn’t ship here? I’m glad you asked:

It really is pretty darn simple, and signing up is FREE.

• Sign Up
  Register free of charge with Postbox Courier via their website. They will assign you with a Personal Postbox at each of their worldwide depots.
• Sign In
  Once you have activated your account, you will be able to login to view your unique Postbox addresses, by clicking the “View your Personal Postbox addresses” banner. Your addresses are permanent, so you can save them and start sending items to your Postbox!
• Notify them of incoming items
  Each time you send something to Postbox Courier, notify them via the Parcel Pre-Alert (in your Parcel Manager).
• Manage your orders
  You can ship single items or multiple pieces combined into a single shipment. If you do wish to consolidate orders from different suppliers, you will be able to do so in your Parcel Manager. Just notify them of each shipment that is en-route to your Postbox, and then use the ‘Group’ button to let them know which items you wish to combine.
• Pay for shipping
  Once they receive the items that correspond with your booking they’ll let you know via email and invite you to login to your Parcel Manager and make payment. Thereafter they will courier your items to your door within South Africa immediately.

No sitting at customs, no haggling over import duties, no surprise costs popped on at the last minute.

Goods that don’t deliver to SA, or goods that do deliver to SA – kinda makes sense to use Postbox Courier anyway, because ain’t nobody got time for red tape in this day and age.

Happy shopping, friends – and, to Seth’s neighbours, enjoy some soothing 90s beats emanating from the Rotherham household.