Overseas Shopping: iHerb.com

Here is a quick guest post from my friend, Erica. Big thanks to her for typing this up! This is a great option that many people take advantage of, so hopefully it can help more of you! Erica's experiences are specific to China--the process might be slightly different in other countries.  

I know many of you are already aware of a website called iherb.com, so this post is for those who have not tried it yet, or haven’t heard.  It is my new favorite!  

They are a US-based company that ships around the world, FOR FREE.  I was skeptical as to how the pricing would be, but I have found that the prices are on par with amazon.com and other websites.  

I was able to use paypal.com to pay for my order and it went off without any problems.  I also used my US credit card and that worked fine, too.  They did want to confirm the use, but that was a simple procedure, and I is typically a one time thing.

Four days after placing my order I received a call from SF Express in Shenzhen telling me that my order had arrived in China and they needed a copy of my passport to process it.  They provided an email address, I replied to that email, and 5 days later my package arrived.

 

My second and subsequent packages have taken between 7-10 days from when I placed the order.  I only had to provide my passport copy once. 

Now what do you order?  Well, they have a ton of products.  It is best to grab a cup of tea before you settle in and flip through their pages (you can even restock herbal teas from them!). So far I have enjoyed some flavored sweeteners (stevia based), vitamins, protein powders (I love the bluebonnet brand right now), and many other products.  It has been so fun!  They also have various types of protein/granola bars - I love KIND bars. They also carry many essential oils and carrier oils. There is a great iPad app if you prefer that to a website. 

In order for it to work, your order cannot exceed 10lbs.  It is very clearly marked as you prepare to check out how much each item weighs so if you are over 10lbs you can just click 'save for later' on an item.  

Let me know if you have any questions!  I hope you all enjoy this service as much as I have been!