If you buy from Taobao, 1688 or US sites and want it shipped here, ezbuy shipping is usually the cheapest mass-market option, but only if you read the fee print. The headline most people quote is ezbuy Prime: a flat S$2.99 per parcel, any weight, on Prime-tagged items. Everything outside Prime is billed by weight (air) or volume (sea), then a separate home-delivery fee, then 9% GST on the goods. This guide pins down each of those numbers as of June 2026, shows where ezbuy genuinely undercuts vPost and Buyandship, and flags the traps (volumetric weight, self-collection, per-payment delivery charges) that quietly inflate the bill.
ezbuy is a Singapore-based forwarder and concierge buyer. Its ezShop arm buys items for you from overseas merchants; its ezShip arm gives you an overseas warehouse address (China, Taiwan, USA and others) where you ship your own purchases, then ezbuy consolidates and forwards everything to Singapore. You pay ezbuy for the freight leg, not the merchant. Repacking and consolidation are free, which is the main reason it stays cheap versus parcel-by-parcel courier rates.
Two pricing worlds run side by side. Prime items ship at a flat S$2.99 international fee regardless of weight. Non-Prime items and anything you self-ship into the warehouse are charged by ezbuy's standard sea or air freight rates. Mixing the two up is the single most common reason a quote looks wrong. The same merchant rules apply whether you are running a Taobao haul or forwarding a US-only release.
Prime is a paid membership. As of June 2026 ezbuy lists it at S$99 for 12 months or S$69 for 6 months, with a S$9.90 five-day trial. The benefit is a flat S$2.99 net international shipping fee per parcel on Prime-eligible items, no matter the weight, size or quantity, plus free insurance up to S$2,000 per parcel against loss or damage. ezbuy says more than 90% of Prime items move by air, so delivery is fast.
The catch is eligibility. Prime only applies to items tagged "Prime" on the product page; the cheapest, most obscure Taobao listings often are not tagged. The S$2.99 is also not refunded unless every item in a parcel is cancelled. Run the maths on your spending: if you order monthly, a few Prime parcels a year already clear the S$99 membership. If you import twice a year, skip Prime and pay standard rates. Our savings goal calculator is a quick way to sanity-check whether the annual fee pays for itself against your actual order frequency.
Outside Prime, ezbuy bills by sea (by volume) or air (by weight). Sea is cheap and slow; air is fast and priced per kilogram, with volumetric weight applied to bulky-but-light items. The figures below are ezbuy/ezShip's published China-to-Singapore rates as of June 2026. Treat them as "from" prices: ezbuy runs promotions and the rate card moves, so confirm at checkout before you commit.
Sea freight starts from S$1.30 to S$1.80 per 0.01 CBM and arrives in roughly 2 to 3 weeks. That is unbeatable for furniture, bulk household goods or anything heavy and non-urgent. Air freight is charged per 0.5kg in tiers, and ezbuy applies the standard volumetric formula: length x width x height in cm, divided by 6,000, gives the chargeable weight in kg. A big pillow can "weigh" 3kg on paper even if it is 600g on the scale.
| Mode | From-rate | Delivery time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sea (by volume) | From S$1.30-S$1.80 per 0.01 CBM | About 2-3 weeks | Heavy, bulky, non-urgent goods |
| Air (by weight) | Tiered per 0.5kg; volumetric weight applies | About 3-9 days | Light, urgent items |
| Prime item | Flat S$2.99 per parcel | Fast (90%+ by air) | Anyone ordering often, on tagged items |
Freight is not the final bill. Self-collection at ezbuy's pick-up points is free, and that is how the service stays cheap. Home delivery is a separate charge based on chargeable weight: S$3 up to 2kg, S$6 above 2kg up to 30kg, S$12 up to 80kg, and S$24 up to 160kg, as of June 2026. Delivery is billed per payment reference, so two parcels paid separately get charged twice even if they arrive together. Pay for orders together where you can.
Then there is tax. Since 1 January 2023, Singapore charges 9% GST on imported low-value goods (S$400 or below) brought in by air or post, on top of the long-standing GST on shipments above S$400. There is no duty-free de minimis any more. For GST-registered overseas vendors the 9% is collected at the merchant's checkout; otherwise it is collected on import. The tax is on the goods value, not the shipping fee. If the term is new to you, our GST glossary entry explains how the rate works.
Consolidation and repacking are free, which is where ezbuy quietly saves you money: ship ten Taobao orders into the warehouse, have them merged into one box, and you pay one freight charge plus one delivery fee instead of ten. The discipline that helps most is the same one behind any monthly budget: decide your spend ceiling before the cart tempts you, because free consolidation makes it very easy to over-order.
For US-to-Singapore forwarding, ezbuy's standard air rate has long undercut the alternatives on a like-for-like 1kg parcel. DollarsAndSense's comparison put ezbuy's 1kg air parcel at roughly S$9.98 against vPost at about S$19.40 and Buyandship at about S$20. The price gap is real, but it buys you a different experience.
The trade-offs decide it. ezbuy is cheapest and best for high-volume China hauls, but its customer service draws steady complaints and self-collection is the default. vPost (SingPost) and Buyandship cost more per kilogram but offer cleaner tracking, more predictable handling and stronger support. If your parcel is a one-off, fragile or high-value item, the few extra dollars on vPost or Buyandship can be cheaper than a lost-parcel saga. For routine bulk buying where you self-collect anyway, ezbuy wins on raw cost.
| Service | 1kg air, from | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ezbuy | About S$9.98 | Lowest cost, free consolidation | Service complaints, self-collect default |
| vPost (SingPost) | About S$19.40 | Reliable tracking, local brand | Higher per-kg cost |
| Buyandship | About S$20 | Multi-country warehouses | Higher per-kg cost |
Pick ezbuy if you buy often from China, you are happy to self-collect, and your orders are Prime-tagged or heavy enough that sea freight makes sense. The economics are hard to beat once consolidation and the S$2.99 Prime fee are in play. If you have an Amazon habit instead, compare against the local options in our note on Amazon Singapore free delivery before forwarding anything.
Skip ezbuy if the item is fragile, urgent and one-off, or if you need responsive support, because the per-parcel saving can vanish the moment something goes wrong. And always add the full stack before deciding: freight, the home-delivery fee if you are not collecting, and 9% GST on the goods. A bargain on freight is not a bargain if the all-in number beats buying the same thing locally.
Prime items ship at a flat S$2.99 per parcel as of June 2026. Non-Prime items are billed by air (tiered per 0.5kg with volumetric weight) or sea (from about S$1.30 to S$1.80 per 0.01 CBM), plus a home-delivery fee if you do not self-collect, plus 9% GST on the goods value.
Prime costs S$99 for 12 months or S$69 for 6 months and gives a flat S$2.99 shipping fee plus free insurance to S$2,000 per parcel. It pays off if you order at least monthly on Prime-tagged items. If you import only once or twice a year, standard rates are usually cheaper.
Air freight from China typically arrives in about 3 to 9 days depending on the service tier, and most Prime items move by air. Sea freight is cheaper but slower, arriving in roughly 2 to 3 weeks. US standard air is usually 4 to 6 days, with economy options taking 8 to 11 days.
Yes. Since 1 January 2023 Singapore charges 9% GST on imported low-value goods worth S$400 or below by air or post, on top of GST on higher-value shipments. The tax is on the goods value, not the shipping fee, and may be collected at checkout for GST-registered overseas vendors.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.