Shipping
Air vs sea cargo, without the fairy tale
Air is faster and usually more expensive per kilo. Sea is cheaper and slow. Food, batteries, and anything you will cry about if it sits in a warehouse should not go sea just to save a few hundred pesos.
Pasabuy operators often mix both: they buy in JP, wait for a batch weight, then choose air or sea. Your ETA is the batch ETA, not J&T’s two-day promise.
Sea cargo is fine for clothes, shoes, and non-urgent merch if you accept 4–8 weeks and possible customs delay. It is a bad idea for chocolate in April, sunscreen you need this weekend, or a concert that is next month.
Customs still exists. Cheap sea quotes that “include tax” without a declaration story are a red flag.
We quote a route that actually exists. If the only honest option is air, that is the quote.